Dear Sprague Community,
This week, I am writing about how we keep our school safe. As a school, we do many things to create a sense of safety and belonging for our community. The most important thing is for students to feel safe and comfortable in school so that they can access learning academically, socially and emotionally. We want to be a welcoming school where all students feel connected to adults and to their peers…in short, a school where everyone belongs. In order to create this environment, each classroom generates a set of class rules based on what they feel their classroom should look and feel like in order for learning to take place. These rules generally fall into 4 categories: how we take care of ourselves, how we take care of others, how we take care of our school, and how we can do our best. We even had a “Rules Congress” where one representative from each classroom came to a meeting where we shared rules and voted to decide on 3 School Rules that will be shared at our School Gathering on Friday. We always hope our students follow their HEART values, support one another, and follow school and classroom rules.
It is really important to us that we know our students well and create solid relationships with both students and families. We feel this connection and knowledge is our best strategy in maintaining a safe and comfortable school environment. There are other structures and plans in place that we have worked on as well. You may notice that our staff all wear ID badges. The badges serve as a way to identify staff members who are charged with knowing who is in our building. If you come to Sprague, be sure to sign in and get a visitor badge. Staff who see visitors without badges will likely ask if they can help and direct the visitor back to the main office. We do keep our doors locked during the school day. We have a set of security cameras located in various locations around the grounds, and use a doorbell system with a camera to allow entry during school hours. We use radios for internal communication when needed and have well defined emergency plans. We work with the Wellesley Police on these plans. All staff are trained each year. We know what to do in a medical emergency, a fire, or in the event of other unforeseen emergencies. We do have fire drills with the Wellesley Fire Department 4 times per year. Last year, we had our first emergency drill with students and the Wellesley Police Department. We practiced an emergency evacuation and will schedule another for this year. We will notify parents again this year, and feel that practice paired with common sense allow us to be prepared without alarming children. We always say that our job is take care of the students. Please know that our teachers love your children. We will do the worrying so they don’t need to.
This fall, we will have a staff training with the Wellesley Police Department on Oct. 3, 2018 from 2:00-3:00 PM. I give you this level of specificity because we ask that the school and playground areas be clear of students and visitors while we conduct a training and drill with adults at school. Again, the school building and adjacent play areas will be closed to all visitors on Oct. 3 from 2-3 PM so we may conduct this important training with adult staff members. We thank you for your help and support.
Meet the Art Teacher—Please click on this attachment to learn more about our new Art Teacher, Libby Belli.
Ms Belli–Meet the Art Teacher.pdf
Dates to remember:
Sept. 27: Grade 5 Leadership Retreat
Oct. 8: No school—Columbus Day
Oct. 11: PTO meeting at 9:00 AM
Oct. 16: Walk to School Day
Oct. 17: Fall Festival from 5-7 PM (raindate is Oct. 24)
October 31 – Parent/Teacher Conferences
October 31 – Halloween Parade
November 6 – (TUESDAY/Noon dismissal) Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 7 – Parent/Teacher Conferences
Nov. 12: No school–Veteran’s Day