Welcome Back Potter Road Panthers!

On behalf of all the Potter Road staff members we want to welcome students and families back for the 2026-2027 school year! For the last eight weeks, Potter Road has been a very quiet place. This week many staff members have returned to ready their classrooms for students, and the excitement has started to build! The return of students on Wednesday, August 26th will make our school a truly joyful place.

The Potter Road custodians have been hard at work all summer long. The hallways are shining and the classrooms have never looked better. We are truly grateful the many hours, attention, and care that have they put into readying the building.

Students and families will notice that the mural in the main hallway had a refresh. Potter Road's favorite artist, Ms. McEwan, repainted the mural in the main hallway to include not only the panther paw, but also flowers native to Massachusetts and Brazil. The final product is a true masterpiece!

Potter Road's newest learners, our kindergarten students, will have their kindergarten screening on either August 27th, 28th or 31st. Information was shared with incoming families. Please reach out to the Potter Road office if you did not receive screening information or your appointment time.

We look forward to starting our school year together next week. The information shared in this newsletter we hope will prepare families for the first day.

Proud Principal,

Mrs. Cyr

August 26th: First Day of School for Grades 1-5

August 27th, 28th, 31st: Kindergarten Screening Dates

September 1st: No School for Professional Development

September 2nd: First Day of School for Kindergarten

September 3rd: PTO Meeting 6:30 (Library)

September 7th: No School in Observance of Labor Day

September 10th: Welcome Back Picnic 6:00-7:15 p.m.

September 17th: Grades K-2 Curriculum Night

September 21st: No School in Observance of Yom Kippur

September 22nd: Picture Day

October 1st: Grades 3-5 Curriculum Night

Potter Road is pleased to welcome our new staff members to the larger community. New staff members participated in New Talent Orientation this past week, and are eager to meet students and families on the first day.

Social Worker: Ms. De Almeida will be working with all students in grades K-5 as Potter Road's social worker. Her experiences working with students combined with her student centered approach will be an asset our school community.

School Nurse: Mrs. de Oliveira will be joining the Potter Road team as our school nurse. Mrs. de Oliveira has shared a newsletter that can be found below. Mrs. de Oliveira has a wealth of experiences working in the health sector that will be of great benefit to our students and families.

Music Teacher: Ms. Browne has decided to pursue other passions and is no longer with the district. We are very pleased to share that Mx. Pence will be the K-5 music teacher. Mx. Pence was the standout candidate. We are looking forward to her rounding out our specialist team.

Social Emotional Behavior (SEB Coach): Potter Road is thrilled to welcome Ms. Schapira to Potter Road as the SEB Coach. Ms. Schapira will be supporting both staff and students in her role. Ms. Schapira is a familiar face to Potter Road as she was previously an intern.

The first day of school can often elicit many different feelings such as nervousness, excitement, and happiness. We are sharing important reminders to help your child feel feel ready and comfortable to start the school year.

Our school hours are 8:50-3:20 each day. Students may start entering the building for breakfast at 8:50 a.m. The bell rings at 9:05 a.m., signaling the start of the school day. Students who arrive after 9:05 are considered tardy and will be marked late.

Student attendance is very important. Arriving late to school or not attending impacts students academic and social/emotional progress. Potter Road is prepared to work with students and families to ensure that attending school is a priority. We miss our students when the are not there!

Students have a snack every day. All students should be prepared with a snack that is filling and nutritious to help fuel them through the day. We ask that candy and soda not be sent into school for snack or lunch. Potter Road cannot provide snacks to students.

All students should have a labeled water bottle that is filled prior to coming to school. There are refillable water stations that students can access throughout the day to fill up their bottles.

We are strongly encouraging all students to wear sneakers to school. Sturdy sneakers will allow students to play safely at recess and participate in PE classes. Sneakers are required for all PE classes.

It is very important that students personal items such as water bottles, lunch boxes, coats, and backpacks are labeled. This helps us reduce lost items in our lost and found, and ensure that items are returned to the appropriate owner.

We are also requesting that all toys, game cards (i.e. Pokemon) and stuffed animals remain at home. We know how much these items mean to students and we do not want them damaged or lost. These items are also distracting to learning.

Student safety is our highest priority each day. As such we are asking all families to send a written note to their child's teacher indicating their dismissal plan for each school day.

Families should indicate if any of the following will be part of their child's dismissal plan and on what days this will be occuring:

Bus: If a bus has been assigned to your child, please indicate what days your child will be taking it.

Explorers: If your child has been accepted into the afterschool Explorers' program and this has been communicated to your family, please indicate what days your child will attend Explorers.

Parent Pick-up: If a parent or other designated adult will be walking up to the back doors of Potter Road to pick-up your child, please indicate this in a note. If an adult other than a parent will be picking up your child, this needs to be communicated in the note.

Walker: If your child will be allowed to leave the school property to independently walk home, this needs to be communicated in a note.

Boys and Girls Club or YMCA: If your child will be attending Boys and Girls Club or the YMCA, please write this in the note.

We greatly appreciate your assistance in ensuring all students are dismissed to their appropriate locations.

 

The bus transportation information is now available in Aspen/X2. Please log in to find your specific information. If you do not see any bus information, but you believe your have an eligible rider, which is a child that attends grade K-6 AND lives over 2 miles from your school, please contact the Transportation Office at trans@framingham.k12.ma.us.

Your Aspen/X2 username is your student’s 6 digit student ID. (For newly registered families the student ID was included in your welcome email. )

The original password is your student’s Date of Birth in the format YYYYMMDD.

Please be sure to change the password as soon as you are able to login.

If you do not see any bus information, but you believe you requested a bus AND your student is an eligible rider, which is a child that attends grade K-6 AND lives over 2 miles from your school, please contact the Transportation Office at trans@framingham.k12.ma.us 

If you do not see any bus information and your child is ineligible, which is a child in grade K-6 that lives UNDER 2 miles from school or a child in grade 7 -12, at this time we can not offer a seat on a bus. If your child is ineligible and not on a bus please hold off on contacting the bus office because we must, by law and School Committee policy, work with eligible students first. If you have submitted a request for a bus we have your request and are working on placing your child on a bus as soon as possible. 

If you have not submitted a transportation request and your child needs transportation, please fill out this new request form. Do not submit through Aspen/X2. Please note, since it is past the deadline to request a bus, we will not be able to provide a bus right away. Our office will be in touch with you regarding the request.

If you did request a bus but now do not need a bus please fill out this opt out form.