Dear Peirce Families,
I hope that summer has been a wonderful time of rest for all of you! We look forward to seeing all of your children in less than two weeks for an exciting new year of learning.
We will welcome students in Grades 1-5 and Kindergarten, Group A to Peirce School on Tuesday, September 5th, and we look forward to seeing Kindergarten students in Group B on Wednesday, September 6th. On both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings of that week, we will have a coffee for new families, 8:30-9:15 a.m. Our Back-to-School Picnic will be held on Wednesday evening, September 13th, 5:30-7:00 p.m., and Curriculum Night will be held on Tuesday, September 26th. We hope that all of you are able to join us at those evening events for enjoyable moments of community-building.
As of this date, we are planning for 282 students in 14 classrooms for the 2016-17 school year. As you plan your routines for the new school year, please keep in mind that instruction begins promptly at 8:30 a.m. Doors will open for students to enter at 8:20 a.m., and we ask all adults to support your children with an on-time arrival each day.
Changes in Arrival Procedures: In June, Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Fleishman sent a memo with the following information, “In Newton, some of our elementary schools give families the option to walk their children into the building for morning drop-off. When we opened the new Angier and relocated Zervas students to Carr, we determined it was safer and more efficient for families to drop students outside the school. This has worked very well at these two schools and we will now expand this procedure to all Newton elementary schools.” At Peirce, we will be implementing this new procedure starting on Monday, September 11th. During the first week of school, parents will be able to walk their children into the building if they wish to do so. Following the first week, parents will be asked to stop at the front or back door and allow children to enter the building independently. Staff members will be in the hallways to provide assistance to students as needed. The one exception will be for Kindergarten families, who will begin the new procedure on Monday, September 18th.
Important Note about Access to the Building: The change in arrival procedures does not in any way change our welcome to parents to be a vital part of our school community. The change concerns only the morning drop-off period, 8:20-8:30 a.m. If you are coming to the office area of the school or going to an instructional area for a pre-arranged meeting, classroom event, performance, parent coffee or volunteer opportunity you are welcome to proceed as usual. We ask that all adult visitors sign in at the office and wear a visitor badge.
Traffic Reminders: Please remember that the curb in the back parking lot by the sidewalk is not for parking. It is for live drop-off only, and the driver must stay with the car. If you plan to park your car and walk up to the building with your child, please park on one of the streets surrounding the school. This leaves the parking lot open for staff and the driveway curb open for live drop-off. Please plan ahead to help your child have the strongest start to each school day and help all families experience the morning routines as fairly as possible.
Staffing Updates: It is a pleasure to welcome several new team members to our school family, including:
Chloe Ainley, Nurse
Kristine Barker, Special Education Team Specialist
Trisha Carey, Administrative Assistant
Elsa Carvalho, ELL
Katie Collins, Instructional Technology
Stephanie Golas, Library (new role)
Yvonne Gunzburger, Early Literacy Aide
Maddie Kenyon, Kindergarten
Alison Mountford, Psychologist
Isabel Southard, Graduate Intern (working with Sarah Breen and Katie Miller)
Congratulations to Nikki Capodilupo, whose son Lorenzo Vincent was born on June 29th! Kristin Moore, who has served our school as an intern, assistant, and substitute teacher during the past several years, will be Nikki’s substitute during the month of September.
The list below is a complete roster of our 2017-18 Peirce School staff, including both new and returning team members:
Kindergarten/Room 204 Melina Crovo
Kindergarten/Room 205 Madison Kenyon
First Grade/Room 209 Martha Mitchell
First Grade/Room 210 Erin Tracey
Second Grade/Room 213 Sarah Hawke
Second Grade/Room 214 Nicole Capodilupo (Kristin Moore will be the substitute in September.)
Third Grade/Room 208 Sarah Breen and Katie Miller (co-taught class)
Third Grade/Room 216 Gennie Salzsieder
Third Grade/Room 218 Emily Donahue
Fourth Grade/Room 215 Katie Christ
Fourth Grade/Room 212 Laura Disipio
Fifth Grade/Room 201 Anne Carey
Fifth Grade/Room 202 Kelly Champagne
Fifth Grade/Room 206 Katie Meehan
Art: Georgia Smith
Music: Christen Fitts
Instrumental Music: Tom Sheppard
Library: Stephanie Golas
Instructional Technology: Katie Collins
PE: Gary Nye
Learning Center Teacher: Jennifer Mead
Inclusion Facilitator: Kara Smith
Special Education Team Specialist: Kristine Barker
Instructional Assistants and Behavior Therapists: Julie Andersen, Nadine Houston, Dave McVey, Sarah Montana, Cynthia Popp, Jackie Sosa, and Julie Wilkie
Math Coach: Elka Kuhlman
Literacy Specialist: Brett Aronne
Early Literacy and Math Intervention Aides: Donna Busa, Yvonne Gunzburger, and Kim Hanlon
ELL: Elsa Carvalho
ELL Assistant: Josephine Bryant
Occupational Therapists: Svea Hall
Speech and Language: Stephanie Asadoorian, Evelyn Hatcher, and Megan Rawson
Psychologist: Alison Mountford
Social Worker: Nicole Mottley
Board Certified Behavior Analyst: Bonnie Marimon
Nurse: Chloe Ainley
Lunch Attendants: MaryJeanne Censullo and TBD
Instructional Support Staff (substitutes): Sarah Bajwa, Madison Hicks, Kristin Moore, Mahima Shukla
Building Aide: Becka Smillie
Graduate Intern: Isabel Southard
Senior Custodian: Jose Filomeno
Evening Custodian: TBD
Administrative Assistant: Patricia Carey
Principal: Mark Chitty
School Supplies: If you did not pre-order school supplies through the Peirce PTO last spring, please see the lists at the following link:
https://peircepto.com/school-supply-lists-by-grade/. All pre-ordered kits will be delivered next week and will be available for students in their classrooms on the first day of school. Many thanks to parent volunteers Stan Helinski and Ayse Takacs for their hard work with the school supply orders!
Our custodian, Jose Filomeno, is working hard to prepare the building for your arrival on September 5th. I look forward to a new year of working together to provide an excellent learning adventure for your children and I always welcome your questions, concerns, and thoughts. I encourage you to contact me at (617) 559-9630 or [email protected]. Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer and we will see you on September 5th!
With best August wishes,
Mark Chitty