Call the absence line (413-644-2350) and provide your child’s name, grade, reasons for absence or tardiness and days expected to be absent or tardy. 

Inclement Weather Guidelines/Updates

Please contact Massini Bus at 413-229-7962.  Bus Routes will be posted when available for the 2024-2025 school year.  If your child will be attending Berkshire South Community Center After-School Program, they will be transported from MBE to Berkshire South only if they are on the list provided to us from Berkshire South.  No student will be allowed be transported to Berkshire South for parent pick-up at that location.

We would be happy to arrange for you to visit Muddy Brook.  Call our main office number 413-644-2350.

On half days, we dismiss our students at 12pm for grades EK-4. Pre-K will dismiss at 10:40am. No lunches are served on half days.

Any change in the regular routine requires a note. Please call Muddy Brook’s front office at 413-644-2350 first thing in the morning or email kortney.shimmon@bhrsd.org.  You may also send in a written note in your child’s backpack.

If there is a change of plans during the day, please contact the front office (413-644-2350) to let them know of this change. (Please DO NOT email your child’s classroom teacher for this communication. Teachers are present for students or a substitute may be in the classroom without access to email. We cannot guarantee that the teacher will have the chance to read email prior to dismissal.)  You may also email Kortney Shimmon in our front office at kortney.shimmon@bhrsd.org.

ARRIVALS / DEPARTURES

Pre-kindergarten:
Begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. Students using specialized transportation will be escorted to and from vans by a paraprofessional. All other students and guardians enter and exit through the front doors of the school.

Early-kindergarten – Grade 4:
Begins at 8:35 a.m. and ends at 3:18 p.m.
Below are specific arrival and dismissal routines that apply to all students EK – 4.

Bus & Van
Students arriving by van or bus will be met by a paraprofessional and released from the van or bus starting at 8:35 a.m. Grades Early K – 4 will enter through the North entrance and proceed to their neighborhood. Breakfast is available for all students starting at 8:35 am. Students may enter their classrooms at 8:35 a.m.

Car
Student arrival is from 8:35-8:45 a.m. For your child’s safety we ask that students being dropped off either connect with the paraprofessional standing out front, or come into the building and connect with the office staff. Most students are expected to walk themselves to their neighborhood without an adult.

Tardy Arrival
Children who arrive after 8:45 are considered tardy and must report to the office upon arrival.  Please escort your child to the front atrium, ring the bell on the right and you will be helped by the office staff.

Regular Dismissal
Walkers are dismissed at 3:15 p.m.  Students who ride the bus are dismissed at 3:18 p.m.

If you are picking up your child, please enter the front loop and follow the traffic pattern to the right and around the loop.  Your child will be brought out to your car.  If you wish to walk up to pick up your child, please park in parking spots in our main parking lot and walk to the area in front of the school.

Early Arrival – (8:00-8:30 a.m.)
Adults bringing students to activities prior to 8:30 a.m. must sign in as they enter the building.
Clubs including chess, math, hiking and the early morning child care program
begin at 8:00 a.m. Once you have signed your child in, your child may walk him/herself to the
activity.

MONEY, ELECTRONIC DEVICES, TOYS AND OTHER VALUABLES

Money:
Students bringing money to school are asked to place the money in an envelope with
the student’s name clearly written on the front as well as a label identifying the reason for the
money . We ask that children not bring large amounts of cash or other valuable objects to
school.

Electronic Devices:
We do not allow iPods, iPads, cell phones, cameras or other electronic
devices without special permission. We cannot assume responsibility for any damage or loss
that may occur to personal items. Electronic equipment and other objects identified by the
principal/assistant principal as being inappropriate for school grounds will be confiscated and
brought to the office where parents may pick them up.

Toys:
Toys are only permitted at the request of the classroom teacher in connection with
learning activities or in connection with special circumstances. In all other cases, toys should be
left at home or will be kept in the front office during the school day. Toys won at High Five
drawings or earned in special circumstances are to be kept in backpacks throughout the day and
taken home right away.

To ensure the safety of all students who ride a bus or a van, an adult must stand at the bus stop
to meet the bus. If the adult waits in the car, they must get out of the car when the bus
approaches so that the bus driver can see the adult meeting the bus. If a parent/guardian or approved
adult is not at the bus stop, the child will be returned to the elementary school and the parent/guardian
will be required to pick the child up at school.
If a student is without an adult at the bus stop three times, families can expect bus privileges
to be revoked for two weeks.

Lost and found items are located in the front atrium. Parents may look for lost items at any time during the day. Thank you for labeling all coats, hats, gloves and boots with your child’s name. We periodically empty our Lost and Found and donate items to the Family Resource Center(January, April and end of school).

We ask that invitations of any kind NOT be distributed at school. Invitations brought to school
for distribution will be returned to the child or parent by the class teacher. Families can refer to
the Student Directory for student contact information. The front office cannot release contact
information for any Muddy Brook family.

We have a curbside valet pick up for families. Students will dismiss to the gym. A staff member
will be at the sidewalk at the front of the building greeting those picking up. Students will wait in
the gym until their car is ready at which point a staff member will walk them to the car.

Families wishing to walk to the building will meet their children at the front entrance. A staff
member will release students from the gym to the front entrance once the family member has signed out them out.

Those picking up must be listed as an approved person on the contact information sheet. If your
child is being picked up by someone who is not on the approved list, you must contact the front office to add the approved person to the list.