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.

Melville had 2 students selected as winners in the Aquidneck Land Trust Art & Writing Contest in the K-4 art category! In First Place, Gwendolyn and Timothy as the Honorable Mention. Congratulations to all of the third graders who entered!

On Wednesday January 24th, the Unified Arts team (Mr. Soares, Ms. Lathan, Mr. Arruda, and Ms. Paknis) will be hosting a Disco Bowling Night for Kindergarten, 1st Grade, & 2nd Grade in the Melville Gym from 4:00 - 5:00pm:

If you plan to attend please sign up using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084DAAA72DAAFEC16-45973407-disco

IMPORTANT: This is not a drop off event, and you must be in attendance with your student(s).

• 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 Mr. Soares an email: soaresr@portsmouthschoolsri.org

Looking forward to seeing you!

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting a Family STEAM night on Tuesday, February 27th from 5:30-7:00 pm. It will be a fun-filled evening with various STEAM challenges and demonstrations that both our students and their families can explore and engage in together.

We are also looking to add tables of professionals who are experts in the STEAM world and are interested in showcasing their STEAM profession. This is an excellent opportunity to expose students to a wide range of career possibilities. If you are working in a job that falls under STEAM and have something that you can either demonstrate or have small activities, and would like to participate in, please send an email to Margie Brennan at brennanm2@portsmouthschoolsri.org.

Please see the Scholastic Book Fair letter and visit our homepage to learn more and get started at:

www.scholastic.com/bf/melville

• FRI- 1/26 and MON 1/29: Classes that have Library will view the book fair and make wish lists to share with their families.
• TUES 1/30, THRS 2/1, FRI 2/3- Students can purchase books during Library class
• WED 1/31-Book Fair will be open from 4:00PM-5:30PM for family shopping

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE JANUARY ALPHABEST NEWSLETTER.

Thank you Global Electric for your donation of $500! We look forward to sharing with you how these funds will be used to support our community.

This week, PLAY with Strategy:

Any board game that involves some strategy provides important opportunities to make and hold a plan in mind for several moves ahead, consider the varying rules that govern different pieces, and adjust strategy in response to opponents’ moves. Through strategizing, a child’s working memory, inhibitory control, and flexibility have to work together to support plan-based, effective play. Sorry!, Battleship, Parcheesi, mancala, checkers, and Chinese checkers are some of the many examples of these types of games for children this age. For the younger ones, talk out your thinking to model how to strategize. Show your child it is ok to make mistakes and overall show them it is fun!

Truancy Process, linked policy

• At 5 unexcused absences

• A letter is sent home notifying families that their child has reached 5 unexcused absences

• At 10 unexcused absences

• A letter is sent home notifying families that their child has reached 10 unexcused absences.

• A phone call is made to parents, either from their child’s counselor or support staff member (psychologist or social worker), inquiring about the absences and offering support.

• If possible a plan is established between the family and the child’s counselor or support staff member to increase attendance.

• At 15 unexcused absences

• A letter is sent home notifying families that their child has reached 15 unexcused absences.

• Within that letter a follow up action is determined by the school attendance officer:

• Parent/Guardian Meeting with District Attendance Officer

• Referral to Truancy Court/Newport Family Court

• A meeting typically occurs prior to referral to truancy court between the parents/guardians, student, school attendance officer, and a school administrator.

• At 18 unexcused absences

• A referral is made to Truancy Court/Newport Family Court.

• The family receives a notice of the date they are to report to Truancy Court/Newport Family Court.

The PHS Parents Helping Students Organization is preparing for this year’s Post Prom event. As part of our fundraising efforts we are collecting athletic shoes to reuse/recycling through the Got Sneakers Organization. We will receive a donation of approximately $2 per pair of shoes collected. In support of this effort, PHSO will have a collection box in the Melville vestibule.

Please send in your Clement's Receipts. Our MPTG collets them and over the year Clements gives Melville back a percentage of what was spent. This year Clements gave our MPTG approximately $600!

We go outside as much as possible and we want our students to be safe, warm, and ready to play! Please help your children select weather appropriate clothing as we are in the coldest months of the year.

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.

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!

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

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.

We will have our Planet Aid bin again this year...please continue to fill it with clothes and shoes.

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

January

24th-K-2 Disco Bowling

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)

27th-Family STEAM Festival

March

12th–End of Trimester 2

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

14th & 15th- Grade 3 Seal Watch Field Trip (date to attend per class TBD)

29th–Good Friday (No school)

April

2nd–Staff Professional Development Day (No School for Students)

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

15th-19th– Spring Recess (No School)

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 (rain date 5/23)

24th-Grade 4 Field Trip

27th-Memorial Day (No School)

29th-Grade 2 Family & Caregiver Celebration

30th-Kindergarten Family & Caregiver Celebration

31st-Grade 3 Wax Museum and Family & Caregiver End of Year Event

June

3rd-Field Day (rain date 6/4)

5th-Grade 1 Family & Caregiver Celebration

6th-Grade 4 visits PMS

6th-Casey Farm Field Trip

6th-Pre Kindergarten Graduation

7th–PHS Graduation (Tentative Date)

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

13th-Grade 4 Stepping Up Ceremony with Family & Caregivers

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