Schools
Tolland's Kindergartners Get Ready for School
The students and their parents rode the school bus together to attend the Birch Grove Primary meet and greet.
Some of Tolland’s youngest students got their first taste of kindergarten at Thursday’s meet and greet at . School buses picked up the new students and their parents so kindergartners could get to know their teachers.
“The meet and greet helps the children feel more comfortable with their teachers,” said Birch Grove principal Thomas Swanson, explaining why the school has been hosting the event for many years.
Kindergarten teacher Cathy Gramling takes the opportunity to get her young students looking forward to the upcoming school year.
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“You want to give them an exciting start,” she said. Gramling led the kids in song and read a story about a silly bus ride, featuring diverse riders like a rabbit, hippopotamus and fish, to the amusement of her new students.
Gramling agreed that the meet and greet is also essential to making the students comfortable with school.
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“I want for them to know that they don’t need to worry about anything,” she said, adding that a little anxiety is certainly understandable. “When you think about it, you’re a stranger,” she said.
Parents Chris and Virginia Pallis, who are sending their first child to kindergarten, said that the meet and greet helped their daughter feel better about her new school.
“I think she was most worried about her teacher,” Chris said. “She was worried about her being friendly, and today she saw that she was.”
After exploring the classroom and spending some time with the teachers, the parents and their kindergartners headed back to the school buses. According to Swanson, the meet and greet day naturally evolved after school bus drivers wanted to practice their new routes before the year began.
Swanson said that between 175 and 180 students are enrolled in kindergarten this year. There are five kindergarten teachers and ten classes, all together.
Assistant principal Michael Moynihan added that there are still some kindergarten screening slots available. The screening will continue on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parents can call 860-870-6750 for more information.
