Superintendent's Update
Newport Public Schools | May 20, 2026
Dear Newport Schools Parents, Families, and Staff,
It’s definitely starting to feel like summer! Just a reminder that there will be no school on Monday, May 25th for the Memorial Day holiday.
We are in the last few weeks of the school year, and I want to again encourage our entire Newport Public Schools community to maintain our focus on classroom learning as we approach the finish line on June 26th. This period is a vital time for students to solidify their learning and showcase their hard work through final exams, final projects, and senior portfolio projects. Not to mention it’s just a fun time of the school year with graduation night for our seniors, field days, and field trips happening at all of our schools. So let’s keep the focus on Attendance Matters, Every Day and close out the school year strong!
Speaking of our seniors, Honors Night will be tomorrow night at 6:00 PM in our new Rogers auditorium. We’ll be proudly sending off our Class of 2026 seniors at graduation on June 11th at 6:00 PM at Toppa Field.
As we close out the year, our student musicians and actors are busy with final concerts and performances. A shoutout to the Rogers Concert Band, Orchestra, Chorus, and Jazz Band who performed at last week’s Spring Concert, great job! Our Thompson Band will be performing in their final concert of the year on June 3rd at 6:30pm at Thompson. Also, be sure to see our Rogers-Middletown Theater Program students perform the musical Chicago on May 29th and 30th at 7:00 PM in Rogers Auditorium.
On Monday, Rogers sophomores participated in a statewide EV race competition and took first place in the Modified Division! Students competed in a fully electric race car that they built themselves. Amazing!
Over at NACTC, carpentry students unveiled their Project Playhouse, which will be donated to a child facing a life threatening illness. What a wonderful way to learn and give back at the same time!
Finally, last evening, the Newport City Council held its first of several Budget Review sessions. Thank you to the teachers, students, and community members that attended the meeting, and/or sent in emails and letters. The Council presently has a 4% increase set aside for us, which we appreciate. Unfortunately, even with this increase in support we are still facing a budget deficit of $2.1M. This has resulted in 17 layoffs. The City Council is listening to our concerns, along with the City administration. Hopefully in the next few weeks, working together we will be able to come up with some creative solutions that will enable us to restore staffing as best as possible for the 2026-27 school year. Newport is not alone in facing the difficult dilemma of increasing costs due to inflation while simultaneously experiencing enrollment declines, and thus less money from the state funding formula. Our state’s model for funding public schools is fundamentally broken and hopefully will be addressed in the near future. In the meantime, we will continue to work with the City Council and administration to advocate for the resources our schools, our students, and our teachers need.
Have a great week of learning and enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend!
Colleen Burns Jermain, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Summer Bike Camp 2026 is now open for registration. Bike Newport has one-week sessions July 6th-August 14th, 2026.
All campers need to know how to ride a bike and will spend a fun-filled week learning about:
● Bike handling and bike safety skills, basic bike maintenance
● Trail and road riding skills
● Scheduled ‘special sessions’ with community partners
Newport Sings Summer Camp invites students entering grades 2–6 to discover their singing voices, express themselves through music, art, and movement, and collaborate together to perform for family and friends. Learn more and register here.
The Newport Gulls are looking for host families. Click here for more information: https://newportgulls.com/host_families.