Melville Message Community Update
March 8th, 2024
Melville Mission
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.
Whaledone
Character Development Quote
A Great Week at Melville School
Brave Breaths in KW for Wellness WEek
Writing in KA
Len Cabral Captivates Melville with his Story Telling
Bright Colors for Wellness Week
Movement Break in KV
Purple Power
Melville Student Leaders take care of the Community!
Toy Drive
Grade 3 students, Charlotte and Mary, have taken the initiative to pitch, organize, and lead a Book Drive for Hasbro Children's Hospital. We are proud of these students for being compassionate and taking care of others. Thank you for your support.
Team Atkinson T-Shirts
Take Care of Each Other
Members of the grade 8 band would like to sell t-shirts to support a friend. If you would like to support a family in our community who has a child fighting cancer, please consider purchasing a shirt. Each shirt is $20 and all profit from sales will be donated to the family. (Donations are also welcome)
Celebrating our Students
Congratulations Brodie and Jacob on a wonderful achievement. Last week, Jacob and Brodie, representing one team, qualified for State 4-H Public Presentation Contest. The contest took place today at URI. The boys won a third place in their age group (Juniors) and their presentation category (Demonstration). They were teaching their audience how to make a homemade pizza-lemonade lunch and did amazing! Whaledone!🐳
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
FFVP started this week and was a Great Success!
1. What is The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP)? FFVP is a federally assisted program providing free fresh fruits and vegetables to children at eligible elementary schools during the school day. The goal of the FFVP is to introduce children to fresh fruits and vegetables, to include new and different varieties, and to increase overall acceptance and consumption of fresh, unprocessed produce among children. The FFVP also encourages healthier school environments by promoting nutrition education.
When will the Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program be offered? FFVP will be offered on both Tuesdays & Wednesdays weekly in the classrooms. Individually packaged fruits and vegetables will be delivered to your classroom and we ask that you provide a time to have students sample and share a fact or two about the food. This could easily be snack time! A fact sheet will be provided for you and you are welcome to try the tasty treat as well. This will occur weekly through the end of the school year.
Looking Ahead
Community Event, March 16th
What a fun way to bring all of our schools together.
Climate & Culture Subcommittee, March 19th
Please consider joining this committee.
World Down Syndrome Day, March 21st
World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) , 21 March, is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012.
The date for WDSD being the 21st day of the 3rd month, was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome.
#WorldDownSyndromeDay
Spring Picture Day, March 22nd
Flyers will be sent home in your child's backpack if you would like Spring pictures or visit https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/. The Picture Day ID: EVTD7QNZW
Kindergarten Registration
The Portsmouth Public Schools will begin conducting the registration process for Kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year. During the month of February a parent/guardian for an eligible student should begin this process by visiting the Registration tab at the top of our district webpage: http://www.portsmouthschoolsri.org/.
From there click the Registration link and provide all required registration documents.
This MUST be completed prior to the in-person registration.
To complete the Kindergarten registration process a parent/guardian must come in-person to Melville Elementary School 1351 West Main Rd on April 2nd.
For students with last names A-K registration time will be 9am - 12pm.
For students with last names L-Z registration time will be 1pm – 4pm.
Individual appointments are not necessary for the April 2nd registration.
If all pre-registration information has been completed on-line it should take about 10-15 minutes to complete the process during the above date and times. Please contact our Central Administration Office at 683-1039 with any questions.
Thank you!
Unified Arts
Health with Nurse Trainor
PE
Learning how to play Pickle Ball in PE!
Art
This week in Art the fourth graders are participating in the Annual Google Doodle Contest, winning doodle prizes can include a 30,000 college scholarship among many other wonderful prizes. Students are working hard as they design their very own Google Logos, encapsulating Google's prompt for this year, "My Wish for the Next 25 Years". Kindergarteners are creating dinosaurs inspired by artist Basquiat, and the grade 2 penguins are making their way home this week!
Health with Mrs. Powell
We took the healthy habits pledge in Health today!
My body is great! That’s the way it stays!
I will only put things into my body that are good.
I will show others that I care about them.
I will show my family that I love them.
I will make healthy choices.
I care about myself.
I will make good choices.
I pledge to be the best me!
Music
Trying instruments from the string family
Library
Volunteers Needed!
We have many opportunities coming this SPRING for families to volunteer.
- Whale of an Evening 5/3-CLICK HERE TO VOLUNTEER. For this event you do not need to be VIS Approved as this is an out of school adult only fund raising event (see flyer below).
- Melville Fun Run 5/21 (rain date 5/23)- For this event you will need to be VIS approved. Sign up will be coming.
- Field Day 6/3 (rain date 6/4) - For this event you will need to be VIS approved. Sign up will be coming.
Reminders!
Fund Raise While You Shop!
Please send in your Clement's Receipts. Our MPTG collets them and over the year Clements gives Melville back a percentage of what was spent. This year Clements gave our MPTG approximately $600!
Dressing for Recess in the Winter
We go outside as much as possible and we want our students to be safe, warm, and ready to play! Please help your children select weather appropriate clothing as we are in the coldest months of the year.
YEARBOOKS READY TO ORDER!
If you would like to order a yearbook then please do so by following this link and use the SCHOOL ID.
Yearbook Order: https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/
School ID: 12072424
If you do not order a yearbook, then we may not have enough available to purchase at the end of the school year when it comes out. We order some extra, but the only guarantee is to pre order, so I highly recommend ordering one ahead of time.
If you have a child in grade 4 and need financial assistance to purchase a yearbook, then please email me directly at lauried@portsmouthschoolsri.org and we will make sure your child gets a yearbook.
Feinstein Cards
You can learn more by visiting this site:https://feinsteinfoundation.org/jr-scholar-card.html
Drill Information
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.
Volunteers
MAIN OFFICE EMAIL ACCOUNT!
Please use meloffice@portsmouthschoolsri.org to notify the main office of changes to your child's dismissal routine or of your child's absence.
Help us to Celebrate our Students!
Planet Aid
Our Food Pantry is Always Open!
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
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!
Community Resources
Portsmouth Youth Soccer Association
Portsmouth Youth Soccer Association has additional openings in their Spring competitive soccer programs. Go to www.pysa.com for information or contact Russ Costa at compcoord.pysa@gmail.com.
Important Links
Important Dates
March
12th–End of Trimester 2
13th--MPTG Monthly Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library
14th & 15th- Grade 3 Seal Watch Field Trip (date to attend per class TBD)
29th–Good Friday (No school)
April
2nd–Staff Professional Development Day (No School for Students)
10th-MPTG Monthly Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library
15th-19th– Spring Recess (No School)
May
3rd -Whale of an Evening (more information to follow)
6th-10th-Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week
8th--MPTG Monthly Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library
16th - TBD tentative date for Spring Parent Teacher Conferences 3:30-6:30
21st-Fun Run (rain date 5/23)
24th-Grade 4 Field Trip- State House
27th-Memorial Day (No School)
29th-Grade 2 Family & Caregiver Celebration
30th-Kindergarten Family & Caregiver Celebration
31st-Grade 3 Wax Museum and Family & Caregiver End of Year Event
June
3rd-Field Day (rain date 6/4)
5th-Grade 1 Family & Caregiver Celebration
5th- Kindergarten Field Trip-Coggshell Farm
6th-Grade 4 visits PMS
6th-Grade 1 Field Trip-Casey Farm Field Trip
7th–PHS Graduation (Tentative Date)
10th-Pre Kindergarten Graduation
12th-FINAL MPTG Meeting, 6PM-7PM, Melville Library
13th=Grade 2 Field Trip to BIOMES
13th-Grade 4 Stepping Up Ceremony with Family & Caregivers
14th- or 180th day – Last Day of School – All Students
17th,18th, 20th, 21st– Snow Makeup Days
19th – Juneteenth (No School)
Melville Elementary School
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