Elm Street News
All the news that's fit to print
Family Game Night
Family Book Bingo
Thursday, Feb 7, 2019, 06:00 PM
160 Elm Street, Gardner, MA, USA
Massachusetts Winter Walk and Roll to School Day.
Elm Street's 100th Day
Gardner Cultural Council Grants
This year's spring show at The Mount will be Aladdin and will be 1/2 price for our students.
The Fall traveling show of the 100 Dresses from The Mount was funded as were the buses for our 3rd grade trip to George Hill and the 4th grade trip to see Nutcracker.
Also we received a $5000 STAR Artist Residency grants many years including this year from the Mass Cultural Council.
Big Buddy/Little Buddy Program with our English Learners
Last month we started the Big Buddy/Little Buddy Program with the English Learners at ESS and GHS. We played games together and learned about each other by filling out a questionnaire.
The ESS Little Buddies are currently working on writing letters to their Big Buddies to be delivered to the GHS students on Monday.
Next Tuesday the ELs are going to Gardner High School for their next (monthly) Big Buddy/Little Buddy program. This time the high school buddies are going to read the book The Mitten by Jan Brett to the ESS little buddies.
They will then complete a mitten craft together with their buddies to take home and the high school student will give the little ESS buddy the book to keep!
ESL Cafe at Elm Street!
The Character Trait of the month is Honesty.
Our Character Education presentor for February is Officer Phil. Officer Phil talks about good decision making, safety, being a buddy, and friendship with an interactive presentation. To get more information please go to www.officerphil.com.
The Gardner High School Band and Band Director, Mr. Lepisto, were the guest speakers for the January Character Education Program. They addressed the character traits of loyalty, respect, and responsibility.
We love when the GHS Band visits and plays for us!
Homework Clinic
Shout out to our Leo Club volunteers from Gardner High School. They come to volunteer at the ESS
Homework Clinic every Thursday. They are respectful, helpful, and very patient!
Welcome Back! - Girls on the Run at ESS
Any questions you can contact ESS GOTR Head Coach Ashley Chicoine chicoinea@gardnerk12.org
Elm Street Drop-off procedures
Elm Street School was never designed to be an elementary school, nor was Elm Street designed to accommodate so many cars dropping off at the school. In order to make things work, especially now with the snow arriving, it's imperative that families adhere to the drop-off procedures.
1. Parents who plan on exiting the vehicle must pull down to the 2nd drop zone. Otherwise, stay in your vehicle.
2. The first drop zone (closest to the parking lot) is for cars to pull down as far as the crosswalk, and for students to exit the vehicle quickly. Students should only be exiting the car on the side of the school/sidewalk. Done properly, we should be able to fit up to 5-7 vehicles.
3. Cutting the line - DON'T DO IT!
There is a drop off line that starts before the Elm Street driveway. There are many families patiently waiting for the line to move forward, so they can drop off their student. It causes more back-ups and issues when drivers attempt to cut in front of others. We've had a few accidents already due to people cutting the line, and it causes further backups.
4. Do not block the Elm Street driveway and do not enter the Elm Street parking lot. Buses exit from around the building and are loaded with Waterford Street School students. Again, the parking lot is for buses and Elm Street staff only during drop-off time.
5. Drop-off is only allowed on the school side of the street. Dropping your student off on the opposite side of the street causes the crossing guard to constantly stop traffic. It also puts students at risk since many drivers are not looking for them on that side of the street.
The only way this works is if everyone adheres to these expectations. Please share this with anyone you know who drops off a student at Elm Street. Thank you!