BULLDOG BARK

Hello Parents,

Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School takes pride in our positive, safe and orderly family environment. We have a School wide positive behavior interventions and support system (PBIS) in place that improves our school culture each year. Our philosophy is quite simple for our behavioral expectations. We expect all students and stakeholders to "SHOW US YOUR PAWS!"

Practice Kindness

Always be Respectful

We are Responsible

Stay Safe

The Emerson staff and myself review nine different areas of the school with all students and explain specific expectations outlined in these areas for PAWS. The areas are the classroom, cafeteria, playground, bus, bathroom, hallway, assemblies, dismissal and arrival.

Emerson staff provides firm, fair, and consistent classroom discipline procedures for students not following expectations. If a student ‘s behavior problems persist, the student is required to complete a “Think About It” form to reflect on better choices and improving behavior.

In addition to setting the PAWS expectations, our positive behavior team has structured a student reward and recognition plan that we use throughout the year. It is very important to acknowledge the students as they contribute to our positive culture. Students at Emerson have the opportunity to earn Bulldog Bucks, which are dollars given daily by staff to students who are noticed following expectations. The students put their bucks into a classroom dog bowl, which the teacher draws 6 winners from every other week. The winners then have the opportunity to select a prize at our Bulldog store.

The Emerson classroom that displays the best behavior that month, gets to have the “Rocky” the bulldog statue displayed inside their classroom for the following month. Staff reward classrooms with bulldog heads to put on their classroom doors, heads are earned for whole class behavior, the class with the most bulldog heads at the end of the month, wins!

Emerson also has a school wide incentive each month for all students who have met behavioral expectations. Incentives include: extra recess, Zumba, Bingo, gym day, and various other faculty planned events.

The first incentive is extra recess and ice cream sandwiches on September 29th!

Students, who go above and beyond expectations are selected each month by classroom teachers for recognition! Emerson refers to these students as “PAWSOME.” Keep a look out in the Bulldog Bark for these monthly students. Student’s pictures and certificates are displayed on our Bulldog Pride wall in the entry hall of Emerson.

Please review the PAWS Expectations with your child/ren.

Encourage your students to earn Bulldog Bucks and to strive for “Pawsomeness!”

Thank You

Mr. Argiri

Hello Parents,

I would like to share some parking lot and community street information with you. The north parking lot, Admiral St. and Danna St. have several challenges with traffic when it comes to dropping off and picking up children. Over the years the Emerson community has made it a priority to practice patience and tolerance and follow some simple guidelines. It is YOU that makes the difference in our parking lot and on our streets. I can relate this to the organization of children at Emerson. Whether students are walking through the halls, transitioning between specials, or evacuating the building, if a few students get out of place or become distracted from the system, it leads to problems, confusion and possibly a dangerous situation.

Please note that the parking lot has new arrows showing there is only one way in and one way out! The parking lot also has freshly painted lines for designated no parking areas.

Here are a few guidelines for us all as we work together this year to make our parking lot operation and local street traffic the best it can be.

1) Always practice patience and tolerance and remember you are in the presence of children, your actions and words do not go unnoticed.

2) Do not park in the pick-up and drop off lane, this lane has to be a continuous flow at all times.

3) Make sure to move forward all the way to the front of the lane when dropping off. The portion of the sidewalk with the ramp is not the drop off point! The entire sidewalk needs to be used. (Stopping in the middle of the lane causes open space and creates another line of traffic attempting to move to the open space.)

4) Children should exit the vehicles on the sidewalk side.

5) Make drop-offs as quick as possible. We all love our children, but we have to make it a quick kiss and goodbye!

6) Be respectful and courteous to our local homeowners and neighbors by not parking on lawns or blocking driveways during school pick-up or drop-off times.

7) Keep our parking lot and streets clean and litter free.

Thank you for your cooperation and commitment to our wonderful Emerson community!

Mr. Argiri

Reminder for Parents!

The District does NOT allow the delivery of food and beverages from outside vendors or fast food establishments for a student’s breakfast or lunch meal. All meals are to be provided by either our Food Service program or prepared at home and sent with your student.

THIS YEAR FREE BREAKFAST AND FREE LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED DAILY.

Outside food delivery is a safety concern. We do not want to have strangers and people that we do not know coming to our buildings with delivery bags. It also is a workload issue for office personnel. Managing multiple food deliveries during lunch time becomes an additional responsibility for our office staff.

The District works hard to provide a variety of healthy, good tasting food in its cafeterias and students are always free to bring their own lunch to school. We will continue to follow our past practice of making sure students receive lunch if they forget to bring one from home.

Families should also refrain from excessive lunch deliveries, our office can accommodate an occasional forgotten lunch or special circumstance but not repeated occurrences.

Thank You for your cooperation.

While everyone loves their pets at home...not everyone may feel the same way at school. Please refrain from bringing pets when dropping off or picking up your son or daughter at the school. We have students that are afraid of animals, and in many instances, while you may know that your dog or cat are harmless with you or at home, when put in a situation with many unfamiliar people, they may act quite differently. Thank you for your assistance with this, as we try to make our school a comfortable place to be for everyone that comes to Emerson!

Now more than ever, we need to address the whole child. Best practice shows that students who feel safe and secure are better prepared to engage in their learning. Therefore, we are excited to continue to use Second Step in our K-8 classes beginning this week to further strengthen our commitment to social and emotional learning. (For more information about the benefits of SEL, please check out the quick video below.)

Second Step offers weekly, age-appropriate virtual lessons for students to help them with various social and emotional skills. These weekly lessons will build on and support all of the great work we're doing at Emerson to support our students. Combined with our schoolwide restorative practices and consistent PBIS expectations, we are creating a firm Tier 1 foundation for supporting all of our students' social, emotional, and behavioral development.

Please view the flyers below to learn more about the program topics, and look for additional updates from classroom teachers and ALL district newsletters.

K-5 flyer

6-8 Flyer

Important Contact Information:

Main Office Phone: 586-439-6700

Absentee Phone Line: 586-439-6790

24 hour recorded line, please leave your child's reason for absence and length of time out. Absences reported to this line, ensure most timely and accurate record.

Fax: 586-439-6701

Emerson Principal: Mr. Sam Argiri

Email: Samuel.Argiri@fraserk12.org

School Administrative Assistant: Ms. Christina Salisbury

Email: christina.salisbury@fraserk12.org

Building Hours - 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

School Hours: 8:35 am – 3:30 pm
First Bell: 8:30 am
Instructional Bell: 8:35 am

9/1-9/4 – Labor Day Break

9/8 -- Fraser Tailgate

9/12 -- PTO Meeting

9/20 – 6th Grade Howell Nature Center

9/29 - Homecoming Parade & Football Game

10/3 – Picture Day

10/13 -- Emerson Walk-A-Thon (tentatively)

11/17 – Picture Retakes (tentatively)

11/29 – Dentists R Us

11/29 -- 4th-6th Holiday Concert 7PM FHS Auditorium

Access the full 2023-2024 District Calendar HERE at any time!

The Emerson annual Holiday Concert for 4th - 6th grades, is on Wednesday, November 29th @ 7pm @ Fraser HS auditorium. More information will be coming.

Get involved with your school and have FUN!

Our first PTO meeting will be Tuesday, September 12th at 7:00PM in the Media Center.

Hope to see you there!

If you are new to the district, or you have a student starting kindergarten please use the following link to complete the necessary technology paperwork.

If your child has specific medical needs, please reach out to the main office prior to the start of school. In order to administer medication, consent forms must be completed. Consent forms for prescription medications must include dosage and frequency information signed by a physician. Medication, including inhalers, must be stored in the main office and not in backpacks or pockets. In addition, if your child has a medical plan, it will need to be updated for the 22-23 school year.

CARE is a resource in our community that helps families and individuals who are experiencing difficulties with mental health or substance abuse. CARE's Student Assistance program offers families the opportunity to receive a thorough assessment for children who are experiencing mental health issues. CARE will then provide resources to assist with concerns. CARE also is a great place to attend parenting classes for Early Childhood through Teen. Speciality classes related to anger management and play and learn groups for younger children are also programs provided through CARE. For more information or for a referral to CARE's Student Assistance program please contact our social worker, Ms. Gentry, or contact CARE at 586-541-CARE.

We are excited to announce that we have extended our partnership with Gleaners through the summer. They will continue to be set up in the FHS parking lot on the following dates:

September 14

September 28

If you are in need of food assistance, you can slow find pantries in your area by visiting https://pantrynet.org.

For the fastest support please use the link and complete the JotForm for tech support from Mrs. Barozzini. Please remember Mrs. Barozzini is not available for nonscheduled calls or pop in visits because she is working on the submitted JotForms.