SPS Weekly Newsletter

This week's header photo (above) features sunset at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Stoughton High on Wednesday evening. The starters from the SHS boys varsity soccer team are pictured here, lined up for the National Anthem before the start of their game against North Attleboro.

In education we focus a lot on test scores and academic outcomes and it’s important to do so. We have celebrated some of those achievements in the previous few newsletters. But it’s more than just test scores that make a school district truly successful and there are other ways to measure success. Having a school community that is able to involve all of its students and create an inclusive environment is another sign of accomplishment. With this in mind, I had the pleasure of attending the Unified basketball game at Stoughton High on Tuesday, watching the Black Knights take on Sharon. Unified sports give students of all abilities the chance to take part in the high school athletics experience.

Our Unified basketball team is made up of student athletes from the TLC program at SHS and they are joined by student helpers who assist during games and practices. To see the level of sportsmanship and encouragement during games is truly uplifting. Lots of cheering for both teams after making a basket. Positive energy filling the gymnasium. It’s hard not to leave the gymnasium with a smile as wide as the ones on the players’ faces during the game.

Our Unified sports program is in its second season at SHS and this is the second fall we have had Unified basketball. A big thank you to SHS Athletic Director Robin Ireland for his support of the program. Liz Londergan, special education department head at SHS, does a fantastic job coaching the team. She is assisted by SPS staff Carolan Sampson, Lori Block, Susan Bardasz, Katherine Leahy, and Erica Bean. Jack Raeke also volunteers his time to drive our students home after each game and practice.

If you haven’t been to a Unified basketball game yet, I highly encourage you to do so. There is one more game this season. SHS is hosting Canton on Wednesday, October 23 at 3:45pm in the SHS gymnasium. We also offer Unified track in the spring at SHS and we are working on being able to offer a Unified sport in the winter as well.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Joseph F. Baeta, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Stoughton Public Schools

The Stoughton High Unified Basketball team is pictured here on Tuesday. The team was wearing pink for its breast cancer awareness game.

The District is in the process of forming a K-5 Redistricting Committee. Redistricting is the process of redrawing the boundary lines that determine where students attend elementary school. It will impact families at all of our elementary schools. This committee will start meeting in November and will be tasked with exploring how best to do this as we deal with an increase in student population and overcrowding in our school buildings.

While the final redistricting plan is contingent on what happens with the new elementary school building project and the status of the South Elementary School, some form of redistricting will be occurring regardless of this outcome. The expected implementation for redistricting is as early as 2026-2027.

The Redistricting Committee will be chaired by Stoughton High School principal Juliette Miller. The Committee includes parent/guardian representatives from each elementary school and preschool, as well as elementary principals, elementary teachers, the SPS Director of Facilities and Grounds, administration from special education and ELL, and two School Committee members. These meetings will be open to the public and agendas will be posted.

The District will provide further updates once the Redistricting Committee is officially formed.

October is National Principals Month, so over the course of the month we are running a series of spotlights highlighting each of our building principals. This week we featured Dave Guglia, principal at the Gibbons Elementary School, and Christine Driscoll Feeney, principal at the Hansen Elementary School.

The Stoughton High Marching Black Knights have two competitions this weekend. On Saturday, the marching band and color guard will be at the USBands competition at Dartmouth High School (estimated performance time is 8:45pm). And on Sunday, you can see the Marching Black Knights locally. Stoughton will be competing at the MICCA Marching Band Festival at Norwood High School (estimated performance time is 2:15pm).

Next weekend, on Saturday, October 26, POPS Stoughton is hosting the USBands Massachusetts & Rhode Island State Championships at Stoughton High! Nineteen high school marching bands are scheduled to perform starting at 1pm at Veterans Memorial Stadium at SHS. Stoughton is expected to perform in the evening on October 26th. We will share more info when their performance time is confirmed. Click here for more information, to purchase tickets, and to take part in the 50/50 raffle.

The SHS marching band and color guard are pictured during a halftime performance from earlier this season.

The Stoughton School Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, October 22, 2024 in the conference room at the SPS District Office, 31 Pierce St. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7pm. An agenda for the meeting can be found here.

The Stoughton Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is holding its October meeting virtually on Thursday, October 24. Click here for the Google Meet link.

Here is a sample of the new IEP form (from the DESE website).

The O'Donnell Middle School's annual Veterans Day Assembly is one of the most anticipated events of the school year. 8th grade students interview local veterans and then honor them by presenting their service story with the 8th grade class at the assembly. This year's assembly takes place Thursday, November 7, 2024 (brunch at 8am, followed by the assembly at 9:30am). The OMS is currently looking for local veterans to participate in this tradition. If you are interested in participating, please contact Caitlin Valair, OMS Social Studies Teacher, by November 1 at c_valair@stoughtonschools.org or 781-344-7002.

Are you receiving text messages from the Stoughton Public Schools? We sent this newsletter via text and email to all SPS families and staff. If you did not receive this text and have not been receiving texts from SPS so far this school year but would like to be receiving them, you can text YES to 79041 to opt-in to text messaging.

With the school year underway, we want to make sure we have accurate and updated emergency contact information and health information for your child. Please log into your PowerSchool Parent Portal account, click on the forms link in the left navigation menu and update any information that is not accurate in the two forms:

• Current Student Health Information
• Student Information/Emergency Form

While only one emergency contact is required, we recommend including at least three contacts who would be able to pick your child up in the event you are not available.

When you have updated the information, please click on submit at the bottom of each of the forms. If your child's information is accurate, please click on submit at the bottom of each form to indicate that you have reviewed the data and it is accurate.

Thank you for taking the time to do this important task.

The South School's PTO is hosting its annual Pumpkin Patch fall festival this Sunday, October 20 from 12-4pm at the South School (171 Ash St.). See the flyer below for more details:

The Jones Early Childhood Center's PTO is hosting a "Touch a Truck" event on Saturday, October 26 from 10am-1pm at the Jones (rear parking lot via Park Ave.).

Families of our younger students are invited to a Trunk or Treat event organized by the Stoughton High Student Council on Tuesday, October 29 from 6:30-8:30pm in the SHS student parking lot.

For updates throughout the week, be sure to follow Stoughton Public Schools on social media: