Superintendent's Message

I want to remind everyone to please take a few minutes to complete the annual SurveyWorks survey. Tell us how we’re doing. Your feedback is incredibly important and valuable to us. It helps us to set direction for future work and let us know areas of improvement.

Claiborne Pell Elementary School Survey

Frank E. Thompson Middle School Survey

Rogers High School Survey

I have recently been receiving a number of calls from community members concerned about potential ICE enforcement actions happening in our schools. We do not expect anyone from ICE to show up, yet if they do, we already have safeguards and protocols in place to protect the safety of our students. Newport Public Schools will continue to follow current protocols of not releasing students/ or discussing students to anyone other than parents/families and those on the emergency contact list. One of the strongest messages for all of us is to remain calm and continue to support our students. Our children’s safety is always our top priority and is every day. I completely understand the serious nature of these situations and the emotional toll it can take on our students and families, as well as all of us worried for them. We encourage any families or parents that have questions or concerns to reach out to their building principal or my office. As a school community, we will continue to create spaces where all families feel safe, welcome, and supported.

We are at the official halfway mark of this school year and budget season is in full swing. We are currently working on next year’s school budget and are facing a $3.5 to $4 million deficit. Layoffs, unfortunately, are a tool the school department must use to ensure we are able to finance the positions and programs when our final budget is determined. With declining enrollments, many types of future federal funding up in the air, and a projected budget gap, this is going to be one of the most challenging budget seasons we’ve faced in years. As we move through the next few weeks, I will do everything I can to keep everyone informed about school budget developments.

Finally, I want to reiterate the importance of Attendance Matters, Every Day! As I presented during yesterday’s town hall meeting, data clearly shows that students who are missing school are falling behind academically. Students who regularly attend school have RICAS proficiency scores almost double of those students that do not attend school regularly. As we enter the second half of the school year we need our entire One Newport community to come together to support our students and improve attendance so we can improve our students’ academic growth and achievement. It is the one category in all three of our schools that is holding our report card star scores so low. It is the most basic and foundational action we can take to improve student achievement and set our children up for success in the classroom and in life.

Have a great week of learning everyone!

Colleen Burns Jermain, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

• Newport Public Schools Attendance Tracker

• Rhode Island Department of Education Assessment Portal for RICAS and SAT Results

• Rhode Island Department of Education Attendance Tracker Tool

• Newport Public Schools Portrait of a Graduate

• Newport Public Schools 2024-2025 School Year Strategic Plan

Come out to enjoy some great music and to support our student musicians at Thursday night’s Rogers High School Winter Concert! Due to the new high school construction, the concert will be held at Thompson Middle School starting at 6:30pm.

This past Saturday, our NACTC CyberPatriot team competed in the semi-finals at the Cyber Range event hosted at CCRI Newport. Our “All Service Division” JROTC CyberPatriot team also recently wrapped up their season, taking first place in the state. Congrats to our CyberPatriot teams for showing your skills in the growing field of cybersecurity!

This Saturday February 1st at 9am in our NACTC building the Newport School Committee will be meeting with our state legislators. This is our time to have with our legislators to discuss public education, funding, transportation, career and technical education opportunities, and much more. Please come join the meeting to share your thoughts and hear the discussion.

NSC agenda 2.1.2025

Second academic quarter report cards will be sent home in the coming days. Rogers report cards will be distributed on February 5th and Thompson Middle School report cards will be distributed by February 10th. Please take a few minutes to review your child’s report card, talk with them about how they are doing in their classes, and reach out to our teachers or principals if you have any concerns or questions.

Superintendent Updates

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