SPS Weekly Newsletter

This week's header photo (above) features third grade students at the Dawe School recognized for showing respect. The Dawe School focuses on different positive character traits each month and honors students for displaying those character traits at a "Character Counts" assembly. Respect was the character trait for September and responsibility is the trait for October.

In my newsletter message last week, I wrote about the importance of having good attendance and it will be a topic we emphasize throughout the school year. This week we received some great news about Stoughton High and its performance on MCAS and undoubtedly there is a correlation between the fact that Stoughton High's MCAS scores went up for last school year and so did attendance rates at SHS. Being present in school makes a difference.

Earlier this week the state released MCAS scores from last school year and DESE included Stoughton High on its “Schools of Recognition” list! As explained on the DESE website, "As part of its annual accountability reporting process, [DESE] identifies a small number of Schools of Recognition. These schools demonstrate progress toward annual accountability targets, with an emphasis on the performance of all students in the school and the school's lowest performing students group."

Stoughton High exceeded its growth targets and achievement targets overall, and amongst what the state classifies as lowest performing students. This is a credit to the Stoughton High faculty and administration for prioritizing the education of each and every student.

MCAS scores are grouped in the following categories: exceeding expectations, meeting expectations, partially meeting expectations, and not meeting expectations. In 2024, 50% of Stoughton High students met expectations on English Language Arts MCAS, an improvement from the 40% who met expectations in 2023. Meanwhile, students not meeting expectations fell from 13% in 2023 to 6% in 2024. On the Math MCAS, Stoughton High saw an overall increase in the number of students exceeding expectations. Just 3% exceeded expectations in 2023. In 2024, that number jumped to 12%. And in Science MCAS, the overall percentage of students exceeding expectations doubled from 4% in 2023 to 8% in 2024, while the number of students meeting expectations also increased from 44% to 49%.

Coupled with this good news about Stoughton High's MCAS scores is steady improvement in Stoughton High's attendance rates. The average daily attendance rate at SHS was 93.8% in 2023-2024, up from 93% in 2022-2023 and 92.1% in 2021-2022. The percentage of students missing 10 or more days of school is on a steady decline. That number was at 42.2% in 21-22, 39.7% in 22-23, and 37.5% last year. Following the same pattern, the number of students chronically absent, missing 10% of school days or more, was 22.2% in 21-22, 18.1% in 22-23, and 15.6% last year. And, the number of students chronically absent, missing 20% of school days or more, was 10.4% in 21-22, 8.3% in 22-23, and 5.6% last year.

These numbers aren't accidental; it's the result of work by Stoughton High administration and staff. Regular meetings with the Student Support Team, including assistant principals, deans, and school counseling staff, prioritize student attendance. There has also been increased communication with families around attendance and emphasizing the importance of attendance in one-on-one meetings with parents/guardians. It is also important to note Stoughton High's attendance buyback program and reinstituting of Saturday School for students to make up work missed while absent. Buybacks don't improve the attendance rate at SHS, but it reinforces the notion that it is important to be in school and important to make up missed assignments when students are out.

While these MCAS results and the trend in attendance rates are both encouraging, we know there is more work to do to keep growing and improving. But this is a good opportunity to recognize the administration, faculty, support staff, and students at Stoughton High for making significant positive strides. I am proud of this accomplishment. Congratulations!

Sincerely,

Joseph F. Baeta, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Stoughton Public Schools

In case you missed it, please read this important update we sent to families about the elementary school building project and redistricting. We want to keep families informed of our plans for the future of our elementary schools, specifically the South Elementary School building and redistricting. Stoughton’s two oldest elementary buildings, the South and the Wilkins, have serious issues ranging from insufficient space and accessibility to aging systems and materials. Additionally, our elementary schools are at or even above capacity due to increasing enrollment. Doing nothing to address these buildings’ deficiencies and overcrowding is not an option. To read the full message, click on the button below:

The SPS English Language Education department hosted a Multilingual Parent Night on Wednesday for SPS families in all grades. This event, held at SHS, gave parents/guardians and families of our multilingual learners the opportunity to meet their child's ESL teacher and hear more about school expectations, school communication, the parent portal, and many other useful topics. Thanks to our ELE team for putting together a successful night!

The Drawing and Collage Center is open in the Gibbons School Art Studio and students are exploring personal interests by creating artwork based on their own ideas. A few examples are posted below. Check out the Gibbons School Art Studio on Facebook to see more projects from Gibbons students!

The fall edition of the SPS RN Team Newsletter has all of the latest updates from the Health Services department. The newsletter includes info about Care Solace, annual screenings, dental days, reminders about food allergy guidelines, and more. Click on the button below to read the newsletter:

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.

Stoughton Day is this Saturday, September 28 at Halloran Park (right next to the district office)...Don't miss this great event!

Join us next Thursday, October 3 at 3:45pm in the Stoughton High gymnasium for the first home game of the season for the SHS Unified Basketball team! The Black Knights will be facing Oliver Ames. It is also teacher appreciation game!

We hope you can join us to celebrate Stoughton's hometown Olympic medalist Frederick Richard (SHS Class of 2022) next Sunday, October 6 from 12-1pm at Stoughton High School!

During the event, there will be an interview with Frederick and his family. Do you have a question you would like asked? You can submit a question by emailing info@stoughtonschools.org.

Those attending will also have the chance to win a number of prizes, including tickets to see Frederick and other USA Gymnastics stars at the Gold Over America Tour taking place at the TD Garden the evening of October 6!

More info about the Key to the Town presentation at SHS can be found on the flyer...

There is a virtual FAFSA info night that MassEdCo will be hosting for SHS (seniors and families only) on Tuesday, October 8 at 6pm. See the flyer for more info:

The Stoughton OASIS Coalition is hosting two parent workshops in collaboration with the Stoughton Public Schools.

On Tuesday, October 8 from 5-7pm at the O'Donnell Middle School learning commons there is a "Power of Positive Parenting" workshop for parents and guardians of pre-school and elementary-school aged children:

And, on Tuesday, October 15 from 5-7pm in the O'Donnell Middle School learning commons there is a parent workshop about "managing emotions of tweens and teens." This workshop is for parents and guardians of middle school and high school students.

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