Barrington Public Schools

✅ATTENDANCE MATTERS IN RI: It's #Cool2BeinSchoolRI! Congratulations to Nayatt School and Barrington Middle School for being Rhode Island's first elementary school and middle school attendance leaders of 2024! Research shows that school attendance is a powerful predictor of student outcomes and achievement. Keep up the good work, BPS students! #AttendanceMattersRI

On Friday, January 5, the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) released its 2022-2023 school accountability and improvement results, which includes Rhode Island’s Star Rating. Barrington Public Schools is proud to share that our schools account for 22% of all 5 Star ratings earned across the state of Rhode Island! Five of our six schools earned the highest rating of 5 Stars, which was known as commended under the previous accountability system. One of our schools received a rating of 4 Stars, which reflects achievement in the top 20% of Rhode Island schools and indicates opportunities for continuing growth. Only fifty schools, including all six schools in our district, received a rating of either 4 Stars or 5 Stars. You can view the accountability results in full detail on RIDE’s School Report Card website: https://reportcard.ride.ri.gov/

Barrington Public Schools is working with G&D Associates to imagine the future of our district and develop a new strategic plan that makes this future a reality. As part of this process, G&D Associates is seeking your feedback through a community survey. Your participation in this survey is critical to informing the next stage of our strategic plan. Please click this link to access the community survey and share your voice: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BPS2024. The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. It is open today, January 2, through January 14, 2024.

🏐BHS GIRLS VOLLEYBALL SPOTLIGHT: Congratulations to Barrington High School girls volleyball for being named this week's Showcase Cinemas High School Team of the Week! This recognition acknowledges the achievements and community dedication of Rhode Island Interscholastic League athletic teams. Members of our BHS girls volleyball team are kind and tenacious. As teammates, they have supported one another and contributed to important causes like community service and breast cancer awareness fundraising.

🏒HMS STUDENT COUNCIL GIVES BACK: It's giving season and our Barrington Public Schools students take giving seriously. Hampden Meadows Elementary School Student Council recently conducted a toy drive to help provide holiday gifts for children at Hasbro Children's Hospital. When the toy drive came to a close on December 15, the Hampden Meadows community had filled three extra large boxes with toy donations! Did you know that the Providence Bruins also run a toy drive for Hasbro Children's Hospital during the month of December? Last weekend, HMS Student Council members attended a Providence Bruins game (and participated in Chuck-a-Puck!) and made important connections between their acts of service and the power of community giving.

🏃‍♂️RIIL SPOTLIGHTS BHS TEACHER: The Rhode Island Interscholastic League has named Barrington High School history teacher and coach, Mr. Bill Barrass, as December's Educator Spotlight honoree! Mr. Barrass's career as an educator and coach in our Barrington schools spans twenty years! He has taught at BHS since 2012 and spent nearly a decade at Barrington Middle School before that. He has also been head coach of BHS boys track & field since 2003 and assistant coach of BHS boys cross country since 2006. Read the full spotlight here: https://riilsports.tumblr.com/post/736891062678896640/december-riil-educator-spotlight-presented-by?fbclid=IwAR2tig8_0FOcrGYJ-SS6gSXRe790-EsMZ-h3O3_kzN7fw7Spt96fB2faiwQ

🕊BMS STUDENTS WIN PEACE POSTER CONTEST: The Barrington Lions Club has selected three Barrington Middle School students as Peace Poster contest winners! Congratulations Tessa, Blakely, and Naima! Their artwork will be submitted to Lions Clubs International for consideration in the International Peace Poster contest. This year's poster theme was "Dare to Dream," which inspired our BMS artists and more than 450,000 students between the ages of 11-13 around the world. Learn more about the contest here: https://www.lionsclubs.org/.../start.../youth/peace-poster

🎄BPS TALENT SHINES AT TREE LIGHTING: Our elementary, middle, and high school students shared their talents with the community at the annual Town of Barrington, RI Tree Lighting on December 2! Primrose Hill Elementary School and Sowams School first graders and choruses from Barrington Middle School and Barrington High School performed in front of Town Hall as the tree lights turned on for the season. Photos taken by Julie Furtado for East Bay Media. See more pictures from this event: https://www.eastbayri.com/barrington/stories/barrington-celebrates-the-holidays-with-tree-lighting,118182

🎲SOWAMS SCHOOL FAMILY MATH NIGHT: Math is fun and collaborative! Last night, the Sowams School multipurpose room was full of families learning about the engaging math games that can be played with just a deck of cards or a pair of dice! Thank you to our math specialist, Mrs. Squatrito, and her team (Mrs. Felag, Mrs. Lally, Mrs. Howard, Mrs. Marcello, Miss Lovegreen, Mrs. Silva, and Mrs. Remington) for organizing the Sowams Family Math Night and for volunteering their time at the event.

🚂INTERACT CLUB SPREADS HOLIDAY CHEER: Barrington High School offers a vibrant array of extracurricular activities and student organizations. BHS Interact Club, a Rotary International-sponsored service club, has been busy this season spreading care and holiday cheer! More than a dozen BHS Interact Club volunteers helped put together 400 holiday care packages for active service members overseas as part of Operation Holiday Cheer, in partnership with the American Red Cross Rhode Island and the Office of Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos. Additionally, Interact Club members raised $1,000 for the American Red Cross at the BHS 2023 Homecoming Fair and recently held a "Big Check" ceremony to present Red Cross team members with this gift. They received honorary certificates for their acts of service! Way to go, BHS Interact Club!

🎉 PRINCIPAL CALLAHAN PRESENTED WITH LIGHTHOUSE SCHOOL AWARD: In May, Sowams School was recognized as a Lighthouse School by Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence based on nine performance areas: student focus and support, school organization and culture, challenging standard and curriculum, active teaching and learning, technology and integration, professional community, leadership and education vitality, school and community partnerships, and indicators of success. This week, Principal Jim Callahan was presented with the Lighthouse School award at the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Conference in Orlando, Florida! The Lighthouse School designation lasts five years, at which point Sowams School will become eligible for renewal. This award brings Sowams School closer to joining Nayatt School, Barrington Middle School, and Barrington High School as National Blue Ribbon Schools. Congratulations, Sowams School! Learn more about the Lighthouse Award here: https://www.sowamsschool.org/o/sowams/article/1114830

⛵️BHS TEAM SAILS TO KEELBOAT NATIONALS: The Barrington High School sailing team will cap a successful season next week by competing for the first time ever in the Interscholastic Sailing Association High School National Keelboat Invitational at St. Petersburg Yacht Club! Congratulations to our Eagles on a historic sailing season! They were one of just 10 high school teams from across the country to qualify for this regatta.

📖LEN CABRAL VISITS NAYATT SCHOOL: Storyteller and Circle of Excellence Award winner, Len Cabral, visited Nayatt School this week for a storytelling event with Grade 1 students! Thank you to our Nayatt PTO for funding this fantastic immersive learning experience!

🥪ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OFFER LUNCH & LEARN PROGRAMMING: In our District, community partnerships are essential to enhancing our students' growth and development. This year, "Lunch and Learn" has returned to Nayatt School and Hampden Meadows Elementary School as an enrichment program that allows students to learn from members of our community and explore their own interests during lunch! This month, elementary students learned about career paths in earth sciences, health sciences, consulting, and illustration! Thank you to BPS parents, Dr. Ralph Milliken, Rudy Seber, Ryan Pancoast, and Lauren Talbert, for sharing your professions with us in November! Are you a BPS parent interested in being a Lunch and Learn speaker this year? Fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSfpBfSHGEoikY.../viewform

🗣BPS SLPs ATTEND ANNUAL ASHA CONVENTION: Barrington Public Schools values continuing education and professional development. This month, our District's speech-language pathologists attended the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention in Boston. They learned about the latest research, expanded their skills and techniques, accessed new resources, and met colleagues from all over the country! The ASHA Convention is an annual professional development and networking event for speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Learn more: https://convention.asha.org/

🦃BPS IS THANKFUL FOR YOU! Barrington Public Schools has so much to be thankful for this holiday season. To our creative, caring, and persistent students who inspire us every day; our dedicated and innovative staff who empower our students to excel; and our vibrant extended community of families, coaches, volunteers, and Barrington residents who support our District's work and mission: thank you!

🏈BHS EAGLES ARE DII STATE CHAMPIONS: Congratulations to our Barrington High School football team on their Rhode Island Interscholastic League Division II State Championship win this weekend! What a fantastic end to a very impressive season. The Eagles play on Victory Field once more this season for the annual Thanksgiving game on November 23 at 10 AM. Some photos were taken by Julie Furtado for East Bay Media. Read the championship highlights in the Barrington Times: https://eastbayri.com/stories/barrington-football-team-wins-state-championship,117784?newsletter=117783

🎗HMS STUDENTS SWEAT FOR VETS: This week's physical education unit at Hampden Meadows Elementary School, called "Sweat for Vets," enabled students to learn more about Veteran's Day and challenge themselves with fitness activities! Thank you, Miss Freeman and Miss O'Neil, for providing this immersive learning opportunity!

🎁TOYS FOR TOTS: Thank you to the Barrington Police Department, SRO Officer Joel, and Barrington High School's Interact Club for organizing this year's Toys for Tots community toy drive! Now through the end of December, the Barrington Public Safety Building and Barrington High School will serve as drop-off locations for unwrapped toy donations. Interact Club is a student organization that promotes student leadership and active involvement in Barrington through community service and volunteer activities. Learn more here: https://www.barringtonhigh.org/o/high-school/page/interact

📑 BHS STUDENTS SIGN LETTERS OF INTENT: Our Eagles are soaring! Last week, nearly two dozen Barrington High School student-athletes signed their National Letters of Intent or made a commitment to their chosen college or university during a special recognition ceremony at BHS. Congratulations, Class of 2024! This photo was taken by East Bay Media. Read more: https://www.eastbayri.com/barrington/stories/barrington-high-school-seniors-sign-letters-of-intent,117593?fbclid=IwAR0j9F9eQ0zEPuX9PwcEeoR0C8Pmz0wdd9L1nalwOGCU1xxwZycVr7qLJ7Y