Principal’s Message

Dear Students, Parents, Staff, and Community Members,

Welcome Back!

We are excited to welcome back students on Tuesday, Sept 2. We have been busy this summer with Academic Programs, Enrichment Programs, Summer Sports, Summer Rec, and construction throughout the building. Here are a few updates and informational items to help make sure we have a smooth start to the school year.

Meet and Greet

Our ES Meet and Greet will be August 27th from 4-6pm. Please feel free to stop in at any time during that time frame. We will just be finishing the reconstruction of the K-2 wing and the 4/5 bathrooms so please know that some classrooms may be a work in progress but it will be great for students to see the rooms and meet their teachers.

Cell Phone Law

NYS has enacted a new law this year prohibiting internet enabled devices (cell phones, personal laptops, smart watches, etc) during the school day. This is not a big change for the ES as we already asked students to put devices in their backpack unless they had teacher permission during the school day.

If you need to contact your child during the school day, please call the main office at 346-4000 ext 5000 and we will have the teacher ask your child to call on the classroom phone.

If a student has a cell phone, smart watch, or other internet enabled device out during the school day, it will be collected and the parent may be asked to pick it up from the main office. Thank you for your help in maintaining a focused environment during the school day.

Parent Pick Up

We are updating our Parent Pick Up procedures this year. Please see the information sheet with the new procedures. Here are some important changes for this year:

• Any person picking up a child will need to show valid ID
• There will be no QR code - a staff member will check you in
• There is no "WING" parking option this year
• The two options for this year will be:

1. A rolling pick up in your car in the Pick Up Loop
2. Park by the playground and meet your child under the canopy

Thank you for your patience as we streamline our pick up procedures for a safe and timely process.

Important Reminders

• Please label all clothing and items (sweatshirts, jackets, water bottles, etc.) - we have a lot of items in lost and found each year
• Please have your student wear sneakers or closed-toed shoes. We have active days in PE and on the playground and secure footwear is important for safety
• Our school day runs from 8:25am-3:05pm. Students may be dropped off no earlier than 8am unless they are part of the YMCA or district morning programs
• Please fill out the Student Device Forms that were sent to you through parent square. These will be needed before distributing chrome books
• Please email or call the nurse if your child will be absent from school
• There is no cost to families for breakfast and lunch at school this year. You may also choose to pack a lunch
• Please send your child with a large backpack (small ones often do not hold book bags for at home reading) and a water bottle. If you do not have these items, please stop by the counseling center at Meet and Greet. All other classroom supplies for ES students are provided by the district this year.

Safety First

Some important reminders to maintain safety for our students:

• All visitors including families must be pre-approved and sign in with valid ID to enter the building.
• Families are our best allies in maintaining a safe school: If you see or hear anything that might be a safety concern, please report it to the main office so it can be addressed.
• Each week at the start of the year we practice safety drills that comprise our emergency response plan. All drills are taught to students in an age-appropriate way to help them know how to respond in different scenarios. This year all schools in NYS will move to a common language for safety drills so the drill names that you hear might be slightly different but they are similar procedures to past drills based on evolving understanding of school safety practices.

Warm regards,
Casey Whittel
Phone: 346.4000 ext. 5001  |  Email