Community Update Letter 08/02/23
August 2, 2023
Dear Springfield Public Schools Community,
We hope you are enjoying the wonderful summer! We had a terrific summer program in our schools which included enrichment activities, academic support, and social skills building. It was terrific to see the amazing games and artwork our elementary students created and to provide the additional support that will encourage student success. We are deeply grateful to the staff and volunteer students who make our summer program wonderful!
Facilities Updates
We continue to work on our facilities and grounds, and we are proud to share that the new preschool playgrounds have been installed at Sandmeier and Walton. In addition, work to restore the prior Walton playground and address the sinkholes is underway. The engineers and architects are developing the plans to address the infrastructure needs aligned with the referendum projects, and we will continue to provide updates as we move forward.
New Team Members
We have been hard at work identifying new team members to support our students in the coming year! We are looking forward to welcoming a new Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Ms. Alyssa Proccacino, and a new in-house Occupational Therapist Ms. Gianna Becker to build the support services offered to our students. At Walton, we are welcoming new teachers (to be announced soon!), and our new guidance counselor, Ms. Brianna Arcieri has already started to set up her welcoming space. At FMG, we are excited to welcome back Mrs. Kimberly Tuttle as a Communication Arts teacher, she previously taught at JDHS and has extensive experience in providing engaging English Language Arts instruction. At JDHS, we have two new terrific science teachers joining our team, Dr. Ning Chi and Mr. Marc Aranguern, bringing significant experience and passion to our STEM studies.
We are in the process of identifying a leader for Walton in the upcoming year and will share that news as soon as we are able.
Transportation
Significant increases in costs associated with transportation required that the district complete an audit of all of our routes. We identified a number of families that have received courtesy bussing, and have shared a primary communication regarding those services. We understand that many may have questions about transportation services, and we have created an FAQ to help answer those questions. It will remain on our website to answer questions and provide the correct information regarding transportation and bussing.
New Website- Provide Your Feedback!
We are excited to share that we are almost ready to share our newly updated website! You can take an early glimpse at: springfieldschoolscom.finalsite.com, and encourage you to share any suggestions or information on a Google Survey.
Welcome Back Information & Calendars
The first day back for students is Thursday, September 7th!
Families should expect to receive information related to the online annual registration process in the next two weeks. For families new to the district, this is not an in-person registration, rather it asks families to review the information in our system and provide school-year-specific information that is necessary for all of our students.
Meet and greet information and class placement will be shared toward the end of the month, and you are encouraged to share concerns or questions directly with the principal. For Walton families, please send your email questions to Ms. Chihui Seo-Alfaro, the Director of Early Childhood and Elementary Education and please copy Ms. Erica Scudero, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.
We hope that all of our families stay safe and enjoy August.
Sincerely,
Rachel Goldberg