Back to School Message

8/17/2023

 

Dear Potter Burns Families,

    I hope you all had a wonderful summer, and were able to enjoy some sun. I am very excited for the start of the school year. Potter – Burns has had some changes since the end of the last school year. I would like to introduce you to some new staff at Potter-Burns. Ms. Erica Broduer will be the new art teacher. Ms. Brodeur was a teacher at Cunningham Elementary. Mrs. Martha Gomes, will be a new Grade 3 teacher. Mrs. Gomes most recently taught at Curvin-McCabe Elementary. Mrs. Nicole Dupont, will be a new Grade 4 teacher. Mrs. Dupont was a teacher at Jenks Middle School. Ms. Kayla Fleming, will be a new special educator working with students in Grade 4. Ms. Fleming, was a teacher at Jenks Middle School. Mrs. Julie Girouard will be a new Grade 5 teacher. Mrs. Girouard, was a teacher at Goff Middle School. Mr. Peter Stringfellow, will be a new Health teacher. Mr. Stringfellow was a teacher at Agnes Little Elementary. Ms. Claire Fortier, will be our new Speech Language Pathologist. Please help me welcome them to the Potter-Burns family. 

     I would also like to take this time to remind all families of some important policies and procedures here at Potter-Burns Elementary.

Attendance:

     Attendance is critical.Improving our attendance rate is going to be a major focus this year. Last year, 30% of the students were considered chronically absent. This means they missed at least 18 days of school, or 2 days a month. I understand students get sick, and catch colds, but the only reason students should be absent is if they have a fever higher than 100.1, vomiting, diarrhea, a sever sore throat, or a significant cough.     

      If your child needs to be absent, please call the school secretary, Mrs. Brenda Machado at 729-6250, and she will record the absence, and the reason for the absence. When the child returns to school, make sure the child has a note for the teacher stating the reason for the absence.

    For students who are absent consistently, a member of the office staff will be reaching out to offer our help and guidance to improve attendance.

   Remember, student achievement can only happen if students are in school consistently.

Lunch Forms:

   Please complete a lunch form application. Even if you have been denied in the past, please complete another form. All students that do not have an updated form on file, will be charged full price for lunch starting in the first day of school.

 Morning Drop Off:

     The school day for students begin at 8:30am. In order to have students start their day off on a calming and positive note, I have instituted the following changes.

    Students cannot be dropped off at school until 8:15. Student drop off will take place from 8:15-8:30. Please use the drop off lane located in the parking area on Carter Avenue.When dropping off your child or children, please pull right up to the car in front of you, and either myself, or a student safety patrol member will open the door for you. I cannot stress this enough, stay in your vehicle, and please have your child ready to exit the car when the door is opened. We have a very busy morning drop off line, and having your child ready top hop out the door once it is opened saves valuable time.I am also asking that students are on the right hand side of the car(side closest to the building), this is for safety reasons, I do not want the safety patrol or younger students exited the vehicle from the traffic side. Do not have your child exit the vehicle until the door is opened by either myself, or a member of the safety patrol.

   If you choose to walk your child to school, please cross your child in the crosswalk area of the parking lot. Do not try to cross between cars, that is not safe. An adult will be stationed at the crosswalk in the parking lot to help cross adults and students.

   The lot on Pullen Avenue is for FACULTY AND STAFF ONLY. Do not park in this lot, or do not drop your child off in this parking lot. All students need to be brought to the Carter Avenue lot. This is to keep students and adults safe. I thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter. Please be patient in the morning drop off line, for the first month of school the line will be long, but once everyone is use to the procedure it goes very smoothly.

       All students will enter the building through the main door, and proceed to their classroom hallway. Once in the hallway, they will sit by their classroom doors and wait for their teacher to open the classroom.

    Students in the hallway will be monitored by teachers to ensure their safety.

   Afternoon PickUp:

     Afternoon pick up procedure will remain the same. Teachers will dismiss the students out the doors closest to their classrooms.

                                                 Grades K&1: Front Door

                                                 Grade 2: Door 6

                                                 Grades 3 & 4: Door 2

                                                 Grade 5:Door #5

  In the afternoon, parent may park in the lot on Carter Avenue, and along one side of the street on Pullen and Carter Avenues. The Carter Avenue lot will be closed to traffic at 2:20. Once that lot is closed, please do not park in front of the safety cones. We need to keep that area open in the event we have an emergency and emergency personnel needs access to the school. Also, we need to be kind, community members, do not block neighbor’s driveways, or double park on the street. Pullen and Carter Avenues need to stay open so that traffic can proceed down them. The teachers do not mind waiting with students a few extra minutes, if it means that students will be safe.

     Just a friendly reminder we will be having our Kindergarten Back to School Night on Thursday August 24th, from 6:00 – 7:00pm.On Monday, August 28 we will have our Back to School Night for Grades 1-5, Grades 1&2 will run from 5:00 – 6:00pm, Grades 3-5 will be from 5:30 – 6:30pm. During this time teachers will review classroom procedures, expectations, you can see your child’s classroom. All of the Back to School Nights will begin in the cafeteria with a brief presentation, and then all families will proceed to their child’s classroom.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me either by email, depotm@psdri.net, or by phone, 729-7730.

     Have a wonderful week. 

                                                                                                                               Sincerely,

                                                                                                                      Mrs. Michelle N Depot

                                                                                                                               Principal

Potter-Burns November Newsletter

HAPPY NOVEMBER

                                    

        Students and teachers will be very busy this month spreading kindness to our school community. Students in Grade 5 will be running numerous service projects this month, and I hope you can help us.

     The first project is our annual food pantry. Your student will be bringing home a flyer listing items students can bring in to help our community food pantry. Each grade level has an assigned item. Please be on the lookout for this notice. Potter-Burns will be collecting food until the end of the month.

   The second project is a kindness tree. We are asking all students to perform 1 act of kindness. This act of kindness does not have to be large. Some examples include reading to siblings, a neighbor, a grandparent, helping an adult with chores (that the student would normally not do),or  maybe making a donation to a charity.

   The third project is Wreaths Across America. Potter-Burns is partnering with Goff Middle School for this event. The goal and mission of this organization is to place a holiday wreath on the gravesites of every Veteran in the Veterans cemetery. The wreaths sponsored by Goff Middle School will go to the veterans buried in our local Veterans Cemetery located in Exeter RI. I am including the website address if you would like to sponsor a wreath, wreaths cost $15.00. Here is the website for the wreaths: https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/161411/Overview/?relatedId=17129      Please consider making a donation. 

     Our Grade 5 students will also be learning about service, and the sacrifices made by our veterans. As a school, all students will be making holiday cards for veterans at the VA. 

    I am honored and proud of our fifth grade team for taking part in this worthy cause.

 

With Gratitude,

Mrs. Michelle N Depot

 

Friendly Reminders:

• If your contact information changes please contact the office so that we can change that information.
• If your child has the following symptoms, fever, vomittig, diarrhea, significant cough, sore throat, congestion, please keep them home from school. There are numerous viruses going around the building and we want to keep students and teachers healthy. In addition, we also ask that students take an at home Covid test prior to returning to school.
• The lot on Pullen Ave. is for Faculty/Staff only.
• Please be mindful of our school neighbors, when picking up students please do not block neighbors driveways.
• Potter-Burns Website has been updated, you can find the updated Potter-Burns website on the psd main website, check it out

     

Important Dates:

11/8: No School, Election Day

11/9: MakeUp Picture Day

11/11: No School Veterans Day

11/23-11/26: No School, Thanksgiving Recess

12/15: No School, Parent Conf. Day

12/16: No School for Students

12/23 – 1/2/23: Holiday Recess                            

Application for Free Lunch For All Students

Please visit out website to fill out your lunch application: Click for lunch application