Hello OCRS families,
It's the first week of October and we're hoping for drier weather!
Picture Day on October 11th
This fall our Lifetouch School Picture Day is scheduled for Wednesday, October 11th. Teachers started sending home paper packets with students this past week that contained information about ordering pictures. Families do NOT need to order or purchase school pictures, but all students will have their picture taken at school by Lifetouch to update their school records.
Families can find information about Picture Day online at https://schools.lifetouch.com/for-your-families/ and even pre-order picture packages using the OCRS code EVTWRT6T2.
Vision Screening Beginning this Week
We will begin our annual vision screening this week. Rhode Island elementary school students are required to have an annual vision screening. If your child has had an eye examination within the past (12) months by their ophthalmologist, optometrist, pediatric ophthalmologist, pediatric optometrist or primary care provider, your child may be exempt from this screening requirement for this school year. If you believe that your child may be exempt, please reach out to our school nurse, Mrs. Forte, at cforte@smithfield-ps.org.
Feinstein Junior Scholar Cards
Students have received their Feinstein Junior Scholar Cards for the new school year. Hopefully they have brought them home and shared them with you! Their Feinstein Junior Scholar cards open a variety of educational benefits and opportunities to students and their families. Families can view all of the benefits available at https://feinsteinfoundation.org/jr-scholar-card.html
PTA Trunk or Treat
Come join us for a fun filled night on Friday, October 20th at St. Michael's from 6:00PM to 7:30PM! Use the link below to sign up to attend and to let us know if you’d like to decorate your trunk.
https://forms.gle/B18GtUoRshGLqJDn8
Clean Out your Closets for the OCRS PTA!
The OCRS PTA is collecting clothes, household textiles, small household goods, and books in a FUNDrive eco-friendly fundraiser. The fundraiser is running from 9/20 through 11/1. Please see the attached flyer for all of the details.
PTA General Meeting this Tuesday, 10/3 at 6:00PM
The OCRS PTA has a general membership meeting scheduled for this week on Tuesday, 10/3 at 6:00 PM in the OCRS Media Center. We encourage parents/guardians to attend PTA meetings in-person. However, we also understand that family schedules can be very busy and challenging to manage, so here is a link to join the meeting remotely via Google Meet:
Tuesday, October 3 · 6:00 – 7:00pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/mtc-rtso-wgi
Or dial: (US) +1 316-413-2020 PIN: 925 932 533#
Parent Volunteer Training and Volunteer Opportunities
If you have reviewed the Volunteer Handbook and you are interested in possibly volunteering at school (including serving as a field trip chaperone), we are offering Volunteer Training for any parent/guardian that has never completed a training session. To make it as convenient as possible for families, both training sessions will be offered online and will take less than 30 minutes. We also have a later evening session scheduled to accommodate the different work schedules of families. Please see the information below and you are welcome to join either session!
Wednesday, October 4 · 4:30 – 5:00pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/bjz-iyrc-cmy
Or dial: (US) +1 252-787-0019 PIN: 274 706 876#
Thursday, October 5 · 7:00 – 7:30pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/ucy-javj-bsq
Or dial: (US) +1 402-225-6015 PIN: 409 936 627#
Current volunteer needs:
- We would love to have some parents donate a little time on a weekly basis to assist teachers to prepare student materials for our new math program.
- We would love to have some parents volunteer during 1st lunch to assist our youngest students with opening the items in their lunches (those Lunchables and Capri Sun packages are tricky!) First lunch is 11:30 to 11:55 each day, so let Mr. Barrette know if you would be interested in volunteering. You will need to have a recent (within 1-year) BCI on file and have completed the Volunteer Training.
Free/Reduced Meal Information
Here are links to Free/Reduced Lunch/Breakfast Application Packets in English (https://5il.co/22o2z) and Spanish (https://5il.co/22o30). If a family needs an application in another language please contact Kerri Dailey at kdailey@smithfield-ps.org. Families can also submit an online application at https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application.
Students with Free or Reduced meal benefits from the 22-23 school year will have a 30 day carryover period that will end on October 11th, 2023. Please complete and submit a new application as soon as possible to ensure that your child is able to receive meal benefits.
Families can find all lunch and breakfast information, including menus, on the district's website at https://www.smithfield-ps.org/page/school-meal-program.
Why Such a Strong Focus on Attendance this School Year?
Some families have reached out and asked why the school is focusing so closely on student attendance this school year. We wanted to provide some additional information and context that might help explain our focus.
First and foremost, research has shown that regular and punctual attendance is essential to the overall academic, personal and social success of students at school. As you have probably seen or read online, student attendance has become a challenge for schools and families across the country and there are many contributing factors. It's a complex issue that lots of schools and families are struggling with. The United States Department of Education has published an eye opening report that helps to show the scale of the issue, https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/chronicabsenteeism.html.
Last year, 24% of OCRS students were chronically absent (absent 10% or more of the school year), which demonstrated the scale of the challenge for our school community. As part of our School Improvement planning process, our school looked at how we can work with families to improve student attendance this school year. In fact, because we thought that consistent and punctual attendance is so important for our students, we made improving student attendance one of the main goals of our school's 2023-2024 School Improvement Plan. A large part of the goal is communicating with families regularly about student attendance.
We understand that conversations about student attendance concerns can be complicated and are sometimes difficult for everyone involved. Each student's situation and the reason for their problems with attendance are different and require unique approaches. Sometimes there aren't any simple solutions and families and the school need to work together over a long period of time and try a number of different approaches. We will continue to do our best to work with families to support students in improving their attendance. If any family has concerns about their student's attendance or the communications you have received from our school, we encourage you to reach out to your child's classroom teacher and Mr. Barrette so that we can work together.
Upcoming Dates and Events
View and subscribe to the OCRS Public Events Calendar at https://oldcounty.smithfield-ps.org/o/old-county-road-elementary/page/monthly-calendar. Click on the "Add to Google Calendar" button to subscribe to the calendar using your own calendar app.
PTA General Meeting, Tuesday October 3rd at 6:00 PM (CHANGE OF DATE)
Volunteer Training (Online), Wednesday October 4th at 4:30 PM
Volunteer Training (Online), Thursday October 5th at 7:00 PM
NO SCHOOL, Columbus Day, Monday October 9th
Picture Day, Wednesday October 11th
Pink Out! Spirit Day, Friday October 13th
PTA Trunk or Treat, Friday October 20th from 6:00PM to 7:30PM at St. Michael's
Thank you,
Mr. Barrette
Lots of Different Types of Learning this Week
