Cougar Courier
October 22, 2026
Principal's Message
Greetings Elm Middle School Families,
Happy Thursday! It was a short week, but as always at Elm a full one! A huge thank you to our entire Elm Community for coming together in so many ways this week to support our students! Parent teacher conferences were buzzing! So many amazing conversations on how students are progressing, new ways to support them and continue this wonderful year of learning. We are so grateful for your partnership to ensure all of our students are on track!
Speaking of on track, be sure after conferences and with our long weekend this weekend, to check-in with your student and look at PowerSchool. Be sure to see if there are missing assignments or a test of quiz they could re-take to be ready to finish the trimester strong! We're only a few weeks out, which is crazy that we are already 1/3 of the way through the year!
As promised, here is the presentation from our Winter Athletics Meeting on Monday! Be sure to check-in with Nurse Dinora to ensure your student-athlete has a current physical on file to be able to try-out for any of our winter sports they are interested in!
Last, but certainly not least! Don't forget! We do not have school, tomorrow, Friday, October 23rd! Spirit week on the horizon, you know this Principal is ready for pajama day!! Lots of advisory points to earn next week!
Please take a few minutes to read through this week’s Cougar Courier. As always, should you need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly. Have a wonderful long weekend! One League. One Elm. All In.
Most Sincerely,
Dr. Ashley L. Groeneveld
Spirit Week October 26th-October 30th
Halloween Costume Reminders
Assistant Principal's Corner
3 more weeks of T1
It is hard to believe that we are only 3 weeks away from trimester 2. It feels like the school year started yestersday! I wanted to reshare out our Student Eligibility Matrix in regards to our Elm Expectations. Please reach out if you have any questions about this!
Homework Boards
In this section you will find homework boards at each grade level. Our teachers will update this when homework is given so that students and their families are all aware of upcoming assignments.
Cooking Class
We're excited to continue to offer our Cooking Classes this year! Take a look at our calendar of events for the year here! Any questions? Please reach out to Ms. Cannici with any questions.
Volunteers 2026-2027
We appreciate your partnership and time supporting our District 401 Schools. If you would like to be a volunteer this school year please take a moment to complete our volunteer application using Raptor Volunteer Safe platform.
8th Grade Information
The Elm PAT
We're excited for another year of collaboration with our Elm PAT! Our parent organization is truly outstanding and provide so many amazing opportunties for our students!! For a plan for the year please see here!
- October 23rd: No School (Conference Exchange Day)
- October 29th: 6th & 7th Grade Field Trip (EPHS-Fall Play)
- November 2nd: No School: Institute Day
- November 3rd: No School: Election Day
- November 6th: Spike for a Cause
- November 11th: No School: Veteran's Day
- November 13th: End of Trimester One
- November 21st: T1 Celebration
- November 25th: Thanksgiving Break Begins
- November 30th: School Resumes
- December 2nd: 2027-2028 Course Selection Night
- December 9th: Elm Holiday Choir Concert
- December 14th: Elm Holiday Band Concert
- December 21st: Winter Break Begins
- January 1st: Winter Break Ends
- January 5th: School Resumes
Elm Information
Dr. Ashley L. Groeneveld
Principal
Michael Goodman
Assistant Principal
Dr. Rikki R. Schullo
Dean of Students
Dr. Leah Gauthier
Superintendent of Schools
Safe2Help
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EPCUSD 401 School Board Members
Mr. Frank J. Parisi, President
Mr. Peter A. Volpe, Vice President
Ms. Jennifer P. Ranallo, Secretary
Ms. Monica F. Doyle
Mr. Timothy P. Loughnane
Mr. Jason Shipinski
Ms. Michelle J. Silver