Hello Auburn Families and Staff,

The year is moving quickly and we are looking towards all things Spring! Next Friday, many staff and students will participate in the Polar Plunge! We are thankful to our team of educators who pulled this event together to support Special Olympics. I am so proud and thankful for their efforts. Hopefully this spring weather will hold to support those who are plunging!

I would like to provide families and staff with an update related to the proposed parking fees for students at Auburn High School for the 2025-2026 school year shared with you several weeks ago. Due to an unexpected receipt of some additional state funding, we will not implement the parking fee for the 2025-2026 school year. We will revisit the need for this fee for the 2026-2027 school year if is deemed necessary for budget purposes.

As you well know, the use of cell phones and social media, by both students and adults, has had a profound and significant impact on our daily lives. In the past, I have shared the warning from the Surgeon General, that notes the profound risks and mental health harms that are a product of the use of social media during adolescence. More recently, we received a Toolkit from Attorney General Andrea Campbell noting that "School Leaders in Massachusetts have reported significant impacts of cell phones and social media on students and the school environment, including distractions from learning, shortened student attention span, increased anxiety among students, negative peer interactions and increases in cyberbullying, harassment, and hate incidents." We experience some of these incidents here in Auburn and while nearly all happen outside of school, we are responsible for ensuring that any outside incident that impacts the school day, be handled by teachers and administrators to ensure the safety of all students. Given all of this information, we will be examining our current cell phone practices, with options for community participation and input, to gauge the impact of cell phones in Auburn and to determine if any changes should be made.

We will create a Cell Phone Study Committee, with the hopes of having representation from students, families, teachers, administrators and the School Committee to gather more information from the community and to then make recommendations to the full School Committee to either stay the course or to change our practices. It is my hope that the first step for this Committee will be to develop a survey to distribute to all students(AMS and AHS) as well as to all of our families to gather as much information as possible. Here is the link to the current cell phone practices in the Auburn Public Schools.

We will keep the community informed as to the findings. I hope to keep the committee size to no more than 20 people, again with other opportunities for families and students to share their thoughts. The first meeting will be held Tuesday, March 25, 2025 via Google Meet. Future meetings may be held in person. If you are interested in participating, please follow this link to share your contact information. You will receive an email in the coming with confirmation next week.

Thank you for your continued support of the Auburn Public Schools and have a great weekend.

Best,

Beth

The Fire Station Building Committee invites you to attend an informational presentation on Wednesday March 26th at 6:00 p.m. at the Auburn Middle School. The presentation will be given by the project architects, owners project manager, Fire Chief and committee members. The station design and cost impacts will be discussed on this very important project. Everyone is encouraged to learn the important need for this station. For more information on the project follow the link below to the Fire Station Building Committee webpage.

https://auburnma.gov/803/Fire-Station-Building-Committee

The Auburn Public Schools and the School Committee are dedicated to working together to support the children of Auburn and the Auburn Community. To ensure consistency with facility rentals and streamlining the process, we have transitioned to utilizing FMX scheduling software, as managing the facilities is challenging. FMX will assist in streamlining the scheduling process and will ensure that fees are consistently and appropriately applied to organizations who request the use of our buildings or fields.

The School Committee voted on an updated facility fee schedule is attached below. Please note that the site manager fee is a 3-hour minimum charge which aligns with Massachusetts employment laws, with an additional $25/hour fee for any site manager time over three hours. Also new, a 50% deposit is required for all reservations and there is a cancellation fee for any cancellations within 3 days of the event excluding weather-related cancellations. Use of the gyms for Group B users, which was previously $50 per hour, will now be $50 per session of use.

Later this spring, we will be gathering any interested stakeholders to further discuss the fee structure to ensure that any fees are fair, that they support our community organizations, and that we as a district are able to maintain the properties so that school teams, community teams, and community organizations have fields and facilities kept in good working order. This discussion would work to determine IF changes are warranted for the 2026-2027 school year. The fee structure shared with you here will remain in place through the 2025-2026 school year.

If you need assistance with FMX or you have questions, we are here to help you in any way we can. For assistance please contact the Business Office at 508-832-7750.

It is hard to believe that we are already planning for the 2025-2026 school year. As we have done for several years now, we will be using an online Bus Application for 2025-2026 and applications are now being accepted. Please see more information below.

There is a graduated fee schedule for all payments received after May 1st so we urge you to apply and provide payment before May 1st. This also allows us a much better planning window.

We have made this change due to an increasing number of late applications which significantly complicates the process of determining bus routes and assigning students to buses. As always, student safety is at the heart of this decision. We hope that families will apply electronically by following the link above. However, if you are unable to do so, I have attached a paper version of the bus application along with the graduated fee schedule and the Rules and Regulations for APS Busing. All paper applications and fees must be sent in or dropped off at 5 West Street and can be left in the locked drop box outside of the main entrance.

Please apply early and remember, your application is NOT complete until we receive the bus fee.

If you have questions, please call Central Office at 508-832-7755 or email apsbus@auburn.k12.ma.us.

We are pleased to inform you that applications for The Auburn Integrated Preschool and registration for Kindergarten for the 2025-2026 school year is now open. All applications and registrations will be completed online. If your child already attends the Auburn Integrated Preschool, you do NOT need to complete the online registration process. You will receive information from the preschool for next steps. To formally register your child in the Auburn Public Schools, please visit the Student Registration Page on our website. We ask that if you plan to register your child, you do so as soon as possible. As you might expect, we will need ample time to plan for the coming year and the sooner we have a solid count of children who will attend, the more successful school openings will be.

If you or someone you know has a child turning 5 years of age by September 1, 2025, and are interested in registering for kindergarten, please follow the link above. If you or someone you know has a child turning 3 or 4 years of age by September 1, 2025 and are interested in enrolling in our preschool for the fall, you can do so by following the link above.

• You must be a resident of Auburn to attend the Auburn Public Schools.
• There are specific registration links for Preschool and Kindergarten. Please be sure to select the correct link and the correct school once you enter the registration portal.
• Proof of residency (noted below) must be brought, mailed or emailed to the appropriate school.
• A raised seal birth certificate must be brought to the school to be copied or can be mailed to the school. If mailed to the school, it will not be returned to you.
• If you are not sure which school your child will attend for kindergarten, please call either Bryn Mawr or Pakachoag and a staff member will assist you.

All children of school age who reside in the Town of Auburn will be entitled to attend the public schools.

Every student seeking admission to the school for the first time must present a birth certificate or equivalent proof of age acceptable to the principal and proof of vaccination and immunization as required by the state and the School Committee along with the residency documents noted below.

Two forms documenting proof of residency are required, one from Category A and one from Category B.

Category A

1. Property Deed

• The following items must be dated within the last 60 days:

2. Current Paid Residential Real Estate Tax Bill (for the home in which you are residing)

3. Fully signed and executed Purchase and Sale Agreement, followed by official closing paperwork, or mortgage statement with address

4. Current (not expired) Rental or Lease Agreement with Auburn address, signed by the tenant and landlord or property manager, with all residents listed

Category B:

1. Voter Registration with Auburn Address

• The following items must be dated with the last 60 days:

2. Trash, water, electric, cable, gas or oil bill under parent/guardian name with the Auburn address

3. Homeowner Insurance or rental insurance bill with Auburn address

If you do not own or rent a home in Auburn and are living with an Auburn resident, a residency affidavit must be completed and notarized and be accompanied by the above noted residency information from the owner of the property. The administration reserves the right to request proof of residency at any time.

If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact the appropriate person below. Please stay tuned for more information regarding school programming, student screening and transition opportunities that will take place later in the school year. We look forward to working with you.

Auburn Integrated Preschool

Alan Keller, Principal, akeller@auburn.k12.ma.us

Caitlin O’Neill, Administrative Assistant, coneill@auburn.k12.ma.us

508-832-7755

Bryn Mawr Elementary School

Brooke Beverly, Principal, bbeverly@auburn.k12.ma.us

Lisa Wheeler, Administrative Assistant, lwheeler@auburn.k12.ma.us

508-832-7733

Pakachoag Elementary School,

Cheryl Carlson, Principal, ccarlson@auburn.k12.ma.us

Iliana Lopez, Administrative Assistant, ilopez@auburn.k12.ma.us

508-832-7788

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Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. ~Helen Keller