It is hard to believe that another school year is almost behind us. It has been such a great year at South Street School. The students have grown tremendously and I cannot wait to receive our MCAS results!

As the last days of school approach, children will be feeling a wide range of emotions including sadness as saying goodbye to friends, anticipation of new adventures, and anxiety about upcoming transitions. This is a time where we reflect upon the growth and progress of all our students. We encourage you to do the same. Have your child point out and discuss what the most challenging part of the school year was. In addition, have your student highlight his/her proudest accomplishments. Take the time to celebrate achievements made by your student.

To prevent summer learning loss, please make sure you child reads and practices their math skills each day. Information will be sent home about summer reading and a math skills practice website called TenMarks. Students who are reading each day and practicing their math skills will be ready for next school year! In addition, I will be sending home a Connect Ed phone message each week over the summer to remind students to read and practice their math skills.

This year we say goodbye to several staff who will be retiring and starting a more relaxed chapter of their lives: Ms. Donna Malouin-4th grade teacher, Mrs. Joanne L’Ecuyer-2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Jeanette Martinez- ELL teacher, and Lea Schuren-special education teacher. These teachers have been dedicated to the students and instilled a love for learning! We wish them all the very best!

I am happy to announce that Jeff Dionne has accepted the assistant principal position at South Street. Mr. Dionne is coming to us from Gardner Public Schools where he has been the assistant principal at the middle school for the past eight years. Before becoming an assistant principal, Mr. Dionne was a elementary school guidance counselor. Mr. Dionne will begin at South Street on July  1st.

I’d like to thank all of the parents for being such an integral part of your child’s educational success. South Street School prides itself on positive home-school relation and parent involvement. We have a fabulous parent teacher organization. Thank you for all that you do!

As we wrap up the school year there are many different activities and important dates to remember, please mark your calendars accordingly. We wish all of you a safe and relaxing summer break and look forward to greeting you in the fall.

Have a great summer,

Mr. Thompson