The Feathered Flyer Update

Even though we just connected two weeks ago, I wanted to jump into this month’s newsletter to reiterate just how thrilled we are to have your children with us this school year! Our building is full of energy, and we have an incredible team of upbeat, positive staff members who are deeply dedicated to their own learning and growth to ensure your child receives the absolute best education and experience possible.

I also have an important plea for our community: please, please, please consider joining our PTC!

I realize that we all lead busy lives and that free time is precious. For the past couple of years, our wonderful community events—like Trunk or Treat, the Scholastic Book Fairs, and more—have been led almost entirely by two dedicated parents. One of those parents no longer has a child at EES and needs to hand over the reins. Simply put: these cherished events will not be able to happen unless new parents step up to join the PTC and learn how to lead them.

Please consider getting involved! You don't have to take on everything at once—you can start small. Every bit of help makes a huge difference for our kids and our school community.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us and for considering joining the PTC to keep these traditions alive! There a meeting schedule at the bottom of this newsletter.

Warmly,

Laura

My name is Diana Marcela Carroll, a native of Bogotá,Colombia, This is my 16th year teaching various subjects and different classrooms. I graduated from Florida International University with a B.S. in Biology in Florida in 2006 followed by teacher licensure in New Hampshire in 2008, I have taught in Vermont, The Bahamas and in a little one room school house in Isle au Haut, Maine. I am excited to share my culture and Spanish language with the students at Edgecomb Eddy. I am a gardener and librarian in the summer on Squirrel Island, ME.

All students may have breakfast between 7:30 - 8:00. All breakfasts will include a protein, fruit, grain and a milk.

A huge thank you goes out to Heather Sinclair, our School Committee Chair, for taking the lead on organizing and communicating throughout our massive summer paving project—and for mastering all those magical paving terms along the way!

We also extend our sincere gratitude to Scott Griffin for his collaboration and management of our beautiful new paving, as well as overseeing the delicate move of our beloved archway and bell tower.

Lastly, a massive thank you to our dedicated staff for being so amazingly flexible with all the overlapping projects at the Eddy this summer. From new lighting and floor waxing to the paving work, access to your classrooms was often limited, but you made it work seamlessly and were completely ready for your students on day one.

A quick request for our whole community: Please help us take care of our new driveway and parking lot! So much time, effort, and care went into updating our property, and now it is our turn to keep it looking great.

Thank you all again for your support and flexibility!

Please return your First Day Packets ASAP! It is critical to have this information as soon as possible.

This is just a friendly reminder that if you need to change transportation plans for child, please do so by noon and in writing to Maureen Cooper at mcooper@aos98schools.org.

🍎 Exciting News from the Kitchen: Rethinking Snack & Lunch!

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that this year, we have our very own Kitchen Manager! With this wonderful addition to our staff, we are piloting a new program focused on healthier, home-cooked school meals and a major shift away from prepackaged foods. As part of this green initiative, we are also working hard to reduce our use of single-use plastics (SUP) throughout the cafeteria.

The New Snack Policy: Finding the Right Balance

In the past, school-provided snacks were available to all students at any time. Moving forward, we want to ensure snack time doesn't accidentally replace lunchtime. We have found that many students were overeating during morning snack time—often consuming a second full breakfast—which left them too full to eat their nutritious lunches.

To help us establish healthier habits, we are asking for your partnership:

• Pack One Healthy Item: We highly encourage families to send their student to school with one healthy snack item for the day (for example: a piece of fruit or a granola bar).

• School Snacks are for Those Without: If your child brings a snack from home, they will eat that item. School-provided snacks will still be available for any student who does not have one brought from home.

• Appropriate Portions: School-provided snacks will be transitioned from full breakfast items to more appropriate, light snack portions so that students still have a healthy appetite when lunch rolls around.

Our goal is to ensure every student eats a robust, delicious lunch to power them through the afternoon! Thank you so much for your support as we transition to a healthier, more sustainable school environment.

"The Parent Teacher Club" is actively seeking new members! Do you want to make a positive difference in your school community? Research shows that students whose parents volunteer have:

• Positive Attitude: Seeing parents involved fosters a stronger appreciation for education and a more favorable view of the school environment.
• Increased Confidence: Children feel more valued, supported, and proud when they see their parents contributing positively to their school community.

• Stronger Social Skills: Students often demonstrate better social interactions and self-esteem through the sense of inclusion created by community events.

• Lifelong Values: Children learn the importance of civic duty and are more likely to become adult volunteers themselves.
• Better Communication: Staff and parents build trust and solve problems quickly together.

Check out the list of events that the PTC usually coordinates. We can't do it all without you! Please reach out to Maureen or Audrey if you have any questions or are willing to take the lead on an event!

The breezes taste

Of apple peel.

The air is full

Of smells to feel--

Ripe fruit, old footballs,

Drying grass,

New books and blackboard

Chalk in class.

The bee, his hive

Well-honeyed, hums

While Mother cuts

Chrysanthemums.

Like plates washed clean

With suds, the days

Are polished with

A morning haze.

From A Child's Calendar, Poems by John Updike