SPS Weekly Newsletter

This week's featured photo: Each year the Wilkins School creates its own Wilkins Constitution to celebrate Constitution Day. The Wilkins Constitution has three categories - "Be Safe", "Be Respectful", and "Be Responsible". Wilkins classes discuss the rules and expectations they want to see included and write them out and place the strips of paper under the appropriate category. Students then sign the Constitution, which is on display in one of the hallways at the Wilkins. Kindergarten students in Mrs. Faria's class are pictured here in front of the Wilkins Constitution. Click here to see additional photos. There is more on Constitution Day further down in the newsletter.

We had our first early release day of the school year on Thursday. These afternoons are used to provide the faculty and staff with professional development opportunities. School safety was the topic of the day, with all SPS staff attending an active threat workshop.

The safety and well-being of all of our students and staff is something we take very seriously as a district. We are continuously reviewing our safety protocols and procedures, and take part in a number of training sessions dealing with a wide range of scenarios. Much of this work is guided by our SPS School Safety Team, which in addition to members of district and school leadership, also includes leaders and command staff from the Stoughton Police and Stoughton Fire departments.

During Thursday’s presentation, Joe Hendry, principal K-12 consultant for COSECURE, a security consulting firm, went over important considerations and guidelines to follow for safety-related training and drills. Staff also had breakout sessions with their school-based teams to go over safety scenarios and best practices at their buildings.

Last spring, COSECURE also conducted an independent safety and security assessment of SPS, performing a physical inspection of our educational spaces and campuses/grounds. Their report was recently shared with me. Overall, COSECURE found that SPS has been increasing its crisis response planning initiatives and the district is “providing reasonably safe and secure campus environments that generally meet contemporary standards for public K-12 schools.” They recommend areas of improvement for the district to consider including in our future strategic planning process.

Lastly, we must do more and I’ll be publishing an internal plan for employees that will require more training, drills, and exercises. We must target all safety areas and do so with guidelines that are age appropriate, trauma informed, account for special education and ELL students, and follow neurodivergent instructing guidelines.

Related to the topic of safety is making sure that we have up-to-date contact and health information for all of our students. Having accurate information on file ensures you can receive district/school updates, important alerts, and other public information, and makes it easier for your school to contact you in the case of an emergency.

There are two documents that contain contact/health information that we ask for you to review. These documents can be found in the Forms section of the PowerSchool Parent Portal:

• 2025.2026 Current Student Health Information

• 2025.2026 Student Information/Emergency Form

Further instructions for accessing and filling out these forms can be found by clicking here. Please take some time this weekend to review these forms.

In closing, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins this Monday evening. I wish all of our families, students, and staff celebrating a sweet year ahead. Shana Tova!

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Joseph F. Baeta, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Stoughton Public Schools

Joe Hendry, principal K-12 consultant for COSECURE, is pictured here at the professional development training for SPS staff on Thursday.

Constitution Day, held annually on September 17th, commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. We showed you how the Wilkins School marked the occasion at the top of the newsletter.

At Stoughton High, students in Dr. Scullane's Advanced Placement Government and Politics class created this video where they recite the Preamble to the Constitution (We the People...). Take a look here:

Second graders from Mrs. DeMayo's class at the South School are pictured below. They read a book about our Constitution's history and then created tricorn hats with some of the facts they learned about the Constitution printed on the sides.

Mrs. Laquidara's 5th grade class at the South School created their own classroom constitution for Constitution Day, focusing on upholding the South School S.H.A.R.K. principles of being safe, hard working, accountable, respectful, and kind.

Tana Bernard, a 10th grade student at Stoughton High, participated in a day of service on September 11th with Project 351.

As an 8th grader, Tana represented the O'Donnell Middle School and Stoughton as our district's Project 351 ambassador. Project 351 is a statewide youth-led service program and Project 351 alumni gathered in Boston this September 11th for a National Day of Service and Remembrance to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Students honored the lives lost 24 years ago and also put together care packages and wrote messages of support for service members, veterans, and military members.

Tana said she was particularly moved when she heard from speakers who lost loved ones on 9/11 and when the names of 9/11 victims from Massachusetts were read aloud.

"Reading out the names of the 9/11 victims from Massachusetts just reminded me to cherish every moment and continue to lead with genuine compassion," Tana said.

Tana is pictured to the far right in the photo above, to the far left in the first photo below, and in the middle of the second photo below. Photos were taken by Benson Chang.

The Stoughton High Marching Black Knights and Color Guard have their first competition of the season this Saturday, September 20. This USBands Festival will be held at North Smithfield High School in North Smithfield, RI. Stoughton High is scheduled to perform at 6:45pm. Stoughton's show this year is titled "Dreams Take Flight" featuring "Fly" by Nicki Minaj (featuring Rihanna), "Birdland" by The Manhattan Transfer, "Butterfly" by Jon Batiste, and "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz. Best of luck to the band and color guard!

The Marching Black Knights are pictured here performing at a halftime show during a SHS football game on September 5.

Ready, set, hut! Gibbons School first graders are pictured here having fun at recess - lined up in formation, ready to run a play.

Attention Coach Evans: Looks like we have some future Black Knights football players!

If you have not already opted in to receive text messages from the District and your school, text "YES" to 79041 at any time. By doing this, you can receive important District/school updates, emergency alerts, and other public information.

Multilingual Parent Night is being held Wednesday, September 24 from 6-8pm at Stoughton High School. Parents will learn about school expectations, meet their child's ESL teacher, get help with the Parent Portal, and more. Interpreters will be present. This event is for multilingual families of students in all grades.

The 5th grade class at the Wilkins School is holding a car wash fundraiser this Saturday, September 20 from 9am-12pm at the Wilkins (1322 Central St.). The cost is $5 per vehicle with proceeds going towards the graduation celebration, yearbook, and t-shirts for the 5th grade.

The Stoughton Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) invites parents of children with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a 504 Plan to nominate one staff member for a Bright Knight Award. This award honors educators for the meaningful impact they have on students with diverse learning needs.

Please complete the Google Form and share a brief explanation of why you are nominating this staff member. Recipients will be recognized at a SEPAC fall meeting, where each honoree will be publicly thanked and presented with a Certificate of Appreciation.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, September 26, 2025.

Did you know that Stoughton Public Schools has partnered with Care Solace to support the well-being of students, staff, and their family members? Care Solace is a complimentary and confidential care coordination service that can help you quickly find mental health, social services, or substance use treatment options matched to your needs, regardless of circumstance.

• Call: 888-515-0595 (available 24/7/365 with multilingual support)
• Visit: caresolace.com/stoughtonschools to search or click “Book Appointment”.

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