Chatham Elementary School

147 Depot Road

Chatham, MA 02633

Principal: Dr. Jennifer Kelly  

phone: (508) 945-5135

fax: (508) 945-5138

Chatham Elementary School homepage

Principal: Jennifer Kelly Ed.D.
jakelly@monomoy.edu
(508) 945-5135

September 2022

Dear Chatham Elementary Families and Friends,

Welcome to Chatham Elementary School! At Chatham Elementary School (CES) we strive to build a learning community where all students are SHARKS:

• Safe

• Honest

• Accepting

• Respectful

• Kind

• Successful

The pages of this handbook are filled with important information regarding school policy and procedures. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the school office or contact me directly. A school with open and clear communication between school and home is a successful school!  

We look forward to a wonderful, productive school year filled with rich learning experiences that develop the character, citizenship, collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking of each and every student.  

Let’s have a FINtastic year!

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Kelly

Start time: 7:45 a.m. 

Dismissal time: 2:15 p.m.

Early Release Wednesday every other week at 1:35 pm (buses will arrive approximately 40 minutes earlier than normal)

Half-day dismissal time: 11:00 a.m.

Drop Off & Pick Up 

Morning Student Drop Off and Parent/Caregiver Pick Up takes place in the Hitching Post Road parking lot. Caregivers should remain in their car at all times during drop off and pick up. 

Caregivers should not park in Hitching Post or Depot Road lots. Please note there is no parking allowed on Hitching Post Road*.

If the queue extends beyond the Hitching Post lot, caregiver cars waiting to enter should form along the southbound side of Hitching Post Road.

*If caregivers would like to walk their student(s) to school, parking is available in front of the town tennis courts on Depot Road. No parking for drop off will be allowed from the front parking lot. 

Student Drop Off (7:35-7:45) 

• Upon entering the Hitching Post Road parking lot, turn right.

• Proceed along the outside lane and drive up to the sidewalk area (along the gymnasium).

• Pull up as far as possible along the safety cones, come to a complete stop, and have student(s) exit the car on the passenger side of the vehicle. Caregivers should remain in the vehicle and be prepared to move forward as quickly as possible.  

• Staff will be available to assist students.

• Please do not pull out of the loading zone until all cars in front of you have unloaded and pulled away fro the sidewalk area.

Afternoon Dismissal:

• Students who attend Monomoy Community Services After School Program or the Chatham Parks & Recreation After School Program will be dismissed from their classrooms to meet staff members from those programs at the Main Entrance.  Program staff will escort students to their after school location.

• Students being picked up by a parent/caregiver will be dismissed from their classrooms to the gymnasium.  (Please see Parent/Caregiver Pick Up information below.)  

• Bus students will be dismissed from their classrooms to bus lines.  Each line will be escorted by CES staff to board the buses.

• Students attending CES After School Clubs will be dismissed from their classroom to their club meeting place.

Parent/Caregiver Pick Up (2:15-2:25)

• Prominently display a name tag on your car’s dashboard. Name tags should include the family name and first names of any students. For example:

• Upon entering the Hitching Post Road lot, a staff member will radio your name to a staff members in the building. By the time you pull up to the loading area your student will exit the gym and be waiting  on the sidewalk to load into the vehicle.

• Dismissal is more efficient and safer when children load on the passenger side of your vehicle.

• Please do not pull out of the loading zone until all cars in front of you have loaded and pulled away from the sidewalk area.

Steps to take to ensure success:

• If carpooling, name tags are required for all students in your vehicle.

• Prominently display name tag(s) on the dashboard of your car.

• Review the traffic flow pattern and general rules of pick-up and drop off

• If you park in the lot please understand that you will need to wait until the entire pick up procedure has been completed to leave the lot.

• Caregivers are discouraged from congregating outside the building during dismissal time. Please stay in your car. 

Parent/Caregiver Pick-Up students must be entered into PickUp Patrol App. Children are often confused and think they are in Parent/Caregiver PickUp, even when they’re not. If the decision to pick up is made after your child leaves home for the morning, you may enter the change into PickUp Patrol App. before 1:00 pm. If you need to make a change after 1:00 pm you may call the office but please be considerate and keep these requests to a minimum. Also, please note that children without a plan for Parent/Caregiver PickUp in PickUp Patrol App will be required to take the bus.

If your child will be in Parent/Caregiver PickUp every day (will never ride the bus), please enter that plan into PickUp Patrol App. If you wish to pick your child up on one or more of the same days each week (for example every Mon. and Wed.) enter that into PickUp Patrol App indicating the specific days and we will send your child to Parent/Caregiver PickUp only on those days you have listed. Please make sure the PickUp Patrol App is up to date with your student’s schedule. It is the caregiver’s responsibility to maintain the correct plan in the PickUp Patrol App.       

All students in grades K-4 who are being picked up before regular dismissal time will be dismissed from the Main Office. All persons picking up students must be listed on the approved contact list in the office and be prepared to show proper identification.

PickUp Patrol

Please enter all dismissal/transportation changes (either one-time or recurring) into PickUp Patrol. PickUp Patrol is our online system for parents to communicate dismissal plan changes to the school. Parents with an existing account will be able to continue to make changes as they have in the past. Parents of kindergartners and new students will receive an email at the beginning of the school year with PickUp Patrol login instructions. Dismissal changes can be entered from a computer or smart phone at any time until 12:45 p.m. on the day of the changes (12 p.m. on Early Release Wednesdays). Changes can be made days, weeks, or even months in advance. However, please note that if you enter a change and the dismissal plans are cancelled, you must remember to delete the change from PickUp Patrol or your student will be given the PickUp Patrol dismissal directions. After 12:45 p.m. (12 p.m. on Early Release Wednesdays), changes will not be accepted except in the case of an unexpected emergency. Such changes can be made via phone directly to the Main Office. As the end of the school day is a busy time, please plan accordingly and limit these exceptions to emergencies only to ensure the safety of all students.

For the MRSD calendar for the 2022-2023 school year, click here.

All Monomoy employees may be contacted regarding school business via email. Every employee has an email address consisting of their first initial and last name @monomoy.edu (with a few exceptions). An online staff directory can be found here, searchable by name, title, and/or location. 

Office Staff 

Dr. Jennifer Kelly	Principal	jakelly@monomoy.edu	Ext. 303
Caswell, Faith	Administrative Assistant	fcaswell@monomoy.edu	Ext. 105
Gebhardt, Debra	Administrative Assistant	dgebhardt@monomoy.edu	Ext. 103

 Classroom Teachers

Johnson-Dreyer, Elise	Grade K Teacher	ejohnson-dreyer@monomoy.edu	Ext. 220
King, Dawn	Grade K Teacher	dking@monomoy.edu	Ext.  224
Hanson, Sandy	Grade 1 Teacher	shanson@monomoy.edu	Ext. 241
Otto, Caitlin	Grade 1 Teacher	cotto@monomoy.edu	Ext.
Gula, Barbara	Grade 2 Teacher	bgula@monomoy.edu	Ext. 252
Howell, Alexandra	Grade 3 Teacher	ahowell@monomoy.edu	Ext.
Turco, Margaret	Grade 3 Teacher	mturco@monomoy.edu	Ext. 248
Gessner, Christopher	Grade 4 teacher	cgessner@monomoy.edu	Ext.
Macomber, Cindy	Grade 4 Teacher	cmacomber@monomoy.edu	Ext. 233

Unified Arts Teachers

Science & Technology	O'Brien, Liam	wo'brien@monomoy.edu	Ext.
Media	Grodzicki, Jenna	jgrodzicki@monomoy.edu	Ext.
Music	Toppa, Frank	ftoppa@monomoy.edu	Ext.
Physical Education
Visual Art	Middleton, Amy	amiddleton@monomoy.edu	Ext.

Service Providers & Special Educators

Nurse	Staniels, Jamie	jstaniels@monomoy.edu
Team Chair	Caron, Janet	jcaron@monomoy.edu
Special Education	McEntee, Taryn	tmcentee@monomoy.edu
Special Education	Sanderson, Jill	jsanderson@monomoy.edu
Special Education	Wilder, Amy	awilder@monomoy.edu
English Language Learners	Lampert, Meghan	mlampert@monomoy.edu
Reading Specialist	Finn, Helen	hfinn@monomoy.edu
Math Specialist	Varella, Ann Marie	avarella@monomoy.edu
School Psychologist	Peters, Sarah	speters@monomoy.edu
Occupational Therapist	Basso, Sharon	sbasso@monomoy.edu
Speech & Language Pathologist	Tusia, Joann	jtusia@monomoy.edu
Speech & Language Pathologist	Bunzick, Victoria	vbunzick@monomoy.edu

Instructional Assistants/Staff

Monomoy Regional School District Administration Offices

Office of the Superintendent

425 Crowell Road, 2nd Floor, Chatham, MA 02633

phone: (508) 945-5130  fax: (508) 945-5133

Transportation Line: (508) 945-5123

District Administration/Central Office

Dr. Scott Carpenter - Superintendent of Schools

Marc Smith - Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

Melissa Maguire - Director of Student Services

Jim Birchfield - Director of Technology

Michael MacMillan - Business Manager

Rick Travers - Facilities Director

Garth Petracca - Director of Food Services

Holly Thyng - Data, Compliance, and Assessment Specialist

Ellen Bearse - Human Resources Coordinator

Joy Jordan - Community Engagement Coordinator/Web Manager

Leah Tambolleo - Assistant to the Superintendent

Faith Rushnak - Transportation Coordinator/Administrative Assistant

Kathleen Davock - Administrative Assistant, Student Services

District School Committee - 2022-2023

Jackie Zibrat-Long, Chair

Meredith Henderson, Vice Chair

Tina Games 

Jessica Rogers

Terry Russell 

Nancy Scott

Sharon Stout 

Danielle Tolley