The Compass Rose: Back to School!

Hello again East families! We are kicking our back-to-school prep into high gear, with just about 2 weeks before the start of the 2024-25 school year! We hope you've enjoyed tons of summer fun...for the adults we hope that was sneaking out of work early, sleeping late, or enjoying some kid-free time and for our students we hope they had epic days at camp, stayed up late, and enjoyed all that summer break brings :)

Below you'll find information and resources to help prepare your family & student for the upcoming year. Teachers will be reaching out with classroom-specific information as we open the school year, but please don't hesitate to reach out to us and we'll be happy to help.

-Mr. Hawes

As we continue to refine the newly-revamped daily academic schedule, it's important for parents to note that our morning arrival time has been shortened to maximize our learning opportunities & academic schedule. Core academic blocks are scheduled to begin at 9:05.

To accommodate this, we'll need your help sending & spreading the message to our students about prompt arrival and breakfast procedures. Students seeking breakfast this year will be picking that up directly upon arrival and then heading to class (note: this may be a change for some who are used to visiting class first, dropping their things and then heading down to pick up breakfast).

As always, staff will be around and available in the morning to assist students who are unfamiliar with locations or procedures. Our teachers will be reviewing this new procedure in the beginning weeks of school. Thank you for your assistance in spreading the word to your students!

All HPS families are encouraged to use the Aspen Family portal. Parents will have access to assign & confirm contact information, review student report cards (published in January and June), retrieve classroom teacher assignments, and complete typical beginning-of-year authorizations (photo release, handbook sign-off, etc.)

For new families, registration links and account setup information was sent out on Friday 8/9. For families with students already enrolled in HPS, your Kindergarten student's information should be populated into your family's page.

https://hinghamschools.org/students-and-families/aspen-parent-portal/

Please join us on September 4th (sessions beginning at 9:15, more info coming soon) for Kindergarten Orientation! You will get to hear information about the year's academics and social learning opportunities, explore the classroom space, and ask questions of your teachers before their first day of school (Kindergarten starts on 9/5).

During this session, our transportation department will be arranging for students students to experience a trip on the school bus with a quick drive around the neighborhood to review some initial bus safety and expectations. Save the date!

East Elementary uses PickUp Patrol as our hub for communicating all absences, transportation, dismissal/arrival notifications, and other parent needs with our Main Office and staff. Parents can set default transportation/dismissal changes, add notes or reminders to our staff regarding pickup changes and PickUp Patrol will generate a report for us each day to ensure we get your kiddos where they need to be...all from your phone!

It is important that parents of Kids In Action before & after-care students set their preferences for Pick Up Patrol (ex. if your student is scheduled for KIA on Wednesday but you'd like them to take the bus that day, PickUp Patrol needs to be updated. If no changes are made, they will be signed in to KIA).

PickUp Patrol provides parents with easy-to-use setup directions within the PDF below. We expect PickUp Patrol to be ready and updated for the start of school. If parents need assistance with setup after August 31st, please contact kmariani@hinghamschools.org or enelson@hinghamschools.org.

Be sure to bookmark our school's website (https://www.hinghamschools.org/o/ees) or check out our new mobile app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

We've partnered with Apptegy/Thrillshare to update and provide new tools for our HPS school and district websites. Through this process, some old links may show up as broken or you may be unable to find something in it's old location. Please don't hesitate to let us know when you discover these so we can get them fixed!

Beginning this fall, we've partnered with a new vendor for school pictures. We will no longer be using Lifetouch and Inter-State Studios will be servicing our school picture needs moving forward. This new venture promises to bring better pricing, better options (including a free class photo with every package), and improved customer service & experience.

Our school picture date is September 16th. Below you'll find resources and information from Inter-State. Parents are encouraged to set up accounts now so that they have the ability to customize packages they seek ahead of time. Please check out their resources at the link below, we'll be sending Picture Day flyers and information in the first week of school.

The East Elementary PTO meets monthly throughout the school year, with meeting dates typically taking place the second Wednesday of the month, either in the East cafeteria or the Multi-Purpose Room.

Our PTO board for the 2024-25 school year is as follows:

• Co-Presidents: Nicole Dunn, Michelle Kubec
• Co-Vice Presidents: Cheryn Byron, Barbara Fitzpatrick
• Treasurer: Aimee Glynn
• Secretary: Danielle Thomas

Meeting dates/times for the upcoming year are as follows:
9/11, 7PM

10/9, 7PM

11/13, 9:30AM

12/11, 9:30AM

1/8, 7PM

2/12, 9:30AM

3/12, 7PM

4/9, 9:30AM

5/14, 7PM

6/11, 7PM

Lunch and breakfast are served during each of our full-day sessions at East Elementary (note, no lunch is served on Early Release days). Although Massachusetts has enacted free school meals (lunch and breakfast) for all public school students, families will need to set up accounts for their student. Additional items and charges do occur when students would like to purchase a second lunch, additional milks, additional items, etc.

Below is a link to our Food Services site and families can navigate to the Pre-Payment Options tab to set up their accounts! Menus from this site will also be linked each month on our East Elementary website.

Kindergarten: Mrs. Emily Day, Mrs. Jackie McHugh, and Ms. Kathleen Kilmain

Grade 1: Mrs. Michele Morrison, Mrs. Alyce McGourty (Jordan), Mrs. Laurie Lucas, and Mrs. Darlene Martin

Grade 2: Mrs. Jean Dugan, Mrs. Allison O'Neill, Mrs. Molly Keif, and Mr. Anthony Cave (new to East Elementary!)

Grade 3: Mrs. Hillary Cicerone, Mrs. Jennifer Walsh, Mrs. Meaghan Foote, and Ms. Mairead Swords

Grade 4: Mr. Brian DeMarco, Ms. Caitlin Yannizzi, and Ms. Madeline Cannavo

Grade 5: Mrs. Jessica O'Hara, Mrs. Julie Curatola, Mrs. Karen Breen, and Mrs. Kathy Joyce

Have questions or need assistance? Reach out to us!
Jonathan Hawes, Principal: jhawes@hinghamschools.org
Dr. Amanda Donovan, Assistant Principal: adonovan@hinghamschools.org
Karen Mariani, Administrative Assistant: kmariani@hinghamschools.org

Elisa Nelson, Administrative Assistant: enelson@hinghamschools.org
Tel: (781) 741-1570