Greetings from the Principal Susan Cassata

A New Look For East!

Welcome to the 2009 – 2010 school year!   I don’t know about you, but I love the traditions associated with the start of school.  Even as an adult, I love the idea of getting my new “school supplies” and “school shopping”.   As you chuckle about this, this concept has taken on a new meaning as we prepare for our students this year.  This year the “school supplies” and “school shopping” for us at East have revolved around our physical transformation.  Our school shopping this year has been new lights in the hallways, windows in most of the classrooms, and new rooms made out of old ones.  Our school supplies this year will provide our students with a larger cafeteria and serving area; natural light in classrooms and hallways; better lighting in our hallways and classrooms; larger computer labs and transformation of old office into computer lab space; transformation of some of our specialized spaces (science classrooms, family consumer classrooms, counseling center & nurses office) to serve the needs of our students and their learning better.   We are grateful for our school supplies and are excited for what our students will say as they walk through the hallways and notice the changes.

Now, we are still anxious for additional changes to occur; renovated music, special education, industrial technology classrooms; our new auditorium; and a transformation to some of our locker spaces for our classes and athletes.   We will still be living with construction, finding ourselves needing to be flexible as hallways close, construction noises continue and finishing touches are done to some of our classrooms and areas.   Having said this, mid way through the process, the building is looking beautiful and I am excited for our parents and guardians to see it when you come to the building for an event, a parent meeting or a seminar. 

In addition to our physical changes, staff has been working all summer on a variety of endeavors.   Some staff saw themselves in classrooms either in the study of their content area or the science of teaching.  Many staff traveled and your students will find bits of their travel and their learning come into their classrooms and teachings.  Some departments worked on curriculum, criterion reference test development/revision, and doing professional reading/discussion together about pedagogy, grading, assessment and feedback.   All of your students’ classes will be richer as a result of our staff’s learning & growth this summer.

As always, we welcome all of you to East.  We are looking forward to continuing to partner with you on your student’s education.    We hope to see you at the various athletic events, at the musical concerts and other school events in the future and we look forward to a very successful school year.