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.

On Thursday November 16th, Mr. Soares will be hosting a Family Gaga Ball Night for students and families in GRADES 1 and 2 in the Melville Gym from 4:00 - 6:00pm: Pleasee see the event FLYER.

If you plan to attend please sign up using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084DAAA72DAAFEC16-45972660-thankful

• You will be ENTERING and EXITING Door 10, which is connected to the GYM.
• You WILL NOT be able to enter through the main doors.

• There will be a sign in sheet- after you have signed in: knock on door and I will let you and your student into the gym.

DIRECTIONS:

1. If you are looking at Melville you will enter the parking lot on the LEFT not the main entrance with the bus loop.

2. You will park and walk all the way to the fence straight ahead at the end of the parking lot.

3. Once you have walked to the fence take a RIGHT as if you were walking to the back of the school.

4. There will be a long hall-way like cement path and at the end of that will be DOOR 10.

If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email. Looking forward to seeing you!

Dear Melville Families,

Last year as we navigated a new curriculum and as the year progressed we recognized a need to revise our grading process. Through the work of our grade level teams, teacher leaders, administrators, and coaches we revised the Report Card and developed Mid-Trimester Progress Reports to better communicate with parents and caregivers their child’s progress. This information was presented to our Parent Teacher Group in the Spring of 2023, where we sought feedback and continued to make revisions.

In early November you will be invited to attend a parent teacher conference with your child's teacher.

At that time, our teams will review the MID TRIMESTER PROGRESS REPORTS. These reports include data from the benchmarking assessments. Benchmarking assessments are assessments given to students three times a year to measure their progress towards achieving the end of year standard for their grade level. In addition, you will receive a parent STAR Assessment Report. If your child qualifies for a Response to Intervention (RtI) Plan, this will also be discussed during the conference.

• Families with Children in Grades K-3: For the first trimester, teachers in grades K-3 will review the progress reports at the November Parent Teacher Conferences. If you are unable to attend the conference, then you can make arrangements with the teacher to receive this report at another time.

• Families with Children in Grades 4: The Grade 4 team will send progress reports home to families at the end of October and will review the progress reports at the November conference.

Report Cards are published three times a year and will be available on the ASPEN Platform. You will be able to access your child Trimester 1 Report on the ASPEN Family Portal on December 8th, 2023. We will send out reminders as we near that date.

Report Cards reflect your child's current mastery of end-of-grade level standards. The grades earned by your child, as reflected on the Report Card, are their current mastery of end-of-grade level standards. If your child receives an S (secure), this means that they are secure and have reached that end of year benchmark. Earning a D (developing), indicates that your child is demonstrating growth towards meeting the end of grade level standard, but needs support in that area at times. If your child receives a B (beginning), this means that your child continues to need teacher support in this area. This is the first Trimester and therefore most students will not be Secure in the end of grade level standards at this time of the year. An N/A means that this standard has not yet been taught. NP means that your child did not participate in the learning/activities related to this standard.

This letter will be in our Melville Community Update for the next couple of weeks for your reference. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress, then please connect with the classroom teacher.

Sincerely,

Danielle Laurie

Principal of Melville Elementary School

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: 12072424

If you do not 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 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.

You can learn more by visiting this site:https://feinsteinfoundation.org/jr-scholar-card.html

Fire drills occur on a regular basis. State law requires each school to conduct eleven fire drills, two lockdown drills and two evacuation drills each year. Shelter in Place drills are conducted throughout the school year. Children are given instruction on all procedures. Children are expected to behave in a calm, orderly manner during these exercises. Please review the importance of such exercises with your child and emphasize the need for appropriate behavior.

A lockdown is an alert to a school community that students and staff should not leave the classroom and should gather in one area of the room until provided with further direction.

An evacuation requires all students and staff to exit the building and meet at a designated safe place.

A shelter in place is an alert to a school community that movement outside of classrooms is being restricted for a brief period of time. It is typically used when a student or staff member is requiring some sort of attention (sometimes medical) and the school is trying to keep that area clear and/or protect that person’s privacy. If there were a serious safety concern the school would not issue a shelter in place.

We will send notification of lockdowns, evacuations, and shelter in place drills and events via email.

Here is the presentation that was shared at a Parent Safety Forum that was hosted in conjunction with the Police and Fire Departments. The Run, Hide, Fight FBI philosophy guides our safety training.

The P3 Sandy Hook Promise Anonymous tip line is a resource that we encourage anyone to use if there is ever an immediate safety concern.

Going forward please use meloffice@portsmouthschoolsri.org to notify the main office of changes to your child's dismissal routine or of your child's absence.

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

November

13th–Veterans’ Day Observance (No School)

14th-MPTG Monthly Meeting, 5:30PM-6:30PM, Melville Cafeteria

22nd-25th–Thanksgiving Recess (No School)

30th–End of Trimester 1

December

9th-Trimester 1 Report Cards are open in the Family ASPEN Portal

7th-School Picture Day Make Up Photos

13th-Holiday Crafts and Ornament Party 5pm-7PM, Melville Cafeteria

23rd-31st-Holiday Break-No School

January

1st–New Year’s Observance (No School)

10th-MPTG Monthly Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library

12th-Staff Professional Development Day (No School for Students)

15th–Martin Luther King Day (No School)

29th-2nd-Scholastic Book Fair

February

7th--MPTG Monthly Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library

8th-Parent Teacher Conferences 3:30-6:30

19th–Presidents’ Day

19th-23rd –Winter Recess (No School)

March

12th–End of Trimester 2

13th--MPTG Monthly Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library

29th–Good Friday (No school)

April

10th-MPTG Monthly Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library

15th-19th– Spring Recess (No School)

23rd–Staff Professional Development Day (No School for Students)

May

6th-10th-Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week

8th--MPTG Monthly Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library

16th - TBD tentative date for Spring Parent Teacher Conferences 3:30-6:30

21st-Fun Run (raind date 5/23)

27th – Memorial Day (No School)

June

7th– PHS Graduation (Tentative Date)

12th-FINAL MPTG Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library

14th- or 180th day – Last Day of School – All Students

17th,18th, 20th, 21st– Snow Makeup Days

19th – Juneteenth (No School)

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