Melville Message Community Update

In partnership with families and community, the mission of Melville Elementary School is to provide all students with a strong academic foundation through diverse and challenging instruction in a safe and nurturing environment enabling them to achieve their greatest potential while developing self-confidence, respect, responsibility, compassion and a love of learning.

Len Cabral is a RI Storyteller and on Wednesday morning our students were entertained with his stories.

Join us in cheering on our teachers at the Dodgeball Tournament. This is a great way to show some school spirit and Melville always has a great crowd of students and families. You can wear blue, make signs, and bring your POM POMS! It is a guaranteed good time.

Seeing our families back in our school this school year has been incredible and it is an important part of the elementary experience for children and families. I want to continue to build these relationships, so with this in mind, please consider joining me for coffee. You can sign up by clicking here. Read more below.

Each month at our Melville Parent Teacher Group meeting I get the opportunity to give our community an update. Seeing this group expand this year has been wonderful. I understand that not all families can attend this meeting, but would still like the updates to learn about all the wonderful things we are doing each day at Melville. Going forward I will keep this live link in our weekly newsletter for your reference. Please click the button below to catch up on the MPTG Principal Updates.

Artwork from some of our Melville students will be displayed.

To build our literacy culture and our school community from March-June we will select a book a month to be our shared read aloud. This book will be read by each class, the class will leave a comment, and then pass the book to the next class until the WHOLE school has read the book.

Our first read aloud will be The Word Collector by, Peter H. Reynolds.

A New York Times Bestseller Named an Outstanding Literary Work for Children by the NAACP Some people collect stamps. Some people collect coins. Some people collect art. And Jerome? Jerome collected words . . . In this extraordinary new tale from Peter H. Reynolds, Jerome discovers the magic of the words all around him -- short and sweet words, two-syllable treats, and multisyllable words that sound like little songs. Words that connect, transform, and empower.From the creator of The Dot, I Am Human, and Happy Dreamer comes a celebration of finding your own words -- and the impact you can have when you share them with the world.

Our first grade team is in year two of implementation of the CAL Grant funded by the Rhode Island Department of Education. With grant funding, all first grade teachers and our librarian Ms. Paknis were trained through DEVTECH at Tufts University on the implementation of the Scratch Junior programming curriculum. Students have been engaged in this coding curriculum since October. They have been engaged in learning the different elements of Scratch Jr. and programming languages. Through play, the children express and expand their understanding of experiences. Use of coding and scratch Jr. allows students to learn about digital literacy through play. As part of this program Students are able to work on open ended projects in areas that are of high interest to them. They learn how to work with others and problem solve through the coding playground. Students are able to use their imaginations and become inspired by themselves and their peers.

Students have been creating codes for different projects including designing a dance party, retelling the story of Ada Lovelace and an unplugged design challenge where students created a snowman out of recycled materials. During this next stretch of the project students will be learning about “debugging a code”, they will create a freeze dance and coding and write and code an original story of their own!

Be on the lookout! On Monday we will be emailing families about an After School Enrichment POW Science program. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up as soon as possible.

We love to celebrate our students. If they have special news that you would like us to share, e.g. State Wrestling or Cheerleading Championship accomplishments, then please email me at lauried@portsmouthschoolsri.org and we will be sure to include their recognition in our morning announcements.

On Tuesday evening Dr. Viveiros gave a Middle of the Year Data review at the School Committee meeting.

When you enter the Melville parking lot you may have noticed our Planet Aid Bin. If you have clothing to donate please consider using this bin!

2022-2023 School Calendar

If you would like to order a yearbook then please do so by following this link and use the SCHOOL ID.

Yearbook Order: https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/

School ID: 12072423

If you do not pre order a yearbook, then we may not have enough available to purchase at the end of the school year when it comes out. We order a some extra, but the only guarantee is to pre order, so I highly recommend ordering one ahead of time.

If you have a child in grade 4 and need financial assistance to purchase a yearbook, then please email me directly at lauried@portsmouthschoolsri.org and we will make sure your child gets a yearbook.

We want our families to be partners in all we do. Please complete this Melville Committee Work Volunteer Form to join our teams.

If you are interested in volunteering or chaperoning this school year, then you will need to complete the volunteer approval process. Mrs. McEvoy in our office is a notary and can be of any assistance, so please do not hesitate to reach out!

In keeping with the spirit of giving, our Feinstein Jr. Scholars are excited to start an in-school food pantry that our students and families can donate to and access when needed.

Please help us as we continue to support our community by sending in food items with your child from time to time. Please email

Mrs. Powell: powelld@portsmouthschoolsri.org or

Mrs. Pascoe: pascoen@portsmouthschoolsri.org

if you would like to access our food pantry during the school year.

Securly Home is an app that allows parents to monitor their child’s Chromebook activity at home and add rules for home use. Please take some time to review the slideshow from the informational parent meeting hosted for families.

We encourage you to sign up now for Securly Home!

Google Slideshow

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How to use AmazonSmile on a web browser:

1. Visit smile.amazon.com
2. Sign in with the same account you use for Amazon.com
3. Select your charity Melville Parent Teacher Group
4. Start shopping! Remember to checkout at smile.amazon.com to generate donations for your chosen charity.
   Tip: Add a bookmark to make it easier to shop at smile.amazon.com.

March

6th-3KE & 3BE Seal Watch Field Trip

6th-11th-Wellness Week

8th-MPTG Meeting 6:00 PM

13th-Statewide PD Day-Distance Learning Day

21st- Grade 2 Field Trip

April

5th-

In School Arts for Life

MPTG Meeting 6:00 PM

7th-Good Friday (No School)

10th-14th-Spring Recess (No School)

26th-Early Release for Students (PD for Staff)

May

10th-MPTG Meeting 6:00 PM

11th-Melville Theater Bugs Presents "Annie"

23rd-Melville Fun Run

26th-Staff PD Day (No School)

29th-Memorial Day (No School)

June

2nd-Kindergarten End of the Year Celebration

7th-Early Release for Students (PD for Staff)

8th-Kindergarten Field Trip

9th-PHS Graduation (Tentative Date)

14th-MPTG Meeting-Volunteer Appreciation 6:00PM

15th-Grade 1 Field Trip

16th-Grade 4 End of the Year Family Picnic

19th-Juneteenth (No School) 20 or 180th day

Email: lauried@portsmouthschoolsri.org
Website: https://www.portsmouthschoolsri.org/Domain/11
Location: 1351 West Main Road, Portsmouth, RI, USA
Phone: 4016831650
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009159177892
Twitter: @MelvilleSchool