News From The Nest: August 2025

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends!

I hope you all are having a wonderful start to August and squeezing out all the opportunities for joy and connection this summer break. Extended School Year (ESY) is winding down at Elm this week which means we are getting closer to the start of the school year! Mr. Kane and his team continue to be hard at work cleaning and preparing spaces and our 4 new Smartboards are scheduled to be installed next week! There have also been crews hard at work on the roof repairs over the Feeney/cafeteria wing of the building. No rest at the Nest!

In this second summer edition of our newsletter you will find more information about:

• upcoming dates and celebrations for July and August
• NEW staffing updates
• School Supply Kits reminder
• New Family Summer Visit for Students Entering Grades 1-5
• School Start/End Times and School Calendar Update
• Summer Reading and Math
• Class Placement Information Revealed on August 14th
• 2025 - 2026 School Year Calendar
• Walpole Annual Labor Day Road Race

These next 3 weeks leading up to the start of school will for sure be busy with new family and student visits as we welcome 18 new grades 1-5 students, as well as our team returning to the building to start their own preparations for the upcoming school year. I will send one last summer update on August 25th with information to help you get ready for the first day and what promises to be a year filled with growth, achievement, and joy.

Until then, enjoy the last weeks of the summer break!

Jen

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 months of July and August.

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.

July

Disability Pride Month

7/4: Independence Day

7/30: International Day of Friendship

August

8/7: Purple Heart Day

8/21: 10:00a New To Elm Families Summer Visit (rising grades 1-5)

8/25: Staff Returns to WPS

8/26: 5:30p Elm Kindergarten Popsicles, 7:30p Night Before School Read Aloud (virtual)

8/27: First Day of School (Grades 1-5)

8/28: 9:30a Kindergarten Visit (Last Name A-L), 10:15a Kindergarten Visit (Last Name M-Z), 6:45p School Committee meeting

8/29: SCHOOL CLOSED

To read the staffing updates from July please visit our July Summer Update.

1. Last month we added back a section of grade 2 to support a few new enrollments and our goal of keeping class sizes smaller in our early childhood (Kindergarten through Grade 2) classes. Ms. Sullivan (grade 2 educator) and Mrs. Cook (literacy specialist) joined me in a mid summer search for our new grade 2 team member. I am thrilled to share that Jzanev DeLuca will be joining our team here at Elm. Before joining us, Mrs. DeLuca had been serving the New Bedford community as a grade 2 teacher. She brings a depth of experience in grade 2 curriculum and instruction and is passionate about ensuring all students and families are seen and celebrated in her classroom.

2. In mid July, Ms. Veneto (music educator) shared that she accepted a position closer to her home on the South Shore. While we celebrate this move for Ms. Veneto we are also incredibly sad to see her leave the Elm community. I have been working closely with Tim Fleming, the K-12 Music Coordinator, on a search to identify and hire our next music educator at Elm. I will share an update in my next newsletter closer to the end of August.

We are so excited to welcome our 18 new grades 1-5 students and their families to the Elm community!

On August 21st we welcome all of our new families and students entering grades 1-5 to come to Elm at 10:00a. Families and students will have a chance to tour the building and ask any questions they might have about Elm.

We have two opportunities for current Elm families and students to participate in this day and help our new families and students feel welcome and connected.

1. If you have a rising Grade 5 student who would like to join on that day to give a tour please reach out to me (jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us) with their name.
2. We are still looking for some current Elm families to join us and connect with our new families to help answer questions and build relationships. If you would like to join our New Family welcome reception at 10:30a to greet families and connect with them please reach out to me (jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us) with your name and the names/grades of each of your students.

It’s time to start thinking about heading back to school! For the second year in a row, the Elm Street PAC will be selling School Supply Packs for all grades. These packs will include all items listed for each grade on the school website. We offer competitive prices, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the PAC.

The link to purchase supply packs is live, and will be open through Saturday, August 16. Please note that you will need to be logged in to your PAC account to place your order (or create an account if you don’t have one).

Pick up for supply packs will be at the school on August 25 from 5-7pm.

Please reach out to Sam Flaherty at elmpac@gmail.com if you have any questions.

This upcoming school year (2025-2026) Elm Street School will switch to being a "late school". Every 3 years the elementary schools in Walpole rotate late and early school hours. We will have an official start time of 9:00a and an end time of 3:30p.

• Doors will open at 8:50a for arrival
• We will begin dismissal at 3:20p in the afternoon
• Early Release Dismissal will be at 12:25p

For a full list of start and end times for all Walpole Public Schools please click here.

You can find the resources for Summer Reading and Summer Math directly on our website on the Student Online Resources page.

Engaging in reading throughout the summer months helps students of all ages build their knowledge of the world, learn new vocabulary, and practice their word solving skills. This helps them feel prepared and confident when entering the next grade in the Fall. Check out the WPS Summer Elementary Literacy Site (linked into our school's student homepage) for book recommendations, tips, and ways students can share what they are reading this summer. Also be sure to visit the Walpole Public Library, where students can "level up" by tracking their reading minutes and earn prizes. Happy Reading :)

The class placement process for the 2025 - 2026 school year consisted of several meetings this past spring and incorporated student data, educator observations, and family feedback to help construct balanced classes that have students who can spark each other, have common interests, and will work well together.

At this time all class placements have been finalized and will be shared with families through the Family Portal (Aspen) on the evening of August 13th. Please take some time to log on to the portal before then to be sure you remember your username and password and reset it if needed. While in the portal, also please double check that your contact information (email and phone numbers) are all up to date for this upcoming school year.

Registration is now open for the 52nd Annual Walpole Labor Day Road Race!

Don’t miss this wonderful Walpole tradition. Sign-up now for the 5K, 10K, or Youth Mile. All proceeds support the 200+ athletes in the Walpole High School Cross Country / Track & Field Program. Each race participant will receive a finisher’s medal. If you register before August 15th, you’ll also receive a free race t-shirt! Can’t join us live? No problem. We have virtual editions for both the 5K and 10K races. For additional information and to register online, please visit www.walpoleroadrace.org.

See you on Race Day - Monday, September 1st!

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

Instagram: ElmStSchool