FROM THE DESK OF THE PRINCIPAL
JENNIFER ROBERTS
MARCH 1, 2010
Dismissal Plan: Thank you , Thank you, Thank you for all of your patience and support as we implemented our new drop off and pick up procedures. This plan was instituted to enhance the safety of our students as they come and go from school. There is no doubt that this new plan has accomplished that, so thank you for bearing with us as we moved forward with this new procedure. Students are getting out of cars at the curb and walking into the building in a safe and orderly manner. At dismissal time they are exiting the building in a way that is safe and waiting with adult supervision until they are picked up. I can safely say that when I go back inside the building each day, I know that every child has been picked up.
I would like to acknowledge the two drawbacks to this new plan. One is that parents might have to wait in a line for a few minutes to get their children. I am aware that this can be frustrating to some people, so I have a few suggestions. Those of us on duty have been aware of the time and have noticed that once the students come out of the building it takes about ten minutes for the whole procedure to take place. Some parents are coming as early at 2:30 to get in line which causes the line to form early and then obviously these folks are waiting for a half an hour. Please know that we are fine with this, but for those of you who do not wish to wait I would suggest you come closer to 3:05. The students come out around 3:00 so the line begins moving
pretty quickly at that time. By 3:10 we are usually done loading students and heading back in the building.
The second drawback of this new procedure is the lack of time for parents to mingle and chat at the end of the school day. This aspect of EES is one of the things that make this school so special. It is the sense of community that stands out to most of us. I acknowledge this! While the weather is
dismal, I know most of you do not worry too much about chatting outside, but when the warm sunny
days are upon us it will be a loss. When those warm days finally are here, I would like to encourage you to engage in that sense of community that we all value so much by parking in the upper lot and gathering your children to go around back (away from all of the cars) and gather there. I think this is much safer. I would like to work with the PTO to plan some type of way to make this accessible and inviting to parents who are feeling this loss. If you have ideas, please pass them along.
Before I sign off on this issue, I would like to thank the committee of people who met for a few hours to plan this procedure; Police Chief Silva, Nurse Donna Smith, Kim Fields, Janet delValle, Liz Mulry, Joyce Hersey, and Roxanne McGrath. They were instrumental in getting this off the ground and are clearly an example of the great people from the Essex community. Thank you!
MCAS Information: I would be remiss in not speaking about our upcoming MCAS testing. The schedule is included in this newsletter for you to review. Please mark the dates in your calendar and work with us to establish the best testing conditions for all of our students. As you all know, rest and a healthy breakfast are key to good performance in school. To that end, please encourage your children to get to bed early and have a nutritious breakfast throughout this testing window. It is a joke in my house that Mom only fixes breakfast when big tests like SATs or MCAS are happening….and then it's protein, protein, protein (proven brain food)! Also, if your child is ill during the testing period, we do advise that you keep them home. There is a make up window at the end of the week. I have
seen students come to school very sick just to take their MCAS and wonder how optimal that is for anyone. Timeliness is key because we will be starting in the morning and once the test begins, students will not be admitted to the classroom. If they are tardy, they would have to wait in the office. Thank you for your help with this.
In closing, I would like to congratulate Mrs. Nancy Adams and the entire cast and crew of The King and I for an amazing performance. The weather did not cooperate but the performance sure did. Way to go boys and girls. I look forward to what Nancy has in store for next year.
MCAS 2010 Schedule (Actual Testing Dates
Grade 3 ELA March 24, 25th
Grade 3 Math May 12, 13
Grade 4 Long Composition March 23
Grade 4 ELA March 31, April 1
Grade 4 Math May 19 and 20th
Grade 5 Sci./Tech May 17, 18
Grade 5 ELA March 29, 30
Grade 5 Math May 10, 11
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