275 Prospect Street, PO Box 67, Norwood, MA 02062
781.762.6804 Phone | 781.762.0229 Fax

Message from the Principal

Winter 2024 Update

We are 100 days into our 2023-2024 school year! Time is flying but we're having fun. To start the year, our students in grades 1-3 were assessed in the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment and our upper grades participated in the STAR Renaissance assessment. This important data is collected to allow for both instructional planning as well as to monitor student progress over the course of the year. Each of these assessments were also just provided as mid year benchmarks in late January. We look forward to sharing this data wtih families during the March conferences.

In addition to academics, we've also elected our Prescott Student Council for the year, started a Girls on the Run program and recently wrapped up this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee (congratulations to Jaden, our winner)! In the Spring, we are gearing up for a number of community wide events including our annual Family STEM Night, Spring conferences, Grandparent's Day and exciting opportunities in some our neighborhoods that we serve. Be on the lookout for more information! 

September 2023 Welcome!

We are so excited to welcome students back to Prescott School on Wednesday September 6, 2023! If you are currently enrolled, Principal Riley has provided a few email updates this summer including where to look in Aspen for you class placements, an official school calendar and logistic information. This newsletter was sent out the week of August 18, 2023 to families. If you have questions, feel free to email Principal Riley at briley@norwood.k12.ma.us.

As a reminder, our Grade 1 and New Family Orientation (optional) is Tuesday September 5, 2023 at 2:45pm in the Prescott Cafeteria. This event is for parents and students. We look forward to welcoming all students to our Popsicles with the Principal event at 3:15pm on Tuesday September 5, 2023 on the front playground of Prescott!

Summer 2023 Update

Welcome to the Prescott School web page! There are a number of important links below to help you find your way to the information that is needed. As always, feel free to reach out to Principal Bryan Riley (briley@norwood.k12.ma.us) with any questions. 

New Enrollments: If you are new to Norwood and live in the boundaries of the Prescott School district, please visit this webpage to begin your enrollment. Please note the district Central Registrar is located at the Savage Center at 275 Prospect Street in Norwood. You can call 781-487-1351 for additional information. 

Bus Transportation: Students wishing to ride the bus in the Fall must enroll and receive a bus pass. The bus enrollment page can be found here. Please note, students living in Windsor Gardens are able to receive transportion but must enroll at the above web page. 

Supply Lists: The Prescott School does not ask families to provide any school supplies for students. We do ask that you provide a pair of headphones (not bluetooth) for your child to use during the school day. It is best if the headphone jack is straight and not "L" shaped. 

School Calendar: The school calendar for the 2023-2024 school year can be found here. Please note that the first day for students is Wednesday September 6, 2023. Our school hours are 7:50am-2:05pm. Students are able to arrive on campus under the supervision of Prescott staff starting at 7:35am each morning. 

Extended Day: There is an extended day program (before and after school care) that is housed at the Prescott School. Enrollments, wait list management and payments are all handled through the Norwood Extended Day Program and not the Prescott School. The program director can be reached at 781-551-3480, extension 2.

Summer Learning Plans: Students have the opportunity to complete optional summer learning activities found here. Paper copies can be picked up at the Savage Center or the Norwood Morrill Memorial Library. 

 

August 26, 2022 Update

We are just under two weeks until our students return back to school for the 2022-2023 school year! Please see below (Summer 2022 Update) for important information that was shared with Prescott families in June and a few times over the summer. A reminder that the first day of school for students is Wednesday September 7th, 2022 (Grades 1-5) and Friday September 9th, 2022 for Kindergarten students.  Here are some important pieces of information:

School Hours: Hours are 7:50am-2:05pm. Students are able to be dropped off at Prescott as early as 7:35am for supervised play in the morning. See Mr. Riley's email (8/25/2022) for additional information on drop off (AM) and pick up (PM) logistics. 

Extended Day: If you are looking for additional information from the NPS Extended Day program, please email Director Deb Holzendorf at dholzendorf@norwood.k12.ma.us. The Prescott School main office does not manage the wait list, payments or enrollments. 

Bus Transportation: Only students who have registered to ride the bus will be able to ride the bus. Please double check that you've enrolled in our transportation office by calling Phone: 781-440-5831 or 781-440-5832. Also, you can find most up to date bus listings here. 

 

Summer 2022 Update 

Enrollment: If you are a new to Prescott School family, please be sure that you check out the Enrollment/Registration page. Please note that enrollments are not completed at the Prescott School, they are at the Savage Center at 275 Prospect Street in Norwood. 

Supply Lists: If you want to get a jump on getting supply lists for the 2022-2023 school year, you can find the lists here. All items on these lists are optional as we will provide students with everything they need!

Bus Transportation: All students who ride the bus must have a buss pass. You must enroll (even if you live outside of two miles). You can find all of the information, including how to enroll on this page. You can also give the Transportation Office a call at 781-440-5831. Completed forms must be receivedat the transportation office by June 30, 2022 to receive the discounted rate. 

Extended Day: You must enroll and provide all of the necessary forms via this website. If you have questions, feel free to give Extended Day Directors at dholzendorf@norwood.k12.ma.us  or sarah.taggart@norwood.k12.ma.us. You can also call them at 781-551-3480 ext. 2. Please note that extended day is not offered on early dismissal days. 

School Calendar (2022-2023) The first day of school for students is Wednesday September 7, 2022. Please see the calendar here. The school day begins at 7:50AM and ends at 2:05pm each day. Student drop off will begin at 7:35am. 

Grade 1 Orientation: Grade 1 Orientation will be at the beginning of September 2022 in person. It will likely be the afternoon of Tuesday September 6, 2022 around 2:30pm. More information will be emailed to Grade 1 families in August. First grade teacher assignments will be available in Aspen around August 1, 2022. 

School Hours 2022-2023: As you are aware, NPS adjusted school hours starting in September 2022. The official school day is from 7:50am-2:05pm each day. Drop off begins at 7:35am via the "drop and go", the bus or by arriving directly onto the blacktop. No student shoudl be arriving on site before 7:35am unless they are enrolled in before school care (Norwood Extended Day Program). 

 

Spring/Summer 2022 Update

It is almost the end of the school year! We are excited to be bringing back many end of year events including our Grade 5 Middle School Visit and All-Town Grade 5 Field Day, our Prescott Talent Show, Field Day and our Grade 5 Graduation. We're also excited to welcome our incoming first graders for "Step Up Day" to visit the Prescott School. In the coming weeks, we'll have important information around summer enrichment work, supply lists and important summer important information. 

 

Winter 2022 Update 

We have successfully transitioned all of our students to full time in person learning! While masking and physical distancing is still in place, our classrooms are bustling, active and students are having a great time. While the year will bring various challenges, we're excited to slowly bring back many of our traditions and activities that we have enjoyed in the past! Please reach out if you have any questions!

Summer 2021 Update 

We made it to the end of the school year! A big congratulations to students, families and staff. Below are a few important updates for the summer: 

Enrollment: If you are a new to Prescott School family, please be sure that you check out the Enrollment/Registration page by clicking here. Please also email Principal Bryan Riley at briley@norwood.k12.ma.us so we can begin the process. 

Supply Lists: If you want to get a jump on getting supply lists for the 2021-2022 school year, you can find the lists here. All items on these lists are optional as we will provide students with everything they need!

Bus Transportation: All students who ride the bus must have a buss pass. You must enroll (even if you live outside of two miles). You can find all of the information, including how to enroll on this page. You can also give the Transportation Office a call at 781-440-5831. Completed forms must be receivedat the transportation office by July 16, 2021 for the reduced rate.

Extended Day: Before school care begins at 7:15am at Prescott. Extended Day runs until 6pm. You must enroll and provide all of the necessary forms via this website. If you have questions, feel free to give Extended Day Directors at dholzendorf@norwood.k12.ma.us  or sarah.taggart@norwood.k12.ma.us. You can also call them at 781-551-3480 ext. 2. Please note that extended day is not offered on early dismissal days. 

School Calendar (2021-2022) The first day of school for students is Wednesday September 8, 2021. Please see the calendar here. The school day begins at 8:25am and ends at 2:55pm each day. Logistics on arrival and dismissal will be provided in August.

Grade 1 Orientation: Grade 1 Orientation will be at the beginning of September 2021 in person. It will likely either be the afternoon of September 1st or September 2nd. More information will be emailed to Grade 1 families in August. 

 

Spring 2021 Update

This Spring has been fantastic for both our in person and fully remote (Remote Learning Academy) students. At Prescott, we had about 35% of our families opt to remain fully remote for the balance of the school year. Planning for this school year started in Summer 2020 with our "Summer Academic Team" which consisted of classroom teachers, specialists and resources teachers from across disciplines Grades K-5. This provided our district with a roadmap to provide all students an excellent education. Through this planning, we were able to keep student learning moving and headed in the right direction! 

This past week (May 26th) I provided the School Committee with an update around our School Improvement Plan goals. The report can be found here. Our students and staff have worked hard this year to ensure that our students continue to be supported both academically and socially. We're excited to continue in Year 2 of our School Improvement Plan next year.

Fall 2020 Update

It has been a fantastic start to this unusual school year! Norwood Public Schools provided families with the choice of learning in the Hybrid Model (2x/week in school, 3x/week learning at home) or the Remote Learning Academy (5x/week learning at home) for the start of the year. At Prescott School, we have around 60% of our students learning in the hybrid model and around 40% in the Remote Learning Academy. 

While we've had to adjust a few procedures and protocols in the building, our transition back to in person learning has been seamless. Teachers and staff were able to engage in 11 days of professional learning prior to the start of the year that included learning about various technology tools, high quality curricular programs and health and safety guidelines.

Norwood Community Media recently highlighted our work to reopen the Prescott School in this video.  As you can see, our kids are happy and teachers are thrilled to have students back in front of them in the building!

 

June 2020 Update

With remote learning in place since our closure on Friday March 13th, the end is finally near! It's with sincere gratitude and appreciation that I thank our teachers, students and families for the tremendous work that has been done over the past few months. We overcame obstacles together and worked to do what is best for our kids. Our efforts in remote learning were recognized by the U.S. Department of Education on their National Blue Ribbon Schools page which can be found here. The page highlighted the Norwood Public Schools Elementary Team did to provide equitable and predictable remote learning during this closure. 

As we wrap up the school year, I provided families with our End of Year update on Thursday June 11, 2020. While much is to be decided about what school may look like in the Fall, know that we are all in this together and will work collaboratively to transition back to school in the fall. I wish you a healthy and relaxing summer and please be in touch at briley@norwood.k12.ma.us if you have any questions!

 

April 2020 Update

Needless to say, it's been an unprecedented Spring. Starting on Friday March 13, 2020 we implemented our "Remote Learning Plans" with distance learning happening in all our schools. Over 50 Chromebooks have been distributed to Prescott students and our fantastic Norwood Public Schools Food Services have provided families with breakfast and lunch each day between 11am-1pm. To date (April 13, 2020) we've provided over 13,000 meals to families. In the coming weeks, we are also planning to provide families in need with "to go" dinners that they can heat up at home. 

Until we see each other in person again, remember to wash your hands, maintain appropriate physical distances but stay socially connected to your friends, family and teachers! 

Winter 2020 Update

Student group photo

It's been an exciting start to the new decade! While we're all still waiting on the snow to arrive (as of mid February only about 6 inches!), we've been busy with a number of events. On Friday January 31, 2020 our community came together to celebrate the Prescott's 60th anniversary and our National Blue Ribbon Schools designation during a "Celebration of Success" held at the school. Past staff, alumni, community members and elected officials came together to tour the school, hear from district officials and celebrate our students. Students showcased a number of skills including instrumental demos, "Math Magicians", Google presentations and technology buddies. Our guests loved it!

As the 2019-2020 school year progresses, we continue to utilize appropriated funds from the 2019 override to move our district forward. Our administration team has engaged in conversations around project based learning, future reading intervention programs and, most recently, how to utilize the appropriated funds from the Student Opportunity Act (SOA) to help close our achievement gap. We're most excited to begin planning for the implementation of our new English Language Arts program, Pearson MyView, in Fall 2020. This Spring, we'll spend time examining and organizing materials, collaborating on what the rollout will look like and building collaborative structures to share best practices for the Fall. 

As we look forward to the warmer weather, there are a number of exciting events coming up. We have our Second Annual Grandparent's Day coming up on Friday March 13, 2020 from 9am-10:30am at the school. Additionally, we've scheduled our Family STEM Night on Tuesday May 12, 2020 from 6pm-8pm. It will be an exciting evening! Stay tuned for more exciting information and be sure to follow Principal Riley on Twitter at @RileyPrincipal. 

Fall 2019 Update

US Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School

To say it's been a fantastic start to the 2019-2020 school year would be an understatement! We've officially hit the ground running with a number of new programs and initiatives including three ELA pilot programs (see Summer Update below), continued training in our new Fundations phonics program and the roll out of a personalized learning program called Renaissance in our 3rd-5th grade. 

In addition to moving full speed ahead, the Prescott was also designated as a 2019 National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education. After being invited to apply by the Commonwealth of Masssachusetts, the Prescott Team put together a compelling application and story about the Prescott about our past successes and the direction that we are moving in as a school. You can find out more about the award by clicking here. The Prescott was proud to be named just one of six in Massachusetts to be awarded this designation. 

 

Summer Update 2019

It's been a busy summer here at the Prescott! Our two building custodians, Mr. Ogryzek and Mr. Bishop have been working hard to move classrooms (a lot of reshuffling), clean rooms and get the building back into "school ready" shape! My summer has been filled with meeting with principal colleagues, hiring a few new aides for our PACS classroom and preparing for three exciting English Language Arts pilots this year (see first photo below). Our pilots will be as follows:

  • Grade 2: McGraw Hill "Wonders"
  • Grade 3: Pearson "MyView"
  • Grade 4: National Geographic

I'm excited for the opportunity to engage with our colleagues in Norwood Public Schools around what the needs are of our students and what program may best fit our needs. The pilot will run for the first half of the year with a selection being made in the Winter to begin with the 2020-2021 school year. Additionally, Mrs. Elbach and I have been busy tending to our school garden out front. Our first grade sunflowers and morning glory plants are looking great and we've yielded quite a few crops this summer! We've pulled at least 4 summer squash and our tomatoes are coming in nicely. These gardens were all planted by our first graders (now rising second graders) in late Spring. We look forward to expanding our garden program and environmental literacy this year by composting food scraps out of the cafeteria, having "waste free Wednesday's" and building a few more beds. 

Be sure to check out the "News" section on the homepage for important start of year events. Thanks to all the students who have sent along post cards about their summer travels and plans! 

Packages on tablesPlantsSchool garden

 

End of Year 2019

What a great year it's been! There is a lot to celebrate this year and more exciting things to come in the 2019-2020 school year! I would encourage you to take a look at the end of year update that was provided to the community in June. Our entire Prescott staff wishes the community a relaxing and enjoyable summer and we look forward to seeing you in September! 

 

December 2018/January 2019

Dear Prescott Community,

It has been a fantastic end of 2018 and start to 2019! Throughout the month of December, we were fortunate to have a variety of Norwood groups perform at the Prescott. In addition to our own students, we also loved having the Norwood High School Madrigals perform. As many of you know this group is near and dear to my heart, as I participated in the Madrigals at NHS. It was great to interact with the current Madrigals, hear about their experiences and share in some of the traditions. 

The Prescott PTO also provided students with the opportunity to hear from local author Norah Dooley. Mrs. Dooley shared with students how the writing processevolves over time and where she gets many of her ideas from. Here is a picture of Mrs. Dooley with our lower grade students.Author Norah Dooley speaking to students

 

October/November 2018

Dear Prescott Community,

It's been an exciting few months here at Prescott! I'm constantly impressed by how truly amazing our students are! They are engaged, inquisitive and eager to collaborate with each other on various classroom projects. On a routnine basis, teachers utilize the Google Classroom platform to share assignments, revise pieces of work or provide high quality content to all our students. This is a fantastic tool that has truly allowed our students to thrive. 

We were pleased to learn that our school was one of 51 chosen by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as a "School of Recognition" for our high performance and our student growth (closing the achievement gap) on the 2018 MCAS Assessment. While this is just one of many factors that demonstrate the high quality education that our students receive, it's something we are certainly proud of. 

Finally, we traveled to Norwood Theater mid November for our whole school field trip. We were excited to see Peter Pan and meet some Norwood Public School Alumni who were members of the cast! A big thank you to our community and PTO for supporting this fantastic event. 

 

 September 2018

Dear Prescott Community, 

It has been a fantastic start to the school year! We are truly off to a great start. I've been on a mission to visit every classroom, every day and have so far succeeded! I've seen kids grappling working on their math facts, writing about their summer vacations and having powerful conversations around standing up for what they think is right, even when it's not popular. Through our Open Circle program, students routinely engage in meaningful conversations around life skills and events that they will likely encounter. At the Prescott, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a focus and it's great to see our students diving in to this so early in the year. 

We also had a great first PTO meeting and even have our first enrichment assembly scheduled for the first week of October! Students had a great time the week of September 24th participating in "Start With Hello" Week sponsored by the Sandy Hook Promise. Students learned what it means to be inclusive and participated in "Hey Day" and had our first Mix It Up Lunch. As a community, we're committed to being inclusive and even signed a pledge to "Start With Hello". 

We look forward to seeing families at our Back to School Night/Ice Cream Social on Thursday October 4, 2018 from 6pm-7:30pm here at the Prescott! 

Hello poster with students signatures

 

 Summer 2018

Bryan W. Riley Principal

Dear Prescott Community,

I'm excited to be back in Norwood and joining the Prescott Community as Principal! Having grown up in Norwood, I realize the value that the town places on its schools and will work to continue to uphold the high standards that have been set by Principal Killion. 

After attending American University in Washington, DC for both undergraduate and graduate studies, I worked for ten years in the DC Public Schools in a Blue Ribbon PreK-5th grade school. I was fortunate to gain experience both as a classroom teacher and Assistant Principal in a school of approximately 420 students. In addition to my experience in DC Public Schools, I served as an Adjunct Professor in American University's School of Education where I focused on preservice teacher training in the areas of Math and English Language Arts. I'm also fortunate to serve on the School of Education's Advisory Board as an inaugural member.             

I've spent a majority of the summer thus far meeting with staff members one on one, getting to know the building and visiting some of our Prescott students at summer programs! In the coming weeks, I look forward to learning more about the amazing PTO here at the Prescott and how we can work together to support teachers and students. 

As the summer progresses, look out for additional updates to the webpage as well as via email. Please don't hesitate to reach out at briley@norwood.k12.ma.us with any questions! 

Have a fantastic summer!

Bryan W. Riley

Principal

@RileyPrincipal

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