Plymouth Elementary School
35 School Drive
Plymouth, Vermont 05056

Dear Parents,

This year at Plymouth School, Mrs. Davis, Ms. Lesperance and I will be implementing a departmentalized model to provide for the unique individual learning styles and the many, varied levels of learning exhibited by our students.

Mrs. Davis will be assuming the role of our reading and language arts instructor.

Ms. Sara will be teaching mathematics with our new series, “Everyday Mathematics,” and will also be teaching science.

I will be facilitating writing across the curriculum and teaching social studies.

As you know, I will be providing the Title 1 services and the special education services to our students and I will also be continuing to carry out the duties of the principal.

Our school wide theme this year will be Our Nation’s History.  We were very fortunate to receive an Okemo Challenge Grant that will allow for an in depth study of our local community as well as the history that abounds in the state of Vermont. 

As our facility is small, and space is at a premium, we will maintain a homeroom atmosphere each day for children to check in.  The integrated arts specialists will have smaller groups to work with and lunches may consist of varied and mixed groupings.  I cannot be specific about your child’s exact placement on a daily basis until I collaborate with the other principals with whom we share specialists.  A schedule will be sent home during the first week of school with specific times and arrangements.

The children will be in small groups for instruction and we plan a 90-minute in- depth block of time for subject study.  All children will receive 90 minutes of reading/language arts instruction at least 4 days each week. 

The children will be receiving a notebook that will be their constant companion.  In this notebook will be 3 labeled folders that will contain homework, notes to go home to be returned, and papers that can stay at home.  This Management Of Organizational Systems Everyday Book, (MOOSE Book), will help everyone know just what will be going on, what is going on and what has occurred at school.  There will also be a calendar in the notebook that our intermediate students will use as a daily planner and we will all use for daily communications.  Communication between school and home is a paramount component in our collaborative successes at school.

Another new component of our school communications plan is our new Student Handbook.  This will also be distributed the first day of school.  There will be important information contained in this book and there will be a sign off sheet for you and your child to sign and return to school to let me know that you are aware of what is expected of our Plymouth School students.

School hours will be changing as well this year.  Our start time will be 8:30 am and we will dismiss at 3:15 pm. Please be at your scheduled bus stop 15 minutes earlier than last year.

I would like to invite everyone to our Second Annual Boo-Hoo Breakfast on Wednesday, August 27th, at 8:30 am.  We will raise our new school flag at this opening of school ceremony.

I am so excited to be a part of our children’s education this year.

Respectfully,

Susan W. O’Brien