Principal's Message - October 2, 2023

Good evening Batchelder School Families,

Where did September go????  I find it hard to believe that today is the second day of October.  It seems like it was just yesterday that we opened the doors to the new school year.  It has been busy here at the “Batch” during the month of September.  Teachers and students are back into the routine of school and lots of great things are happening in our classrooms.  

We had an all-school assembly on Friday and we spoke about our Spotlight Values - Respect, Citizenship, Leadership, Perseverance, and Effort.  Our student presenters made a point to emphasize the Spotlight Value of Respect.  Our students heard the message that they should respect themselves, respect one another, respect the building, and respect the adults in the building.  If you get a chance at home, please speak to your student about respect and what it looks like in daily life.

Last week, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the accountability reports for all schools in the state.  I am thrilled to announce that the L.D. Batchelder School was classified as a “School of Recognition.”  We were one of sixty-five schools across the commonwealth designated as such.  Our accountability percentile was 99 and we met or exceeded all of our targets.  I am extremely proud of this accomplishment and humbled to play a small part in this success.  Our entire staff deserves this recognition.  All of the professionals in this building work extremely hard and care so much for your/our students.  They deserve to be classified as a “Staff of Recognition!”    

I wanted to remind you all about our wireless communication device policy.  We have noticed an uptick in “smartwatch” use during the school day.  Here is the language from our handbook:  Personal wireless communication devices (cell phones, watches, handheld gaming devices, etc.) must be turned off and kept out of sight during school hours. Students and parents/guardians should not utilize electronic communication devices to communicate during school hours. Personal devices with video or other imaging capabilities are prohibited. This includes while riding the bus (please refer to the Bus Safety section). 

We are going back to using the Parent Plus Portal to distribute report cards this year.  Our revised standards-based report card is currently being formatted to work with our system and we will be placing these in the “E Locker” at the end of the trimester.  For those of you with active accounts, please make sure that you are able to log in and access your portal.  For those families without an active account, I will be sending out login information soon.  Please look for this email from the system.  Here is the web address for the Batchelder School Plus Portal:   https://www.plusportals.com/LDBatchelderElementarySchool 

There is no school this Friday, October 6th for Staff Professional Development and again on Monday, October 9th for Columbus Day.  

Upcoming Important Dates

Thursday, October 5th - “Fun Run”

Friday, October 6th - No School, Professional Development

Monday, October 9th - No School, Columbus Day

Tuesday, October 31 - Early Release, Professional Development

All of these events are posted on the Batchelder School Calendar which can be found on our website:  https://www.north-reading.k12.ma.us/batchelder-elementary

I hope you all have a wonderful week and a great long weekend!!!  If there is ever anything I can do to help or if you have a question or concern, please contact me directly.  I am always happy to help.  

Sincerely,

Michael Maloney, Principal