Greetings,

I hope this letter finds you enjoying the summer sun by a pool of water with a cool, refreshing beverage in hand and a good book on your lap. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it’s time to coax your feet back into regular shoes and think about the upcoming school year.  A good deal has happened since we left in June.

First, I would like to welcome the following people to our school community:

                        Michael Mahoney        Assistant Principal 

                        Keri Balsamo               Intensive Needs Paraprofessional

                        Laura Blakey               Grade Four Teacher (anticipated)       

Sandy Hood                 Intensive Needs Paraprofessional

Barbara Jenkins            Intensive Needs Paraprofessional

Mary Kelley                 Intensive Needs Paraprofessional

Danielle Long              Preschool Teacher

Brooke Mello               Grade One Teacher

Meg Miller                   Intensive Needs Paraprofessional

Thang Nguyen             Head Custodian

Shauna O’Leary           Student Teacher

                        Maureen Perry             Guidance Counselor

                        Daisy Rodriguez          Intensive Needs Paraprofessional

                        Dianne Roosen                        Speech Pathologist

TBD                             Kindergarten Teacher

                        TBD                             Computer Technician

We are excited to see Erin Falabella (Grade 2), Ashley Groulx (Gr. 1), Nancy Hicks (Grade 3),  Kim Reich (Grade 3), Sara Roy (Grade 1), Julie Slattery (Grade 1) and Lenny Webb returning.  We know Josh Downing will enjoy the challenge of grade 5. 

Our Bicentennial family continues to grow.  We remain the largest Nashua elementary school with approximately 650 students ready to join us.  Classes at every grade level are full.  This year we welcome our largest ever, incoming first grade…135eager, enthusiastic youngsters!  We also look forward to the addition of the Building Blocks preschool program. 

There have been some notable changes with your daily schedule.  This year we will not have to share the talents of Donna Pereira and Lenny Webb, as they have been assigned to our school on a full-time basis.  In addition, classroom teachers will have an additional 50 minutes of planning time.  In order to provide this, art, music, physical education and library specialists’ classes will be 55 minutes in length.  The remaining 30 minutes will be covered by a computer specialist (and Heidi Grant) who will work with each class once a week. 

Our first day together will be Monday, August 25^th.  Paraprofessionals will most likely be meeting as a group, with Dr. Schroeder.  Please call the office the week of August 18th for additional information. Teachers should plan on meeting here in the cafeteria at 8:30 AM for light breakfast refreshments and socializing.  Our annual meeting will begin promptly at 9 AM.  The morning will be used to cover school-wide essentials, while the afternoon will be devoted to meeting with special education case managers, mandatory X2 training for those that did not participate this summer, and additional time to prepare for the students’ arrival on Tuesday.       

In the meantime, enjoy the lazy summer days.