School News 9/9/19
We are beginning our first full week of school. After Tuesday, we will have gotten through one of each day of the week. Our daily routines including arrival/dismissal, lunches, and recess times are beginning to gel and we have worked out some of the kinks. A big thank you to the students and teachers for working hard to get us off to a great start. Last Friday, Mr. Wilson conducted community meetings with each grade and reviewed our district bullying policy in student friendly language. We have celebrated many birthdays since school started and it is great seeing all the smiley faces arriving at the office in the morning to claim their birthday sticker! Each morning we recognize a large handful of students who completed and returned their summer reading/math logs with a certificate. We will continue to do this until all students have been recognized for their summer work.
Fire Drill
Last Thursday we completed our first fire drill. Students were well prepared and emptied the entire building in 2 minutes and 28 seconds. We will have 2-3 more during the school year. Our fires department will be using the inside of the Sylvester School for training drills. The trainings began today and will continue through the month of September. We bring this to your attention so you are not concerned if you see emergency vehicles in and around Sylvester School. They will not interfere with our school day or recess times.
Lunch
A few parents have reached out to me about lunch times, especially at third grade. Thank you for sending along your questions and we appreciate your understanding as we improve our efficiencies in the cafeteria and kitchen each day. There are two lunch lines, four cafeteria workers who prepare and service lunches, and plenty of seating. Our lunches this year actually have less students than they did last year, so we have removed a few tables creating even more space. Lunches are 25 minutes and opportunity for students to eat, buy snack, etc. Mr. Wilson is in the cafeteria most days and is carefully monitoring lunches and making adjustments as needed.
Dismissal
Each day improves and we are seeing buses arriving quicker from their middle school routes. As drivers and students become more familiar to each other on the routes we expect that this will only improve. We do dismiss 587 students daily beginning at 2:55 pm. Students go to F.A.C.E., parent pickup, and then two bus groups. In order to be efficient and safe we call kids to locations in an order so that we can monitor that students go where they need to at the end of the day. Our F.A.C.E. program services over 100 students each afternoon. During the dismissal, they meet in two large locations (gym, cafeteria) and take attendance while the rest of the school dismisses. Our last buses have been leaving by 3:05-3:07 pm and we hope to see that improve slightly and remain consistent. Parent pick-up has been going well and we appreciate the care and safety that you are taking during this busy time of day.
School Council
We are in need of school council members for the 2019-2020 school year. If you are interested, please email, Dawnlisa Pellegrino at dpellegrino@hanoverschools.org. There are three open seats for parent representatives and one open seat for a community representative. Should the interest be more than the number of open seats we will hold an election on Curriculum Night, Thursday, September 19, 2019.
Thank you for your continued support and have a great week!
Mrs. DeGrenier
Principal