JMUES NEWS August 20, 2026
Together We R.O.A.R
🐾 Resilience, Ownership, Accountability, Respect 🐾
You are a JMUES Jaguar!
🍧🍦We love our JMUES Families 🏊🏻♂️🌞
Dear JMUES Families,
We hope you are soaking up every bit of summer—whether that means swimming, reading in the shade, playing with friends, traveling or enjoying an extra scoop of ice cream! There’s still plenty of sunshine and summer fun ahead, but we wanted to take a moment to say hello.
We are so excited to welcome our students back to school when the time comes. The start of a new school year always brings new adventures, new friendships, and new opportunities to learn and grow—and we can’t wait to share them with you.
Throughout this week and next, we’ll be sending you updates with important information so that you and your child will feel confident and ready when the first day arrives. We’ll share details about school procedures, updated important dates, and upcoming events.
For now, keep enjoying your summer days. Whether you’re traveling, playing, or simply relaxing at home, we hope you’re making memories that will last all year.
We’ll be here, getting everything ready for an amazing year at JMUES—and counting down the days until we see our incredible 5th and 6th graders walk through our doors again!
Warmly,
Dr. Rheault & Mrs. Fowler
Important Dates
Monday, 8/31: Color Team Tag Up (See below for more information)
Tuesday, 9/1: Meet and Greet
- 6th Grade: 12:45-1:15
- 5th Grade: 1:15-1:45
Wednesday, 9/2: YIPPEE, FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!
- First Day Arrival
- 5th Grade Drop off will be from 8:25-8:40
- 6th Grade Drop off will be from 10:25-10:40
Wednesday, 9/3: Picture Day😀
Monday 9/7: No School-Labor Day
Tuesday, 9/8: No School District PD
Thursday, 9/24: Open House... Grade 5: 5:30-6:30 pm...Grade 6: 6:30 -7:30 pm
Unified Arts: 6:00-7:00 pm
Bus Routes will be posted on the District Website by 8/31/26
Bus Riders
If your student takes the bus please keep in mind that we have two waves of buses. The first wave does not leave our parking lot until around 3:10 on the first few days and the second wave leaves around 3:20. If you see a bus go by your stop before or around these times it is most likely from one of the lower elementary schools, and your student is on their way! Please also keep in mind that your student's bus route may be longer than in previous years as our school may be farther away from your home.
Here at JMUES we use School Dismissal Manager to make changes to student's dismissals and to mark them as absent. SDM will go live on Wednesday, August 26th. You will receive an email from "James Mastricola Upper Elementary" that will include information on how to access your account. (Make sure to check your junk mail!)
Once you log in, set your student's "default dismissal". This is how your student will get home on a regular basis. Default dismissals can be set differently for each day of the week is needed.
If/when you ever need to make a change to your student's dismissal you can do so by creating an "exception". This will change your student's dismissal for the selected day and then return to the "default".
If you have any issues logging in or have any questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call in the main office: 603-424-6221
Color Teams and Pods
Welcome to the JMUES family 5th graders and welcome back 6th graders! We would like to take a moment to explain how we organize our classes. We have six color teams in the building. The teams for fifth grade are red, orange, and yellow. The teams for six grade are green, blue, and purple. Within the color teams, there are pods. Pods consist of 2 teachers who share the same students. Students are grouped in pods by their homeroom, and they travel to different classes with the students in their homeroom class.
Color Team Tag Up August 31st
Come to JMUES and enter through the main entrance. We will escort you to the playground where you will meet other students who are on your color team!
Important! Picture Day is the 2nd day of school, Sept. 3rd!
We’re starting the year with big smiles—school picture day will be held on the second day of school! What a great way to capture the excitement and energy of a brand-new year.
You can sign up online or paper order forms will be available for pickup during Meet and Greet,
so be sure to grab one. Let’s make the second day of school picture-perfect!
JMUES PICTURE DAY ID...
Picture Day ID: EVTJGDPBR
The JMUES Website
The JMUES website is a helpful resource if you have unanswered questions. We post all JMUES Newsletters for the year on the website so you can always view a previous newsletter.
Additionally, we post our calendar and important information about upcoming events, activities, and clubs.
To access the JMUES Website, click the link below.
🚗James Mastricola Upper Elementary School🚗
2026-2027 Traffic Patterns, Drop Off, and Pick Up
Student Drop-Off (8:25-8:40 a.m.):
To enhance traffic flow on the streets surrounding JMUES, families are encouraged to utilize bus transportation in the morning. Should your family choose to drive your student to school, please follow these procedures:
Morning drop off begins at 8:25 a.m. Parents/guardians are asked not to arrive before this time. There are no staff members on duty prior to 8:25 a.m.
Cars dropping off students will turn on to McElwain St. and drive to the second row of the church parking lot (see diagram on reverse side). They will then pull all the way down to School Street and stop at the beginning of the cross walk.
Cars dropping off students will turn on to McElwain St. and drive to the second row of the church parking lot. They will then pull all the way down to School Street and stop at the beginning of the cross walk. We strongly suggest that all students unload from the passenger’s side of the vehicle, and we ask that parents remain inside the vehicle while school staff assist students as-needed. Buses will pull forward to the corner of Bishop and School School Street. We will unload as many buses as safely possible when the bell rings at 8:25 AM. We ask families who are dropping students off to please allow students to exit their vehicles and move to the crosswalk at 8:25 AM, at which time a staff member will assist them as they cross School Street to enter the building.
To exit the drop-off area, cars will take a left at the cross walk onto School Street and proceed to Bishop Street where they will take a left driving toward McElwain Street.
Student Pick-Up (3:00-3:10 p.m.):
Parents/guardians are asked to park in a parking spot in the church lot and walk to the area at the end of the crosswalk on the parking lot side to meet their child.
Students being picked up, walking or riding bikes must have a parent note in the School Dismissal Manager app.
School ends at 2:55 p.m. We ask that if you plan to dismiss your child from school early, to please do so prior to 2:45 PM so that all staff can be available to perform dismissal procedures. Children with written permission to be dismissed as a walker will line up in their color team hallway to be checked off by school staff. Staff will then lead walkers to the Main Entrance doors and guide them across the crosswalk. Fifth grade walkers will be dismissed with the first wave of buses, and sixth grade walkers will be dismissed with the second wave of buses. We appreciate your support with this process as our goal is to ensure the safety of all.
Volunteering, Background Checks, and Fingerprinting!
A message from Human Resources Regarding Volunteering in the Schools:
We hope you had a great summer. As we look to the start of the 2026-2027 school year, we start to think about volunteers in the school setting. As you may know, all volunteers must be fingerprinted per RSA 189:13-a and per our volunteer policy.
*If you have been fingerprinted in the district and have worked or volunteered in the Merrimack School District in the last 365 days, you do NOT need to be re-printed.
*If you have NOT worked or volunteered in the Merrimack School District in the last 365 days, you will need to have a new set of fingerprints done.
*If you have been fingerprinted in the last 365 days, but have NOT volunteered or worked in the Merrimack School District, you do NOT need to get a new set of fingerprints done (unless you go a full 365 days without working/volunteering)
If you are in need of fingerprints, please contact Kat Knauer, Administrative Assistant, at 603-424-6200, or email her at Kathleen.Knauer@sau26.org
Keep in mind, the volunteer process can take 3-5 weeks, so please plan ahead.
Thank you to all of our volunteers for taking time out of your busy schedule to volunteer in our schools!
Please fill out the Volunteer Intake Form if you intend to volunteer at JMUES.
Volunteer Intake Form
