Dear Doyon Families,
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year!
I'm so very excited for us to begin the upcoming year together. I have been offered the opportunity to continue to serve as your Interim Principal and I couldn't be more pleased to accept. Teaching at the Paul F. Doyon Memorial School is an honor. For those of you new to our building, I previously served as our building Assistant Principal and prior to that taught students in grades PreKindergarten, Kindergarten, 2, 3, and 4 in New Hampshire public schools. I live in Hampton Falls with my wife, Elizabeth, and our son, Hudson. A dream of mine has always been to, alongside teachers, nurture a school community rooted in ensuring the needs of all children and families are met. I believe that is what we do - and will continue to do - at the Paul F. Doyon Memorial School.
Summer feels like it's come and gone in a blink! We have been busy at school preparing to ensure that our very special school is ready to welcome students and teachers. I hope that your families, like mine, have enjoyed bits and pieces of quiet nights, busy days, and opportunities for togetherness. This email is inclusive of information to help you prepare over the next two weeks for our return to school. Please know that I am here to support each of you. If you have a question, simply reach out.
Warmly,
Mr. Whitehouse-Mullen
Student Supply List & Summer Materials: Click here for more information about student supply lists and summer reading. If you need any assistance with purchasing supplies, please contact Adam J. Whitehouse-Mullen at amullen@ipsk12.net or Dominie O'Neill at doneill@ipsk12.net.
Hours of Operation:
Kindergarten & Grades 1-5: 8:40 a.m. – 3:05 p.m. (M, T, W & F), 8:40 a.m. – 1:50 p.m. (Th)
Ipswich Integrated Preschool Program:
- Three Year Old Program: 9:00 - 1:30 PM (T, Th)
- Four Year Old Program: 9:00 - 2:45 PM (M, W, F)
Arrival and Dismissal Routines: We will maintain our arrival and dismissal routines from the 2023 - 2024 school year for the 2024 - 2025 school year. We continue to work collaboratively as a school to ensure that our processes are as efficient and safe as possible. For friends new to the Doyon community, detailed information related to our procedures can be review below.
Important Arrival and Dismissal Notes:
Breakfast begins at 8:15 AM. If your student will have breakfast, please drop off at the front door between 8:15 and 8:30 AM. Between 8:30 and 8:40 AM, please drop in the car line and your student can head inside for breakfast through the cafeteria door.
Drop off is outside between 8:30 and 8:40 AM and staff members are on duty to supervise until 8:40 AM.
If you arrive after 8:40 AM, please pull up to the front door. Your student will ring the doorbell to go into the building. Please make sure that your student is safely in the building before pulling away.
EDP (Extended Day Program) students will enter and exit out of the rear cafeteria door at the side of the building.
Bus Arrivals:
When busses arrive to Doyon they will unload and students will walk down the side of the building to their assigned grade level areas with adult supervision. They will enter into the back doors at 8:40 AM.
Car Arrivals:
Thank you for helping us to get everyone into the building safely. If you are dropping off your child in the morning between 8:30 and 8:40 AM, please enter into the driveway, circle around the side of the building, drop off at the sign and proceed out the same way. Adhere to cones and arrows when they are there. This year, drop off will continue to be next to the back playground so students can proceed to their grade level area in the back.
Walking Arrivals:
If you are walking your student to school, please adhere to the pathways and walk to the back of the school where they can join their peers at grade level areas.
Car Dismissal:
Proceed into the car pick-up lane if you are picking up. Teacher will be present to help. Please be sure to have a name sign with your last name on your car. This is how we will call your student. As busses load, you may depart out of the main driveway when directed. You may not leave the driveway when busses are parked or loading.
If there are any changes to your child's arrival or dismissal procedure, please notate this through School Dismissal Manager.
This year, our school theme surrounds togetherness and care. The essential question being: How do we, together, show care for our community and help one another to grow? We will be partnering with the Winthrop School in this journey. As a piece of this work, we will consider the Responsive Classroom CARES acronym, pondering: How do students show Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control?
Are you interested in serving as a parent representative on the Doyon School Council? We are anticipating at least one vacancy on the School Council at this time.
What is a School Council?
A school council is a representative, school-building-based committee comprised of the principal, parents, teachers, and community members that work together to establish goals, shape the policies and programs of the school, and improve student achievement. The school council assists the principal in:
Adopting educational goals for the school that are consistent with local educational policies and statewide student performance standards
Identifying the educational needs of students attending the school
Reviewing the annual school building budget
Formulating a school improvement plan
School councils also serve as a voice and sounding board for the school community. Each member of the council is available to hear concerns and suggestions from parents, teachers, students, and the community at large.
The Doyon School Advisory Council consists of parent representatives, teacher representatives, administrative representatives, and one community representative. The mission of the School Advisory Council is to develop the school improvement plan through monthly meetings with input from all different representatives involved in the school: parents, teachers, administration, and community members.
The Doyon School Council typically meets once per month on a Wednesday at 5:30 PM alternating in-person and via zoom. Our first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 16 at 5:30 PM in the Doyon Library. All school council meetings are open to the public and all parents are welcome to attend.
If you are interested in joining the school council, please fill out this Google Form.
Should there be a larger interest than spaces available, elections will be held during Curriculum Nights and the information provided in the Google Form will be made public.
Welcome to the new school year! FRIES is Doyon's parent-teacher organization, and we work to bring great programming to the school and support students, teachers and staff. We have a Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DoyonFRIES) and a website (https://doyon-fries.membershiptoolkit.com/) On the website, you can sign up for a family directory. (If you have signed up for the directory in the past, please login soon to update your child's grade and teacher!)
We are holding informal playground meetups over the next two weeks. Teachers will not be present, but it is another opportunity for students to meet up before school begins:
August 14 - Kindergarten Class Meetup 5pm-6pm
August 19 - 2nd and 3rd grade meetup 5pm-6pm
August 20 - 4-5th grade meetup 4pm-5pm
August 21 - 1st grade meetup on playground 5pm-6pm
On August 17th and 18th, volunteers will be building a new playground for the preschool, and we would love it if you joined us! Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A084BAFA82CA2FC1-50466472-preschool
On September 11 at 6:30pm, FRIES will be holding our first meeting of the school year in the school library. All parents/guardians are welcome, and you can be as involved as you would like.
Please save the date for our fun fall events: Mums Sale (begins August 28th), Ice Cream Social (September 20th), Third Annual Spooky Walk (October 5th, rain date October 6th)
