Memorial Update
August 22, 2023
The First Signs of Classrooms Coming Together
August 22, 2023
In just over a week we will be opening our doors and welcoming your children to Memorial for the 2023-2024 school year. Our teachers, support staff, and custodians have all been working so hard this summer to ensure that the school is welcoming and inviting on that first day. We have fresh paint on so many surfaces and the classrooms are looking amazing!
For families with children riding the school bus this year, we plan to assign all of our elementary school students seats this year, but that will happen once we have the children here at school. It is really helpful if you would review the bus expectations with your children ahead of their first ride in. The MURSD website has some general guideline for bus riding that you can find here. In general, we try to remind the children that they are to remain seated, facing forward, and keep respectful and kind conversations to the people next to them.
For families utilizing parent drop off and pick up, please see the section below with information about how we loop cars through. This year, with the change in preschool start and end times, all preschool parents will utilize our looping line in both the morning drop off for the three year olds and the afternoon pick up for the four year olds. As a reminder, please keep the following general guidelines in mind:
Stay in line, and do not pass any cars.
All students MUST get in and out on the passenger side towards the curb. Please plan ahead to move any carseats that may be in the way. While we tell people not to pass cars, there is a risk to getting your child out on the driver’s side and we are trying to avoid any accidents.
In the afternoon, please have your child’s first and last name written in dark marker hanging in your front window (under the visor works, as does hanging it from the mirror).
We only allow car entry from route 140. Do not turn into the driveway from Fiske Avenue. That is for busses only during drop off and pick up. We will have you turn around if you enter that way and it creates a problem for buses trying to turn.
Please reach out to Lauren Chuk, Angelina Adams, or to me if you have any questions about the first few days. The beginning of the school year typically causes our routines to be a bit slower while we adjust to new people and spaces. Please be patient with the timeliness of buses, arrival and dismissal, and do your best to ensure that your children and their teachers are aware of their daily schedule.
Upcoming Events this Week!
Popsicle Social: All Memorial families are invited to a popsicle social on August 23rd at the playground at the new community center. To try to spread out the number of kids there at a time, we are recommending prek-grade 1 come from 5-6pm and grades 2-4 come from 6-7pm, but these are just suggested times and it is understood that having multiple siblings could make that more difficult. We will be serving popsicles, so come join us to catch up with friends, or make some new ones!
Kindergarten Playdate: All kindergarten families are invited to our annual kindergarten playdate on Saturday, August 26th at 10:00am at Memorial. We will meet outside, participate in some activities, and hear a story. We look forward to meeting all of our new kindergarten students that morning.
Memorial New Parent Orientation: Is your family new to the Memorial community? If so, please plan to join Mrs. Bell and Ms. Chuk on Thursday, August 24th at 6:30pm in the cafeteria for an introduction to our school. We will share information, have the PTO here, and we will be available to answer any questions that you may have ahead of the school year starting. This presentation is for adults only, and if you are unable to attend, we will be posting the slides on the website afterwards.
See everyone REAL soon!
Warmly,
Wendy and Lauren
School Drop Off and Pick Up Routines and Directions
Please click here for more information on parent drop off and pick up, including a video explaining the process
Important Upcoming Dates
Wednesday, August 30th: First Day of School for Grades 1-4, Kindergarten Open House
Thursday, August 31st: First Day of School Kindergarten
Friday, September 1st and Monday, September 4th: No School
Tuesday, September 5th: First Day for Preschool
School Hours
Our school hours are 8:45am-3:15pm. Drop off begins at 8:45 and students who arrive after 9:00am are considered tardy. We will begin dismissal right around 3:15pm.
Due to the hectic nature of the late afternoon, we will no longer be allowing parent dismissals from the main office after 2:45pm. If your child has an appointment, please plan to dismiss him/her earlier, or make use of our pick up line at 3:15pm. Thank you for understanding.
Memorial Elementary School
Upton, MA 01568
Email: wbell@mursd.org
Website: https://www.mursd.org/o/memorial-elementary
Phone: 508-529-1020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MemorialUpton
Twitter: @wlbell630