What do mealworms need to live?

Hello OCRS families,

It's May and the school calendar is going to get busy in these next eight weeks with field trips, continuation of state assessments, special celebrations, and other events. Keep an eye out for email messages from your child's teacher about classroom specific events like field trips and we will include school wide events on the OCRS Events calendar at https://oldcounty.smithfield-ps.org/o/old-county-road-elementary/page/monthly-calendar.

Important dates

Back to School Report #32

Dr. Paolucci will share a weekly report with Smithfield families to provide the latest information on COVID-19 information and protocols. If you have not already read this week's "Back to School" report shared by Dr. Paolucci and our district COVID team, please take a few moments to review it at https://www.smithfield-ps.org/article/727260.

Teacher Appreciation Week!

It's Teacher Appreciation Week and we're excited to let all of the OCRS teachers and staff know how important they are to our students! Thank you to our wonderful OCRS PTA for planning a specific treat for the teachers and staff each day this week. We are truly grateful for your thoughtfulness.

Classroom teachers tend to hear the most expressions of appreciation (and those are well deserved), but we also want to make sure that other OCRS teachers and staff members are recognized for their important work and what they do to support our students. To make this easier, what I would ask is that each classroom "adopt" two or three teachers and staff and reach out to them to express your appreciation. For example, if students create cards or draw pictures to show their appreciation, they could also create one for the teachers and staff "adopted" by their classroom.

Check out the list below to see which teachers and staff are being adopted by each classroom!

Ms. Mennella's Kindergarten
Mrs. Laura Gaule - paraprofessional, Mrs. Celine Forte - school nurse 

Mrs. Sisco's Kindergarten
Mrs. Kasey Ellis - special educator, Mrs. Jeannine Fortin - paraprofessional, Ms. Mikaela Messier - behavior specialist

Mrs. Mariotti's 1st grade
Mrs. Kristen DeAmaral - reading specialist, Mr. Gary Regniere - school custodian

Mrs. Moretti's 1st grade
Ms. Amanda Lemek - special educator, Mrs. Melissa Gershon - speech/language pathologist, Mrs. Mary Deus - school secretary

Mrs. Chomka's 2nd grade
Ms. Jennifer Swartz - library/media Specialist, Ms. Jennifer Stepsis - school psychologist, Mrs. Tricia Welch - certified occupational therapy assistant

Mrs. Deslauriers' 2nd grade
Mrs. Jennifer Tsonos - special educator, Mr. Brent Holden - school custodian

Mrs. Corbeille's 3rd grade
Mrs. Robin Cahill - math specialist, Mrs. CeAnna Pellegrino - physical therapist, Mrs. Kerri Murphy, long-term substitute

Ms. Murphy's 3rd grade
Mrs. Malissa Lima - paraprofessional, Ms. Casey Miller - art education, Mrs. Michaella Costa - school social worker

Mrs. Mooney's 4th grade
Mrs. Caitlin Bellavance - therapeutic program supervisor, Mrs. Amy Pimental - behavior specialist

Ms. Votta's 4th grade
Mrs. Cheryl Niquette - special educator, Ms. Melena Schug - music education

Mr. Austin's 5th grade
Mrs. Kristin Dohoney - reading specialist, Mr. Tom Gruczka - physical education, Mrs. Liz Wood - behavior specialist

Mr. Davenport's 5th grade
Mrs. Tara Lagner - special educator, Mrs. Jill Fontaine - behavior specialist, Mrs. Kelly Marshall - English language learner teacher

Teacher Appreciation

Supporting Early Reading Skills at Home

Want to help your child learn to read but don't know where to start? Then this webinar from Heggerty is for you!

Join us for part one of our "Supporting Early Reading Skills at Home" webinar series to learn how you can engage your preschool-aged child in fun, educational activities that will give your child a strong foundation in reading. This free webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3rd at 12:00 noon. This event will also be recorded. Please register for the live event using this link below to receive the on-demand version, when available.

https://heggerty.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TkBuwpbRRqSnbQKlw6KCag?timezone_id=America%2FNew_York

Reading webinar

PTA Information

General Membership Meeting

There will be a PTA General Membership Meeting on Wednesday, May 11th at 7:00 PM. Save the date and an agenda will be shared as we get closer to the meeting.

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. Clicking on the "Add to Google Calendar" to subscribe to the calendar on your own calendar app.

PTA General Membership meeting, Wednesday May 11th, 7:00 PM

Book Fair, Week of May 16th

Math RICAS for 3rd-5th grades, Tuesday May 17th and Wednesday May 17th

GMS Orientation for incoming 6th graders, Wednesday May 18th 6:30PM to 8:30PM @Gallagher Middle School

NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day, Monday May 30th

Field Week, Week of June 6th


Thank you,
Mr. Barrette


4th grade applying measurement in the real world