Middle School Matters

The Mission of Portsmouth Middle School is to create a strong and safe learning environment: promote social, emotional and physical well-being and to provide opportunities for each student, to the best of their ability, to meet high academic standards, develop responsibility, and achieve the positive social values and behaviors to become productive citizens.

The PMS Art and Musical Festival will be taking place this Wednesday, March 27th from 5:00-7:30 P.M. Please see the link here for more detailed information about the night.

Online bidding is now open until Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.

The Silent Auction will continue in person until 6:45 p.m.

Thank you in advance for supporting the Art & Music programs at Portsmouth Middle School!

All students participated in a school-wide lesson with a focus on Electronic Expectations on Monday, March 25. The lesson focused on our core values of Being Responsible, Being Respectful, and Being Safe.

The following were reviewed with students and we would appreciate your support at reviewing and reinforcing these expectations at home:

• Electronic devices should be off and away in backpacks/lockers while at school
• If a student is not feeling well, they should see the nurse for support.
• Chromebooks should come to school daily fully charged
• Please help us at home by reminding your child to plug in their device and charge it every night.
• Anonymous Reporting Link
• On the PSD website, a link to report suspected bullying or concerns is available
• Digital Footprint
• Remember all that is posted on the Internet is part of your digital footprint. Be proud of the footprint you are creating.

A huge thank you to our PTO for purchasing the award-winning book The Lost Library, in order for all classrooms to have a shared reading expereince. This will be the first book in the class set sponsored by the PTO. Additionally, classrooms have also been busy this month decorating their classroom doors to represent beloved books.

Our theatre club has been hard at working preparing for their debut of Legally Blonde Jr. Tickets are now on sale for our three shows. Please click the link here for the ticket order form.

Last week faculty/staff presented a lesson on:

• Mindfulness
• What it is
• The simple benefits
• And how to implement it within our school day

Mindfulness practice takes just minutes within our day with its focus on becoming aware of our thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the moment, non-judgmentally. Research has shown that it improves attention & awareness, decreases stress & anxiety, strengthens personal connections, and improves our overall mental and physical health.

There are a wide variety of practices you can do at home, one of which being mindful eating where you experience the food as it is using all of your physical and emotional senses to experience and enjoy the food choices you make. Other practices can include:

• Deep breathing exercises

• Naming your sensations and feelings as they happen in the moment

• Being fully present for family activities (putting down the phones!)

• Listening attentively without interrupting

• Listening to understand vs listening to reply

• Taking time to pause and breathe before reacting to stress

Benefits of mindfulness are met with practice and modeling! Learn more about practicing mindfulness within your family and the benefits here

Starting tomorrow, students will be allowed to congregate in the school courtyard for drop off starting at 7:40 A.M. This measure is being taken to attempt to help families during drop off. We are looking to have all of our students in homeroom by 7:58 A.M. This provides 18 minutes for drop off in the morning. Please remember that as soon as your vehicle pulls to a stop along the front sidewalk of the school, your child may exit the car. This will help keep the line moving. We will have our admin team out front to assist with the movement of cars. Thank you for your cooperation.

Portsmouth Middle School competed in the Rhode Island State Chess Championship, playing against the best chess minds in the state! The team consisted of Patrick Schlesinger, Gagan Deep, Dan Lu, Olivia Purdy, Roman Twomney, Austin Vachon, Gavin Varela, Caleb Thibeault, Sam Whitehead and Blaise Aubuchon.

Facing stiff competition, everyone on our team played exceptionally well! Patrick Schlesinger placed 9th, Dan Lu placed 10th, Gagan Deep placed 12th and Austin Vachon placed 13th, earning individual medals! Our entire team represented PMS with class, and on the biggest stage RI has to offer. Congratulations to our Chess Team!

There will be no late bus this Thursday, March 28th. Please have a conversation with your child to ensure they are aware. We will be making announcements.

We have a new club starting at school called Kids 4 Action. Want to be a Change Agent? Would you like to make a positive impact in your local and global communities? Be part of the Multiplier Effect!

Join Kids4Action at the Portsmouth Middle School in the 5th&6th Grade Health Room on March 27th from 2:45 to 4:00PM. 2024 Initiatives will focus on impacting our local and surrounding communities, which includes raising funds to support the Four Hearts Foundation Portsmouth Playground. Additional After-School meetings to be held on April 24th and May 22nd.

This year’s afterschool club will focus on prepping for our Clements Carwash/Bake Sale and Color Run Fundraisers as well as our Kind-it-Forward platform.

Have fun in brainstorming sessions, learn how to craft an ‘elevator pitch’, build philanthropy and leadership skills! Join us on March 27th!

The flier announcement is linked here for any student interested in joining.

Cases for Chromebooks should stay on the Chromebook. The reason for this is if there was ever an issue with the Chromebook, our IT department cannot send it back to the company for repair without the case. The cover does not void the warranty. If a student does not know where the case is, please let Ms. Waugh in the library know. She will let IT know and they can order another one, but this would be at the family’s expense.

Portsmouth High School's Green Club is committed to promoting environmental conservation through the teaching of students with multiple events and projects within the school system and beyond. As part of this goal, the club is hosting a community-wide tree-planting event to offset the school's annual energy consumption. Our goal is to give out 350 saplings to the residents of Portsmouth and surrounding towns, which would offset the amount of carbon our school emitted from electricity and gas last year. Our event will be held on May 4th, 2024. Residents can support our mission by ordering saplings for $5 or donating to make saplings free for others. Residents can choose from Eastern Rebund, Red Maple, and Yellow Poplar saplings. All of these saplings will thrive in our New England climate. We look forward to making our community more sustainable! Please check out our website.

KADC Dance Team fundraiser

Please see the link here if you would like to support the KADC Dance Team fundraiser.

To date, we have 5% of families responding to Survey Works. We have about two weeks left for you to provide feedback on how you think we are doing at Portsmouth Middle School! Click here, choose “Portsmouth Middle School” from the dropdown menu and fill out the family survey. It only takes a few minutes. Thank you in advance. Your voice matters to us!

We thank you in advance for your thoughtful responses. If you have any questions about the survey administration, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Goodwin, our Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning by emailing goodwinl@portsmouthschoolsri.org

March is Youth Art Month at PMS. Please see the link here for more information of all the events taking place district wide for PMS students. All dates are also on our website calendar.

We would like to celebrate that our average daily attendance is 94%. If we learned one thing from the pandemic, it is how much our students learn better from being present in school. We have taken the last few weeks to highlight some reminders in our newsletter and this week we are resharing the school committee policies regarding attendance. As a reminder, anytime a student is absent unexcused for 5/10/15 days, a letter is auto generated and sent home. Families whose children reach 10 days of unexcused absence will receive a call from their school counselor to check in and see if there are any resources that families may need. Fifteen days of unexcused absences may trigger truancy proceedings. Linked is the attendance policy. Student Attendance and Truancy Policy

We are finding that students are using the bathrooms to check their phones and text friends or home. Cell phones are not to be used in school, per RI law. If students do not feel well, we have a certified school nurse who can assess and assist immediately with most medical needs. Ms. Joncas will also call home in the event that a student does not feel good so that parents can be a part of the team decision process on how to move forward.

We have seen an increase in unexpected behavior on the school bus. Although there have been consolidations as well as substitute drivers, we expect our students to behave as if they are in the classroom with their teachers. Dr. Masterson met with the bus company on the Friday before school vacation to review the common issues that have occurred over the previous two weeks. This list consists of bags in the aisle, students switching seats, and talking excessively loudly to name a few. Please review the following school department policies with your child. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s coordinator of student life or Dr. Masterson.

EEAC- School Bus Code

EE-Transportation Services

EEB-School Bus Operation

Currently, we are seeing deliberate damage taking place with Chromebooks (broken keys, pulled keyboard grid, cracked screens, etc). Due to these behaviors (not accidents), we now have a shortage of loaners. In the event a student caused deliberate damage to their Chromebook, they may not be guaranteed a loaner.

Patriot Pillars is built on a framework of creating a positive social culture for our students.

Our goal at PMS is to build a positive learning environment where all students feel safe and connected because we know this is how children learn best. As a staff we are focusing on making connections with our students.

Patriot Pillars is a system of reinforcing expected and positive behaviors, aligning student expectations to our school core values: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Ready to Learn.

Ask your child if they have earned any Patriot Pillars this week.

The Friends’ of Rachel Club has started a clothing drive to support our Rachel's Closet. The closet is to help anyone who needs clothing for any season of the year. In order to be able to provide clothes year-round to our community, we need your help! We are in need of clothing for students grades 5 through 8, so please consider donating any new or gently used clothing items. Clothes can be dropped off in the bins labeled “clothing drive” which are located in the 6th and 8th grade hallways, as well as in the front lobby.

The Friends’ of Rachel Club also has a food pantry. We accept all donations of non-perishable foods that come in cans or packages. These donations can be placed in the bin labeled “food drive” located in the front lobby.

We have a Google Form, here, that has all of the up to date food and clothing that you may order. Please feel free to submit an order for our club to get packed up for you, or send questions to gonsalvesm@portsmouthschoolsri.org or bixbys@portsmouthschoolsri.org.

We have (2) openings for RBT's/paraprofessional (registered behavior technician). The job ID is 4487130 for schoolspring.com.

Please see the linked fliers here and here regarding the PTO Dodgeball event to benefit Officer Holly. The PTO came to school today to hand out flyers and talk with students at lunch today. It was a lot of fun last year and this year's proceeds go towards Officer Holly's care.

Portsmouth Middle School PTO has teamed up with Be Green Kids Consignments for SHOP FOR A CAUSE at their Spring Sale Event (@Pennfield School- 110 Sandy Point Ave, Portsmouth, RI). Shop For A Cause is a fundraising program where you can get early access to shop during a specific time--- the entry fee goes to our PTO AND Be Green will match it! The Be Green Kids Consignment sale has over 20,000 items for kids- newborns to tweens. Clothes to size 14 . Shoes to size 7Y. Toys. Books. Baby Gear/Equipment and so much more! If you are planning to shop, go during a SHOP FOR A CAUSE time to raise money for our PTO. WIN-WIN for everyone!

There are three different SHOP FOR A CAUSE early access hours:

Wed 3/20 5pm-8pm (this is the same night consignors shop, so inventory is at its highest) $10 entry fee

Thu 3/21 9am-Noon (come shop in the morning before they open to the public at noon) $5 entry fee

Fri 3/22 4pm-5pm (early access to discount pricing, if tag says "discount yes" take 50% off. Open to public 5pm-7pm) $5 entry fee

Click this link to purchase your pass: Shop For A Cause Spring 2024 Tickets in Portsmouth, RI, United States (ticketleap.com)

Feel free to share with your friends as SHOP FOR A CAUSE hours are open to anyone who wants to purchase entry tickets! Tell them to designate our PTO at the ticket check out!

For more information about the sale, visit: Be Green Kids Consignments Portsmouth, RI Sale

Save and send in your Clement’s receipts in your child’s folder and sent to the main office. The PTO receives 1% of sales. There is no date too old. All Clements receipts will be taken as long as it shows Clements logo and pre-tax sales total.

Please see the flyer for upcoming events planned with administrators at PMS.

If you would like to volunteer in school or help on a field trip, please use this form going forward to become VIS approved.

Dear PMS Parents/Guardians.

Per the PMS by-laws we are required to solicit nominations for the upcoming school year for all board positions. If you are interested in any of the board positions, please fill out the linked form and submit by April 3, 2024. Voting will be done at the May 8, 2024 meeting. Thank you. If you would like more information about the board's charter, please click here.

Please see the link here to the PHS yard sale opportunity.

Please see the link here for Give Back Night from the GridIron Club.

Please see the flier for a Comedy Night fundraiser to benefit the Portsmouth Youth Football organization.

Portsmouth School Department has opened up Kindergarten registration. Please see the flier linked here.

Please see the updated flier for a crafting event.

Please see the flier for a camp from Portsmouth Recreation taking place during April break.

Please see the flier here for more information on the job opportunities within the district for our food service company, Chartwell

Portsmouth Little League has opened registrations for the spring season. Please see the linked flier for more information.

When students arrive at 7:45, they are meeting our core value of "Be Ready to Learn". Thank you for helping your child be a responsible Portsmouth Patriot!