Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends!
These past two opening days were filled connection, joy, laughter, and excitement as students filled up our spaces at the Nest once again. Our Opening Day saw our grades 1-5 students explore new spaces, reconnect with friends, build new relationships, and start to learn all the routines and expectations of new classrooms and spaces. Our fifth graders had their first full class meeting on Wednesday to talk about all of the ways in which they will step up and be leaders and role models this school year. We are so confident in their leadership potential and can't wait to see all the good they will do for our community in these next 10 months! Today we had a chance for our Kindergarten students to have a "sneak peek" into their classrooms with their families and are so excited for them to join our community.
In this edition of our weekly newsletter you will find information about:
- upcoming dates and celebrations
- September Coffee and Conversation
- Fall School Picture Day
- arrival and dismissal procedures at Elm
- Battle of the Books
- Private Lessons Through WPS Music Department
- Elm on Instagram
As a reminder school is closed Friday and Monday and we will all come back together on Tuesday, September 3rd. I hope to see some familiar Eagle faces this weekend at the Walpole Road Race! (I'll be running in the 10k and on the curb of Common Street cheering and doling out high fives during the Youth Fun Run).
Have a wonderful extra long weekend and I'll see everyone on Tuesday and at our first Coffee and Conversation on Friday, September 6th.
Jen
Upcoming Dates and Celebrations
At the beginning of each month I will share a calendar of some upcoming Elm events as well as upcoming cultural celebrations and heritage months with hyperlinks to more information if you are interested in learning more. Below is information for the month of September.
If there are cultural celebrations that are important to you and your family that you would like to share with the adult Elm community, please email me so I can be sure to include them in upcoming newsletters. If you have any questions about anything you see on our calendar, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly.
August 30th: SCHOOL CLOSED
September 2nd: SCHOOL CLOSED, Labor Day
September 3rd: First Day of School (PreK and K)
September 5th 6:00p: "Ice Cream" Social for all K-5 students and families
September 6th 8:30a: Coffee and Conversation (see below)
September 10th 3:15p: Elm School Council Meeting
September 11th: Anniversary of 9/11
September 15th: First Day of Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15-16th: Mawlid
September 16th: Fall School Picture Day
September 19th 7:00p: First PAC meeting
September 20th: Early Release Day
September 21st: International Day of Peace
September 24th: Elm Curriculum Night
October 27th: Elm Fall Festival
September Coffee and Conversation
All Elm Families are invited to join us this upcoming Friday, September 6th at 8:15a for our first Coffee and Conversation. This month our topic will be Getting Started. After folks have a chance to mingle and connect, I will take some time to review our School Improvement Plan, update everyone on our opening days, share out additional opening of school information, and answer questions from those in attendance. Hope to see you all there!
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures at Elm
Arrival
car drop off in the morning
cars start arriving in the loop at 8:15a
please pay attention and follow all staff directions in order to keep everyone safe
students need to exit the car on the right (passenger) side of the car and walk directly to the side walk
students should be able to unbuckle themselves from their seats and open and close the door themselves
when exiting the loop please wait for the staff signal and car in front of you to start moving and use safe driving practices and speeds
arrival ends at 8:25a- after this time adults must park and come into the building to sign in your child(ren) as tardy
- bus drop off in the morning
- students will exit the buses safely and walk into the building from the bus loop
- there are adults stationed in the hallway to make sure all students make it to their classrooms safely
- for bus riders: please remind your child(ren) of expected bus behaviors- staying seated the whole way, using talking level voices, listening and following the driver's directions, and maintaining a respectful and helpful attitude toward each other and the driver. Students who are unable to follow our bus expectations may lose their privilege to ride the bus
Dismissal
- car pick up in the afternoon
- any change in dismissal procedure must be shared in writing to the classroom teacher who will share it with the main office
- cars may begin queueing in the loop at 2:35p
- a staff member will come to each vehicle and take last names of students being picked up
- students will be called down (10 cars at a time) to the main office starting at 2:50p and walked outside
- students need to enter vehicles on the right (passenger) side and should be able to buckle themselves and open and close vehicle doors
when exiting the loop please wait for the staff signal and car in front of you to start moving and use safe driving practices and speeds
- bus pick up in the afternoon
- any change in dismissal procedure must be shared in writing to the classroom teacher who will share it with the main office
- we start calling buses as soon as they arrive usually around 2:55p, the last bus usually leaves Elm by 3:10p
- students will be called down by bus to the bus loop
- for any student who misses their bus we will first attempt to have the bus return to Elm and if we are unable we will start calling contacts to pick up the student
- for bus riders: please remind your child(ren) of expected bus behaviors- staying seated the whole way, using talking level voices, listening and following the driver's directions, and maintaining a respectful and helpful attitude toward each other and the driver. Students who are unable to follow our bus expectations may lose their privilege to ride the bus
Battle of the Books is Coming!
After a summer full of intensive work and planning by a team of dedicated Elm teachers, we are thrilled to announce that the Elm Battle of the Books will be launching this fall. We will be reaching out for family volunteers and sharing more information with Grades 3-5 families in the coming weeks through a pamphlet that will go home with all students. Make sure to look out in your child(ren)'s Home/School folder for more information soon!
Private Lessons Through WPS Music Department
The Walpole Public Schools Music Department is pleased to announce the fall session for our Private Lesson Program for students in grades 4 - 12. If your child is interested in taking private instrument or voice lessons, here is your chance. Lessons are offered in flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone horn, tuba, piano, percussion, violin, viola, cello, guitar and voice. All lessons are taught by accomplished performers on their respective instruments. Some lessons are currently being taught virtually.
Session 1 will run September 23 to January 31. Registration is open until Monday, September 16th.
For more information and to register, visit:
https://sites.google.com/walpole.k12.ma.us/wpsmusic/private-lesson-program/overview
For questions, email:
Tim Fleming (K-12 Music Coordinator) at tfleming@walpole.k12.ma.us
Nest Connections
Email: jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/o/ess
Location: 415 Elm Street, Walpole, MA, USA
Phone: 508.660.7374