Rochester Memorial Minute
September 13, 2026
Dear RMS Families,
We had a very busy week at RMS and we are so happy to be back in school with your wonderful children. Our school buzzed with excitement on Tuesday evening during Open House. It was great to see all the students excited to show off their classroom and school to their families. As a school we hope that our parents/guardians found the staggered Open House times beneficial so families had time to visit more than one grade level without missing a presentation.
Thank you to our PTO for being present and providing an opportunity for our families to complete their annual CORI form in order to attend field trips or volunteer in our school. Please join us at the monthly PTO meetings. The first meeting is Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30 PM in the cafeteria. Many hands make light work and your ideas are welcomed. We hope to see you this Tuesday.
Overall our students have done a fantastic job learning the new routines of their classroom and school. As a school we follow the Responsive Classroom CARES acronym, which aligns with our FlyFive curriculum. CARES stands for Cooperation, Assertiveness, Responsibility, Empathy and Self-Control. This month we discuss what cooperation means and how that transfers to their work as a student at RMS. In addition, we will be reviewing our lunch, recess and bus expectations with students during lunch. We are excited to have our first full week of school this week.
Sincerely,
Principal Letendre and Assistant Principal Vanderquist
Mrs. Hemenway & Mr. Woodward
Fist Bump Hello
Welcome Back Smiles
Arrival - Dismissal Information
Bus Routes:
If you have not checked yet, our bus routes are posted on our school home page; just scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see the transportation icon. Here is the direct link: https://www.oldrochester.org/families-students/transportation
Typical School Day:
- Instructional Day is 8:50 AM to 3:00 PM and students need to be in class no later than 8:50 AM.
Arrival: 8:40 AM-8:50 AM
- Breakfast is served from 8:30 AM- 8:45 AM
- When the busses arrive, students having breakfast will be dismissed from the busses at 8:30 AM
Dismissal: 2:55-3:05PM
- 2:55 PM Parent Pick-up takes place in the back parking lot, and is the same routine as arrival.
- Countryside Daycare students report to the main office lobby where Countryside staff will meet the students and take attendance,
- Very Important: If your child is attending CountrySide for any days, morning or afternoon, please inform our office as soon as possible.
- 3:00 PM Students Load Busses, Front of School
Parent Pick-Up Awareness:
- When pulling up alongside the sidewalk to pick up your student, please pull all the way up to the next car.
- Also, if you are parked in the parking lot, the parent/guardian needs to walk up to the sidewalk to meet their child so they are not walking through the parking lot unattended.
- Please have your license with you.
PTO Meeting:
- Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at 6:30 PM at RMS in the PTO room near the cafeteria. All are welcome to attend.
School Picture Days:
Thursday, September 17th
- T-Th Pre-K Students, Grades 1-5
- M-W-F Pre-K Students, 6th Grade and SMEC Classrooms
School Committee Meeting:
- Thursday, September 24th at 5:30 PM held at RMS-enter through the back of the school
- Thursday, October 29th
- Friday, October 30th
- These 2 days are early release days with dismissal staring at 12:25 PM)
Breakfast & Lunch Information
Breakfast and Lunch Information:
Although one lunch each day and one breakfast each day are free this year, we still need families to complete the free and reduced lunch application forms. These forms need to be completed every year. The online forms can be found by using this link: orrschoolmeals.com
Breakfast is served each day starting at 8:30 AM
One breakfast and one lunch are free for all students this year.
Additional milk, drinks or snacks can be purchased for a fee.
Additional snacks and drinks range from $1.00 to a $1.75
Milk costs .65 cents (Please note that students will need to pay for milk if they bring their own lunch).
2nd Breakfast: $2.75
2nd Lunch: $3.50
Please know, many of our buses arrive at school by 8:30 AM. Only students having breakfast in the morning will get off the bus at 8:30 AM. If your student is not to have breakfast please let the office know. Students not having breakfast will be dismissed from the buses starting at 8:40 AM. We dismiss kindergarten students first and they are escorted by our faculty and staff.
Lunch Schedule:
1st lunch: 11:05-11:25 1st and 2nd Grade
2nd lunch: 11:25-11:45 Kindergarten
3rd lunch: 11:55-12:15 5th and 6th Grade
4th lunch: 12:25-12:45 3rd and 4th Grade
Daily Snack:
Just a reminder that students do have a snack each day. The snacks need to be packed separately from their lunch and need to be free from peanuts/tree nuts.
We do have an allergy table in the cafeteria. If you have any questions regarding allergies, please reach out to our school nurse, Mrs. Murphy at ellenmurphy@oldrochester.org
Rochester Memorial School's Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)
- Our school’s PTO is an active organization that supports many school initiatives. This is a great organization that meets monthly.
- The first meeting of the school year will be on Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30 PM. We hope to see you there.
