Greetings EES Families,

It was wonderful to welcome all of your children back to school this week. We have had an energized, fun and focused week of school! I hope you all enjoyed some time off with your families and friends and we are glad to have everyone back at school now.

There has been great success with shifting to an earlier start time. This week most students were in their classrooms before 8AM which allowed for students to be grounded in a sense of belonging with a readiness to learn. Thank you for transitioning your start time if you needed to. Below is a copy of the reminder message that went out Tuesday morning:

Greetings EES Families and Happy New Year!

It was wonderful to see all of our students this morning and lots of new faces at our morning recess. Folks did a great job transitioning to our 7:45 start time- this sets our students up for a successful day; thank you!

A note of clarification- During the 7:30-7:45 drop off window students should go through the recess gate and join their friends on the playground. At 7:45 students line up on the playground and go inside to their classrooms. You may choose to drop off just a few minutes before they go inside and then they will just be lining up to go in. Morning recess is a great way to get fresh air and movement before we start our day.

At 7:45 the front door will be open and school starts at 7:45. Below is an updated message that went out before our December break in our Pride Press:

• Start Time:

Our school start time is 7:45AM. This time is posted in our handbook; however, we have been allowing a long drop off grace period since the start of the pandemic. Students have not been marked tardy until after 8AM. That said, we are finding that students need more time to get unpacked (especially in the winter) and get their breakfast. This has an impact on classrooms having a full morning meeting which is essential to the success of every day. We are going to begin making a more official shift to the 7:45 start time. I understand that this is a shift for some and we will be patient during the transition. Students can begin to be dropped off starting at 7:30 on the playground. If you are currently dropping your child off after 7:45, please begin making the transition to dropping off by 7:45AM. Thank you for your continued partnership!

PS: Please also remember to park in the parking lot if your child needs your assistance getting out of the car or you prefer to get out of the vehicle to say goodbye. Thank you!

Some of the second graders’ collaborative creations from Math Through Art are on display in the cafeteria at Essex Elementary School. Much of the first half of second grade Math Through Art focuses on developing an understanding of place value in our number system. This artwork reflects this focus on ones, tens, hundreds and thousands. Can you spot their creative way of showing their pride in our school?

Mrs. Yandell's second graders are starting off 2023 with some new goals! Our future is looking brighter than ever!