Superintendent's Message
January 8, 2025
Dear Newport Schools Parents, Families, and Staff:
We need to start this year together. Working together and helping each other be successful. Students attending school and families/parents/guardians supporting this effort are the most basic things you can do to improve student achievement at all of our schools and set our children up for success in life as productive citizens in our community. Our student achievement and growth is not improving- and a lot of that lack of growth is directly related to attendance. Children cannot learn if they are not in school. Newport Public School needs community support and help in this area. Students consistently being absent and not attending schools are not just a school problem it is a community problem. Too many of us see it and know it. We see students during school time out and about, we see students or know they are missing school whether it is to extend a vacation time or the weather is too cold, and for some reason some of us do not believe it truly has an impact. Yet it does. Grades, graduation rates, school accountability, funding and most important of all our students’ futures are all tied into this.
Another matter we need help with is students arriving late to school. I am sorry to report, too many days the same students are arriving late. Often the same adults are driving their children to school after the school bell has rung. We are glad students are arriving yet we need to address that as well and ask everyone to make an effort to get out the door/house earlier. We are here to support you and help in any way possible to get our/your children in school every day on time. Let us know how we can help. Talk to us. Call my office, call the principal, call your child’s teacher and let us know what we are able to do or need to do to help you get your child to school. Every school has a dedicated attendance team focused on trying to improve student attendance and supporting families. Let us know how we can help you because right now, even though our absences are declining overall, it is still NOT ENOUGH. Being responsible, being on time, and being present are what we need all of us to do to be successful.
So that is why the school district will continue to work with you, our community partners and agencies and others to have an “all in” for attendance and being to school on time 2025. And here is how in the New Year 2025 we will be starting to come together in a new way to improve school attendance and student achievement working together. RENEWport will be hosting a community dinner, specifically focused on improving attendance, on Thursday, January 16th, from 6:00-8:00pm at Pell Elementary. The dinner is for Pell families with students in kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grades. I strongly encourage our Pell families to join this wonderful event to focus on the importance of attendance and mastering reading and literacy in the first years of school, the basic building blocks for a lifetime of learning.
Schedules and Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
● Rogers FAFSA Completion Night, January 13th at 5:30 pm at the Rogers Library
● St. Michael’s Community Day School Community Education Series - Navigating Childhood Anxiety Together - January 14th at 6:00 pm. See flyer here.
● RENEWport Community Dinner - January 16th, 6:00-8:00 pm at Pell.
Athletics and School Committee Schedules
Administrator Spotlight: Robert Young Jr., Executive Director of Operations
Robert Young is our Executive Director of Operations. He came to the district in March of 2016 as the NACTC director. He is a former Middle and High School Assistant Principal. He is now the Executive Director of Operations and is responsible for overseeing the Facilities Department, Technology Department and the Career and Technical Programs in the district.
“As Executive Director of Operations, I work with administrators at both the central office level, building level and at the state level. I have been on both the Pell addition and Rogers High School building teams allowing me to be a part of ensuring the students of Newport have a modern, safe and technologically advanced place to learn. Our career and technical center (NACTC), is a dynamic and vital part of education for students at Rogers High School. NACTC has grown into a renowned hub for career and technical education, providing students with access to state-of-the-art facilities and hands-on learning experiences that prepare them for both college and the workforce. The programs at NACTC are not only excellent in quality but are also pivotal in equipping students with real-world skills. Students earn licensures, certifications, and real world experiences working in our community every day ready and prepared for the workforce when they graduate high school."
About Us
Technology Helpdesk - email: helpdesk@npsri.net
Technology Helpdesk - phone: 1-833-752-0725 (press 2 for Spanish)
Aspen Family Portal Help - email: parentportal@npsri.net
Email: cathynash@npsri.net
Website: npsri.net
Location: 15 Wickham Road, Newport, RI 02840
Phone: (401)619-5376