School Community Newsletter
August 21, 2017
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We Want to Hear From You

As we continue to evolve how we communicate to our school community, we invite you to take a very short survey to let us know how we're doing, what you would like to see more of, and how we can improve the ways we share information. Please click below to take part in our anonymous survey that should take no longer than 5 minutes. Thank you in advance!
Success at TeacherFest 2017!

On Tuesday, August 8th, and Wednesday, August 9th, teachers from all over the state gathered at the Narragansett High school for the first ever TeacherFest. 

For two days, Rhode Island educators experienced a conference full of enlightenment and entertainment where they were refreshed and re-energized before the school year to help fully engage students, colleagues, and communities across Rhode Island. The focus was on content and pedagogy through a variety of programs. Almost all of the state's 36 school districts were in attendance totaling nearly 600 educators over the course of the event. Narragansett came in second for highest attendance!

Narragansett resident Phil Capaldi, President of the Narragansett Education Foundation, and 3rd grade teacher at Jamestown Elementary school, was a main creator and organizer for this first of its kind event in the town. Capaldi, along with many other volunteers and community members, have pride that TeacherFest was unlike any other due to having all areas of education touched upon from K-12. "It went above and beyond the specific areas of learning, where most professional development conferences usually have blended learning" he stated.

Event organizers from the Narragansett Education Foundation, RI Link, and School Librarians of Rhode Island, are navigating the possibility of growing the conference next year, making an even bigger impact within our state. "We want to make sure to capture the momentum from this year," Capaldi shared. "There was such a great outpouring of community support that made this event as unique and as special as it was." The two-day event concluded with a reception at The Towers, where the RI Commissioner of Education, Dr. Ken Wagner, addressed attendees.

When asked why Narragansett was chosen to host the event, he answered, "when we were asking teachers to take time out of their summer to attend a professional development conference, we wanted to host it in a venue and town that has that summertime draw. Narragansett fully represents coastal Rhode Island and it was the place to be."
Register on Powerschool!

If you haven't already, we want to remind parents to register their children through our online portal, PowerSchool. 

Student registration includes all in grades K-12th. Grades, Attendance, and other information are also available through this service for grades 5-12th.

What is Powerschool and why do we use it?
PowerSchool is the #1 leading education technology platform for K-12, serving more than 32 million students, 66 million parents, and 100 million users in over 70 countries around the world. Powerschool provides a Unified Classroom experience with best -in-class, secure, and compliant online solutions, including registration and school choice, student information systems, learning management and classroom collaboration, assessment, analytics, and special education management. It engages families through real-time communications across any device.
School Lunch Menus

Our school lunch schedules are almost complete and should be available to view next week. Please check back using the link below where we will add new menus once available.
School Messenger Alerts

The Narragansett School System utilizes the SchoolMessenger system to deliver text messages straight to your mobile phone with important information about events, school closings, safety alerts and more.

You can participate in this free service just by sending a text message of “Y” or “Yes” to our school’s short code number, 67587. 

You can also opt out of these messages at any time by simply replying to one of our messages with “Stop”. Please see the link below for the detailed flyer.
2017 Staff Convocation

On August 31st at 8:30am, Superintendent Dr. Peter Cummings will welcome educators and administrators to the  2017 Convocation (formerly Staff Orientation Day.)

The program will kick off at the Narragansett High School auditorium and using the links below, you will be able to navigate through material including a greeting from the Superintendent along with schedules. We look forward to the year ahead and all that we will accomplish as a school district.

Please note that only NSS staff members will be able to access the files above.
REMINDER: School Opening Dates!

8/31- Teacher Orientation
9/5- School Opens K-12 (start times below)
9/7- Pre-K- Please refer to your Orientation Letter that was sent home for your child's specific Orientation Date and Time.

Start Times
Kindergarten- 9/5- 10:00am-  students come to school for 1 Hour to meet their teachers and classmates.
9/6- 9:00am- First Kindergarten full day. 

Elementary School- 9:00am

Pier Middle School- 8:05am

High School- 7:30am (Students should try to arrive by 7:25am)
Save the Date: NHS Open House: Thursday September 14, 2017

For any questions, please connect with administrators at your respective school
Computer Grant Makes Important Impact

As part of our growing CTE Program, a recently received $50,000 grant will enable us to better serve our students by further developing our Computer Science courses and initiatives.  
  
To enhance student-interest and the impact made through this new program, the district has begun the work of further developing our high school program as well as putting into place a K-8 curricula. Both the Foundations and Discoveries Computer Science series courses have been designed by the University of Rhode Island and will be delivered in accordance to their course outlines and lesson plans. This will also involve students in the designated activities to empower them to use digital media tools and engage them in the work.

What else this grant will provide:
  • Computer lab updates with new computers, Promethean Interactive Display Boards, increased wireless capacity, and additional Oculus Rift glasses.
  • Further development of our Robotics and Discoveries courses where students will delve deeper into problem solving, web development, game development, and design.

With high-level industry partnerships, our goal is to provide students with the tools to be successful in not only computer-associated fields, but also with a rigorous education which will afford them with extraordinary skills and enhance the likelihood of their success. We also wish for them to attain higher paying jobs, benefit from social mobility, instill lifelong learning, and make a larger societal impact.       
  

Establishing a strong Computer and Technology Program at NSS will provide students with countless opportunities to ultimately “enrich the world.” The possibility to provide students with ideal educational opportunities will afford them with the tools and the courage to accomplish the unimaginable and the amazing.

Contact for Program: Joan Pratley |  Jpratley@nssk12.org
Narragansett on list of Best Schools in R.I.!

As the new school year nears, the 2017/2018 best schools list was recently released after rankings were finalized by Niche.com. The findings came from looking at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data, and ratings collected from Niche users.  Below are our rankings compared to how many schools in the state:


Narragansett High School- #6 (out of 62)
Narragansett Pier Middle School- #7 (out of 61)
Narragansett Elementary School- #18 (out of 180)

These numbers give us even bigger milestones and goals to hit as we increase our student base as well as the programs we offer in each school. Congratulations to all of our schools!
School Staff Transfer Updates

Many of our dedicated educators will be kicking off the new school year in a new position. 
See the below list for updates!

Mae Minson - Transfer from Bus Driver to Custodian at NPS
Tonia Hassell - Transfer from NPS Grade 5/6 to NES Grade 4
Melissa O'Neil - Transfer from District Literacy Coach to NES Grade 3
Agnes Pelopida - Transfer from English Teacher at NHS to District Literacy Coach
Kim O'Donnell - Transfer from Resource Teacher at NPS to Intensive Resource at NES
Andrea Tomlinson - Transfer from Spanish teacher at NES & NPS to Spanish at NES only
Sean Capizzo - Transfer from PE teacher at NES & NHS to PE teacher at NHS only
Joanne Blessing - Transfer from Resource Teacher at NHS to Resource Teacher at NPS
Nicole Tavarozzi - Transfer from Math Interventionist at NES to Behavior Specialist/Resource Teacher at NPS
Allison Thompson - Transfer from Behavior Specialist at NPS to Behavior Specialist/ALP teacher at NHS
Christina Izzi - Transfer from Foreign Language teacher at NHS to Foreign Language teacher at NPS.
Reminder For Our Athletes!

All Narragansett student athletes planning to play fall sports need to have their physicals turned in to the school and have all required information completed on FamilyID.com by the respective dates below:

Narragansett High Sch ool: August 15 (SIGN UP HERE)
Pier Middle School: September 4 (SIGN UP HERE)

Also, NPS soccer tryouts will take place September 5,6,7 with the first games of the season scheduled for Wednesday September 13 at 3:30pm.  (Girls will play at Curtis Corner and Boys will be a home game.)

Parents can stay connected to the latest sports news and scores by following our athletics twitter accounts!
Special Education Parent Meeting

Our first meeting for our Special Education Parent Advisory Committee is approaching for the new school year. If you would like to attend, please see below for information.

When: September 12th | 6:00 pm
Where: Narragansett Elementary School Media Center.

This committee is open to parents of students receiving Special Education Services as well as teachers, administrators, and supporters. For more information, review the flyer HERE or contact chairperson
Cindy Duckworth via email below.
Narragansett High School 
New Head Football Coach

The Narragansett School District is happy to share the appointment of our new football coach, Matthew Blessing.

Matt is a proud graduate of Narragansett High School and currently teaches at South Kingstown High School. Matt is also involved in our community by running youth programs in Narragansett. 

In a recent interview for The Independent, Superintendent Dr. Peter Cummings shared, “Matt has impeccable credentials as a coach, and really knows his X’s and O’s. “He really brings an attitude of understanding the role of football in a school. I was impressed by his attention to recent developments in the game, being very thoughtful about safety, being really on top of his research in terms of the physicality in football, and how you can get around some of the dangers.” 

In the article, NHS Principal Dan Warner also praised Blessing’s thoughts on how to move the program forward. “He talked about kids and getting kids involved and making them feel good about the football program, teaching them a few things. He talked about getting more and more kids onto the football team."

We're excited to welcome Matthew and look forward to the season ahead.
NHS Sports In the News!

As we welcome our new Athletic Director Matt Mahar, and Head Foodball Coach, Matthew Blessing, to our school system, we invite you to read some recent articles posted about their appointments! 

Check them out for more about Matt and Matthew, their background, and what brought these Narragansett graduates back to our community.
2017/2018 Sports Season Schedules!

Our game day sports schedules are available for the new school year. Please click on the link below to view starting dates as well as seasonal schedules for all high school sports. 
Narragansett Pier Middle School
Pier Middle School Notables

Please see the below highlights to note as the year begins:

  • Please CLICK HERE for a list of needed school supplies.
  • Students will now be taking Spanish class twice a week during the year. 
  • Grade 5-6 will have a 20 minute recess in the mid morning. 
  • Grade 7-8 will have a semester of computer science class as part of their UA schedule.
Recess Supervision Volunteers!

We are still looking for parent volunteers for recess supervision throughout the year. If there are any parents that may be interested, please reach out to Assistant Principal Brian Tetreault to learn more.
REMINDER: 5th & 6th Grade Laptop Pick-ups

Laptop pick-ups dates for 5th and 6th graders have been scheduled for next month and are as follows:
Location: NPS Library 
Wednesday, August 23 | 1:00pm-5:00pm 
Monday, August 28 | 10:00am-2:00pm
Student Theatre Performance!

Thanks to all who came out to support our summer campers and last month's production of  An Unlikely Fairy Tale: A Story Written By You. 11 campers worked together to write an original play and performance that took place on July 28th. 

This production is a part of an entire summer theatre camp program in collaboration with the Narragansett Town Parks and Recreation Department and led by Ryan Field, Chelsea Cook and Vanessa Miller. Great job everyone!
2018 NPS Musical!

We are excited to share that this year's middle school musical is set to be Peter Pan Jr.!

The performance will take place in March of 2018. Auditions will begin in November. 

We will be sure to post more information as the year progresses.
Narragansett Elementary School
Thank you Michael Andrea!

The Narragansett Elementary School music teacher, Michael Andrea, has retired from our school district after more than 41 years of service. He has made an impact at all three of our schools as he has taught at each bringing a passion and energy to all students. Teaching at NES for the past 11 years, he has successfully lead band and chorus while teaching general music classes. Most recently, he formed the "NES BUCKETEERS" as an introduction to percussion instruments. One of his greatest accomplishments was leading our largest band, which was at the Pier School in the Spring of 1996 with 140 members.

Mr. Andrea shares that "nothing beats the look of excitement on the students' faces after the last note of a great concert. I was fortunate to experience that 82 times."

Mr. Andrea has also been in many professional music bands throughout the years. We will miss his love for music and wish Michael well in his retirement.
Notables to Look For!

Chromebooks: Last year, NES rolled out 1-1 Chromebooks with 4th grade students. This year, we are extending the 1-1 Chromebooks to 3rd grade! (Each student is responsible for their own Chromebook throughout the school year)

Foreign Language: Our Foreign Language Program has expanded! K-4th grade students will now receive Spanish once a week for 40 minutes all year long.

After School Programs: In partnership with our local YMCA, parents can purchase before and after school daycare for their child based right at our school.
Welcome To our School!

This year, we welcome several new teachers to the district that we will highlight throughout the year.
Today, we welcome:

Amanda Augustinsen- New Math Interventionist
Courtney Wright- New Kindergarten Teacher

We are excited to have you as a part of our school district and look forward to a successful year ahead.
 Narragansett Elementary School
55 Mumford Rd, Narragansett, RI 02882
(401) 792-9420

Narragansett Pier Middle School
235 S Pier Rd, Narragansett, RI 02882
(401) 792-9430

Narragansett High School
245 S Pier Rd, Narragansett, RI 02882
(401) 792-9400