Hello Clayville Families,

It is hard to believe that we are about to begin a new school year! I hope this email finds you well rested and ready for fall! This will be my second year as principal of Clayville, and I can't wait to be back in the swing of things!

Last year, my goal was to get to know all things Clayville - students, staff, schedules, curriculum, traditions, and trajectories. This year, we'll focus on building upon all of Clayville's strengths -- our strong community, experienced teachers, and excellent academics.

As we return to school, many students will bring school supplies with them to Clayville. Please consider choosing school supplies that match the requested list (by grade level in the MidSummer Update, here). We’ve found that each year students come into class with school supplies and many families seem to genuinely enjoy transitioning into the fall with back to school shopping but, at times, we have to tell students to take some of those items back home. Other schools in the district routinely send a list home, like we did this year, to give parents a sense of what will be most useful to their kids at each grade level. Please rest assured that this is totally optional — we will buy supplies for any student who does not bring them. Additionally, we have no plans to “pool” or redistribute supplies to the rest of the class.

Please bookmark our school website for upcoming events and updates.

Looking forward to a wonderful school year!

Mrs. Sarah Hess

• Please return devices that were borrowed by students for summer learning.
• Student information forms will be sent home the first week of school. Please return by September 11th.
  
• If your child is gong to absent or late to school, please call 647-4115 or email the school secretary.
  
• A digital copy of the Parent-Student Handbook is below. A hard copy of the signature page will be sent home- please sign and return the last page no later than September 11th.
• Please date notes that are sent to school with students. If you are writing a note about dismissal, please write the full name of the person picking up your child.
• Clearly mark water bottles, lunch boxes, etc. with student's name.
• District Policy requires all parents and school volunteers to maintain a current BCI check and to RENEW all BCI checks yearly prior to volunteering in classrooms/school or field trip activities. Please contact the school office if you are in need of a form and this will be available at Open House.

We are thrilled to welcome Mrs. Ashley Redmond to our preschool classroom at Clayville! Ashley has worked in several capacities as a long term sub in North Scituate and completed her early childhood certification at RIC while subbing in the district. We are so excited to bring her on board and welcome her to our Clayville family!

The bus schedules are available here: https://www.scituateschoolsri.net/article/1213956. Reach out to First Student with any questions: Scituate Bus Yard number 401-312-7819.

• Students may arrive between 8:15-8:45am through the bus loop doors.

• At 8:15, students will go to either the cafeteria for breakfast, the blacktop, or the gym.

• Students will report directly to their classrooms at 8:45.

• Parent drop off will take place in Field Hill Road lot. Parents will walk students from the Field Hill Road parking lot to the Clayville bus doors.

• At drop off, parking is NOT allowed on George Washington Highway without special permission from the office.

Tardys - After 8:45am, students will:

• be marked tardy.

• need to be escorted to the front door by an adult.

• Adults will sign the student in tardy in a binder in the breezeway/vestibule.

• For safety, please do not have your child walk in alone.

Parking Restrictions:

• For the safety of all of our students, please adhere to the parking restrictions.

• George Washington Highway is a no parking zone.

• The parking lot on George Washington Highway will not be used for morning dropoff without special permission from the office (ie: a mobility limitation).

Thank you so much for your cooperation and support in following this arrival procedure!

• If you are picking your child up on a regular basis, one note is needed and we will place your child’s name on the list for the year. *Use THIS form to request your child be put on the daily pickup list.*
• Please send in a note to the classroom teacher if you choose to pick-up your child from school on any given day.
• Record the name of who will be picking up if it is someone other than a parent. Any person picking up students from school should be listed on your student information form.

• Please remember to date all notes.

• Dismissal begins at 2:55. Parents will park in the lot on Field Hill Road and walk to designated pick up area. Students will be dismissed by grade level and will walk to designated point of exit. Grades Prek-2 will exit out of the bus doors and grades 3-5 will exit out the main office door. Parents will sign out their child(ren) with a staff member present at the exit door.

***If you plan to pick up your child prior to the end of the school day without sending in a note, it is very helpful to call the school prior to your arrival. Please do this before 2pm. This will ensure your child's teacher and your child have been notified of the early dismissal and can be properly prepared to leave school upon your arrival.

Huge thank you to our custodial staff for cleaning and preparing all of our classrooms for students and staff to return. Our school is looking shiny and clean with new coats of wax!

If your child will be purchasing lunch or breakfast, you can send in cash clearly labeled with their name or add money onto their school bucks account. Here is a link to help you set up and load money onto an account: https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/help/gethelpvideos

Breakfast

Paid - $1.25

Reduced - $.30

Lunch

Paid - $2.55

Reduced - $.40

Families are still encouraged to complete the 2024-2025 meals application. Meal status provides assistance with federal programming and funding. Free and reduced lunch application forms and information are located below. We strongly encourage all families to fill out a form. All forms are confidential. Please direct any questions to the Superintendent's Office, 647-4100.

Second Step® Elementary is a research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) program designed to improve students’ social-emotional skills, including growth mindset, goal-setting, emotion management, kindness and empathy, and problem-solving. Studies show that these skills can support students’ school performance, increase positive social behaviors, and reduce

conduct problems such as bullying. SEL programs can also create positive classroom and school climates. Second Step Elementary is taught in the classroom, to all students, and helps students develop a common set of skills and strategies that can be practiced, used, and reinforced throughout the school community, including at home.

This curriculum will be used with all students K-5.

Visit https://www.secondstep.org/ for more information.

All students will use American Reading Company Core curriculum! ARC Core is a basal alternative designed to turn balanced literacy into transformative literacy for both students and teachers. ARC Core is is organized into thematic units that carefully structure a project-based learning process that ensures students participate in complete extensive reading (both as a class and independently), multiple extended writing projects, and daily practice discussing both ideas and texts with peers.

A key component of the program is the Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA), which is a tool that works with every student, at any reading level. The IRLA delivers specific and actionable data that tells the teacher where a student is, why, and the sequence of skills/behaviors she needs to learn next to accelerate her reading growth.

Parents, be on the look out for information about how to support this curriculum at home!

Teachers in grades 1-5 will continue to fully implement Eureka Math! Eureka Math is a complete, PreK through 12 curriculum that carefully sequences the mathematical progressions into expertly crafted modules. Eureka Math provides educators with a comprehensive curriculum, in-depth professional development, books, and support materials. Pieces of the program have been implemented in the past. This is our second year of implementation will all parts of the program, including the addition of two online platforms called Affirm & In Sync.

Parents, please note, Eureka provides a series of free Parent Tip Sheets at the topic level that include suggested strategies and models, key vocabulary, and tips for how you can support learning at home. Be on the look out for the tip sheets at the beginning of each module!

Clayville is excited to continue to expand STEAM enrichment! STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking (Source: Susan Riley, Arts Integration Specialist).

Beginning in late September, students will have a 40-minute STEAM enrichment block weekly focused on various activities related to science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. This block of time is in addition to art, music, physical education, and library.

As you may know, students are assessed periodically throughout the year using a variety of assessments. These assessments are designed to assist us in better understanding our students' strengths and making instructional decisions to meet the needs of our students.

Clayville teachers will begin fall benchmark assessments after the first two weeks of school. Staff members will then meet to analyze the data and create instructional groupings designed to provide targeted skill instruction to students with similar strengths and needs. The results of these assessments will be communicated to parents. Please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher if you have any questions or concerns.

The Scituate School Committee holds meetings monthly. All members of the school community are encouraged to attend in person or virtually. The meetings begin at 7 p.m. For more information about meetings, click here.

Email: sarah.hess@scituateschoolsri.net
Website: https://nses.scituateschoolsri.net/
Location: 3 George Washington Highway, Clayville, RI, USA