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Principal's Page Kelly Clough Thoreau School Principal |
September 6, 2011
Dear Thoreau Families,
Hello! It was wonderful to greet all of our new and returning students on the first day of school today. As I visited classrooms and lunches I especially enjoyed connecting with students and teachers to learn about their summer vacations and how eager and excited they all are to begin the new school year. The Thoreau staff would also like to thank you for the lovely luncheon hosted by the PTG last Friday. It was wonderful and very much appreciated!
As the school year begins, I would like to remind parents about our Student Drop Off ñ Pick Up Procedure. The six parking spots on the driveway entrance of the school are for parent Drop Off ñ Pick Up. The first three parking spots are designated for Student Drop Off ñ Pick Up Only. The second three parking spots are also for Student Drop Off ñ Pick Up and then after 9am can be used for Visitor Parking. Please do not use the Handicap parking places to drop off, pick up or park for any amount of time unless you have the proper Handicap placard. This means students exit the vehicle in a relatively quick and especially safe manner, and then walk into the school. Please do not park in this area and then walk your child into the building. There will be school staff outside in this
area to guide your child safely inside. If you want to walk your child to the front door or inside please use the on-street parking areas. You may also pull up to the intersection of West Street & Prairie Street and have your child exit at the stop sign. We ask that this type of Drop Off be age appropriate. (The child is able to unbuckle their seat belt and exit the vehicle on their own and in a safe manner so traffic can still flow.) The Crossing Guard will then cross the child on the cross walk. The school parking lot will be utilized by school staff only between the hours 8:00 AM -12:00 PM. Visitors are asked to use the designated visiting parking area and on street parking. I also ask that all operators use caution and properly secure their vehicles. Please do not leave your vehicle engine running while unattended. In the afternoon we ask parents and any younger children to congregate at the corner of the
sidewalk. This will allow teachers to walk their classes out to the buses in an orderly fashion and keep track of their students. Thank you very much for your cooperation.
September 11, 2011 marks the 10th Anniversary of the events of 9/11. The Trinitarian Congregation Church in Concord has organized a town wide “Community Musical Commemoration; Singing for Peace” in remembrance of this 10th anniversary. There will be a variety of community musical groups performing. Ms. Swain, Thoreau Music Teacher, is helping organize this event and she has asked 5th grade students if they would like to participate by singing at the commemoration. We hope you can join us on Sunday, at 7:00 PM for this special musical commemoration. We will also be holding our first monthly All School Assembly this Friday, September 9 in the school cafeteria, where we will introduce new students and staff members, sing our school song as well as have the fifth
graders perform the peace song.
Next, I had the pleasure of meeting with a group of parents and staff members this past August to discuss various ways to enhance communication at Thoreau. We thought it would be helpful to share with all of you the existing ways we currently communicate among staff members, students, and families and then also share some of the ideas and suggestions for changes that we also talked about for this coming school year. For instance, did you know that all teachers at Thoreau have classroom websites that are updated regularly so that students and parents can be informed about grade level curriculum, classroom routines, homework assignments, field trips, and much more? Some teachers also have created their own Blogs. (When you visit your childís classroom at Back To School Night scheduled for September 21, from 6:30 PM - 8:40 PM, you will receive more detailed information on this.) There is also the PTG newsletter to families and staff. I have been contributing to this newsletter on
a bi-weekly basis. We also have a daily morning bulletin that goes out to our staff about events going on in the building, staff attendance, and other important reminders. We have First Class collaboration/email suite for in-district sharing that includes the following:
*K-12 News (whole district)
*Thoreau Staff (Thoreau staff and other district personnel)
*Attention Thoreau (just Thoreau staff) This folder includes messages from Kelly and the storage of faculty meeting-related minutes and committee minutes which all staff has access to
*Connect Ed Messaging (both email and phone voice messages) used by district personnel and principals for contacting families about important information and reminders
Thoreau has a Parent Teacher Group (PTG) that meets monthly to discuss school related topics. I also meet bi-weekly with the PTG co-presidents to plan, share, and discuss a variety of important events and/or programs happening throughout the school year.
We also have a School Advisory Committee (SAC). SAC consists of staff and parents who discuss and provide advice on school curriculum and initiatives as well as work on the School Improvement Plan (SIP) and various other school related topics. We also have a School Leadership Team (SLT) that consists of various staff members and the principal. SLT discusses and analyzes how to improve student learning, analyze student data, curriculum initiatives as well as provide input towards the School Improvement Plan. The School Leadership Team also serves as a means for cultivating and sharing school leadership amongst staff. As of this fall, we have also added a new committee, Thoreau Cares Committee, co-chaired by Jessica Christensen and Mehrnoosh Watson. TCC
is devoted to working on social/emotional skills and programs that also include anti-bullying. Various staff members have volunteered to be on this committee.
Another idea that we talked about at our meeting was to pilot the creation of a monthly Blog that staff, students, and I would contribute to on a monthly basis, or more. (This Blog would take the place of the principalís piece in the PTG newsletter. ) The idea behind creating a Blog is for it to be authentic and relevant to student learning that takes place so that when students, staff, and I have these experiences, they can be shared with families. The technology specialist and I will be working on the design of this and more details on the Blog will be forthcoming. I have also created Open Office Hours each Wednesday from 8:00 AM ñ 8:30 AM and each Thursday, 3:45 PM ñ 4:15 PM for staff and parents. Maria Schofield, our administrative assistant will schedule meetings with
staff and parents during these designated blocks. My priority is to be in classrooms and throughout the building during the school hours, working with staff and students. Parents can also contact me through email or by phone. Please know that I usually check my emails in the early AM when I donít have an early meeting and later on in the day after school gets out.
Other topics we covered included continuing with our monthly School Spirit Days and having monthly All School Assemblies. We will be talking with staff to get their feedback about themes for the assemblies. Thoreau has also re-invigorated the staff social committee to plan several fun gatherings and events throughout the school year for all staff that is outside the school day.
Last, please remember to read over the parent packets that were sent home recently. This includes your childís health forms, contact information, and other relevant information requested of you. If for any reason you did not receive this packet, please let your classroom teacher know as soon as possible so that we can forward this information to you.
Thank you for your continued support and involvement in your childís
education. We are off to a terrific start and we are looking forward to a wonderful school year with your children!
Sincerely,
Kelly Clough
Principal
Thoreau
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