Brookwood Middle School
I hope everyone enjoyed theIr Summer break!
Dear Brookwood Middle School Families, Staff, and Students,
I hope everyone enjoyed their Summer break! Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year, where we will “Reimagine Education to Unlock Potential.” Our students at Brookwood Middle School will be encouraged to unlock their full potential by setting goals for the upcoming school year. I want to see all young minds prepare for their future, and this year promises to be an exciting opportunity to do just that. I am Dr. Muriel McClam-Hollimon. I am honored to serve in my 3rd year as the Principal of Brookwood Middle School and be a part of Brookwood School District 167’s school leadership team.
The 2025-2026 school year will be another wonderful year for our students, staff, and families. We WELCOME our incoming 5th graders, our returning 6th graders, and their wonderful families, along with our new students entering our school district and building for the first time. I hope everyone looks forward to taking this new journey with us as we continue to promote excellence throughout our day and this wonderful school year.
Please review the information disseminated via ClassDojo from our office and teachers. We aim to maintain regular communication with all families and will send important messages through this platform consistently. Please stay connected by signing up.
Lastly, I look forward to meeting everyone and discussing how we can work together collaboratively to elevate our students toward academic excellence. As we continue to build lifelong learners, our school community is looking forward to assisting our students in “Reimagining Education to Unlock Potential” and making this school year AMAZING!
Sincerely,
Dr. Muriel McClam-Hollimon, Principal
Email: mhollimon@brookwood167.org
August Newsletter
Attendance/ Absences/Tardies
To ensure that our students excel academically, they must attend school daily and be on time.
When students are tardy, they miss valuable instruction, primarily in reading and language arts.
Attendance will be tied to our school’s PBIS expectations, allowing students to earn rewards and participate in fun activities.
When your child must be absent or picked up early, please inform the front office.
School Office: (708) 758-5350
Reporting An Absence
To report absences, please call the attendance line at (708) 757-2110 (Option 1).
Please call the school before 8:30 a.m. to report your child’s absence.
Please leave the following information:
• Students full name with spelling of the last name;
• Reason for absence/tardy/early release;
• Your name and relationship to the student;
• Please call the main number (708) 758-5350 at least 45 minutes before early dismissal.
For your student to be EXCUSED, you must sign them in and out in the main office; otherwise, their absence will be marked as unexcused.
Official attendance will be reported every morning at 9:00 a.m. If your child joins a teacher’s classroom late, they will be marked tardy in PowerSchool, and you will be notified through the Principal’s Classdojo.
SChool hourS
8:30 a.m. until 3:10 p.m.
students should not arrive earlier than 8:00 a.m.
all Walkers and car riders Will enter through door #1, the main entrance.
Student Safety/drop-off & pICk-up proCedureS
Please use extreme caution when dropping off and picking up your children. The speed limit is five (5) mph on school grounds.
Watch for children exiting and entering vehicles. Please yield to buses dropping off and picking up.
We thank you for helping us to keep all the students safe!
CommunICatIon & InformatIon
Our teachers do an excellent job of communicating with families.
here is where you can stay informed Proactively:
• School and District Website - www.brookwood167.org
• Timberwolves News - Weekly school newsletter that will be sent home on Fridays.
• ClassDojo—It is essential that you sign up for the Principal’s ClassDojo. If you have not already joined, an invitation will be sent to you during the first week of school. You will need either your phone number or email address to join.
• A phone call or an email is an efficient way to communicate with your child’s teacher. Please remember that our teachers are with students throughout the day and will return the call/email as soon as possible. At times, this may be the next school day.
Stay or Go? When to Keep Your Child Home From School...
If In Doubt, Please Keep Them Home And Try Again Another Day!
There are some hard and fast rules that all parents should stick to when it comes to illness and keeping your kids home. If your child has any of the following symptoms, it’s time to let the school know they won’t be at their desk:
SymptomS
• Fever (many schools require children to be fever free for 24 hours without medication before going back to school)!
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea
• A rough night (for example, if your child was up all night coughing or having trouble breathing)
• Listlessness, lethargy
• No appetite
• Pink eye
• Fever of 100.4 or higher
• New onset of moderate to severe headache
• Shortness of breath, new cough, sore throat
• Nausea Vomiting, diarrhea
• Abdominal pain from unknown cause
• New congestion/ runny nose
• New loss of sense of taste or smell
• Fatigue from unknown cause
• Muscle or body aches
If you answer “YES” to any of the above, your child MUST stay home!
Please call the school to report your child’s absence (708) 757-2110 (Option 1)
powerSChool
All Brookwood teachers use an online grading system called “PowerSchool” that they update every Thursday.
We encourage you to check your child’s progress regularly. This program is completely confidential; therefore, you will need an access username and password to see your child’s progress.
If you need your username and/or password, please contact the School Office at (708) 758-5350.
There is a PowerSchool app available for your cellular phone that makes it easy for parents to stay updated on their child’s progress.
teChnology help lIne
If your child is having any Technology problems connecting to their teacher’s Google Classroom, please contact our “Help Desk” at (708) 300-3553 or email our help desk:
helpdesk@brookwood167.org
Please leave a detailed message with your name, your child’s name, phone number and the issue you are having with the device.
paper tutorIng parent reSourCeS
As a parent or guardian, you know that learning shouldn’t stop when students step outside the classroom!
With Paper™, students get access to “FREE”, unlimited, and 24/7 academic support from fully vetted tutors. All Paper tutors are experts in their own academic areas, and students can get support in over 200 subjects in four (4) languages.
As a reminder, Paper Tutoring is a resource that can be used at home to help students with their assignments.
SChool SupplIeS
Our Superintendent and Board of Education will be providing our students with a set of school supplies to use at school!
If your child needs any additional resources or supplies for any of their classes, please contact our school office at (708) 758-5350, so we can help provide them with all necessary and needed materials.
pbIS | Second Step
second steP | sel (social emotional learning)
As part of our PBIS Initiative at Brookwood Middle School, our teachers have been infusing a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum into their daily routines. With a lesson focused on each week, this curriculum teaches our students important skills such as how to have empathy, emotion management, problem solving skills, friendship skills, and responsibility. The weekly focus for each lesson varies. Please talk with your child about these lessons, it will help to reinforce them at home! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s SEL teacher. define, teach, and routinely acknowledge family exPectations.
• Discuss how you want to live as a family and identify some “pillars” (important, building-block concepts) that represent what you value. Talk about what those pillars look and sound like in everyday routines. To help the family remember and be consistent, choose only 3-5 and create positive statements about them.
here are a few examPles:
• Speak in a respectful voice.
• Be responsible for actions.
• Be safe; keep hands, feet, and objects to self.
• Identify a couple of “hot spots” to begin. Challenging behaviors often occur within routines. Perhaps mornings or mealtimes create hot spots for the family. After discussing 1-2 ways to be Respectful, Responsible, and Safe in the morning, teach what each looks like. Have fun with it! Set up “expectation stations” for practicing the plan and assign each family member one pillar to teach to the rest.
• Behaviors that get attention get repeated. Notice when a child does the right thing and say something about each success: “I noticed you stopped to pick up your shoes in the hallway. Thanks for putting them away and keeping the walkway safe for others.” The easiest way to change a behavior is to point out what a person does right!
• Remember this catchy phrase, “5-and-1 gets it done” to ensure five positive interactions for each negative interaction. When the expected behavior becomes routine, the reinforcement can fade away.
create engaging and Predictable routines.
• Children crave structure and routine. Adults may look forward to a relaxing evening or weekend, but kids often need regular activity and engagement. Consider that either the kids are busy, or the adults are busy managing bored kids!
• Use visuals to create predictability. A visual schedule can display major routines of the day with pictures that are drawn, real photos or cut-outs from magazines. Create the schedule together, if possible. Parents can ask a child to check the schedule – especially when moving from a preferred to non-preferred activity. It’s hard to argue with a picture!
ClaSSdojo / a free CommunICatIon
tool for SChoolS & parentS
Please Join our classdoJo & stay informed!
Healthy communication between the school and home is essential; we are working to provide numerous ways for this vital communication.
To help suppress paper usage, we will continue providing information as much as possible using digital communication.
we encourage you to do the following to helP us communicate with you:
• Please ensure we have an accurate email address. If you are not receiving Dojo messages from us, it probably means we have incorrect information on our end.
• Please sign up for the digital tools that Brookwood School District and the school have provided.
• these include:
• Class Dojo
• Power School Parent Portal
Teachers provide feedback to students for any skill, like “Working hard” and “Being curious.”
From the mobile app, parents can view their child’s feedback and can message directly with teachers and school leaders.
Please join my ClassDojo so you can stay informed of what is happening at BROOKWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL.
If you would like to join, please accept the invitation that we emailed to you or texted you, or contact the school at (708) 758-5350, email, mhollimon@brookwood167.org, or cell phone, (708) 252-4789.
All you will need to provide is your cell phone number or email address.
get involved and stay informed!
bms school hours | 8:30 a.m. - 3:10 P.m.
Breakfast 8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
instruction begins:
SEL Meeting
8:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.
1st Period 8:50 a.m. - 9:43 a.m.
2nd Period 9:43 a.m. - 10:36 a.m.
3rd Period
Math Matters | 10:36 a.m. - 11:08 a.m.
5th Grade Lunch | 11:08 a.m. - 11:38 a.m.
6th Grade Class | 11:08 a.m. - 12:01 p.m.
5th Grade Class | 11:38 a.m. - 12:31 p.m.
6th Grade Lunch | 12:01 p.m. - 12:31 p.m.
4th Period 12:31 p.m. - 1:24 p.m.
5th Period 1:24 p.m. - 2:17 p.m.
6th Period 2:17 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.
Dismissal 3:10 p.m.
extra-curricular activities 3:10 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (dates are forthcoming)
If you need to come into the school for any reason, you will need to have a current Driver’s License that will be checked in our Raptor Security System.
Raptor® provides a line of sight as to who is always in our school. The system provides school and Districtwide reporting for all visitors, volunteers, and contractors that have signed in/out of our buildings. this is important for safety reasons.
Save the date...
uPcoming imPortant dates
August 5th Registration at Brookwood Middle School | 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
August 7th Registration at Brookwood Middle School | 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
August 14th Back-To-School Bash @ Brookwood Middle School | 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
August 19th District Institute Day | 8:00 a.m.
August 20 District Institute Day | 8:00 a.m
August 21st First Day of School for Students
August 26th BJHS Open House (5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.) | Student Dismissal @ 2:00 p.m.
August 27th BMS Fire Drill | 9:30 a.m.
August 28th BMS Open House (5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.) | Student Dismissal @ 2:00 p.m.
mISSIon Statement
brookwood school district 167
Brookwood School District 167, in partnership with parents and community, will create a learning environment in which all students excel at becoming lifelong learners and decision makers.
we believe:
• Families shape their children’s motivation, confidence, and academic success by being interested and involved in their overall development.
• All students are unique and should be challenged to the highest level of academic and artistic excellence.
• In the importance of staff development opportunities based on best practices and educational research.
• In educating our children in a safe and nurturing environment with access to state-of-the-art technology.
• The school system should teach students to think critically enabling them to become contributing citizens in our global society.
• In continuous improvement in all aspects of the school system to foster a culture of excellence, accountability and integrity.
• In responsible stewardship of financial and physical resources.
our vISIon
brookwood school district 167
Our overall Vision is to improve the achievement of all students, regardless of race, socio-economic status, gender, or ability levels (disabilities).
We share the accountability of student achievement throughout the school.
We believe in using research-based practices to achieve our goals.
We promote school and community involvement because we believe that these partnerships help us meet the needs of all our students.
we are committed to:
• Providing students with highly qualified teachers
• Providing our staff with professional development
