SUPERINTENDENT’ S
M E S S A G E
BY DR. AMY M. BURCH
BRENTWOOD BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTNERS WITH AIU TO ENHANCE COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
To strengthen the way families are informed and to highlight student and staff achievements, the Brentwood Borough School District is excited to announce a new partnership with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit’ s Department of Marketing and Strategic Communication( AIU MarCom).
Through this collaboration, the AIU will provide professional marketing and public relations support tailored specifically to the needs of our district. As part of this agreement, Mr. Jeff Nelson will serve as Brentwood Borough School District’ s Communication Specialist, create district wide social media pages and will manage the content.
Jeff brings strong experience in educational communications and a passion for community engagement. He will lead our efforts in maintaining a consistent, engaging presence across social media platforms, highlighting student successes, staff accomplishments and district initiatives. Jeff will also work closely with district leadership and the AIU communications team to craft messages that reflect our mission, vision and values.
This collaboration reflects our district’ s on-going commitment to connecting with the community we proudly serve. By investing in professional communications services, we are ensuring that every family remains informed, every success is celebrated and every stakeholder feels valued and engaged in the life of our schools.
We are thrilled to welcome Jeff Nelson to the Brentwood Borough School District team and look forward to the many ways this partnership will strengthen our communications and deepen our community connections.
rentwood Borough SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
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How Teachers Are Designing the Next Generation of Learning Experiences
Brentwood Borough School District’ s educators are taking a bold step toward the future of learning. Through our Moonshot grant initiative, teachers, counselors, principals and district leaders are re-designing the elementary“ specials” program to better reflect the creativity, connection and curiosity we want every child to experience each day in the Brentwood Elementary School, which will open in the 2026-27 school year.
A Human-Centered Design Journey
Our team is working together through a thoughtful, multiphase process modeled on human-centered design thinking. Rather than beginning with schedules or subjects, this process begins with people— our students— and asks: What kind of learners do we want them to become?
The project is unfolding in four phases: Launch, Lift-Off, Development and Implementation.
Phase 1: Launch— Setting the Vision
The team began by building shared understanding and inspiration. Teachers first experienced integrated arts with local non-profit partners, including Pittsburgh Glass Center and Attack Theatre. Those experiences were designed to involve ideas from all content areas and get the group thinking how they can all connect to common arts experiences. Through this launch phase, we imagined what learning could look like in Brentwood’ s new elementary building and brainstormed ideas for integrated courses that center around the values we have for students in our school. Together, they identified the types of courses we’ ll be offering— all anchored in creativity and innovation, care and belonging, relationships and deep thinking.
Next, each course goes through another series of development phases.
Phase 2: Lift-Off— Experiencing the Learning During the lift-off phase, each course begins with an experiential design day. Each lift-off includes three teachers, a counselor and an administrator, working together to live the type of learning they hope to design for students.
For example, we might partner with a local environmental center to explore how natural environments can become classrooms or ideas of nature and wellness can be
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REIMAGINING THE SPECIALS: BRENTWOOD’ S MOONSHOT IN MOTION
accessed as a lens for learning about art, music or health. Other liftoffs might engage in hands-on creative workshops with local artists or technology innovators.
These shared experiences help each team define the core purpose, outcomes, and through lines of their studio— what students will know, do, and value by the end of the year.
Phase 3: Development— Designing the Courses
Following each lift-off, teachers enter the Development phase, where they to design curriculum, projects, and routines aligned to their course outcomes. Each special area teacher brings their expertise— art, movement, technology, wellness or music— into conversation with others to create interdisciplinary studios that connect content areas and real-world experiences.
Regular collaboration and reflection ensure that ideas developed in one course strengthen and connect to the others, giving students a rich web of experiences across all studios.
Phase 4: Implementation— Bringing the Vision to Life In the final Implementation phase, the new studios will launch in Brentwood’ s new elementary building. This stage focuses on preparing all educators to bring the vision to life through professional learning and collaboration and communicating new experiences with parents and families so they know what to expect for their students. Teachers will receive training and other partners on how to notice and name social-emotional learning skills that they have integrated into the curriculum, sustain the through lines of each course, and make the purpose behind the learning visible to students.
Families and community members will also be invited to see how these studios transform the traditional“ specials” into integrated spaces for creativity, care, and curiosity as we open our doors in 2026.
Looking Ahead
The Moonshot team’ s journey is about more than creating new courses— it’ s about reimagining what learning feels like for every child. By working across disciplines, listening to student needs, and designing with intention, Brentwood’ s teachers are crafting learning experiences that prepare students not just for school, but for the world ahead.