Sunderland Elementary School
1 Swampfield Drive, Sunderland MA 01375 (413)665-1151
Principal Message
Dear Sunderland School Families and Friends:
What positively lovely weather we are seeing here on Swampfield Drive!
I hope you all are enjoying it as much as we are.
The Romantic poet Percy Shelly---who among other notable achievements was married to Mary, the author of Frankenstein---spoke eloquently about the first months of a new year and he saved his highest praise for May:
January gray is here,
Like a sexton by her grave;
February bears the bier,
March with grief doth howl and rave,
And April weeps-but, O ye hours!
Follow with May's fairest flowers.
Fairest flowers indeed. It really feels like this year has blossomed and your students are enjoying the benefits of the nurture and care tended by all of the teacher-gardeners who participate in their growing here at school. These caretakers come from many plots around the building.
Your PTO is filled with good gardeners and this season is budding up from the fruits of their labor. May alone is filled with all sorts of celebratory events and student enrichments they have sown here. I encourage you to take a look at the note from our PTO outlining several outstanding programs that will take place in May and as we head to the close of another school year. You may want to consider putting it on the refrigerator so you won’t miss a single moment of the Chinese Acrobats, the Bike, Walk, Skate or Scoot or the Spring Carnival.
While I’m speaking of the PTO, I need to thank them publicly for these moments coming up in the school and all those that preceded them. But I also want to say thanks for the flowers and goodies they showered on all of our staff earlier this week in celebration of the National Teachers Appreciation Week. Good gardeners indeed.
This week is also National and International Nurses’ Appreciation Week. Along with our outstanding faculty, teaching assistants, related service providers and support team, we also have the most competent and compassionate nurse that a school could wish for in Nurse Jeannie Johnson. Nurse Jeannie’s impact on the wellness of our students and staff is felt every day and in every way here at school and looms so large that Nurse Jeannie is definitely worth celebrating both here and internationally as well!! Her care springs well in every corner of the campus. Thank you Nurse Jeannie for how well you make us feel!
MCAS will be completed by the time we meet again in print. Please do your best to support t your student’s performance by encouraging much rest and sound nutrition in the days and nights leading up to your child’s exams. Of course the best way to make sure they’ll go willingly to an early bedtime is to encourage them to run around in the sunshine in the hours just after they leave us each day. Nothing is better than fresh air and open spaces to encourage health and wellness. The longer days and warmer temps may provide you all with just the opportunity for getting out there in the spring celebration. Now that you’ve finished reading this maybe you’ve even got time to go for a walk with your student today.
If you do, enjoy it.
Until then…
We’ll see you in school.
Tim Merritt
Read the Sunderland Sentinel for important biweekly updates
Kindergarten Registration is Thursday, May 16th from 9:30-11:00
There will be no school for current Kindergarten students that day.
Pre-K Registration is Friday May 31
Memorial Day Parade
May 24th - Sunderland Town Memorial Day Parade “Step off” is at 6:00 PM from the Town offices. All families are invited. Bike Decorating contest kicks off at 5:15 PM. Judging will occur promptly at 5:30 PM. Many of our students will be marching with a team or organization. We encourage SES families to wear their “Farmy, Fresh, and Fun” tee shirts for this evening of family fun. Look for new additions to this year’s parade. Residents are invited to set up lawn chairs for viewing on the strip of lawn between Main Street and the sidewalk. Free hotdogs will be served at the end of the parade.
Chinese Acrobats Coming to SES
May 30th - Fabulous Chinese Acrobats at SES! The SES PTO brings you the final school-wide assembly of the year. All SES students will enjoy a live traditional Chinese Acrobat performance starting at 9 AM in our school gym. The program will include contortions, plate spinning, foot juggling, and group acrobatics. An interpreter will also be with the group to enrich their visit with facts about Chinese culture and customs.
SES Night at the Bridgeside Grill
June 4th - “SES Night” at the Bridgeside Grill. Take the night off from cooking dinner! The Bridgeside Grill invites you and your family to come on down to taste and see what’s cooking in the center of Sunderland. Rose O’Hagan and the team at The Bridgeside Grill have generously offered to make a donation to the SES PTO from the profits earned on Tuesday, June 4th. Take a night off from cooking dinner and help raise funds for school programs. They are open for lunch and dinner.
End of Year Carnival
June 6th – Sunderland Elementary’s End of Year Carnival! Please bring your family to share a FREE BBQ meal donated by Bub’s BBQ. Don’t miss live music from Rusty Belle, Juggling from Henry the Juggler, and outdoor fun and treats for everyone. This is our summer send-off bash. Doors open at 5:00 PM!
May 23 is Bike, Walk, Skate or Scoot to School Day
This year’s Bike, Walk, Skate, or Scoot to School Day, planned for Thursday, May 23rd, is building on the success of last year’s Bike to School Day, which saw over 70 students, 40 parents and grandparents, and 5 staff members come to school on their bicycles. This year, kids, parents and grandparents, and staff have even more options to participate by walking, skating, or scooting to school on the day of the event. The day will begin with a Bike, Walk, Skate, or Scoot Breakfast for participating students, parents, grandparents, and staff starting at 8 a.m. Custom-made “Farmy, Fresh & Fun” bracelets and a variety of prizes will be given away, and there's a good chance that we'll have press coverage. As an additional incentive, and to facilitate dismissal time with so many bicycles, pedestrians, skaters, and scooters, Mr. Merritt plans to let participants leave school a little early. If heavy rain or thunderstorms are in the forecast, our rain date is Friday, May 31.
This event is sponsored by the PTO, with the assistance of a grant from “Action for Healthy Kids” which is part of Massachusetts in Action. A representative of Safe Routes to School is also expected to set up a table that morning to talk with participants and share materials.
So, mark your calendars, and get your wheels or walking shoes ready! (If you don't feel you have a safe route to bike, walk, skate, or scoot to school from your home, why not come to school from another location, such as leaving from a friend's house?) Check out the bulletin board outside of Mr. Howell's room, and look for a sign-up sheet going out the week of May 13.
MCAS May Schedule
SES Website
We are pleased that you've taken a moment to stop by our website. I hope you visit this site often to see the updates as events unfold at your child's school. If you are a visitor considering the Sunderland School for your choice student, please take some time to browse the various places around our site. It should give you an idea of what we are all about. If you have any questions or want to learn more about us, give us a call so we can schedule a visit in the near future.
Upcoming Events
May
May 1 2:10 All School Sing
May 1 Family Literacy Night 5:30-7:30
May 2 Mass Winds 2:10
May 2 Spring Instrumental String Concert 7-8p.m.
May 10 Author Visit with Corinne Demas in the LMC
May 15 Cafe Sun Lunchtimes
May 16 Kindergarten Visitation 9:30am – 11:00am No school for current Kindergarten class!
6th Grade Dance at Whately Elem. May 17 6:30pm – 8:30pm
May 21 Sunderland School Committee 7 p.m.
May 22 PTO Meeting 6:30p.m.
May 23 Bike, Walk, Skate or Scoot to School Day
May 27 Memorial Day No School
May 30 Chinese Acrobats 9-10p.m.
May 31 Pre K Visitation Day 10:00-11:00a.m.
June
June 4 SES Night at the Bridgeside Grill 3:30p.m.
June 5 Instrumental Assembly
June 5 PTO Meeting 6:30
June 6 PTO Spring Carnival 5p.m.
June 10 Junior Olympics grades 5 + 6
June 11 Junior Olympics Grades 3 + 4
June 12 Junior Olympics Rain date
June 12 Cafe Sunset 6:30p.m.
June 13 Step Up Day
June 13 6th Grade graduation
June 18 School Committee Mtg 7:00p.m.
June 19 Last Day of School!
Contact Information
School Phone
(413)665-1151
Nurse Phone
(413)665-1451
Fax Number
(413)665-4545
(413)665-9030
Superintendant's Office
(413)665-1155
219 Christian Ln. RFD#1South Deerfield, Mass 01373-9718