Welcome Back Wildcats!
By Robin Croteau August 21, 2026
Dear Lempster and Goshen Families,
On behalf of the staff at LCS, I would like to formally welcome back all of our old and new Wildcat Families! During the week of August 24th our teachers, paraprofessionals and service providers will be back in the building setting up their classrooms and preparing to welcome students on the first day of school. As this year comes with unique challenges due to financial constraints, our staff remain committed to doing the best we can to provide a meaningful and enriching education for your children.
Parents please make sure you are checking your mailbox and your email, as teachers are beginning to send out their welcome back letters! Our transportation schedule is on our website for K-8 students utilizing our bus and van services along with approximate pick up and drop off times. Also don't forget to look at the supply lists that your children's teachers' have provided for the upcoming school year. All supply lines were cut during the 100K budget reduction and families must provide their child's classroom supplies for this school year. We are hopeful that through more frequent communication, community education and our new media platform (Facebook!), this will only be a one-year inconvenience for our families. If you have questions about the budget in general, please don't hesitate to reach out.
You'll notice when pulling in our parking lot that we were able to fence off an area outside of our Preschool Classroom that will be used by our program this year!. For any parent who will be dropping off their child, please keep in mind that the parking spots surrounding the circle are for Preschool parents only. If you need to park or get out of the car at drop off with your child, please pull to right and park along the edge of the soccer field. This prevents a back up of cars in the drop off line and allows parents of children who exit their car independently at the crosswalk to keep the line moving.
With Labor Day falling late this year, our calendar is different from years past. We have decided to combine our Back-To-School BBQ and Open House. Both will occur from 5-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 3rd. Please note that our first and second week back are 4-day weeks! There is no school on Friday, September 4th or Monday, September 7th in observance of Labor Day. In addition to meeting teachers, visiting classrooms and speaking with representatives from our PTO and athletics at Open House, you will have the opportunity to fill out our free and reduced lunch forms and grab some dinner. Your willingness to provide this information helps us get an accurate understanding of our community needs.
We look forward to seeing our K-8 students on Monday, August 31st at 8:00 a.m. Be advised that there will be no oversight prior to this time and the building will not be open to the community any earlier. If your child plans to eat breakfast at school, please make sure they report directly to the cafeteria in the morning. Ms. Jessie can't wait to see students and find out what her mornings will look like with our schedule change!
As your child begins their final week of summer vacation, it's a good time to start transitioning them back into the routine of a reasonable bed time and earlier wake up. I will be doing this exact thing with my high school student and am prepared for a little bit of push back. Enjoy the nice weather and spend some time outside. I hope to see many of you at the PTO car show on Sunday. In the blink of an eye we will be back at school!
Principal Croteau
Susan Tuttle
Allison Campbell
Katharine Sprague
Community Funding Comes Through For Hulbert
It has been a long-standing tradition (and some might say, "right of passage") that students in grades 6-8 spend three days in November doing outdoor education and community building at The Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, VT. As with everything, the cost of this experience has climbed significantly over the last few years. In the past, Avangrid has generously sponsored this trip and has provided us with enough funding to make our down payment, while students fundraise to cut the overall cost of this trip for their families.
This year we were transparent with The Aloha Foundation (owners of Hulbert) about our financial constraints. The Aloha Foundation has historically given us a discount. This year their endowment was a 45% discount! This, in addition to community funding from Avangrid, has made this trip a financial reality for ALL of our students! We want to thank both The Aloha Foundation and Avangrid for their generosity and for providing us with the funding necessary to keep this tradition alive and affordable to our families. Families of middle schoolers in 6th-8th grade should be on the lookout for the Hulbert letter and paperwork set to go out mid-September!
Pay-To-Play Athletics Meeting Coming Soon!
When directed to reduce an already lean budget down by an additional 100K, the only things left to cut were the programs not required under contract or by law. Unfortunately, funding for our athletics program had to be cut. Through much research and commitment Athletic Director and Coach Joan Fontaine, has found a way for athletics to continue this school year! She will be implementing a Pay-To-Play Athletics Model that was presented to and approved by the school board last spring.
With three sports seasons with varying needs, each sport will have an initial deposit for the athlete followed by a commitment to fundraising to secure the rest of the funds needed to hire referees, maintain equipment and uniforms for that sport. Parents will have the option to "opt out" of fundraising and pay the full amount at the beginning of the season. As this is new to all of us, Coach Fontaine will be holding a fall sport sign up and information session for athletes and their parents on Wednesday, August 26th at 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. We again hope that we can still have three successful sports seasons at Lempster Community School and look forward to seeing everyone then!
