How FoEES Supports Staff at EES:

Dear Teachers and Staff,

Welcome back to a new school year! We hope you had a AWESOME summer and are planning a great start to the 2023-2024 school year.

Thank you for your continued work with our children. We are here to support you and engage parents in supporting teachers in this beautiful community. Traditionally, the Friends of EES plans events such as the Kindergarten Play Date, First Day Coffee, the Happy as a Clam Race, Messy Art Night, STEM Night, Book Fair, etc. Your help “talking up” these events to your students as well as your participation make a huge difference--thank you for all of your support!

Below, you will find some information about how we can work together this upcoming school year and the housekeeping details about reimbursement and funding requests. We will continue to work with teachers to plan meaningful and appropriate enrichment activities and trips through our Enrichment Coordinator.  Together we can continue to enrich an already wonderful school experience for all Essex Elementary students. Please don’t hesitate to email us or connect with us at a meeting.

Thank you,

The Friends of EES Crew

Co-Presidents - Betsy McKeen (Molly 4th) AND Mandy Beausoleil (Joel 4th and Bridget 2nd) - friendsofees@gmail.com

Vice President - Maggie Gleason (Charlie and Will, 2nd) - friendsofees.vp@gmail.com

Treasurer - Heather Harrell (Carrington 2nd) -essexpto.treasurer@gmail.com

Secretary - Bradley Cooke (Heidi, 2nd)

Enrichment Coordinator - Hilary Mattison (William 2nd, John 1st)

Grant Writer - Jessica Torcicollo (Willow, 2nd)

Social Media Coordinator - Rachel McInnis (Makenzie 2nd)

HOW THE FRIENDS OF EES CAN HELP YOU

  • NEW FOR 2023: ALL full-time staff receive a $200 stipend; ideally $100 for books and $100 for supplies! 

  • SUPPLIES: Each full-time classroom teacher has $100 supply budget, no questions asked. To see how to use your supplies money, you can visit www.friendsofees.com/staff. In general, we prefer if you create an Amazon wishlist and share it with us, but you can also purchase items yourself and submit the receipts via email. Details on our website!
    Please take photos of what you purchase so that we can share with families!

  • BOOKS: Each K-5 classroom teacher has an additional $100 to spend on books for your class library. We LOVE the reading libraries in each classroom. We want you to have exactly the titles you want.  To see how to use your book money, you can visit www.friendsofees.com/staff. In general, we prefer if you create an Amazon wishlist and share it with us, but you can also purchase items yourself and submit the receipts via email. Details on our website!

  • FUNDING GREAT IDEAS: If any professional staff member has a desired purchase to support and enrich student learning, large or small anytime throughout the year, you may fill out our online form at www.friendsofees.com/staff so we can discuss and vote on it at our next meeting (requires a majority vote at an open FoEES meeting). These requests are also reviewed by the EES Principal to be sure they aren’t items that should be covered through the district budget. To give us time to discuss before each meeting, there are monthly deadlines for requests. These are:

--September 1, 2023 (ahead of our meeting Sept 7)

--September 29, 2023 (ahead of our meeting Oct 5)

--October 27, 2023 (ahead of our meeting Nov 2)

--December 1, 2023 (ahead of our meeting Dec 7)

--December 22, 2023 (ahead of our meeting Jan 4)

--January 26, 2024 (ahead of our meeting Feb 1)

--March 1, 2024 (ahead of our meeting March 7)

--March 29, 2024 (ahead of our meeting April 4)

--April 26, 2024 (ahead of our meeting May 2)

--May 31, 2024 (ahead of our meeting June 6)

Feel free to attend the meeting to champion your expenditure--your input counts!

  • FIELD TRIPS AND IN-SCHOOL ENRICHMENT: The FoEES Enrichment Budget is set each June for the following school year. Our Enrichment Coordinator reaches out in the spring for any changes to your Enrichment plans for the following year so we can set our budget accordingly.  If you want any changes or additions after the budget is set, you can work directly with our Enrichment Coordinator Hilary Mattison to determine what programs or trips the FoEES can support. Please note that transportation costs for field trips generally have not been covered due to budget constraints.

Thank you for “talking up” the FoEES’s help. When you receive help (financial, physical or volunteers) from the FoEES, please tell parents and thank them. These reminders make it easier for us to fundraise because parents will see their money at work. 

Photos, photos, photos! Take pictures of our FoEES-funded supplies, and during Field Trips and In-school Enrichment. Send a few of your best shots to us at friendsofees@gmail.com!

HOW YOU CAN HELP THE FRIENDS OF EES

  • TELL US: Let us know what works and what doesn’t. We love compliments but constructive critiques help too. You have a great idea? Question? Comment? Email friendsofees@gmail.com or come to one of our monthly meetings. 

  • TELL OTHERS: Did you have a great FoEES funded experience? Please take a few minutes to write a paragraph or two about it for the school newsletter. Send your submission to the the principal and to us at friendsofees@gmail.com

  • PHOTOS PLEASE: We love pictures! Send a few photos of Enrichment experiences to us at friendsofees@gmail.com!

  • TALK US UP: Students love to hear how excited you are about an upcoming FoEES event like the Clam Race or Messy Art Night!  Remind the students that the fun Field Trip you are going on is being paid for by Friends of EES. When they are excited their parents get excited. That excitement translates into more participation at events and support during our fundraisers. 

  • WEBSITE: Check out our website to see who we are, what we do, and what is new: www.friendsofees.com. Keep in the loop and follow us on Facebook too!

  • MEETINGS: The FoEES meets in the EES Staff room (a virtual Zoom option is also available!) generally on the first Thursday of each month 7:30-9:00 PM. --> We would love to have one or more staff member(s) join each meeting!  The meeting schedule can be found at www.friendsofees.com.


THANK YOU SO MUCH - ESPECIALLY FOR READING THIS FAR!

Friends of EES