MEADOW BROOK SCHOOL

 

 

January 23, 2004

TOWN REPORT

 

     Meadow Brook School has 633 students enrolled in grades Preschool through Grade two.  Class sizes continue to grow each year.  Between the end of June and the opening of school in September Meadow Brook enrolled 68 students new to East Longmeadow. This impacted all grades, but specifically grade one with the highest enrollment of 27 students per class.  Class sizes in grade one were reduced in November with the hiring of an additional grade one teacher, Ms Julie Elkhay.  The combined efforts of teachers, parents, School Committee, Superintendent, and Town Appropriations Committee helped make this possible. Enrollments in all 9 first grade classrooms were reduced for an average of 23 per classroom. A full-day, tuition based kindergarten program was offered this year.  We are very pleased that 60 families enrolled in the full-day program for a total of 3 classrooms. In order to accommodate the full-day program and to meet the increased need for additional space we added 8 new modular classrooms. These new classrooms will become the kindergarten wing and are being funded through kindergarten tuition monies paid by parents each year. We also still offer half-day sessions, both AM and PM.  The 8 new classrooms will enable us to reconfigure teachers’ room assignments, and for the first time, we will have all grade levels assigned to the same wing of the building.

    

     Meadow Brook School provides an excellent, child-centered, learning environment through the efforts of a highly qualified, dedicated staff and supportive families. Several new staff members were hired. Ms Heather Swadel and Ms Kristen Rahilly are teaching kindergarten. These experienced teachers are an excellent addition to the kindergarten team. Ms Joanne Hasbrouck transferred from kindergarten to grade one to replace Dr. Louisa Bouchard who retired in June, and Ms Julie Elkhay was hired as the new grade one teacher in November. We also added several paraprofessionals; Nancy Carver, Leslie Kida, Lou Ann Tremblay, and Barbara Welch.

 

     Parent involvement is an integral component of every school and the key to a successful learning community. We are very proud of the many parents who volunteer in our classrooms and for all school activities.  The PTO actively supports teaching and learning in a variety of ways. Parents also serve on a variety of committees and plan many school wide enrichment activities.

 

     Meadow Brook music teacher Carol Toth and Gifted and Talented teacher Brian Sheehy were awarded $3,000 from the East Longmeadow Endowment in order to purchase software that will help classroom teachers integrate technology into all areas of the curriculum. Meadow Brook School also received a grant from the Department of Education to fund paraprofessionals for each of the full-day kindergarten classes.

 

     We are very proud of the combined efforts of parents, teachers, and community. The success of Meadow Brook is a team effort, and together, we look forward to another exciting year of learning.