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Dear Sprague Community—March 27, 2018 With so much talk of school safety recently, I’d like to update you on the plans for Sprague. All staff members have received their new ID badges that also provide entry to building. This means that all staff members will be able to open doors with their ID cards, making entry after recess or a walk much easier and safer for all. Previously, we needed to bring keys outside and only 1 or 2 people at a time had the keys. We now have the ability to maintain our doors locked on a schedule that is controlled by a computer system. Currently, they are locked all day and manually opened for morning entry. Beginning this week, we will use the automated system to lock and unlock doors in the morning. The front door will be unlocked until 8:35. If you or your child needs to ring the bell for entry, it means the child is late and will need to come to the office for a tardy slip. Once all door systems are operational, doors will remain locked after school we well. As has been our practice, the front door will remain locked after school. The office staff will answer the doorbell until 4:00 PM. Any groups that rent space after school (Girl Scouts, after school enrichment classes) will have access to an exterior door and/or parents who pick up after 4:00 will need to wait outdoors. Groups that rent our gym will have gym door access. We will have a new WCCC entry system with camera and doorbell at the Atrium entrance. I will let you know once that system is operational. As a school, we are making plans for any emergency response. We recently had a fire drill. The Fire Dept. came to supervise and let us know how we did. You will be amazed to know that we all made it out of the building in 1 minute and 43 seconds. That’s pretty amazing for close to 400 students and 60 adults. We practice bus evacuation two times per year with all students so they will know how to get out of a bus safely. Even if they do not ride a bus to school, they may be on a field trip at one time or another. Adults have been trained on how to respond in the event of an unwanted adult or intruder in the building. We are currently making plans for an emergency drill which will include our students. These plans are being carefully crafted so as not to scare or upset our young learners, but rather give them a sense of security in knowing what to do in the hopefully, unlikely event they need to take action. Our focus will always be to highlight that the adults are here to take care of the children in the school and that it is important to listen to the adults and keep them safe. When our plans are better defined, I will keep you informed and offer time to come to discuss them prior to any school drill. As always, thank you for your support.
I’ll end with a message from the folks at Project Wisdom…. “Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless. Each kind word we offer to another person creates a ripple effect. Research has shown us that those who receive kindness are more apt to bestow kindness to others. Isn’t it fascinating to consider where your kind words may have landed? Through school walls, into homes, neighborhoods, across generations and into hearts. Something so seemingly simple with so much impact. Creating a more caring world must start somewhere. You can be a catalyst for kindness in a world where too much mean-spiritedness abounds.. Be the source of endless echoes of kindness. With something to think about . . .” It all starts with kindness and connections!
Dates to remember: March 30: No school—Good Friday April 2, 5: Grade 4 ELA MCAS April 9, 10: Grade 5 ELA MCAS April 11: Teacher Appreciation Luncheon sponsored by PTO April 12,13: Grade 3 ELA MCAS April 12: Walk to School Day April 12: PTO Meeting April 16-20: School Vacation Week April 23: School Council at 3:15 April 27: PTO Auction at Wellesley Country Club June 12: Field Day (raindate is June 14) June 19: Grade 5 Farewell at 9:00 AM June 20: Last day of school (12:00 dismissal)
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