Dewey's Details: Caregiver Update

Dear Dutile Caregivers,

I hope you are all enjoying these final weeks of summer and finding time to relax, have fun, and enjoy August with family and friends. It is hard to believe that we are already closing in on the start of another school year!

As we prepare to welcome students back to Dutile, I wanted to share an end-of-summer update with some important information to help everyone prepare for a smooth and successful start to the 2026–2027 school year. Whether your family is returning to Dutile or joining our school community for the first time, we know that the beginning of a new school year brings a mix of excitement, anticipation, and lots of questions. We hope the information below provides a helpful starting point as you prepare for the weeks ahead.

There is already a growing sense of excitement around the building! Over the past several days, more and more of our teachers and staff have been returning to Dutile to set up classrooms, prepare learning spaces, and get everything ready for our students. After a busy summer of work throughout the building, it has been wonderful to see our school beginning to come back to life!

Please take some time to review the updates, reminders, and resources included below. As always, if you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to reach out to our school office. We are happy to help.

We are excited for all that lies ahead and cannot wait to welcome our students and families back to Dutile! Additional information with specific details and reminders for the first day of school will be shared next week.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Scott Middlemiss

Principal

As we prepare for the start of a new school year, we are pleased to share the 2026–2027 Dutile School Guidelines & Procedures Manual. This resource provides caregivers with important information about our school’s guidelines, expectations, routines, and procedures. We encourage all families to take some time to review the manual and keep it as a reference throughout the school year.

Please note: Dutile School’s daily schedule and hours are different from those of the other elementary schools in the district. We begin and end our school day earlier than the other elementary schools.

• Students may enter the building: 7:45 AM
• School day begins: 7:55 AM
• School day ends: 2:05 PM
• Breakfast: Free breakfast is available in the cafeteria for all students who would like to participate.

Please be sure to keep these times in mind when planning for arrival and dismissal.

Procedures may be updated as needed throughout the year to remain consistent with district policies and safety protocols. Any significant changes will always be communicated with families.

Thank you for entrusting us with your child’s education. We greatly value your trust, support, and partnership and are grateful to have your family as part of the Dutile community. We look forward to a joyful, successful, and rewarding 2026–2027 school year!

This year, the district has updated the structure of our special subjects, allowing the talents and expertise of our amazing special subject teachers to be shared across schools throughout Billerica.

While the special subjects our students know and enjoy will remain the same, you may notice some new faces teaching these classes at Dutile this year. We are fortunate to have several returning staff members, along with some teachers who will be joining the Dutile community for the first time.

We are excited to welcome both new and returning special subject teachers to Dutile this year! We know they will bring their talents, creativity, and enthusiasm to our students and school community. Please join us in giving our new staff members a warm Dutile welcome!

Art (Mondays and Tuesdays): Ms. Sarah Coakley

Art (Fridays): Ms. Megan Wallace

Health (Mondays and Fridays): Ms. Ashleigh Oestricher

Health (Wednesdays): Ms. Julielyn Mullen

LITE (Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays): Ms. Christina Dill

Music (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays): Ms. Kayla McGarr

Physical Education (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays): Ms. Ashleigh Oestreicher

We are excited to officially welcome several new staff members to the Dutile School! We also have some returning staff members who will be stepping into new roles for the 2026–2027 school year. We are thrilled to have each of them as part of our Dutile community and look forward to all they will bring to our students, families, and school.

Please join us in welcoming and getting to know our new staff members below!

• Ms. Emily Vinci: Special Education Coordinator
• Ms. Chelsey Mathews: Special Education (STRIVE) Teacher
• Ms. Riley Aptt: Kindergarten Paraprofessional
• Ms. Tia Bothwell: STRIVE Paraprofessional
• Ms. Kimberley Devlin: STRIVE Paraprofessional
• Ms. Chelsea Haslam: STRIVE Paraprofessional
• Ms. Kathryn Leifheit: STRIVE Paraprofessional
• Ms. Emily Long: STRIVE Paraprofessional
• Ms. Abigail Tierney: STRIVE Registered Behavior Technician (RBT)
• Ms. Dianne Pellegrino: Building-Based Substitute (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays)

We are looking forward to our Grade-Level Popsicles on the Playground Meet & Greets this Thursday, August 27, 2026! These informal gatherings are a great opportunity for students to reconnect with friends and meet some of their new classmates before the start of the school year.

Please be sure to have your child wear the color designated for their classroom, as noted on the grade-level flyers attached below. This will help students easily find and connect with their new classmates!

Because our grade-level events are scheduled back-to-back throughout the day, we will begin wrapping up and dismissing students approximately 45 minutes after each event begins. This will give families time to exit the playground and parking areas before the next grade level begins arriving.

Please also remember that the school building will not be open during these events, and bathroom facilities will not be available. We appreciate your understanding and planning accordingly.

We are excited to welcome everyone back to Dutile and hope to see many of our students on the playground Thursday!

• 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Grade 1 Meet & Greet
• 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Grade 2 Meet & Greet
• 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Grade 3 Meet & Greet
• 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: Grade 4 Meet & Greet
• 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Kindergarten Meet & Greet

We are excited to welcome our incoming kindergarten students and caregivers to Dutile for Kindergarten Orientation on Thursday, September 3, 2026, from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM!

During orientation, students and caregivers will have an opportunity to learn more about kindergarten and prepare for the start of the school year. We will also have a school bus at Dutile so our newest students can practice getting on and off the bus before their first day!

We hope this experience helps our kindergartners feel comfortable, confident, and excited as they get ready for their first day of school on Tuesday, September 8, 2026.

We look forward to seeing our kindergarten families on September 3rd!

We are so excited to welcome our newest kindergarten students to the Dutile School community!

I have had so much fun making special deliveries to our incoming kindergarten students this summer!

I have already had the chance to visit many of our newest students at their homes to personally deliver a small welcome gift, say hello, and help them begin to feel connected to Dutile before their very first day of school.

These visits have been such a wonderful way to meet our youngest learners and build some excitement as they get ready for kindergarten. I hope these little surprises have brought some smiles and helped make the transition to kindergarten feel a little more exciting—and a little less scary!

I still have a few more special deliveries to make, and I am looking forward to completing my visits soon. I can’t wait to welcome all of our new kindergarten students to Dutile on their first day!

We are looking for caregivers who would like to serve on the Dutile School Advisory Council (SAC) for the 2026–2027 school year. Caregiver representation is an important part of the council, and we would love to have members of our school community join us and share their perspectives.

School Advisory Councils are made up of caregivers, educators, the school principal, and a community representative. The council works collaboratively to support the continued growth and improvement of our school.

As outlined by Massachusetts law, the School Advisory Council works with the principal to:

• Identify the educational needs of students.
• Establish educational goals for the school that are consistent with district priorities and statewide standards.
• Review the annual school budget.
• Help develop and review the annual School Improvement Plan.

Caregiver members serve as representatives of our broader Dutile community. Their perspectives, ideas, and feedback are an important part of our conversations and help ensure that caregiver voices are represented as we make decisions about the needs and priorities of our school.

I would love to have caregiver representation from across our Dutile community on this year’s council! If you are interested in serving on the 2026–2027 Dutile School Advisory Council, please email me at smiddlemiss@billericak12.com and include “Dutile SAC Volunteer” in the subject line.

Thank you for considering this opportunity to become involved and help support our students and school community!

Get Involved with the Dutile PTO!
The Dutile PTO is already planning exciting events for the 2025–2026 school year—and we’d love your help! Whether you’re interested in leading a committee, helping plan behind the scenes, or just showing up to volunteer for an hour or two, we have a role for everyone. It’s a great way to stay connected, meet other families, and support our amazing school community.

Fill out our quick volunteer interest form here: https://dutilepto.com/volunteer/

Let’s make this year the best one yet!

-------------------------------

We’re Looking for Walk-a-Thon Sponsors!

Support Our Students!

Calling all local businesses!

The Dutile Elementary School PTO is looking for local businesses to partner with us as sponsors for our 20th Annual Walk-a-Thon, happening this October!

The Walk-a-Thon is our one and only fundraiser of the school year, and the money raised directly supports our Dutile students, teachers, and families — including K–4 programs and activities, field trips, books, playground equipment, community events, and teacher requests.

By sponsoring the Walk-a-Thon, your business will also receive recognition throughout the 2026–2027 school year, including opportunities on our website, pledge pages, social media, and our custom Walk-a-Thon shirts worn by students, teachers, and families. Our Facebook page alone reaches an average of 22,000 views each month!

Most importantly, your sponsorship is an opportunity to invest directly in the children and families in our local community. We also encourage our Dutile families to support the businesses that support our school!

Interested in becoming a sponsor or learning more about sponsorship levels?

Visit: dutilepto.com/sponsorship/

Please feel free to share this post or tag a local business owner who might be interested in supporting Dutile Elementary!

Thank you for helping us make our 20th Annual Walk-a-Thon our best one yet!

Please follow and "like" the "Frederick J. Dutile Elementary School" Facebook page. I will be posting often to share examples of the incredible teaching and learning that takes place at our school each day!

https://www.facebook.com/dutileschool

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

• First Day of School: Grades 1 - 4

• 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Kindergarten Orientation

Friday, September 4, 2026

• NO SCHOOL

Monday, September 7, 2026

• NO SCHOOL: Labor Day

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

• School Reopens
• First Day of School: Kindergarten
• Third Day of School: Grades 1 - 4

Thursday, September 17, 2026

• 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM: "Back to School" Night in Dutile Classrooms

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

• EARLY RELEASE DAY: Dismissal at 12:05 PM