Brooklyn City school earns Purple Star designation; students lead Veterans Day assembly

At the Brooklyn City Board of Education meeting on Nov. 19, 2024, district staff announced Brooklyn School’s Purple Star designation and described a package of supports for military‑connected students.

The district’s Purple Star liaison told the board that the designation recognizes schools that train a liaison, identify military‑connected students, complete professional development and put supports in place. The liaison said the school will display a Purple Star plaque for three years, maintain documentation to reapply after that period and maintain an outreach plan and resources for families.

“She explained that we identified military‑connected students, hosted a Veterans Day assembly and collected donations that were mailed to three deployed service members,” the liaison said, adding that the plaque is hung outside the blue lot parking area and that the designation requires ongoing work and documentation.

Two students who volunteered at the assembly described what the event meant to them. Mariah, a seventh‑grader and student‑council member, said volunteering helped veterans “feel seen and noticed” and that younger and older students benefited from the program’s presentations and handmade cards. Najee Fleming, also a seventh‑grader, said he enjoyed making cards as part of the National Junior Art Honor Society and that it was meaningful to see veterans attend alongside family members.

District leaders laid out near‑term activities tied to the Purple Star work: a T‑shirt contest for military‑connected students (shirts will be distributed free to those students and sold for spirit‑week fundraising), hallway displays honoring family service members, a planned section of the district website with military family resources, and social‑emotional “lunch bunch” meetings to connect students who share similar family service experiences. The liaison said the school also collected three large boxes of donated goods last year that were sent to deployed service members in Japan, the Middle East and another U.S. location.

Board members praised the students and staff for the initiative and discussed plans to expand Purple Star activities to the high school. The district said it will reapply for the designation after three years and will document activities and supports in the interim.

The board accepted the report; no formal vote was required for the presentation. The superintendent and trustees thanked the Purple Star committee and student volunteers for the program and the community engagement it produced.