I hope this edition of the Baker Beat finds our EHBi students, staff, and families faring well! The monumental blizzard we experienced this week has impacted us all, and I look forward to welcoming everyone back to school soon.

Dr. Smith, our Superintendent, posted important information yesterday about available shelter and meals for anyone in need. STARTING TODAY, Thursday, February 26th, we will be offering a brown bag breakfast/lunch pick up at DYHS from 1-4 pm both Thursday and Friday. Please pull around the back of the High School to the door to the right of the bus port and large dumpster. Staff from food service will come out to meet you and ask you the number of meals you are requesting and provide it to you in your car. This is a separate service from any family needing to access the shelter. If you need to access the shelter, you will need to come inside and register with the Red Cross.

Please see THE original post for all the details.

Dear Families,

    We are starting to plan for our 2026 Family Book Club. We will be reading Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions by Don Wulffson and Laurie Keller.  

We are looking for Grade 2 and Grade 3 Family book club readers. We will be recording each student reading one chapter. These videos will be included on the Google Site for our Family Book. Families will be able to watch the videos throughout the weeks of the Book Club.

If you have a student that is interested, please email Meredith Henderson, EHB Literacy Coach, hendersm@dy-regional.k12.ma.us. The recordings will happen the week of February 23rd.  

Dear Families: 

Every year, each public school and school district in Massachusetts receives a report card. Just as your child’s report card shows how they are doing in different subjects, the school’s report card is designed to show families how our school is doing in different areas. A link to our school’s 2025 report card is available by clicking here. A translation tool is embedded in the report card website.

The report card includes multiple measures of a school’s performance – more than just MCAS scores. It represents a new way of looking at school performance, by providing information on student achievement, teacher qualifications, student learning opportunities, and more. 

Report cards are designed to be useful tools for everyone connected to our school. Families can use the information to have meaningful conversations with us about what the school is doing well and where there is room for improvement. Community and education leaders can use the information to better understand how to support students and our school. 

You will notice on our report card that we performed just above the state averages in ELA, and math. To improve student performance in our school, we are focusing on strong implementation of classroom curriculum. DY extended the school day in all elementary schools by 27 minutes. At EHBi, we have dedicated those minutes to writing, an area needing improvement for several years. In the area of attendance, our average number of days missed continues to decline slightly each year, and our daily average attendance also continues to improve slightly. We appreciate the efforts families and caregivers make to support student attendance and encourage regular communication with our school nurse and main office when absences do occur.

Finally, if your child attends a school that receives federal Title I funds, you also have the right to request the following information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teachers: 

● Whether your child’s teacher is licensed in the grade levels and subject areas they teach, ● Whether your child’s teacher is teaching under an emergency license or waiver, ● The college degree and major of your child’s teacher, and 

● Whether your child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications. 

If you have questions about our school’s report card, would like to become involved in school improvement activities, or would like to request information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teacher, please contact me. To see our district’s report card or to search for other schools’ report cards, visit reportcards.doe.mass.edu. 

The PTAC has been busy preparing for the upcoming Parent Teacher Conferences by providing a delicious lunch for the teachers each day. Various PTAC members have been approaching local businesses to help support this effort. If you know of a local restaurant or business that would like to help provide lunch for the teachers on conference days, please contact ehbiptac@gmail.com or Ms. DeCristofaro in the main office. You can also join the PTAC group in ParentSquare for group chat and planning.

Here's a handy link to our school's Virtual Backpack, a collection of all the community flyers and information that we want to make sure you are aware of. Please check this often as we update it frequently.