Dear Florence Roche Families,
Happy September! Students are getting back into the routines of school as we move through these opening days. Teachers are focusing on community building within their classrooms in support of a smooth transition back for students. Our kindergarten students returned from the holiday weekend ready to learn on Tuesday. I observed them in their classrooms listening to read alouds, working at writing their names and participating in phonemic awareness instruction. They are off to a great start!
We ended the week with an all school meeting. This year, we are focusing on how to make our classroom, our school, and our world a kinder place. Ask your child about the meeting! Students greeted one another, learned the definition of kindness from some 4th-grade role models, read The Power of One, and considered how kindness can be contagious. Some 4th graders lead the whole school in the “wave” to show how one person’s kind act can spread. We challenged everyone to watch for kind acts this month and ended by dancing to Be Kind. A grant from the Groton-Dunstable Education Foundation (GDEF) is helping fund the all-school meetings this year. If you’d like to be part of the all-school meeting planning, email Amy Wheeler-Sutton at amy.wheeler2@gmail.com! We’d love more parents to be involved!
Thank you to our new recess/lunch volunteers. If you have some time available during the week, we would love to add you to our team of volunteers. Please email me at bodonoghue@gdrsd.org if you would like to volunteer or have any questions about it.
In an effort to provide a more healthy lunch for students, our kitchen will no longer be serving cereal at lunch. This is a change for many students who often selected cereal for lunch. Please review the daily menu at FDMealplanner, so your student will know what the lunch options are for the day.
Next Friday, 9/12, is the PTA Welcome Back event for all families. We hope to see many of our students and their families there. This is always a great community building event to kick off our year. Check out all the details in this week’s
PTA Newsletter.
Back to school is the time to review our Elementary Parent Handbook. If you haven’t done so yet, here it is. 2025-2026 Elementary Handbook for your reference.
Please mark your calendars for the Family Open House! This is a wonderful opportunity to visit your student’s classroom, meet their teacher and see some of their work..
Grades K, 1, & 3: Tuesday, October 7th from 6:30-7:30 PM
Grades 2 & 4: Thursday, October 9th from 6:30-7:30 PM
You will also visit with our specialist teachers to see what students are working on with them as well. This isn’t a time for individual teacher conferences. Parent conferences are scheduled in November. I look forward to welcoming families to our school!
Scouting Opportunity
Enjoy the weekend!
Brian