School's out! DeMello students bid farewell
DeMello School fifth graders parade into the DeMello cafeteria on Tuesday, June 23 on their last day of elementary school. Photos by Abby Van Selous
Soon-to-be middle schoolers enter the DeMello School cafeteria.
Students with summer birthdays stand up when their names are called.
Students participate in the last assembly of the school year.
DeMello School fifth graders parade into the DeMello cafeteria on Tuesday, June 23 on their last day of elementary school. Photos by Abby Van Selous
Soon-to-be middle schoolers enter the DeMello School cafeteria.
Students with summer birthdays stand up when their names are called.
Students participate in the last assembly of the school year.
For years, DeMello students have celebrated the last day of school with one final morning announcement and assembly, and this year was no different.
As students in kindergarten through fourth grade watched on and cheered, fifth graders entered the DeMello School’s cafeteria one last time before bidding elementary school farewell.
This year, the assembly featured a recognition of all the students who have birthdays over the summer, a spotlight on some staff members, a special message from the school’s mascot and a presentation by students who invented a new way to ensure that people wash their hands after using the bathroom.
DeMello School Principal Elizabeth Correia said that the fifth grade class is “characterized by their kindness.”
“The way they stick up for each other, the way they welcome new students into the building,” she said, “And I’m so proud of who they are as human beings, not just students.”
Correia said that she wishes the fifth graders “all the best” in middle school and said that Dartmouth Middle School is “very lucky” to get DeMello students.
She said that she wants the now graduated fifth graders to know that they “need to hang on to each other when they get to middle school,” noting that this is something she thinks the students know “instinctively.”
“I always tell them to take care of their relationships, keep nurturing them, and then be open to making new friendships,” Correia added.
Correia said that the school year is “always a roller coaster ride,” adding, “we always enjoy all parts of the year.”
She said that it was a “great year” that featured the roll out of a new literacy program, an introduction of scratch cooking in the cafeteria, enrichment programs and numerous assemblies.
“We’ve done so many things, but I’m really already looking forward to next year and bringing more things to DeMello School,” Correia said.
Correia thanked parents and the DeMello staff members, noting that there’s “not a person at the DeMello school that doesn’t give 110%.”
“Thank you to the staff and thank you to the families for sharing the children with us,” she said.
Correia said that when she thinks about this school year, she thinks about “just keeping things going.”
“We kind of moved through all the things that happened over the course of the year, and this is the year where we really just kind of put our heads down and said, ‘Let’s go, let’s do it all,” she said.
