January 8, 2010
Dear Parents:
I hope all of you had a peaceful and joyful holiday with family and friends. We
certainly can’t complain about the lack of snow. Just a reminder, the majority of our
students really look forward to playing in the snow and making snow forts and snowmen so
please send them with all the necessary items. We only have a small snow free area on the
playground so all students should have boots, mittens, a warm hat and winter jacket. If
students plan on playing in the field area they do need to wear snow/ski pants. It is also
very helpful to send an extra pair of mittens/gloves and socks in your child’s backpack. We
have a very limited number of extra socks and don’t want to have a student spend their
afternoon wearing wet and cold socks and mittens and gloves get soaked through quite
quickly when playing in the snow. Speaking of winter clothing, our Lost and Found pile is
once again growing quickly. Please check this area, in the main lobby, any time you visit the
school and claim any items that may belong to your child. The items that have not been
claimed by the winter break in February will be donated to Goodwill. Please encourage your
child to check this area as well for any items of theirs you are missing.
I would like to thank all students and parents for all of the wonderful donations of
toys, coats and food items. We were able to make very sizeable donations to several local
charities thanks to your amazing generosity. Our sing-along was a great success and a
special thanks to the many parents who were able to attend. It was so wonderful to have
such a large number of you in attendance. Our next fundraiser may have to be “singing
lessons” for Mrs. Drouin!!
January looks to be a very quiet month. A reminder to parents there will be no
school on Monday January 18 due to the observation of the birthday of Martin Luther King,
Jr. A reminder that our PTC meets tomorrow night at 6:30 pm in the staff room, childcare
will not be available for this month only. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Due to a family medical issue our music teacher, Ms. Judy, will be out indefinitely.
She left before the holiday break to attend to a seriously ill family member. Ms. Joanne
Guimond is currently subbing for Ms. Judy. The students are familiar will Mrs. Guimond as
she was the long-term sub for our PE teacher Mr. Penley during his six-week absence.
As all of you have probably heard we are dealing with a challenging budget situation
not only for this current school year but for next year as well. Community information
sessions were recently held at each of the elementary schools and at Massabesic Middle
School. The purpose of these sessions was to collect community input regarding possible cost
saving ideas for the 2010-2011 budget. All of the input and suggestions collected will be
presented to the finance committee during their January meetings. I will keep you as
informed and updated as possible regarding the impact upon this current school year and the
budget development for the 2010-2011 school year. I can’t emphasize enough how important
your input is to the budget development process. The finance committee needs to hear from
you. The more people who attend and express their opinion about what they feel is essential
for the education of their children and how much they are willing and able to financially
support allows the finance committee to make decisions based upon required fiscal
responsibility as well as the community members requests. The Finance committee will hold a
COMMUNITY FORUM on JANUARY 18, 2010 6:00 PM AT MASSABESIC
EAST. This meeting is an opportunity for you to attend and express your input regarding
what you feel is important and what you as a community member is willing and be to support
financially for the 2010-2011 budget. I truly appreciate the parents who were able to attend
the budget information session in December. The suggestions were very valuable and are
being passed on to the finance committee this month. I have listed below all the upcoming
finance meetings. All finance meetings are open to the public but the community forum is
the opportunity for you to express your input and ideas. Please make every effort to attend
the community forum meeting on January 18, 2010 at Massabesic East. Your attendance and
input at this meeting is extremely important and essential to the budget development
process. If you have any questions, please feel free to email, call or stop by to see me.
Again, thank you for all of you support and involvement in your child’s education. It
is very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Ginnie Drouin
Principal
Finance Meeting Schedule
January 18, 2010 6:30 PM Community Forum at Massabesic East Building
FEBRUARY 3, 2010 6:00 PM AT CENTRAL OFFICE (regular finance meeting)
FEBRUARY 24, 2010 6:00 PM AT CENTRAL OFFICE (regular finance meeting)
BUDGET WORKSHOP MARCH 3, 2010 6:00 PM AT MASSABESIC EAST
BUDGET WORKSHOP MARCH 10, 2010 6:00 PM AT MASSABESIC MIDDLE SCHOOL
BUDGET WORKSHOP MARCH 17, 2010 6:00 PM AT MASSABESIC EAST
BUDGET WORKSHOP MARCH 24, 2010 6:00 PM AT MASSABESIC MIDDLE SCHOOL
BUDGET WORKSHOP MARCH 31, 2010 6:00 PM AT MASSABESIC EAST
BUDGET WORKSHOP APRIL 7, 2010 6:00 PM AT MASSABESIC EAST
BUDGET WORKSHOP APRIL 14, 2010 6:00 PM AT MASSABESIC MIDDLE SCHOOL
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