Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Beeman Memorial Elementary School’s entrance got some new asphalt over the summer. Teachers are back in classrooms getting ready for the first day of school, which is Tuesday in Gloucester.
Beeman kindergartner teacher Jaclyn Novello readies her modular classroom, which was completely overhauled over the summer, as teachers get ready for the first day of school. In Gloucester, most students start Tuesday, while kindergartners begin Sept. 7.
First-grade teacher Shannon Killian reorganizes her closet in one of the modular classrooms, which were completely overhauled over the summer, as Beeman Elementary teachers get ready for the first day of school on Tuesday.
Beeman Memorial Elementary School’s entrance got some new asphalt over the summer. Teachers are back in classrooms getting ready for the first day of school, which is Tuesday in Gloucester.
Beeman kindergartner teacher Jaclyn Novello readies her modular classroom, which was completely overhauled over the summer, as teachers get ready for the first day of school. In Gloucester, most students start Tuesday, while kindergartners begin Sept. 7.
First-grade teacher Shannon Killian reorganizes her closet in one of the modular classrooms, which were completely overhauled over the summer, as Beeman Elementary teachers get ready for the first day of school on Tuesday.
Work to get Beeman Memorial Elementary School shipshape for the start of school next week included a crew on Wednesday scraping an exterior wall in preparation for a fresh coat of paint.
Fresh paving was visible at the front entrance, and the school’s modular classrooms were clad with new grey siding and white trim due to a major exterior remodeling project this summer.
As teachers have been doing throughout the district, music teacher Marisa Tuly was setting up her classroom at Beeman. This is her first year teaching at Beeman, having taught in Boston and Malden in the past.
“I am thrilled,” she said about the start of school. “It’s going to be awesome, I’ve heard many, many things, great things about students, about the school, so I’m very excited. and I’m excited about the musical aspect at the end of the year,” said Tuly about the spring musical.
The school year kicks off for teachers on Monday, Aug. 29, with an opening session at O’Maley Innovation Middle School, a gathering which was not held the past couple of years due to the COVID-19pandemic.
Students return Tuesday, Aug. 30. There’s no school on Friday, Sept. 2, and Monday, Sept. 5, for Labor Day holiday. Pre-kindergartners start Tuesday, Sept. 6, while the first full day for all kindergartners is Wednesday, Sept. 7.
The start of this school year will see pandemic-era restrictions relaxed for the most part.
“I am thrilled to start the school year,” said Beeman Principal Jodi Gennodie. “It feels a lot more like normal and … we are seeing a lot of the fun come back. We are seeing some carpets for circle time in the classrooms, and just some of our routines we haven’t experienced in the last two years, so that’s going to be fantastic.”
“I mean it’s just so nice to come back to a fully lifted restrictions school year,” said first-grade teacher Shannon Killian, who was also setting up her Beeman classroom. Last year, amid the pandemic, she said, teachers were trying to space things out.
“It’s just so nice to be setting up and know what you are expecting for the year,” she said.
This summer, exteriors of the modular classrooms at Beeman and Plum Cove elementary schools were renovated, making them weatherproof so they would last another 10 years. There had been talk in the spring about fixing the Beeman modulars this year and those at Plum Cove next year.
“Mike Hale and the DPW worked with the contractors and were able to get them both finished for this summer,” Superintendent Ben Lummis said.
The work included new roofs, weatherproof membranes, siding, flashing and skirting, among other improvements, Lummis said. In December, the City Council approved a loan order for $3.5 million to repair the modular classrooms at both schools.
“We are finishing those up right now and they look really great,” Lummis said. Follow-up work next summer will involve HVAC work.
As far as staffing goes, Lummis said he plans to give a full hiring update at the School Committee meeting next week.
“Staffing is going well, despite the challenges that the schools are having across the region and state. We’re getting close to being fully staffed,” Lummis said. “We are doing really well with hiring. Our folks are working hard all summer to make sure our schools are fully staffed and we’ll be ready for opening day.”
Gloucester’s Kristie Lambert took to Facebook to announce she’ll be the new assistant principal at East Gloucester Elementary, and she will continue to serve in this role at the consolidated East Gloucester/Veterans Memorial school, which is under construction at the former Veterans School site on Webster Street.
This will be her 18th year as a Bay State educator, and she is well known in the district, having worked for nine years as a teacher and literacy coach at Veterans. She served as an administrator in Rockport last year before returning to Gloucester. She attended East Gloucester as a child and her two daughters are enrolled at Veterans and O’Maley, she wrote.
“There isn’t a person who is better suited and more well known by those communities,” Lummis said. “We are really excited to have Kristie on board.”
Another change for the district will be the retirement of Assistant Superintendent Gregg Bach in December.
In 2017, Bach returned to Gloucester as assistant superintendent after a couple years serving as Rockport’s middle and high school principal. He had been the Gloucester assistant superintendent for a few years before that.
Lummis said Bach was a “tremendous partner” since he arrived in the district and he said he could not have been successful without him.
“Gregg has been the instructional leader for the district for many years and … I’ve never known a better assistant superintendent, someone who works so well with our teachers and our school leaders,” Lummis said.
Other staff changes include East Gloucester Principal Amy Pasquarello stepping into the assistant superintendent’s job.
“Amy knows curriculum instruction and working with teachers and staff so well she’s going to be a great benefit to all of our schools and our teachers and myself for years to come,” Lummis said.
Veterans Memorial will again be in session at the former St. Ann’s School during the school construction project. Principal Matt Fusco will become the principal of the new consolidated elementary school with Lambert as the assistant principal.
Back at Beeman, kindergarten teacher Marla Polizzia of Gloucester was fixing up her classroom for her last year before she retires after approximately 27 years teaching in Gloucester, with about 10 years at Beeman.
“It’s been a wonderful experience, I have to say,” she said as she set up her classroom in preparation for more hands-on learning this year. She said she was excited “to try some new things with the kids and get back to normal kindergarten.”
Superintendent Ben Lummis stressed the importance of daily hygiene practices, such as handwashing and sanitizing, covering coughs and sneezes …
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