July 2025
Dear Lynnwood Families,
I hope this message finds you well and that you are enjoying your summer break! Whether you’re traveling, relaxing at home, or exploring new adventures, I hope you all are taking good care of yourselves and your loved ones.
I am writing with a few important updates and some reminders about important events before the school year starts. First, I want to let you know that we have a few staffing changes for the 2025-26 school year. As many of you may know, kindergarten teacher, Miss Maddie Lenox, has decided to take time to be home with her young children and won't be returning next school year. While we will miss her, we wish her well as she is able to enjoy this precious time with her family. Therefore, Mrs. Angelica McKeown will be joining the kindergarten team with Mrs. O'Brien and Ms. Tymeson. In 1st grade, Miss Anders will be leaving to teach at another district, so we will be welcoming back Miss Amelia DeJarnette. Many of you may know Miss DeJarnette as she taught 2nd grade at Lynnwood before being transferred to Westmere for the previous school year. While we will miss Miss Anders, and we wish her well and thank her for all of her hard work at LES, we are thrilled to welcome Miss DeJarnette back to the Lynnwood teaching staff to work with Mrs. Brady and Mrs. Sorriento on the 1st grade team.
As many of you may also know, Mrs Keller, longtime Special Education teacher at Lynnwood, and Ms. Ricchetti, longtime school social worker, both retired at the end of this school year. We had a beautiful send off for both of them during our end of the year share and celebrate and students prepared a beautiful THANK YOU performance for both of them. With Mrs. Keller retiring, Mrs. Kate Panza, who many of you know as a 4th grade teacher, will be joining the special education team to fill that vacancy. With three 4th grade sections at Lynnwood next year, that keeps Mr. Sorriento, Miss Cioffi and Mrs. Janssen as the 4th grade team. I know Mrs. Panza will be excellent in her new role. We also hired a new school social worker to replace Ms. Ricchetti. Please join me in welcoming Mrs. Amelia Izzo. She is coming to Lynnwood from Mechanicville, having served as their elementary social worker last year. I am so excited for her to meet the students and families at Lynnwood and I know she will make a great addition to the team.
Also, in April, Miss Nicole Pavone, our 12 month secretary took a new position at the District Office. Therefore, please join me in officially welcoming Ms. Kristie Tomaselli as the new 12 month secretary. She started in April, so many of you were able to meet her before the school year concluded, but just in case you didn’t get a chance to meet her, I wanted to formally introduce her. She is joining Mrs. Beth Ruggiero in the main office.
And finally, many of you may or may not have heard about Governor Hochul's Distraction Free Schools Laws that will go into effect for the 2025-26 school year. The district will be sharing our full Distraction Free Schools policy, but for a more clear view of what that will look like at Lynnwood, please be sure to check out our Parent Handbook under "Use of Personal Electronic Devices" or click here. As many of you already know, we have not allowed personal devices in school for many years, so not much is changing in our protocol. However, please be sure to read through our building policy carefully, and please note that under Governor Hochul's new law, smart watches are not allowed to be worn in school.
Those are some of the larger changes for the 2025-26 school year, but a full list of staffing can be found on the homepage of this newsletter as well as a full copy of our parent handbook.
Lastly, a few important dates to mark down as we move through July and August:
Wednesday, August 7th: Incoming K Visitation Day
Exact times to be sent out via email week of July 14th
Friday, August 8th: 1st-5th Grade Placement released on eSchool Parent Portal
Wednesday, August 13th: Teacher Welcome Packets emailed to families
Friday, August 15th: Kindergarten Placement released on eSchool Parent Portal and teacher welcome packets emailed to kindergarten families
August 26 and August 27:
-Medication Drop off dates, please call the main office to set up an appointment to drop off any meds that will be required for the 2025-26 school year.
Tuesday, September 2nd: Supply Drop Off
Last Names A-L: 2:00-2:30
Last Names M-Z: 2:30-3:00
PTA Popsicles on the Playground 2:30-3:30
Thursday, September 4: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
Friday, September 12th: PTA Welcome Back Bash: 5:30 pm
In the meantime, please remember to stay safe, stay active, and take time to rest and recharge. I won't wish away the summer, but please know I can't wait for our halls to be filled with laughter and learning again! Should you need anything, please contact the main office at (518) 355-7930. The office hours for the summer are Monday-Friday 7:00 am-3:00 pm.
Stay cool and enjoy the sunshine!
Sincerely,
Jacqulyn Dignum Vandenburgh, Principal
Lynnwood Elementary