Hello OCRS families,
I hope that everyone has been able to take at least a little time to enjoy the summer so far! Here is a quick "mid-July update" for families. I will send out another update in a couple of weeks at the end of July.
Rhode Island Summer Meals Program
The RI Summer Meals Program is offering free summer meals to teenagers and children. Please see the attached flyer for more details or call 211 for locations.
Summer Learning Information
We are excited to share that Mrs. Dohoney will be working this summer to assist students and families with any issues around summer learning! Mrs. Dohoney will be monitoring students' work within Freckle and Lexia, celebrating student successes, and reaching out to families if you need any assistance. Families can contact Mrs. Dohoney using her regular school email at kdohoney@smithfield-ps.org.
Ways to support your child’s summer learning experience:
- Encourage your child to read every day, use Lexia on their school Chromebook, and practice math using Freckle on their school Chromebook! (Freckle and Lexia will be available to students until 8/14)
- To use Lexia, go to Clever.com on your school Chromebook and choose Lexia Core 5
- To use Freckle, go to Clever.com on your school Chromebook, choose Renaissance then choose the Freckle tile
- Reach out to technosps@smithfield-ps.org if you have questions or difficulties logging in.
- In the linked grade level specific packets you will find several learning resources including: Summer Reading Bingo Challenge, a summer reading book log and Freckle instructions and practice log.
- See the online Smithfield Summer Learning Guide for additional summer learning opportunities including public library summer programs and recommended summer reading lists.
We hope you will join us by supporting and cheering on your student(s) as they strive to meet his or her summer goals! Please share the excitement with other parents, too!
Welcome to three new OCRS teachers for 2023-24!
We are excited to introduce and welcome three new teachers to OCRS for the upcoming 2023-24 school year!
Michelle Nonis will be joining both OCRS and LaPerche as our new STEM Specialist. The Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM) specialist position is replacing the former Library/Media Specialist position at both schools. Students will be working with Mrs. Nonis weekly in the Media Center and Maker Space on activities, lessons, and projects that integrate science, technology, engineering, and math. Students will also be able to borrow books from the school media center.
Mrs. Nonis has years of experience teaching in elementary classrooms in CT and RI, most recently teaching 3rd grade at LaPerche here in Smithfield. We are very excited to welcome her to this new position!
Raymond Votolato will be joining both OCRS and LaPerche as our new music teacher. Mr. Votolato has a variety of experience teaching general music, choral music, and band in Texas and MA and has recently moved back to RI where he originally graduated from URI. We are very excited to welcome him to OCRS as our new music teacher!
Erin Tourgee will be joining both OCRS and LaPerche and our new art teacher. As you know, Ms. Miller is moving up to Gallagher Middle School next year to teach art which opened up the art teacher position at OCRS and LaPerche. Ms. Tourgee has been teaching art in RI schools these past few years and we are very excited to welcome her to OCRS as our new art teacher!
Thank you to all of the OCRS and LaPerche teachers and parents that participated on these interview committees and helped us identify such terrific teachers to join us in Smithfield!
Calendar for the 2023-24 School Year
Here is the the latest version of the school calendar for the 2023-24 school year. The most up to date version will always be available on the school website under "Parent Info".
Summer Resources for Families
Our school social worker, Mrs. Costa, and our school psychologist, Mrs. Stepsis, have collaborated to put together a list of resources that families can utilize throughout the summer if you need assistance with food, clothing, medical or mental resources, or family fun.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uzxe4Q6qzngfH658MiQUTH6YlLSAeo7A9PskSRoPOe8/edit?usp=sharing
