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.

It is with great pleasure that I welcome your child and family to the 2024-2025 school year at Melville School.

Throughout the year we offer opportunities for family engagement and I encourage families to volunteer in our classrooms, at events, chaperone trips....be part of the Melville family! A great way to get connected is join the Melville Parent Teacher Group (MPTG).

On the second Wednesday of each month, the MPTG meets at 6PM in the Melville Library.

If there is anything I can do at any time to support your child and family, then please do not hesitate to email me at lauried@portsmouthschoolsri.org or call our Main Office.

If your child has a concerning health condition that you would like our school nurse to know about please email her at trainora@portsmouthschoolsri.org.

In the summer mailing you will receive important forms for you to complete. Please take a moment now to complete these forms (if you have not done so already) to help us plan for a safe start to school.

• 2024-2025 Melville Transportation Form
• 2024-2025 Melville Important Information

Each morning we start our day with saying, "Melville school is a family and we take care of ourselves and each other" and it is my hope that you feel at home at Melville. Enjoy your summer and each other and I look forward to seeing you soon.

All the best,

Danielle Laurie

8/22-Summer Mailing will go out with personal letters from teachers and other important information. If you do not have your letter by August 28th-then please call the Main Office

8/23-ASPEN will be available for families to see who their child's teacher will be. Directions will be emailed.

9/3-First Day of School for Kindergarten Students

9/3-New to Melville Student & Family Orientation 10:30-11:30

9/4-First Day of School for All Students at Melville

Whenever possible, we urge you to use BUS TRANSPORTATION to and from school. We also URGE you to maintain a CONSISTENT routine for your child. This allows us to maintain the smoothest and safest arrival and dismissal.

If it is absolutely necessary to make a dismissal change, then a written note must be sent into school with your child (we will send home a packet of forms on the 1st day of school). From there, we will write a pass for your child with the dismissal change. Do not email the school with changes as email is not always checked throughout the school day. We strongly recommend that you do not make a DISMISSAL CHANGE after 2PM as we may not be able to process this request while supporting a safe dismissal of our entire school community.

If your child arrives late, after 8:45 A.M., then you must come into the Main Office with your child and sign them into school.

Bus Dismissal: Children will be dismissed by the classroom teacher. They will remain in their classroom until their bus is called. An approved adult must be at the bus stop in order for the bus company to release your child.

Pick Ups:

• Students will not be released to anyone other than a parent without written prior permission.

• If you are sending someone other than yourself, a written note must be sent to school in the morning. The teacher on duty will ask for identification for safety reasons.

• Anyone picking up your child must have a valid identification card and the person is 18+ or have a Driver’s License and be of driving age (16+). We do not release children to minors.

** If you want to request that your child be dismissed from school without adult supervision, then this request should be explicitly stated in writing. Before approval, the office will contact you to clarify the request and review procedures.

If a problem or question arises concerning the dismissal of your child, an attempt will be made to reach you (i.e. “your child states that they will be a pickup” and we have not received a written request). If contact is not made, then your child will be dismissed under their normal routine.

We have the responsibility of dismissing approximately three hundred fifty children each day. The safety of your children is our top priority. Working with us to follow protocols and procedures and reducing changes is critical.

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!

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

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FROM ONCE YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR CHILD'S CLASS PLACEMENT LETTER

We will only serve food with your permission. Please complete this Melville Food Permission Form.

We handle food in this manner because we have students in our school family who have serious food allergies and we are committed to keeping everyone safe.

August🌞

22nd-Class Placement Letters will be Mailed Out

🍎September

2nd- Labor Day (No School)

3rd-Grades K, 5, 9 only

3rd-New Student and Family Orientation, 10:30-11:30

4th-First Day of School – All Students

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.

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