SPS Weekly Newsletter

We are excited to share the latest edition of the SPS Weekly Newsletter with our families, students, staff, and community members! A new edition will be sent each week when school is in session, sharing updates, previewing upcoming events, and showcasing the amazing work being done in our schools. This week we feature Dr. Baeta's weekly message, SHS making the AP Honor Roll, Frederick Richard Day in Stoughton, Fire Prevention Week, and more!

This week's header photo (above) features the Whalemobile's visit to the South School earlier this week! The Whalemobile is a life-sized inflatable whale named Nile, modeled after a real humpback whale that can be seen off the coast of Massachusetts. The inflatable whale was set up in the South School gymnasium. Students could even go inside the inflatable structure to get a look at what a whale’s interior would look like!

There are special days and weeks and even months designated to bring awareness to or recognize different causes, groups of people, employees...even favorite food items. This month, for instance, we are celebrating National Principals Month (see more on this further down in this newsletter). I appreciate our building leaders and what they do for our students and staff every day. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we are near the end of National Hispanic Heritage Month, observed each year in the United States from September 15 to October 15.

October is also Rett Syndrome Awareness Month. This hits home for SPS. Aidan Freeman, the brother of two current SPS students, passed away in 2021 at the age of 7 after his courageous battle with this rare genetic neurological disorder. This disorder leads to severe impairments, attacking every aspect of a child's life. For more information please go to rettsyndrome.org.

Please join me in wearing a purple ribbon, the color of Rett Syndrome awareness, in memory of Aidan and in honor of Rett Syndrome Awareness Month.

Sincerely,

Joseph F. Baeta, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Stoughton Public Schools

Staff at the District Office and at the Dawe School and O'Donnell Middle School, where Aidan's siblings go to school, are seen here wearing their purple ribbons for Rett Syndrome Awareness Month.

District Office staff

Dawe School staff

O'Donnell Middle School staff

October is National Principals Month, so over the course of the month we are running a series of spotlights highlighting each of our building principals. This week we featured Nicole Velozo, principal at the Jones Early Childhood Center, and Rob Cancellieri, principal at the Dawe Elementary School.

More good news about student achievement at Stoughton High School! Congratulations to Stoughton High for being named to the 2024 AP School Honor Roll, earning bronze distinction! The AP School Honor Roll recognizes schools whose AP programs are delivering results and broadening access for students. Read more about this honor here.

(This news follows SHS being recently named as a School of Recognition by DESE for the school’s accountability results, showing tremendous performance in MCAS achievement, MCAS growth, and reducing chronic absenteeism.)

The town celebrated Frederick Richard, Stoughton’s hometown Olympic medalist, during a ceremony at Stoughton High School last Sunday. A 2022 graduate of Stoughton High, and a former O’Donnell Middle School and Dawe Elementary school student, Frederick was part of the US men’s gymnastics team that won a bronze medal in the team competition at the Paris Olympics. During the ceremony, Frederick was given a key to the town and a championship belt. He also received several honorary proclamations.

Frederick Richard Day ended with a trip to the TD Garden in Boston for the Gold Over America show to see Frederick and other USA Gymnastics stars perform! Frederick was honored during the event. Stoughton Select Board member Debra Roberts and SPS Assistant Superintendent Matt Colantonio presented Frederick with a key to the town and were joined by other town and school representatives and some of Frederick’s former teachers. There was a lot of Stoughton pride at the TD Garden last Sunday night!

This week was Fire Prevention Week. Stoughton firefighters are seen here visiting students at the Hansen and Gibbons elementary schools for lessons about fire safety.

Hansen School fire safety presentation

Gibbons School fire safety presentation

Wilkins School staff and students are dedicating this year to exploring what it means to be part of a community. New York Times Award winning author Susan Verde recently visited the Wilkins School to share her brand new book, "I am We: A Book of Community." She shared thoughts on the writing process, helped the students practice mindfulness, and read from her book.

As a reminder, there is no school on Monday, October 14, 2024 in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day.

The Stoughton Public Schools will be holding the Annual Title 1 Family Orientation Meeting this coming Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at 3:15pm at the Wilkins School (1322 Central St.). Please see this notice for more information.

The O'Donnell Middle School's annual Veterans Day Assembly is one of the most anticipated events of the school year. 8th grade students interview local veterans and then honor them by presenting their service story with the 8th grade class at the assembly. This year's assembly takes place Thursday, November 7, 2024 (brunch at 8am, followed by the assembly at 9:30am). The OMS is currently looking for local veterans to participate in this tradition. If you are interested in participating, please contact Caitlin Valair, OMS Social Studies Teacher, by November 1 at c_valair@stoughtonschools.org or 781-344-7002.

Are you receiving text messages from the Stoughton Public Schools? We sent this newsletter via text and email to all SPS families and staff. If you did not receive this text and have not been receiving texts from SPS so far this school year but would like to be receiving them, you can text YES to 79041 to opt-in to text messaging.

With the school year underway, we want to make sure we have accurate and updated emergency contact information and health information for your child. Please log into your PowerSchool Parent Portal account, click on the forms link in the left navigation menu and update any information that is not accurate in the two forms:

• Current Student Health Information
• Student Information/Emergency Form

While only one emergency contact is required, we recommend including at least three contacts who would be able to pick your child up in the event you are not available.

When you have updated the information, please click on submit at the bottom of each of the forms. If your child's information is accurate, please click on submit at the bottom of each form to indicate that you have reviewed the data and it is accurate.

Thank you for taking the time to do this important task.

The Stoughton High Unified Basketball team's next home game is this coming Tuesday, October 15 against Sharon. This will be the breast cancer awareness game for the Unified program. It starts at 3:45pm and will take place in the Stoughton High gymnasium. Go Black Knights!

The Stoughton OASIS Coalition is hosting a parent workshop in collaboration with the Stoughton Public Schools on Tuesday, October 15 from 5-7pm in the O'Donnell Middle School learning commons. This workshop is for parents and guardians of middle school and high school students. Please see the flyer below for more information:

The South School's PTO is hosting its annual Pumpkin Patch fall festival on Sunday, October 20 from 12-4pm at the South School (171 Ash St.). See the flyer below for more details:

The Jones Early Childhood Center's PTO is hosting a "Touch a Truck" event on Saturday, October 26 from 10am-1pm at the Jones (rear parking lot via Park Ave.).

For updates throughout the week, be sure to follow Stoughton Public Schools on social media: