SPS Weekly Newsletter

We are excited to share the latest edition of the SPS Weekly Newsletter with our families, students, staff, and community members! A new edition will be sent each week when school is in session, sharing updates, previewing upcoming events, and showcasing the amazing work being done in our schools. This week we feature Dr. Baeta's weekly message, the Jones Early Childhood Center, Women's History Month, spring sports, an evening of jazz, and more!

This week's header photo features Brooke Porder's class at the Jones Early Childhood Center. Read more about our preschool program further down in this newsletter.

It is important for a school system to have strong community partnerships, and we are fortunate to have some great ones here in Stoughton. In last week’s newsletter, I spoke about our work with the Stoughton Police and Fire Departments on school safety. Last week’s newsletter also had a guest column from Stephanie Patton at OASIS, another great community partner, about the results of the 2024 Stoughton Youth Health Survey.

In addition to working with town departments and organizations, I want to start reaching out to local businesses to form partnerships and make connections with them so we are able to work together in the best interests of the Stoughton Public Schools.

This week I had the pleasure of meeting with Myles Duffy at Camelot Enterprises on Turnpike St. in Stoughton. Myles is the father of two recent Stoughton High graduates. I was able to tour their facility, which provides all sorts of embroidery, screen printing, and engraving services. Thanks to Myles and Camelot Enterprises for taking the time to meet and we look forward to working with Camelot Enterprises.

Joseph F. Baeta, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Stoughton Public Schools

Dr. Baeta is pictured here with Myles Duffy of Camelot Enterprises.

Many of our students attending the Stoughton Public Schools get their start going to school at the Jones Early Childhood Center. Our preschool offers both full-day and half-day programs and also provides special education services. Students learn in a warm, welcoming, and safe environment with a staff dedicated to the continued academic, physical, and social-emotional development of our students as they grow into independent, life-long learners.

The Jones ECC's mascot is the bumblebee and their motto is “Bee Safe, Bee Kind, Bee a Friend." Students attended an assembly to learn more about these expectations last month. Afterwards, they colored bumblebees with their names on it and these bumblebees were displayed on a bulletin board in the front hallway of the school. Students are pictured with their bumblebees here (and in the header photo of the newsletter).

If you have a child who will be preschool age for next school year, stay tuned for more information about preschool registration and open house dates for the Jones Early Childhood Center.

March is Women's History Month. Second graders in Jen Angelos' classroom at the Gibbons School have been reading about different influential women throughout the month (students are seen here holding some of their favorite books they have read so far). Their classroom door is decorated with inspirational quotes from famous women (their favorite quote is from former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg - "Never underestimate the power of a girl with a book!"). And, they also put info sheets about historic women throughout the halls of the school.

The Hansen School Student Council sold hearts back in February for kindness month at the Hansen. They donated proceeds from this fundraiser to the Best Buddies program at Stoughton High. Some members of the Hansen Student Council are pictured here visiting the Best Buddies group at SHS on Wednesday to present them with their donation. The Hansen School Student Council is under the direction of faculty advisors Jacqui Harrison and Jordan Angelos. Keep up the good work! Great to see the Hansen students giving back to their community and helping a program at their future school!

O'Donnell Middle School National Junior Honor Society students recently visited third grade classes at the Wilkins School. They spent time forming friendships while also learning area and perimeter through graphing pictures. Students also played a math game, challenging each other to demonstrate their multiplication facts. All students and teachers look forward to an end of the year activity in May!

Last Saturday, Stoughton High HOSA (Future Health Professionals) members hosted a Teddy Bear clinic at the Hansen School's Candyland Spring Carnival. Children participating in the fair came over to the SHS HOSA booth to check up on a stuffed animal of their choosing. Then, they proceeded to measure the stuffed animal's length, weight, heartbeat, oxygen levels, and also took the stuffed animal's temperature.

Tryouts and practices started on Monday, March 18 for the Stoughton High spring sports teams. Take a look at some photos below from the first day. To see more photos from tryouts/practices, be sure to check out the Stoughton High School Athletics Facebook Page.

The Stoughton Public Schools Fine Arts Department's annual Evening of Jazz was held on Wednesday, featuring several impressive performances from Stoughton High and O'Donnell Middle School students! Take a look at some photos below.

SPS was one of more than 50 area school districts that took part in the Massachusetts Partnership for Diversity in Education (MPDE) Educator Diversity Career Fair last Saturday in Easton. We were represented at the fair by: Rob Cancellieri, Dawe School Principal; Matt Colantonio, SPS Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources & Wellness; Rose Antonelli, SPS Human Resources Specialist; and Julie Miller, Stoughton High Principal (pictured left to right below).

Stoughton is a MPDE member district. MPDE is committed to recruiting and assisting in producing career opportunities for educators and administrators from diverse backgrounds, and forming collaborative relationships that will enhance staff diversity within MPDE member school districts.

The Gibbons and Hansen held school fairs the past two weekends and this weekend is the Dawe School's turn. The Dawe School's Spring Fair takes place this Saturday, March 23 from 10am-2pm at the Dawe, 131 Pine St. Click here to see how you can volunteer to help the Dawe PTO at the fair.

The annual Once A Knight Always A Knight 5K Walk/Run will be held Saturday, May 11 this year. The race starts at 9am at Halloran Park in Stoughton (right near the District office/Jones Early Childhood Center). For more information, including how to register, how to sponsor this event, and the race route, visit the Stoughton Recreation Department's website.

The Stoughton 300 Committee is planning for the town's 300th anniversary coming up in 2026. The committee is having a logo design competition this March, open to all O'Donnell Middle School and Stoughton High School students. Click here for more details.

Another friendly reminder that 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 Information/Emergency Form and Current Student Health Information. 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.

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