Mr. Kevin J. Chavez
240 Palmer Road
Chaplin, CT 06235
Phone: 860-455-9593
Fax: 860-455-0742
August 15, 2019
Greetings Chaplin Families,
I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer with family and friends! There are still a few weeks to get more activities done that were on your summer list, but you haven’t gotten to just yet. The last few weeks have been exciting as some students and parents have dropped by for a visit.
The next leg of your child’s learning journey is drawing near, and I can assure every family that Chaplin Elementary School is excited to start a brand new school year! We have had many projects taking place during the summer that you may notice as you enter the building. Mr. Sperry and Mr. Hofmann have been hard at work sprucing up the building for the arrival of the students. New floors are being laid in the classroom wings. There are additional invisible activities taking place for the betterment of the school community such as training for the staff in numerous areas of instruction and school safety.
Some changes will take place this year to improve efficiency in the school day, for safety and due to mandates from the state pertaining to emergency situations at school. Your children will conduct safety/emergency drills on a regular basis which, at times, will include exit drills that are out of the norm. There is also a new morning arrival and dismissal procedure in effect for the school year. This is outlined in the Parent/Student handbook that will be put back up on the school website by August 21st. I respectfully request that you please take the time to read through this information especially if you plan to drive your child(ren) to school as there are major changes in location for drop off and procedures for walking your child into school. You will also note some new information at the back of the handbook such as a “Home-School Compact” and “Parent Involvement.” You will receive copies of the pages in the first week that require parent/guardian signatures.
After conducting a time audit of how educational minutes were spent in school this last year, we have made some changes to scheduling that your child’s teacher will explain in more detail at our Open House/Back-to-School Night on September 5th at 6:00 PM. I want to ensure you that we are committed to wise use of our time with your children. We are implementing a new Academic Support Time for all students which schedules time for closing the gap and providing additional enrichment.
The first day of school for students in grades Kindergarten through Grade 6 is Wednesday, August 28. As has been the tradition, weather permitting, all classes will meet in front of the main entrance. Your children will be able to find their teachers by looking for signs with teachers’ names and help from older students. We will then have the ringing of the school bell to signify the start of a new year in the learning process.
Please note that the school doors will not open until 8:30 AM unless your child has been registered for morning care through the “Chaplin Kids” program. (You will receive a memo on this within the next day or two.) Children who are registered should enter the building through the main entrance after being rung in by the office. Instructional time begins at 8:45; children purchasing breakfast should go straight to the cafeteria upon arrival at school. Children being dropped off at school should be dropped off by 8:40, or they will be marked tardy. If you do not see a staff member to greet your child in Silliman’s Circle, you will need to drive your child around to the main entrance. Please do not pull into the bus loop if there are busses present. Instead, you will need to park and walk your child in. Children that are delayed in the cafeteria will not be marked tardy, but we will move them along to their classrooms as quickly as we can.
The school day ends at 3:15; your teacher will work with your children right up until the end of the school day, so please try to schedule doctor appointments for a time that will not take them away from learning. That being said, we understand that it is not always possible to schedule appointments for later in the day, so when necessary to have a child leave school early, please send them in with a note to be given to the teacher at the beginning of the day. All children not riding a bus home must be picked up by a parent/guardian by 3:30 unless they are registered for “Chaplin Kids.”
Thank you in advance in your cooperation with the changes that will affect the routines you have become accustomed to! We look forward to an exciting year of progress and growth with all of our students at Chaplin Elementary School. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns before the school year begins.
Best Regards,
Kevin J Chavez
Principal