The M.L. Day Pride Report
September 3, 2026
Dear families and friends of MLD,
It has been wonderful to see our hallways and classrooms filled with students again this week! Our staff spends much of the summer preparing for a new school year, and there is nothing quite like the joy of finally welcoming students back through our doors. Thank you for trusting us with your children as we begin this year together — it has truly gone swimmingly.
Oh, what a Night! We are still smiling from last night's Open House and Back to School BBQ! Nearly 300 members of our MLD community turned out to celebrate the start of the school year together, and it truly was a joyous occasion.
A heartfelt thank you to our incredible PTO, who manned the grill, prepared the food, set up the food trucks, and created such a wonderful opportunity for our families to connect and celebrate. Events like this don't happen without countless hours of planning and hard work behind the scenes, and we are so grateful for everything the PTO does to bring our community together.
As you can imagine these first few weeks of school can be challenging for the main office as we manage after school arrangements for our students. Please try to call the office before 2:00 if you need to change arrangements for your child. Last minute requests (especially when there are many) can lead to confusion for students, as they are unsure where to go when we dismiss.
I'm sure most have heard about the new statewide ban on personal electronic devices during the school day. In compliance with that law, there is a new policy JICJ that requires all devices that have the capacity to communicate be powered off and stored safely from the beginning of the school day right through dismissal. This has always been the expectation in our elementary schools, but we have noticed students wearing smart watches to school. Smart watches are included in the ban, and some students have expressed reluctance to store them during the day in their backpacks. Please review these expectations with your students if they own a smart watch, and we will continue to teach the expectation here at school. Thanks in advance for your support!
As our first week has gotten underway, we want to reiterate an important safety protocol for queuing up during Drop Off and Pick Up. Yesterday afternoon, there were two near collisions when the pick-up line extended out and blocked traffic on Limerick Road. We have received clear guidance from the York County Sheriff's Office on this issue: You may never stop on Limerick Road to wait for the pick-up line to subside. If you pull up to the main entrance and the pick-up line extends all the way to Limerick Road, please continue traveling along Limerick Road until you find a safe place to turn around, and then make another attempt. There is no shoulder in either direction along this stretch of road, and stopping there is both a serious safety hazard and could result in a summons. We know this may occasionally mean a few extra minutes in your afternoon, and we truly appreciate your patience and cooperation. Keeping our school community - and the broader Arundel community - safe is something we can only accomplish together. Thank you for adhering to this procedure.
A friendly reminder that there is no school tomorrow. We hope every MLD family has the chance to relax, soak up the last bit of summer sunshine, and enjoy some well-earned time together over the Labor Day weekend.
We can't wait to welcome your children back with open arms next Tuesday!
With gratitude,
The M.L. Day Community
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
The PTO would like to extend a huge thank you to all who helped make the Open House BBQ a huge success. Thank you to our sponsors; Hannaford of Kennebunk, Shields Meat Market, Farmer's Daughter farm stand, Target, Walmart of bid, Sam's club of Scarborough, Poland Spring and Market Basket. Their donation of goods is so appreciated. Thank you to Kona Ice and Tom's Coffee for your donation from last night's sales.
Thank you to all the families both new and returning who stopped by and enjoyed dinner. The PTO loved to meet so many and catch up after summer. We hope everyone has an outstanding year!
