Assistant Superintendent Update
December 2018 Volume 2 Issue 2
'Tis the Season for Excellent Teaching and Learning!
“A good education is the greatest gift you can give yourself or anyone else.” Mahtab Narsimhan
We have had a very positive and productive several months since the opening of our school district! Our administrators, teachers, and students have been very engaged in learning a great deal through our District goal of Social Emotional Learning. There are many positive strategies taking place throughout the district including Conscious Discipline, Restorative Practices, Kingian Non-Violence program, and Mindfulness activities.
What is Social Emotional Learning? Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. (https://casel.org/what-is-sel/)
Cyber Patriots Competition at Ricci Middle SchoolCyberPatriot the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association (AFA) to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future. The competition puts teams of HS and MS students in the postion of a newly hired IT professional tasked with managing the network of a small company. In the rounds of competition, teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services. Teams compete for the top placement within their state and region, and the top teams in the nation earn all-expenses paid trips to Baltimore, MD for the National Finals Competition where they can earn national recognition and scholarship money. | Birchwood Student of the Month Assembly Students are recognized monthly for positive behaviors and attendance! They attend a special breakfast where their families are also invited. The number of students being recognized continues to grow! | NPHS NEASC "Vision of our Graduate" NPHS worked with their teams to discuss qualities and characteristics of our graduates in the cognitive, personal and interpersonal areas. The faculty collaborated to come up with clear and measureable goals. More conversations will be taking place with other stakeholders to determine the final criteria. |
Cyber Patriots Competition at Ricci Middle School
CyberPatriot the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association (AFA) to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future.
The competition puts teams of HS and MS students in the postion of a newly hired IT professional tasked with managing the network of a small company. In the rounds of competition, teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services. Teams compete for the top placement within their state and region, and the top teams in the nation earn all-expenses paid trips to Baltimore, MD for the National Finals Competition where they can earn national recognition and scholarship money.
Birchwood Student of the Month Assembly
NPHS NEASC "Vision of our Graduate"
“You are not a true success unless you are helping others be successful.” -- Jon Gordon
Continuing to Build Strong and Positive Relationships = Community
We are visiting schools, classrooms, and students every week and building important relationships with all. It is wonderful to be a part of our students’ learning! Some of the events we have been part of: School openings, Open House, Field Day, Special School Academic, P.B.I.S., and Community Events. We are very proud to be a part of the North Providence School Community!
#npsdpride #npsdlearns #npsdfeedthepositive
North Providence School District
Curriculum, Instruction, Assessments and More...
- AIMSWeb Plus Universal Screening P.D. (Second round) for both Reading Specialists Teachers and Special Education Teachers at the Elementary Level to support conducting assessments, analysis of data and progress monitoring for students
- Completed District Universal Screening Assessments at the Elementary (AIMS Web Plus) and Secondary Levels (STAR); Utilizing data to provide interventions and progress monitor students
- Completed Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment to support identifying and improving students' reading instructional levels
- Examining data at all levels using templates for school wide conversations.
- Received and sharing results of screenings with administrative team, staff, and families.
- Recieved RICAS data https://lms.backpack.education/public/ride and in the process of reviewing and analyzing all data at district and school level in an effort to target areas of need in Reading and Math Grades 3-8
- Working on consistent systematic review and analysis of district and school wide data to improve both instruction and achievement.
- Fundations program (Phonics/Pre-Reading Skills) in Grades K - 2 is going very well. www.wilsonlanguage.com/programs/fundations
- Successful piloting of the Summit Learning program www.summitlearning.org in Grade 5 at both Whelan and Stephen Olney Elementary School to support personalization of students' learning; Hosted Open Houses for families to share the successes of this resource
- IXL Program continuines www.ixl.com for all students in Grades K - 8 to support Math and Reading Interventions and Enrichment
- Achieve 3000 Program continues www.achieve3000.com for all students in Grade 7 to support Reading Comprehension through Social Studies, Science, and ELA content
- Achieve 3000 ongoing Professional Devlopment including coaching and classroom teacher support
- Continuing curriculum professional development at both Elementary and Secondary levels: Math, ELA, and integration of Blended Learning resources in all curriculum.
- Middle School Content Professional Development conducted very successfully in collaboration with one of our teachers and FUSE Fellows, Mrs. Katie Bowers
- Ongoing Science Professional Development in coordination with East Bay RI Collaborative at the Elementary level and ongoing support of RI Science Assessment, Spring, 2019
More Supports at All Levels...
- Technology: 1:1 Devices for all students Grade 3-5; continuing to add more devices for primary students at the Elementary Level; ongoing 1:1 at Middle School Level; adding more Chromebooks at NPHS.
- Continuing new 504 forms and procedures Grades K-12 introduced last year.
- Continuing our District R.t.I./M.T.S.S. Committee to review our current District Guide and how procedures, intervention forms and intervention resources are moving forward.
- Continued Universal P.B.I.S. programs at Elementary and Middle level with further expansion at Elementary schools with no formal behavioral support programs.
- Continued M.T.S.S grant work (American Institutes for Research) with McGuire Elementary and Birchwood Middle School.
- Our PTECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) program at North Providence High School continues to be a huge success and is recognized statewide for its achievements! We are so proud of our 82 students' outstanding work in the health field led by our Director, Mrs. Melissa Caffrey and team.
- Our Marine Trades program at both the North Providence High School and Birchwood Middle School continues to be an outstanding and real world pathway for our students. Our Marine Trades Program at NPHS has received preliminary accreditation as a CTE program.
- The Mechatronics Program at Ricci Middle School and S.T.E.A.M. Program at Birchwood Middle School continue to be successful and growing!
- Awarded Champlin Grant for S.T.E.A.M. program at Birchwood which will be utilized to build a greenhouse/outdoor classroom.
- The American Institute for Research (A.I.R.) is supporting our teachers at the Middle and High School levels in Math as part of the Better Teaching Math Network (B.T.M.N.). They will be working on improving Mathematical instructional practices and student engagement.
Some Other Highlights:
· Continuing to conduct and review current Elementary and Secondary curriculum documents and resources on district teams in an effort to improve coherence and consistency of curriculum K –12
. Met with all NPHS Department Chair teachers to review and discuss all curriculum documents
. Coordinating meetings between NPHS Department Chairs and Middle School related Content teachers to collaborate on verticle alignment of curriculum Grades 6-12
· Monthly meetings with K-12 Reading Specialists to work on curriculum, data analysis, and support collaboration. Continued work on a District Reading Website to share resources, materials, and strategies for teachers and families.
· Monthly meetings with Administrative Team, Elementary, and Middle School Administrative teams. Our goal is to improve communication, collaboration and support best leadership and instructional practices at all levels.
. Met with District Family Engagement Committee to support efforts for increased parent/family involvement at all levels. We are planning several activities for this year.
. Continuing to mentor an Elementary student in the district this year.
. Both Middle Schools and the High School P-TECH program sent student teams to the Junior Achievement Fair this month in Providence
It has been such a pleasure and honor to share and celebrate all of the exemplary teaching and learning we have experienced in the past couple of months. We have the best students in the world!!
Grade 3 Data Meeting at Marieville Principals and teachers regularly meet to review and analyze student data. They set action plans for interventions and progress monitoring so that all students are supported. | Restorative Circles with our Elementary Students Social Emotional Learning strategies and activities are continuing and expanding across all grade levels K - 12. Restorative Circles are one way we continue to work with our students on problem solving , conflict resolution and positive choices. | Summit Learning at Whelan and Stephen Olney Schools Students and teachers are working diligently through the Summit Learning platform which supports our personalization of students' learning. They have shared their learning with parents at open houses where students shared their successes with parents and how they utilize the platform as part of their comprehensive program and curriculum. |
Grade 3 Data Meeting at Marieville
Restorative Circles with our Elementary Students
Summit Learning at Whelan and Stephen Olney Schools

Middle School ELA Content Professional Development Middle School teachers in all content areas: ELA, Social Studies, Science, and Math met with our facilitator, Katie Bowers (S.T.E.A.M. teacher and FUSE fellow) to collaborate and work on units of study as well as continuing to infuse Blended Learning into their lessons. Our feedback was very positive. Having this type of colleagial and collaborative professional development is critical to our teachers' learning and growth. | Japanese Students visit NPHS The NPHS was the only High School in the state who hosted our Japanese students for a second year! Students met their RI friends who they had connected to online. They spent the entire day together and learned what life is like as a High School student in our country. What a tremendous cultural learning experience for all! | AIMSWeb Plus Professional Development for our Special Education Teachers Stephanie Capraro, one of our talented Reading Specialists along with Jody Graziano, 3rd Grade teacher at Greystone, facilitated this training. Special Education teachers learned more about progress montioring and setting goals for our students. This will further support students' learning and their instruction. |
Middle School ELA Content Professional Development
Japanese Students visit NPHS
AIMSWeb Plus Professional Development for our Special Education Teachers
Learning Phonics Skills Through Fundations in Kindergarten | A Special Central Office Visit from Grade 2 McGuire Students as They Learn About our Town | NPHS DIvision III State Girls' Tennis Champions Receive Special Recognition from our School Committee |
