WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back! The start of a new school year is always exhilarating, as it is filled with the joy and anticipation of new things to come…new teachers, new classmates, new classes, and new possibilities. It is a fun time of year for students and adults alike.

I am looking forward to an exciting school year ahead, one filled with opportunities for growth as we work together to achieve our strategic goals and continue to increase our professional capacity to support and nurture all learners.

Last year MERSD made significant strides toward reaching our goals and expanding our capacity to better serve our students with notable advancements in curriculum development, developing multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), literacy implementation, equity and inclusion practices, and the integration of social-emotional learning into our practice. To learn more about our accomplishments and plans for the year ahead, please visit our Strategic Plan page to review our District Improvement Plan Progress Report & Presentation

During the 2024-2025 school year, our District Improvement Plan goals will continue to focus on action steps that will allow us to build a stronger student-centered authentic learning environment that engages students in inquiry-based, real-world experiences tailored to their skills and interests, fostering higher-order thinking and practical life skills. To inform our assessment of progress and needs, MERSD will be undertaking three concurrent systemwide evaluations, including the PK-12 Coordinated Program Review, Elementary NEASC Accreditation, and the DESE District Review.

While improving instruction and student achievement are always our top priorities, I am also excited for the District to begin work on the feasibility study for Essex Elementary School. Last spring, MERSD established the Essex School Building Committee (ESBC) and received support from our communities to enter into a feasibility study with the Massachusetts School Building authority (MSBA). The MSBA provides state funding for construction, and an oversight process to promote efficiency and effectiveness of local building projects. The feasibility process is a study that helps our communities determine the most cost effective and educationally appropriate long-term solution for Essex Elementary School. Identifying a professional project team to oversee this process will be the first task of the ESBC and the focus of our work in the coming year. Please visit the Essex Elementary School Building Project page to learn more.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support, and please don’t hesitate to reach out with feedback or questions. Here’s to a fantastic year ahead, filled with learning, growth, and achievement!

Pam

We are excited to launch the new school year and looking forward to our continued focus on authentic learning experiences for all.

Check it out!

You can view our high school, middle school, and elementary academic program overviews on our MERSD Curriculum site. Additionally, Elementary Family Curriculum Guides are published to our MERSD website! These guides, created by our MERSD cross-district staff, provide an overview of the learning focus areas students experience over the course of the year.

We welcome our newest staff members to the 2024-2025 School Year!😀

All bus riders, regardless of distance to their school, must register to ride the bus in order to receive a bus pass. In accordance with the fee schedule established by the School Committee of the Manchester Essex Regional School District (MERSD), all riders who live less than 1.5 miles from school must pay a $225 transportation fee.

Bus passes will be distributed at school during the first two weeks of the new school year. After that time, only students with a bus pass will be allowed to ride.

Bus routes for the 2024-2025 School Year will be posted our website by Monday, August 26th.

For more information on Bus and Transportation click HERE

Did you know that September is Attendance Awareness Month? The goal of this month is to spread awareness about why maintaining attendance in school and college is an essential component for success academically. Work now to prevent unnecessary absences. Schedule appointments for after school, on early release days, in the summer, or on non-school days. Plan vacations and trips using the MERSD school calendar to avoid missing academic days.

Getting into the habit of daily attendance matters more than ever. If there is anything that we can do to help make sure that your student is making it to school, please reach out to your school. Every day counts!

Massachusetts has permanently extended its free school lunch and breakfast program for all K12 students, regardless of income.

This means that all MERSD students can access a free breakfast and lunch meal every school day. There is no need to apply, and all students are eligible regardless of income. If you do not wish to have your child participate, you may opt-out by notifying your principal’s office.

Payment Portal Accounts

This free program does not include second meal servings, bottled water, or milk sold separately. Students may purchase these items on site, paid either by cash or by your student's online, pre-funded meals account. At the Middle High School, students may also purchase DESE qualified snacks. Families can make payments for these items online, using the School Payment Portal, located here: https://www.schoolpaymentportal.com/ConsumerLogin.aspx. A User’s guide to the portal is attached, and includes instructions on how to set up your account. The portal can also be customized to create:

• Automated low balance alerts via email (see p. 21)
• Automatic payments to replenish your account when balance hits a certain threshold (p. 21)
• Restrictions on specific food/menu options that your child may or may not purchase (p. 24)

Direct Certification/MERSD Fee Waivers

Please be aware that MERSD is still required to conduct periodic matching of our enrollment to the "Direct Certification" database of the Executive Office of Health & Human Services (EOHHS). Even though all MERSD students are eligible for free meals, only families that match the EOHHS database will also be eligible for reduction and/or waiver of MERSD bus, athletics and other user fees. Notices from MERSD's Central Office have been sent recently to families that have matched the EOHHS database.

Online Menu App

Nutrislice is a mobile app from our food service management company, Chartwells, that allows families to view lunch menus by school for each day of the month. All nutritional content information can be viewed for each menu item, including ingredients and potential allergens. Menus for each school will be posted on the MERSD Nutrislice web page at https://mersd.nutrislice.com, or you can also download the mobile app from the App Store or Google Play. Please continue to work directly with the School Nurse in your child’s school on any issues related to food allergens or medical conditions that might impact food selection.

Contact Information for Chartwells

MERSD’s program is run by Paula Graham, on-site manager for Chartwells, who can be reached by phone at 978-526-2049, or via email at: grahamp@mersd.org. Please contact Paula Graham directly for any questions you may have about Food Service.

Wishing you a healthy and happy start to the new school year!

The Open Door Food Truck will visit Essex Elementary School and Manchester Memorial Elementary School. For more information about The Open Door please visit their website.

Thank you to our Facilities Team and Maintenance Crew for their hard work this Summer preparing our schools for the students and teachers return!

The District Calendar is available in the Quick Links Section of the district and school homepages. Please note that the last day of school, if all snow days are used, will be June 25th; without the use of snow days, we are scheduled for the last day of school to be June 17th. Should we exceed five snow days, additional make-up days will be added to the end of the year through June 30th.

• School & District websites – we are making an effort to keep these informative and up to date.

• District & School website calendars have up-to-date information about school and district activities.

• Athletic schedules can be accessed from a link on the Athletics page.

• The budget page can be accessed by a Quick Link off the district home page – here you will find our FY25 budget documents and presentations. We will be updating this in the fall to reflect the FY26 budget process.

• Superintendent’s Blog is a forum to share good news, observations, and information about our schools and about education in general.

• MERSD Facebook

36 Lincoln St., Manchester, MA 01944

https://www.mersd.org/

Phone 978.526.4919

Fax 978.526.7585