There is a lot to be excited about at the start of a typical school year. Many of us remember our first day of school as being full of nervous excitement. It was a clean slate; a fresh start.
This year at AE/MS promises to be all that and more. With the worst of COVID appearing to be in the rearview mirror, the staff at AE/MS will be able to offer new and valuable opportunities for the students, from programming to new staff members and more.
Stephanie Peters will be taking on the role of kindergarten teacher once again. In order to ensure that students and parents were ready for the first day of school on Wednesday, August 31, she held a kindergarten preview event on Tuesday, August 30 for both students and parents to see the room and ask questions.
At the end of the event, the kids were able to go on a short bus ride to get acclimated with the rules and the feeling of riding a bus. This helped the new students get over some of their first-day jitters ahead of time.
Elementary students will be working with a new literacy program thanks to reading specialist Anna Kate Hatten. The new program will help our younger students build skills, fluency, and confidence.
Speaking of reading, Holly Croteau, school librarian, and Kasey Schoch, middle school reading, have teamed up this year to introduce students to books that have been nominated for literary awards. Then they get to cast their vote for the award winners. Students in kindergarten through third grade will be reading nominees for the Ladybug Award during library time with Mrs. Croteau. Students in grades four and five will be doing the same with books that are nominated for a Great Stone Face Award, while the sixth graders will have access to those books for independent reading in Mrs. Schoch’s class.
Students in grades seven and eight will get to vote on this year’s Isinglass Award winner. Those books will be available in Mrs. Schoch’s classroom for independent reading. Students all over New Hampshire will cast their votes in the spring, and participants will look forward to hearing if their school’s favorite won the award. More information on these programs can be found at NHSLMA.wildapricot.org/NH-Book-Awards.
In middle school, there are a number of items that are being planned. The traditional school dances for grades six through eight will continue; an off-campus environmental activity is being organized for one of the middle school grades; and new teacher-to-parent communication tools are being developed to help keep parents informed about daily assignments and what is happening in each of the core classes on a monthly basis.
While it is always sad to see staff members leave, the team at AE/MS is excited for the former employees who have taken off for new homes far away and new career opportunities closer to home. This does allow AE/MS to bring new life into the hallways with a number of new staff members.
In addition to Stephanie Peters’ return to kindergarten, veteran staffer Kristy LaRoche will be taking on a new role as the middle school math teacher. Ms. Laroche has connected well with the new math program that she used in the elementary school last year, and she wants to bring her passion for the program up to the middle school level.
The school will also be welcoming Kelly Napier as our new fourth grade teacher, as well as Lauren Manteau (PE/Health), Julianne Babel (Art), and Mikayla Coburn (Music).
All of these new opportunities and additions are sure to bring some excitement to our year. It is also good to know that the school will be bringing back some of its traditional events that we have been missing out on over the last couple of years, so parents and guardians should keep an eye out for them when receiving Principal Dobe’s weekly email.