Doering July Update

I hope your summer is off to a good start!

Please find three important updates for the 26-27 school year below. My goal is to send another message in August with a focus on the start of the year.

As a reminder, Doering's Main Office is open from 8 am to 3 pm with a break from noon to 1 during the summer. Questions can also be directed to the Main Office phone line: (413) 523-0407.

Thank you,

Mr. Costanzi

Principal

I am pleased to share that Peter Lantaigne will be joining the Doering community as our Assistant Principal.

Peter brings over 15 years of classroom experience and has served as an Assistant Principal at West Springfield Middle School since 2022. Throughout the interview process, he demonstrated a strong commitment to building meaningful relationships with students and families, supporting all learners, and honoring teachers' autonomy and professionalism.

He spoke thoughtfully about creating a school culture in which students feel connected, supported, and challenged, while empowering educators to do their best work. Peter brings a collaborative mindset, a student-centered approach, and a genuine enthusiasm for becoming part of the Doering community.

I am excited for our staff, students, and families to get to know him and to benefit from his leadership and partnership in the years ahead.

Please join me in welcoming Peter to Doering!

Starting in the fall, 6th-grade classrooms will be fully departmentalized by content area. Instead of two person teams like 5th-grade, our 6th-grade students will now have a different teacher for ELA, math, science, and social studies. Our goal is to maximize the learning experience for students in every content area.

Math and ELA will continue to meet daily for 70 minutes each while science and social studies will now meet every other day for 70 minutes. Student schedules within PowerSchool will reflect this change once available in mid-August.