August 29, 2016
Dear Peabody Families:
It continues to be an honor and privilege to serve as the principal of such as an exemplary and student centered learning community. As we prepare to embark on another year, I am reminded that the beginning of school is truly a special time, and I am eagerly looking forward to partnering with you as we continue to nurture the ongoing development of your child. We are gifted with an incredibly talented, giving and devoted staff. Together this will ensure success for all of our learners.
This summer, we upgraded our school library! We are excited about the new furniture, wall color and flooring. We know these upgrades will continue to draw our learners in, where they will read, do research, work on projects and enjoy our library overall. Our custodial staff has been working extra hard to thoroughly prepare the halls and classrooms of the building in anticipation of another school year.
As you know, we will continue to have a strong focus on Family Engagement this year. This is important work and cannot happen overnight. Building relationships with one another is an excellent opportunity for all of us to succeed as a school. As the demands and complexities of teaching children continue to increase, it becomes more evident that we all need to work together to insure that our children reach their potential. At Peabody, we believe that all of us – the school and the community – must work together in an extended family environment to insure success for all our students. We believe it is everyone’s responsibility to empower children with the creative, intellectual, and decision-making skills necessary for them to become academically, socially, physically, and emotionally successful and responsible citizens of the world.
As a staff, we have been diligently working on our Science goals and professional development for the past school year. You may recall that we were the only school that had included this work in our School Improvement Plan last year. Great things have transpired from this work. I have much to share with you at our Curriculum Night in September. I will pass along the date for curriculum night as soon as we hear back from when the High School is having theirs.
I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful summer filled with fun, relaxation and memory making. My daughters and I spent lots of time together this summer. We travelled to Cape Cod, Maine and New York City. One of my daughters spent some time in Canada and enjoyed a weeklong intensive camp at the Berklee School of Music. My other daughter began an exciting program at the Massachusetts General Hospital working with cancer patients. We’ve been gardening, tending to our chickens and enjoying time with our dog Morton. It has been a great summer, however, I am looking forward to reuniting with my Peabody Family and welcoming our new friends as well.
Enjoy these last couple of weeks and I hope you can join us at our annual Welcome Picnic in the Park on Wednesday, August 31st, from 6 to 7PM in the Peabody School Playground. Please bring your family and a dish to share. This event is rain or shine.
See you soon!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Ford