Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year!
Here at BPS, we are all looking forward to welcoming students and families back to school on September 4 for grades 1 - 12, September 5 and 6 for Kindergarten, and September 9 for Preschool.
I hope you have had an opportunity to view the mid-summer video update sent out in early August. Here is a link to the update just in case you missed it:
Two initiatives that have been in process are coming to fruition this fall. The first is the grade 4 transition to the Chenery Upper Elementary (CUE). This is the final phase of a project that began about 6 years ago with the design of the new BMHS Campus, which included the opening of our new Belmont Middle School for grades 7 and 8. This year, with grade 4 students moving to the CUE, we now have our upper elementary school in place serving grades 4 - 6. The CUE staff has been hard at work designing classroom space with an elementary focus, preparing procedures and structures to support upper elementary programming, and communicating with families about what the transition will look like for our 4th graders who are now joining our upper elementary school.
Also this year, we are embarking on a new strategic plan to guide district improvements over the next few years. This process began last spring with a strategic planning committee that gathered feedback from families, students, staff, and community members who helped to identify our vision, mission, core values, and strategic priorities. Thank you to families and staff for your time in the community forums, providing input into these important elements and giving feedback on the drafts of these statements. Your input has been valuable. The mission, vision, and core values statements will be published at the beginning of the school year. Over the summer, the leadership team has been developing the district’s strategic plan, with 3-year and annual goals and benchmarks, which will be published this fall.
Throughout the summer, we have been getting ready for the school year.
Our facilities staff has been cleaning and performing maintenance work on all school buildings to ensure safe learning environments for our students and staff.
Orientation activities have been taking place and principals have been providing families with important school year information.
Staff professional development programming has been planned and will launch at the start of the year.
Curriculum and instructional materials have been ordered and set up in schools to support student learning.
Our fall sports teams have begun practicing in anticipation of a successful fall season.
Transportation services have been organized and communicated to families. This year we are increasing our bus fleet by 5 buses to accommodate the grade 4 transition to the CUE.
Registrations for new students have been coming in and will continue through the start of the school.
Hiring has been a critical part of this summer's work, with Principals and Directors bringing in new staff for a wide range of roles across many grade levels. In addition, we have hired new administrators this year, which include:
Chenery Upper Elementary (CUE) Principal - Laura Smith
Winn Brook Principal - Jennifer LaMontagne
Burbank Principal - Lisa Williams
BMS Assistant Principal - Jason DelPorto
CUE Curriculum Coordinator - Liam Doherty
CUE Assistant Principal - Jennifer Mathews
CUE Assistant Principal - Lauren Giunta
Finally, our Leadership Council had a highly successful 3-day retreat this past week, working on instructional visioning and strategic planning. We are all looking forward to seeing our students and families when school starts just one week away!
I hope you all have had an enjoyable and relaxing summer.
Our BPS Leadership Team!
