Dear PCS Community,

 

Here is the final Friday News of the year.  It is hard to believe that here it is, June 11th!  This time of year brings about a range of emotions for us all - and it is beautiful to see how our students and classes are wrapping up the year.  Here are some highlights from the week:

• Our 8th grade students had a wonderful day Thursday on adventures in Western Mass - Interskate 91, the Bridge of Flowers and Berkshire East

• Meanwhile our 6th and 7th graders spent that day at the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences

• Our 3rd grade put on a phenomenal celebration of learning about the critical nature of clean water and the water cycle

• Our musical talents have been on full display, with Bugz last week, and the Ice Cream Social this week - after the Bandwagon Series tomorrow, our performance season comes to a close :)

• Our 5th graders "rang the bell" in a sweet PCS tradition of bringing elementary school to a close

• Many many folks were swimming in various places - the brook behind the school, Kampfires with our student leadership team, the West River with 4th grade

• Today 4 PCS alumni who are graduating tonight from BUHS came to connect with our kids and teachers, which was a real treat.

Though being a short week next week, there is still much happening - here is a summary:

Saturday, June 13 - NextStage Arts Bandwagon Series at PCS, with our Modern Band and Jazz Band playing

Monday, June 15 - 8th Grade Graduation - 6:00 on the playground weather permitting

Tuesday, June 16 - Field Day for students (including staff vs. students kickball)

Wednesday, June 17 - Final Student Day (Half day), 11:45 Dismissal

 

Summer Camp:

Summer camp information was sent to families today - we are looking forward to a busy summer at PCS!  Unfortunately, we are not able to offer the Counselor in Training program as part of camp this summer.  Questions leading up to the July camp should be directed to Sarah Cassidy, our summer camp coordinator. 

 

Aftercare Next Year:

We are happy to share that we will again run our PCS aftercare program for families who need care after school.  This program will run until 4:45 Monday-Friday.  There will again be a cost of $10/day to cover the cost of running the program.

 

Student Academic Performance

Every Spring, we collect data regarding the academic proficiency of our student body, as a way to reflect on how our students are developing academically, is our curriculum meeting their needs, and is our approach effective.  Here is a very broad brush summary of our students academic performance.  2025-26 was another year of growth in this performance thanks to the incredible work of our teachers, staff, students, and you are caregivers.

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Staffing Changes:

This year brings about some staffing changes as some staff are retiring, relocating, or moving on to other adventures.  If you see these folks, please share our collective gratitude for all they have done for our community:

• Valerie Kosednar, PreK Teacher

• Maureen Ward, Academic Support Teacher

• Laetitia LeBail, Intensive Services Coordinator

• Susan Gunther-Mohr, School Social Worker

• Ila White, Kitchen Assistant

• Kevin Hadsel, Intensive Services Program

• Danielle Johansmeyer, Middle School Support Staff

In addition, some folks are shifting to new roles for the upcoming year:

• Ariane Lavoie is shifting to be a support person in our middle school

• Sarah Cassidy is shifting to an Academic Support teaching role

• Emily Pals is shifting to be our new Kindergarten Teacher

And, we are excited to welcome some new folks to our PCS staff community for next school year:

• Julianne Giordano is coming to PCS as our new PreK teacher

• Cara Rauh is joining us in a student support role

• Charlotte Lowell is joining us in a behavior support role

 

With that, I wish you all a fun, relaxing summer!  Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us - it is a true honor to work with them every day.

 

Jon