Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians,
Welcome to the 2026–2027 school year! I hope your summer months were filled with laughter, relaxation, and memorable moments with loved ones. As we prepare to open our doors for another exciting academic year, I enter my third year as principal of East Elementary School with immense pride and gratitude. Watching our students grow, learn, and thrive alongside our phenomenal teachers and dedicated families has been the greatest highlight of my career.
Together with our Assistant Principal, Maura Fruin, and our outstanding faculty and staff, we have devoted the summer to thoughtful planning, refining our instructional practices, and preparing our building for an incredible year ahead. Our dedicated custodial team has worked tirelessly to ensure our facility is pristine and vibrant, while our educators are eagerly designing enriching classroom environments where every scholar feels valued, supported, and inspired to reach their fullest potential.
As we begin this new chapter, safety remains our absolute top priority. All visitors must enter through the main entrance, present a valid photo ID, and check in with our front office staff or campus monitor. Visitor badges must be worn visibly at all times while on campus, and we ask that visitors remain in designated areas to protect student and staff privacy. If you need to pick up your child early, please remain in the vestibule area until your child is escorted to you. These standard procedures are critical to maintaining a secure and nurturing environment for our entire school community.
Strong family partnerships are at the core of a thriving school. Whether through daily drop-off greetings, active involvement in school events, or collaborative discussions, we look forward to deepening our relationships with returning families and warmly welcoming those who are joining our East Elementary community for the first time.
To help us launch a smooth and successful start, please review these key reminders:
You will be receiving an email about drop-off procedures soon from Mrs. Fruin; please read it carefully.
Please do not send your children in with any electronics, toys, stuffed animals, squishies, or any balls or recess equipment. These items are not permitted in school.
Please remember to use School Dismissal Manager for any early pickups or exceptions that need to be made. Also, please remember the cutoff time for picking your child up early is 2:30.
Please remember to make sure your child has everything they need for the day. Dropping items like water bottles, string equipment, lunches, and other items disrupts their learning experience and we can not always get them their items. We ask that you do not drop off any of these items unless it is of extreme importance and is a rare occurrence. Please encourage your child to have everything they need before leaving for school.
I cannot wait to welcome our East School scholars back to campus soon, we have so much to look forward to!
Please see below for more information and updates:
PLACEMENT
We know all of you are eager to receive placement information; placement will be sent via email on Thursday, August 20th at noon. Please know that this was a very thorough process that began in April. As a result, changes to classes can not be made. We thank you for your trust in this process.
ENROLLMENT UPDATE:
We will start the school year with approximately 562 students across grades K through 4. We are holding steady with 6 sections at each grade level.
STAFF UPDATES:
We have been working hard to ensure we have hired the most qualified staff to be part of our East school community. This year we have hired a new, part time school psychologist, Kimberly Quintero , and a new certified building sub, Nicole Pavia. As many of you know, Janet McMullen has retired and we are thrilled to have Angelina Costanzo take over her second grade class. Angelina is not new to us, as she was our building sub and grade two teacher last year for a maternity leave. We are also thrilled to welcome Alexa Ekstrom, our new third grade teacher. Finally, I am thrilled to welcome Ada Cordoliani who is our new Spanish teacher replacing Rebecca Roth who also retired in June. I am thrilled to work alongside our talented staff to ensure the success of all of our students.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HOURS:
The instructional day for students is 8:40 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. Students can begin arriving at 8:30 a.m. and report to their classrooms. Buses will also begin arriving as early as 8:25. You will be receiving a letter about your child’s bus information soon with bus stop location and times for pick-up and drop off. Every year, it takes a week or two for bus routes to settle out, and we respectfully ask for a little extra patience during this time. As a friendly reminder, please use the School Dismissal Manager system if you need to make any changes.
EARLY BIRD PROGRAM and RIGHT AT SCHOOL
East School offers an Early Bird Program for a fee, which allows working parents to drop off their children as early as 7:30 a.m. Information about the Early Bird Program can be found on the East School. We are also thrilled that we have partnered with Right at School to offer after school care for those families who need it. This can also be found on the website.
MEET & GREET SESSIONS, GRADES 1-4:
We will host our annual Meet and Greet opportunity for all students in GRADES 1 - 4 on Wednesday, August 26th from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. in the classrooms. Adults must have a valid photo ID to enter the building for this brief visit time.
KINDERGARTEN MEET & GREET SESSIONS:
A separate letter will be sent to all kindergarten parents explaining our Kindergarten Meet and Greet sessions for kindergarten students on Thursday, August 27th.
NEW TO EAST SCHOOL TOURS:
For families new to East, we will conduct tours of the building on Friday, August 21st. Please see communications from the PTC. Please enter through the main entrance.
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL:
The first full day of school for all students in Grades 1 through 4 is Thursday, August 27th - 8:40 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. The first full day of school for Kindergarten students is Friday, August 28th - 8:40 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. (Please see the separate Kindergarten Parent Letter that will be shared for the Kindergarten Meet and Greet Schedule for Thursday, August 27th.)
PTC - PARTNERS IN OUR WORK:
Please read the email communication from the East School PTC that was emailed for additional information. Their mailing will have more information for all families about their work and many exciting upcoming events as we launch this new school year.
We are very excited to welcome our new students and families to East School and all returning scholars and their families back to school for the 2026-2027 school year! See you very soon!
Respectfully,
Dr. Zoe Robinson - Principal
Mrs. Maura Fruin - Assistant Principal