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.

I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for all the effort you put into preparing your children for their first week of school. Your dedication has set them up for success, and it's clear to see that they arrived ready to learn, eager, and excited. The positive energy they brought into the building is a reflection of the support and encouragement they receive at home.

Thank you for being such wonderful partners in your child's education-I have a good feeling that this will be an incredible school year at Melville.

Warm regards,
Danielle Laurie, M.Ed.

Principal, Melville School

Over the Summer, the Feinstein Foundation, announced that Melville has a Golden Ticket WInner and it was James who held the ticket!

This means that Melville will be awarded $5,000 for our community. James was then asked to select a non-profit to donate an additional $500 too and he chose MELVILLE!! YAY!

Thank you to the Feinstein Foundation and James!

Good Afternoon Melville Families,

We from time to time have a special occasion where we will only serve food with your permission. We do our best to notify you ahead of time, so you have the opportunity to opt your child out. To help with this process, please complete this Melville Food Permission Form.

As the winter season approaches, we understand that keeping our children warm is a top priority. The Portsmouth United Methodist Church has committed to supporting our community and ensuring that every child has the necessary clothing to stay warm during the colder months.

To assist with this, they are offering to provide winter coats to students who may be in need. If your child needs a coat for the upcoming winter season, they would be honored to help.

Click here for the form to submit your request for a Winter Coat.

I hope that the school year is off to a great start for everyone. It is so good to see our students' bright and smiling faces filling our schools once again. Please know that the safety of all students and staff in the PSD is our number one priority. In light of the tragic events in Georgia this week, I wanted to provide an update on the safety and security measures we have in place in our schools. Here is a brief summary:

• In the PSD, we have trained School Resource Officers (members of the Portsmouth Police Department) on duty at both our middle and high schools and district-employed school safety officers in place at both of our elementary schools (both of these individuals are former law enforcement officials).

• The PSD partners with the Portsmouth Police Department for all matters related to safety and security. The PPD trains in the latest school safety protocols such as the Run, Hide, Fight method promoted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the ALICE program. PSD staff receive regular training from the PPD and these practices are incorporated into our school safety drills and planning.

• In the event of an actual emergency, command and decision making authority is handed over to the PPD once they are established on scene. Information and updates will be sent out to students and families by the school or Central Administration as soon as possible through our emergency communication procedures which include texts, emails, and phone calls.

• A District Safety Committee made up of school and district personnel as well as town safety representatives from police and fire, meets regularly throughout the school year.

We must all work together to keep our schools safe and encourage anyone in the PSD community to report a concern at any time. There are a number of ways to do so:

• We have revised our bullying/harassment reporting system this year. If you or your child have concerns about potential violence, harassment, intimidation, or bullying in the school environment a report can be initiated here.

• For more immediate safety concerns or threats, a report can be initiated through the Sandy Hook Promise Say Something Anonymous Reporting System. The link is available on our district website home page in the top right-hand corner. All reports are vetted by trained personnel. PPD and PSD officials are immediately notified of any credible threats.

• Whenever a threat is reported, we follow up immediately using the Threat Assessment Guidance issued by the Rhode Island Department of Education. Our district mental health staff plays a critical role in these procedures.

Please feel free to contact me or your child’s principal at any time for school safety questions.

Thank you,

Thomas W. Kenworthy, Ed.D.

Superintendent

As we prepare for the upcoming school year we wanted to give you an update on our school meals program. Breakfast, lunch, and milk are available to all students in grades K–4.

Meals:

Full Price

Breakfast $1.10

Lunch: $2.70

Reduced

Breakfast: Free

Lunch: Free

Milk: $.55

Applications for Free/Reduced Meals will be sent out the first day of school. However, you can also apply online by visiting this site: https://www.myschoolapps.com. We ask that all applications be returned. Please be sure to include your child’s name on the application and mark N/A if you are not applying.

Every child will have a school lunch account; you can either send money into school in an envelope marked with your child’s name, homeroom teacher, LASID Number (which can be found in the family portal in ASPEN), and amount included OR you can pay online at www.myschoolbucks.com. Keeping your balance paid in full is extremely important.

Meals are ordered through the classroom teacher each morning. Please communicate with your child if they are bringing a “home lunch” or buying a “school lunch”. If your child will be bringing lunch from home, then please write your child’s name inside their lunchbox in case it is lost.

For safety reasons, please do not send glass containers to school and make note that we are a peanut and nut free school.

If a student needs breakfast, then they can pick it up in our School Kitchen each morning.

Where to find your child's LASID Number

Please take time to fill out the following form so that I can get to know your child's medical needs and help your child have a healthy and successful school year! Melville Elementary School Health History Update

🍎September

10th- Statewide Primary Day (No School)

11th-First MPTG meeting of the year-Melville Library, 9PM-7PM

19th- Melville Open House, 5:00PM-6:30PM

October 🎃

14th-Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day (No School)

16th-Unity Day-Wear Orange to make a Stand Against Bullying

16th- Melville Community Clinic

23rd- School Picture Day

24th- After School Family-Teacher Conferences

26th-Fall Festival

🦃November

5th- Election Day (No School for Students)

5th- Staff Professional Development Day

7th- After School Family-Teacher Conferences

11th- Veterans’ Day Observance (No School)

27th – 29th: Thanksgiving Recess (No School)

December 🎄

5th- Picture Retake Day

23rd– 31st- Holiday Recess (No School)

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

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!

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.

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

At Melville School we provide continuous updates on student progress. Mid-Trimester Progress Reports and Report Cards help us to better communicate student progress with parents and caregivers.

All families will be invited to parent teacher conferences the week of October 15th. At the conference teachers will review beginning of year data and benchmarking assessments. Benchmarking assessments are assessments given to students three times a year to measure their progress towards achieving the end of year standard for their grade level. If your child qualifies for a Response to Intervention Plan, this will be discussed during the conference. Report Cards are published three times a year and will be available on the ASPEN Platform.

Report Cards reflect your child's current mastery of end-of-grade level standards. The grades earned by your child, as reflected on the Report Card, are their current mastery of end-of-grade level standards. For example, if your child is in second grade they are being assessed on the standard that is expected of a student exiting second grade. If your child receives an S (secure), this means that they are secure and have reached the end of the year benchmark. Earning a D (developing) means your child is demonstrating growth towards meeting the end of grade level with support. If your child is beginning to progress towards meeting the end of year standard, then they will receive a B (beginning). It is common for most students to receive B’s and D’s during the first trimester now that we are switching to reporting out on end-of-year standards. An N/A means that this standard has not yet been taught. NP means that your child did not participate in the learning/activities related to this standard.

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.

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