August 29, 2016

To All PCS Families,

I would like to offer you a warm welcome back to Petersham Center School for the upcoming school year!  We are so excited that you are part of our school community and can not wait to again show you why our school is so very special!!!  I am certain that you will find PCS supportive of both parents and students, as we hope to make your educational experience here a positive one.

We have made many changes over the summer which I hope that you find helpful and exciting.  If you are a returning student, our registration packets are now all on-line for your convenience.  For those of you whose email addresses we have, you should be receiving an email this week that has an embedded link that takes you to the forms.  If you have an email address, and either PCS did not have it or maybe we had your wrong address, please call the school this week and inform us.  We will then send you the link.  If your family does not have access to the internet, please come into our main office where you would be able to use one of our ChromeBooks to complete the forms.  We can offer any assistance that you might need in this process.  We would appreciate receiving all forms by next Friday, September 2, 2016.  I thank you in advance for completing these vital forms.

You will find the entrance to PCS different from last year along with our new safety enhancements.  The first set of doors in our main entrance will now remain unlocked from 8:00-3:00 p.m.  Please enter through that first set of doors when coming to our main office.  You will then need to address Mrs. Degnan through the first window on the right hand side.  If you are only dropping off some forms, they can be put through the slot in that window.  Mrs. Degnan can buzz you in if you need to come into the office; for instance if you need to drop off some medication for your child.  Chief Cooley, myself, and the rest of the PCS Staff are excited for these changes that will help to keep all of our students and staff safe in today’s world.

Student attendance is vital for their academic success.  In order to encourage student attendance, I now will be presenting students with perfect attendance awards each month beginning for the month of September.  A student would need to have no absences or tardies for the entire month to receive this award.  (Please remember that a student is considered tardy if they arrive for school after 8:20 a.m.) I am hoping to hand out many, many of these awards this year.  I look forward to partnering with you to make this happen.  Please note that all handbooks with further school information are on our website for your review.

I am proud to announce that we now have custom made car clings and felt pennants available for purchase for you to display your PCS pride!  The felt pennants are 9 x 24 and cost $8.  The car clings are square in shape and cost $5.  Each have our logo on them.  All proceeds will be going to our Student Activity Account.  This account will fund new programs;  such as a new program that I am proud to announce - character education and our Citizen of the Month program.  Mrs. Layton will be sending you more information about this later in the week. As you can see we have many positive changes happening.  

I truly am excited to work with families and students to have a productive and exciting school year!  If you should have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Warm regards,



Joanne Menard
Principal