SPS Weekly Newsletter
October 6, 2023
In This Edition of the SPS Weekly Newsletter...
We are excited to share the latest edition of the SPS Weekly Newsletter with our families, students, staff, and community members! A new edition will be sent each Friday when school is in session, sharing updates, previewing upcoming events, and showcasing the amazing work being done in our schools. This week we have an update about the new elementary school building project in Dr. Baeta's weekly message, and we feature a SHS graduate making history at the World Gymnastics Championships, the Unified Basketball Program at SHS, Walk to School Day, and more!
From the Desk of the Superintendent
On September 27, 2023, the MA School Building Authority (MSBA) reviewed our consolidated elementary school plan as part of the new elementary school building project. Our presentation included our work towards finding the appropriate Educational Plan for the consolidation and the future of public education as determined by the needs of Stoughton students. The presentation was well received and thanks to the work of many, the questions were limited in scope. This is a major step forward for SPS in this process.
The next major phases include determining cost, review of the project and vote by the MSBA, vote at Town Meeting, and then a debt exclusion ballot question. We have many roads to travel in this process. We will keep you up to date as the project progresses. In the meantime, you can learn more about the new elementary school building project by visiting our website. You can also view a slideshow presentation from the September 27th meeting with the MSBA by clicking here.
Joseph F. Baeta, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Stoughton Public Schools
Second Graders Brainstorm About New Elementary School
Staff from DRA (Drummey Rosane Anderson), the architectural firm for the new elementary school building project, ran a program with second graders at both the South School and Wilkins School earlier this week to get their input on the project. Students took turns visiting different stations, using their creativity to begin to think about what a new school could look like.
At the "five second rule" station, students had five seconds to name three answers to different questions and brainstorm about the new school. At the Lego station, students built something they wanted to see in the new school out of Legos. At the "emotion tracker" station, students used stickers to pinpoint the emotions they feel about their current school, as well as what emotions they'd like to feel from their new school. "Collage and vision boarding" was another station where students used images from magazines, cutouts, stickers, and other art supplies to help visualize what they want a new school to look like. And finally, at the "craziest idea" sketch station, students were given a rainbow scratch-off pad and stencils to draw an idea of something they would like to see in the new school. There were lots of sketches of pools and even trains to take students from one class to the next!
Unified Basketball Program at SHS
We are excited to be offering Unified Sports at Stoughton High, a program that gives students of all abilities the chance to take part in the high school athletics experience. The first Unified Basketball game at Stoughton High took place on Monday and it was an absolutely electric atmosphere in the SHS gymnasium as the Black Knights went up against Canton. Players from both teams did an incredible job! Take a look at a few photos below. To see the full photo gallery, click here.
There was fantastic fan support in the gymnasium with a pep band, cheerleaders, and several SHS students (including the football and basketball teams) and teachers/administration on hand as well.
The SHS Unified Basketball team's next home game is Thursday, October 12 at 3:45pm against Taunton in the SHS gymnasium. Come out and support our students as they take on the Tigers!
Fred Richard (SHS Class of 2022) Makes History at World Gymnastics Championships
Fred Richard, a 2022 graduate of Stoughton High, won a bronze medal in the all-around event at the World Gymnastics Championships in Belgium on Thursday! He becomes the youngest American man to medal in the all-around event at the World Championships. Richard is just the fourth US man overall to medal in the all-around and the first to do so since 2010. Read more about this incredible feat here.
Earlier in the week, Richard helped the US men’s gymnastics team win a bronze medal in the team competition. He becomes the first US man to win both a team and all-around medal since 2003!
Way to go Fred! Congratulations on this amazing accomplishment!
(Photos from the USA Gymnastics website)
Walk to School Day
Students and staff at the Dawe, South, and Wilkins all took part in "Walk to School Day" on Wednesday. Batman even made an appearance at the Dawe School's walk!
Marching Band Festival Coming to Stoughton High!
Join us for the first ever USBands Marching Band Festival at Stoughton High School on Saturday, October 21, 2023! The festival features our own award-winning Marching Black Knights and many other bands from all over New England. Click here for more information.
Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the Marching Black Knights at their first competition of the season - the USBands show in Dartmouth (photos courtesy of USBands). Click here for a video of the performance!
No School on Monday, October 9
There is no school on Monday, October 9, 2023. All school buildings and the district office will be closed on Monday and will reopen on Tuesday, October 10, 2023. Enjoy the long weekend!
SHS Parking Lots Closed on Monday
In addition to there being no school on Monday, October 9, please note that the parking lots at Stoughton High will also be closed on Monday so that the lines can be striped. The lot to the side of the school adjacent to Adams Street will be closed all day, as will the lot behind the school and the adjoining upper middle school lot. The parking spaces adjacent to the turf field and tennis courts will be closed in the afternoon. They will be open Monday morning for parking for SHS sports practices only. There is no overnight parking on Sunday in any of the parking lots. Barricades will go up early Monday and violators will be towed. If anyone would like to use the track or tennis courts on Monday, public parking will be available in the lot in front of the O'Donnell Middle School. Take a look at the map for a detailed view of the parking lot closures. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Bus Registration Update
Earlier in the week, we notified families that the bus registration period was reopening for those students who were not placed on a bus at the start of the school year and are still interested in bus transportation. Any student who is not currently on a bus in grades K-12 that is interested in riding the bus MUST complete an application by Friday, October 13, 2023. If there is room on the bus, students will be placed in the order the applications are received. We cannot guarantee placement on a bus as many of our middle school and high school buses are full. Please note that the students we do have seats for will not be placed on a bus until the week of October 23, 2023. For more information and to fill out an application, click here.
School Committee Meeting Tuesday, October 10
There is a Stoughton School Committee Meeting on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 in the School Committee Conference Room at the District Office (31 Pierce St.). The public portion of the meeting starts at 7pm. An agenda for the meeting can be found here.
Follow Us on Social Media!
For updates throughout the week, be sure to follow Stoughton Public Schools on social media: