Fear not my little Lantz/McLaughlin friends! You ...

2008-06-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Fear not my little Lantz/McLaughlin friends! You are about to enter the most exciting chapter of your lives at Essex Elementary School! I hope I can calm some of your fears and anxiety! Yes, Maureen - the moms already like you! Here I thought you were "new" to the area and I go to a baseball game and you're chit-chatting away with a great group of moms and dads who already know and like you!! Who else can go to watch a child play baseball and pack a picnic for NINE and feed anyone else who is hungry? You were so well-equipped that I was amazed to see what was coming out of your vehicle. Tables, tablecloths, chips, dips, coolers, cups, plates, Popsicles, and then to top that off, the Pizza Dude shows up!! WOW, my child wanted to know why WE don't do that??!!

There truly isn't a bad teacher in the bunch at EES. You won't have a homeroom teacher until 5th grade and both of them are great! There are 2 classes in each grade and both teachers are fabulous you can't go wrong. Yes, you can bring your lunch AND a snack. We do have a NO PEANUT table in the cafeteria and we have "peanut free" classrooms. Teachers and room moms are very sensitive to those issues. As a matter of fact, the school nurse, Mrs. Smith, is very insistent about ingredients when moms bake something for birthdays or classroom celebrations. You guys already know lots of kids from playing soccer, softball and baseball and everyone is friendly don't ya think! Plus we love new kids!! You're going to have more friends than you ever imagined.

Yes, as soon as you walk into the school you will be greeted by Mrs. Randall, the school Secretary, she’s like a mom-away-from-home. You can ask her anything and she’ll always help you! The principal, Mr. Gordon is very nice too, not scary at all. He likes to play trivia games during the week. He also lets everyone wear Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics shirts when we celebrate opening day and championships!!

Walking to school is really fun too. All the kids in your neighborhood walk too so you’ll meet plenty of friends along the way. There’s also plenty of opportunities for your mom and dad to get involved too. The PTO sponsors a lot of fun activities. Like back to school night which will be a ‘50’s sock hop theme, and a holiday fair, and science fair and an auction and field day at the end of the year. There’s so much to do and so many friends to meet and so much to learn you’re going to love it! Promise!

Walk to a new school".... . After looking forward ...

2008-06-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

Walk to a new school".... . After looking forward to school, fresh with mom and dad's visions of what happens there. I can remember that the excitement before going to "school", is touched with more than a little terror at the prospect of newness, but always results in memorable delights. The two oldest of my children had the same first grade teacher when their time came a year apart and in both cases, Sister Mary sent them home, literally, two feet off the ground, after being "birthed" into the wonders of learning.

Maureen, your observations are incredibly real to me remembering the early days of school of my children and I attribute much of their later devotion to education to their first day.

The "New school" experience is at the top of the list of "awesome" moments for anyone. To surge out into new territory is important for any creature, because it is the beginning of learning, always remembered, and events that happen, even in failure, soon become gentle legends at a later time and....it can't help but make us feel really good.

Comments on Our Rear View Mirror: The Walk to a New School

Fear not my little Lantz/McLaughlin friends! You ...

Walk to a new school".... . After looking forward ...