Longmeadow students, staff head back to class for first day of new school year

LONGMEADOW, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Hundreds more students in multiple western Massachusetts school districts had their first day of school on Tuesday, including more than 2,000 students in Longmeadow.

Buses and lines of cars could be seen on the roads around Longmeadow High School on Tuesday as the 2023-2024 school year at Longmeadow Public Schools was officially in high gear and Superintendent Marty O’Shea is thrilled to get started and said a lot went into being ready for day one.

“Over the summer, our clerical staff, our custodial staff, our tech staff, and our maintenance crews are busy getting classrooms and offices ready and we were ready to go when the students arrived this morning,” O’Shea said.

For most of the day, more than a couple thousand students in grades 1 through 12 reunited with their friends and classmates, met their teachers and administrators, and stepped into classrooms for the first time this school year. O’Shea told Western Mass News that there are plenty of things students can expect.

“We’re excited about our vision of the graduate and continually looking for ways to creating meaningful, engaging, relevant experiences for students,” O’Shea added. “We spent a good part of our day on August 24 with the staff, talking about how we can really be even further committed to creating classrooms that promote a sense of belonging for all students.”

One key priority for the district every year is the safety of its students. After a threatening message was found inside Glenbrook Middle School last year, as well as hoax threats all across Massachusetts, O’Shea said protocols are in place.

“We invited our chief of police, Chief Bob Stocks, and Sergeant Carl Mazzaferro. They addressed the staff and the faculty and talked about the importance of school safety and some of the plans that we have for the upcoming school year,” O’Shea noted.

He said the district has mental health resources available as well and with COVID-19 cases on the rise, O’Shea acknowledged they are making sure the proper steps are taken to avoid any potential spread.

“We’ve been in touch with our public health nurse and we’ve got a great team of nurses who assist families if they’re in need of information about COVID protocols,” O’Shea said.

Kindergarteners and preschoolers will start their classes Wednesday.

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