Dear Laurel Families,
I hope you have had an enjoyable and restful summer. The Laurel faculty has been busily preparing for our new academic year. Teachers have been learning how to implement new methodologies, planning new schedules, creating new curriculum, and identifying particular competencies in many areas that will ensure the best opportunities for success of our students. We cannot wait to share all of our work with you when we all get back together in the fall.
School begins on
Wednesday, September 4
. Students will receive full schedules and daily planners during homeroom on the first day. Homeroom assignments will be sent home separately through another email prior to the first day of school. Students should report directly to Building 1 for our Morning Meeting between 8:10 AM and 8:15 AM. Morning meeting will begin promptly at 8:20. Please note that our drop-off location has moved to the far side of Building 1 (not directly in front). It will be well marked on the first day. We are hosting a Welcome Back Meeting for parents at 1:45 on the first day, to be followed by an ice cream social and regular dismissal at 3:00. More details below.
Please read the following back to school information carefully. There is a lot here!
Campus Changes
In addition to moving our drop-off location, there have been several other changes in our campus over the summer. We have new neighbors in Building 2 - The Wilberforce School. We have worked with the Wilberforce School over many years, sharing our knowledge about dyslexia and other learning differences with their staff. This year, we will be collaborating with them as well, including providing some direct instruction to some of their students in their building.
As there are three schools on the campus now, we have been given new procedures to ensure the safety and smooth traffic flow of all the families and students on the Marillac Campus.
Linked here
is an updated map to show where Laurel families should come into the campus, drop children off, and where to park. Please always enter campus via 75 Mapleton Road (not the Seminary Drive entrance). Drive up the driveway, making sure to stay left, as much as possible, and drop-off children along the far side of Building 1 at the designated spot mentioned above. Please drive slowly (5 miles per hour) and keep space at intersecting roads on the campus so as not to block intersections. There are new (limited) parking spaces outside of Building One and a new parking lot outside of building four to allow for the additional cars expected on campus. Please
click here
to see additional building updates from the Marillac Campus.
Welcome Back Meeting for all Parents: Wednesday, September 4 at 1:45pm (ice cream social to follow) or Thursday, September 5 at 6:00pm
We have several changes in our staff, schedules, curricula, and expectations at Laurel School this year. We would like to share all these items with all parents and guardians at a Welcome Back meeting, on Wednesday, September 4 at 1:45pm
or
on Thursday, September 5 at 6:00pm in Building 1. At that time we will explain our improvements and expectations, and how families can support their children to ensure a successful year. Wednesday’s meeting will end at 2:15 and will be immediately followed by an ice cream social, where you can meet your child’s teachers and other parents. We hope you can join us! We will dismiss from the ice cream social at 3pm. Look for an evite this week.
Over the summer, you received several updates to our
Laurel Handbook
,
including changes in attendance procedures, Dress Code, and our Code of Conduct. Please read through the handbook and discuss the various policies and expectations with your children as soon as possible. Please sign and return the acknowledgement form (which can be found
here
or on the last page of the handbook) once you have so that we know that everyone understands the expectations. Acknowledgement forms are due back to the Main Office no later than Monday, September 9.
Unfortunately, because of insufficient interest, we have had to cancel the SmartLunch service that was offered last year. We will continue to have Pizza Fridays! The pizza order form can be found
here
,
where you can pay online by the month or for the year.
After School Programs
will begin the week of September 16. Detailed descriptions of each program will be out next week. Programs will be offered Monday through Thursday from 3:00-5:00pm. This fall’s offerings include:
Monday - Visual Arts
Tuesday - Voice/Musical Theater
Wednesday - Running Club/Outdoor Fun
Thursday - Science/Environmental
We hope your child will join us for one afternoon or for all four!
A reminder about
attendance
: please contact Alison Greenberg (
agreenberg@thenewgrange.org
or 609-566-6000) in the Main Office by 8am if your child is going to be absent. Alison will pass the information along to all who will need to know throughout the day. Please do not contact your child’s homeroom teacher if your child is or will be absent. Thank you for helping us with this important detail.
Dates for
Teas with Dee
and
Laurel School Parent Association
(LSPA) meetings will be out soon. If you have any specific topics you would like us to address during a Tea with Dee (for example: testing, how to support your child’s learning at home) please let me know!
You should have received an email invitation to sign up and create an account with
Remind
.
We will be using Remind to better manage communication between home and school. We encourage you to download the Remind app onto your phone so that you will have immediate access to messages in addition to emails and/or texts. If you haven’t received an invitation to join Remind yet, please email Kelly Dun (kdun@laurelschoolprinceton.org).
There is always a lot of information to share at the beginning of the school year! All information and previous Notes from Dee are available on our website under
For Current Families
. We hope you will check the site regularly and always be in touch right away if you have any questions or concerns.
We look forward to seeing you at one of our Welcome Back Parent Meetings during our first week of school and we are all very excited about seeing your children - we have missed them!
Enjoy these final weeks of summer!
Dee
P.S. We are very excited to share a new video about the Laurel School with you. Thanks to all who contributed to help others see just what makes our Laurel family so special. Click below to watch. Enjoy!
