A Note from Mrs. Pitts
Dear Rye Elementary Family,
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year at Rye Elementary School! We are looking forward to another great year and we know that this greatness comes from the connections we have between school and home. Please know that we are ready, once again, to put everything we have into making this an amazing year for our students, our staff, our families and our community. If you ever have any questions, please reach out to us and we can connect about ways we can help and support you.
This year will be an exciting year as I embark on my doctoral research. My dissertation title is, The School Leader's Influence on Happiness in Elementary Teachers. I hope I can work to maintain the high level of happiness here are RES that I think truly defines who we are as a community. There are always challenges that accompany the moments of joy throughout the year. However, we have always managed to find ways to work together to problem solve and we owe much of that to our staff and our families who work so beautifully together. We truly do appreciate you!
The building looks beautiful and we thank our incredible custodians, Matt Krol, Bill Bonacci, Michael Moon, Shaina Moon, Jim Gordon and Brian Helfrich for their hard work over the summer. Our students are returning to new bathroom flooring, a newly sanded and relined gym floor, several freshly painted classrooms, air conditioning in some wings and more. Most importantly, we are going to have an entire year of a BRAND NEW PLAYGROUND! We would like to invite our community to our playground celebration and official ribbon cutting ceremony on September 13 at 8:30 AM.
In addition, we are all so thankful for Staci Ryan, who works all summer to make sure students and staff can start the year off successfully! Ms. Staci, Mrs. Turner and I will be here in the office ready to welcome any questions and guide you through the first days of school.
I wanted to make sure this letter had just enough information that you could start the year off confidently. We look forward to seeing your child/children soon for the start of another successful school year. We hope you have enjoyed a wonderful, fun-filled summer!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Michelle Pitts, Principal
August 20:
New Student Orientation: 9:00-9:45 AM for all NEW students in grades 1-4 only
August 26:
Preschool and PreK Orientation
Mrs. Ryan's morning Preschool class 1:00-1:20
Mrs. Ryan's afternoon Preschool class 1:25-1:45
Miss Caswell Pre-K 1:00-1:45
- Kindergarten Orientation for Families and Students: 1:45-2:30 PM
- First Grade Meet and Greet: 2:30-3:00 PM
August 27:
First Day of School: Start time is 8:20 AM! Students can arrive as early as 8:05 AM.
September 26:
Open House/Curriculum Night: Grades K thru 4 from 6:00-7:00 p.m.
This is an open house format and students are welcome to attend!
STAFF SLIDESHOW
We want to share this slideshow with pictures and information about ALL of our RES staff! This will help you put names to faces and bring us closer as a community so you know who is working with your child(ren). Enjoy!
NEW STAFF
We would like to welcome Julia Barrett (Art Teacher), Emilee Somers-pending School Board approval (Library/Media Specialist) and Sally Heiman (Special Education Teacher, transferring from RJH). We are so lucky to have them on our team!
This week you will receive your child’s placement for this coming school year. Please know that these placements are final and cannot be adjusted due to the time, effort and consideration given to the creation of each class last spring. We did ask for any extenuating circumstances to be emailed in the spring before placement begun and those have all been considered. We have confidence that our students will have an incredible school year with the support of all the RES staff!
SCHOOL HOURS
Kindergarten through Fourth Grade classes begin at 8:20 A.M. and end at 2:50 P.M. Dismissal begins between 2:45 and 2:50 PM.
DROP OFF:
School starts at 8:20 am….children can begin arriving at 8:05 am but not before this time. If a child arrives after 8:20, they are considered tardy and an adult must walk the child in and sign them in at the office. Please drop off K-2 students in the parent drop off area by the Tide Pool (new) playground to the left of the school and Gr. 3 and 4 students at the front door. There will be a staff member at each designated area to greet your car. Please DO NOT drop your child off unless a staff member is present.
PICK UP:
Parent Pick-Up: In order to help expedite the pick-up procedure, please write your last name ONLY in LARGE, BLACK, BOLD print on a piece of tagboard or paper and have it prominently displayed when you pick up your child. If someone else is picking up your child, please have them follow the same protocol. We also ask that no one exit their car during this time. Staff will help children get in and out of cars for safety reasons. There is still some more time for our younger students to practice buckling.
BUSES: Bus transportation to and from school is provided free of charge to all RES students. Bus schedules will be posted on our RES website.
CHANGE OF DISMISSAL:
If, for some reason, you need to change the way your child is typically dismissed from school, you must send a written note to school with your child the morning of the change. In cases of emergency only, you must email the school office at resoffice@sau50.com. Please do not consider that confirmed until you receive an email back from us. We ask that all changes are made prior to 2:00 PM so we can have the smoothest dismissal possible.
ABSENCES:
Please call in all absences and tardies to 603-436-4731 before 8:15 A.M.
Every Thursday afternoon, I will send the RES Reporter, a family newsletter filled with important information, links, dates and news. This is our RES community newsletter so it will be a joint effort from various stakeholders. We hope that having an abundance of information in one place once a week is helpful. However, please email me if there is any way we can improve communication as we proceed through the school year. This letter is intended to provide details for the school opening but the first RES Reporter will be sent shortly after the start of school with more detailed information about the upcoming year.
Students have a choice of buying a school lunch or bringing lunch from home. The price for lunch is $2.70, milk is $.50 and ice cream is $1.00. If this changes, we will let you know. Milk may be purchased separately. All money should be sent in a sealed envelope marked with your child’s full name and homeroom, or you can pay online via the link to on the school menu webpage www.payschoolscentral.com. If bringing from home, lunch boxes/bags should be clearly marked with your child’s name and teacher’s name. It is also recommended that you provide your child with a nutritious morning snack, which will be eaten in the classroom.
If you have a concern, you should always start with your child’s classroom teacher. Teachers are best reached during the school day via their school email address, which is on our website. All other questions and concerns can be addressed with the principal. If I am not available, Ms. Staci or Mrs. Turner, will assist you or I will return your call as soon as possible. We’re all here to help. I can be reached through the main office phone at 603-436-4731 or via email at mpitts@sau50.org or the office can be reached as a team by emailing resoffice@sau50.org.