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FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER
MANCHESTER ESSEX REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE
Essex Elementary Principal Search Update
I am excited to announce that the Essex Elementary Principal Search Committee has identified two finalists for the position.
Over the next week we will be hosting candidate site visits. These interview sessions will allow the school community to meet and ask questions of our finalists. Below is a link to the tentative schedule for each of the days and links to the candidates’ credentials. I hope you will be able to make the time to meet the candidates and share your feedback.
Essex Elementary School Principal Site Visits – February 28th & March 4th
I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the members of the search committee for the time and effort they put into the process of helping to identify our next Essex Elementary Principal.
Essex Elementary Principal Search Committee: Allison Collins, Peter Gertsch, Abby Ytzen Handel, Lindsay Kasmarcik, Holly George, Nicole Grasso-Correnti, Heather Leonard, John Skiba, and John Willis
FY25 Budget Update
The FY25 budget, adopted at the February 6th School Committee meeting, supports our goals of maintaining services, improving student achievement, and pursuing our strategic priorities. All Principal and Director staffing and capital improvement requests are funded, and we are well positioned to begin to rebuild the world language and library programs.
The MERSD FY25 Budget will become official with affirmative votes at both Manchester & Essex Annual Town Meetings.
- Manchester Annual Town Meeting – April 24th
- Essex Annual Town Meeting – May 6th
Going forward, MERSD will continue to work cooperatively with the Boards of Selectman and Finance in both Essex and Manchester to find a long-term solution to our challenge and strategic priority of maintaining a sustainable, multi-year operational budget and capital improvement plan.
Thank you for your advocacy and support during our FY25 budget process.
More information on the MERSD FY25 Budget please visit the MERSD Budget Page.
DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM AND TECHNOLOGY
Every year, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education releases a report card for each school and district in the state. Just as a student's report card shows how they are doing in different classes, school and district report cards are designed to show parents and community members how a school or district is doing in different areas. Report cards highlight a school or district's strengths as well as any challenges that need to be addressed in order to make sure the needs of all students are being met.
You can view our MERSD 2023 Report Cards on our website: https://www.mersd.org/domain/265
MERSD STEAM SHOWCASE
PARENT EDUCATION SERIES
SEL Presentation featuring Michael Eatman
March 28th, 6:00 p.m.
For more information contact Joanne Maino.
Sponsored by MERMS Council
New IEP Workshop for Parents
April 4th and 25th, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. ~ Virtual
Presenter: Allan Blume
Please RSVP to Shelley Mullarkey for Registration and Link.
More information and events coming soon!
STUDENT SERVICES
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has spent several years developing and piloting a new IEP form. MERSD plans to implement the new form in 2024-2025. In the interim, Dr. Allison Collins and Chairpersons Jean Tarricone and Holly George have been trained as trainers for administrators and staff. Trainings with staff are underway and a district administrator training is planned for early April. Virtual parent trainings are scheduled for April 4 and April 25 at 6pm with IEP specialist and former Simmons College special education professor Allan Blume. The two dates are being offered to provide parents with scheduling flexibility; the presentation is the same on both dates. To reserve a space in the parent training, email Shelley Mullarkey at mullarkeys@mersd.org.
PERFORMING ARTS
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, JR.
Congratulations to the Cast and Crew of Disney's High School Musical, Jr. - presented by the YMCA of the North Shore and MMES.
MASSACHUSETTS HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA FESTIVAL
MERHS Drama Club presents Death of A Dead Guy by William L. Bowman, Jr., which will be performed at the METG Drama Fest.
Preliminary Round: Saturday, March 2, 2024 (snow date: March 3, 2024) St. John’s Preparatory School at 10:00AM.
Tickets will be available at the door of each Prelims & Semis site. Prelims tickets will be $10 for the day including the awards ceremony and Semis tickets will be $15 for the day including the awards ceremony.
The Massachusetts High School Drama Festival, a competitive program that typically includes 112 one-act plays produced by member high schools. The competition is organized across three levels; preliminary, semi-final and State Finals. Student excellence in acting and technical design is recognized at each level. Of the 112 one-act plays that enter the festival, fourteen will be selected as State Finalists, of which three will be named winners. Two schools chosen from the State Finalists will go on to represent Massachusetts in the New England Drama Festival, the regional showcase of secondary school theatre.
MS/HS JAZZ CONCERT
SCHOOL NEWSLETTERS
THE OPEN DOOR FOOD TRUCK
The Open Door Food Truck will visit Essex Elementary School and Manchester Memorial Elementary School. For more information about The Open Door please visit their website.
The District Calendar is available in the Quick Links Section of the district and school homepages. Please note that the last day of school, if all snow days are used, will be June 20th; without the use of snow days, we are scheduled for the last day of school to be June 12th. Should we exceed five snow days, additional make-up days will be added to the end of the year through June 30th.
School & District websites – we are making an effort to keep these informative and up to date.
District & School website calendars have up-to-date information about school and district activities.
Athletic schedules can be accessed from a link on the Athletics page.
The budget page can be accessed by a Quick Link off the district home page – here you will find our FY 24 budget documents and presentations. We will be updating this in the fall to reflect the FY25 budget process.
Superintendent’s Blog is a forum to share good news, observations, and information about our schools and about education in general.
Manchester Essex Regional School District
36 Lincoln St.
Manchester, MA 01944
Phone: 978.526.4919
Fax: 978.526.7585
MERSD Mission Statement:
The Mission of the Manchester Essex Regional School District (MERSD) is to provide a high quality, comprehensive, student-centered educational experience that prepares them for a post-secondary educational or service experience, a career, and life as an engaged member of society.