Superintendent's Message

Dear Newport Schools Parents, Families, and Staff,

I hope everyone enjoyed their winter break.

As we return to school this week, I want our students and all of us to hit the ground running. We are entering a critical stretch of instruction, learning, and academic assessments, including RICAS tests just around the corner in the spring and our high school students taking their SATs and PSATs on April 1. Put simply, we have a lot of work to do to support our students and to achieve significant improvements in the areas of academic achievement and growth. Whether we like it or not, these tests are a big part of our accountability system as a school district- and even though it is a snapshot in time, we must try our best to support our students to do well.

We need our entire One Newport community coming together to turn our district around and achieve the academic success we know our students are capable of attaining. That starts at home with parents/families using report cards as a springboard for discussion with your child about how he or she is doing in his or her classes. After a review with your child, if he/she needs any additional support to get back on track or if your child may be falling behind in a particular course contact your child’s teacher or guidance counselor. And of course, our students can’t learn the concepts and skills they need for academic success if they are not in school! We need every parent/family member helping us to get our students to school every day. That is why Attendance Matters, Every Day is so important. We have unfortunately been seeing a rise in tardy students who are missing 1-3 hours of instructional time in the mornings. Parents, we need you to drop your child off by bell times at each of our schools and to talk to your child to ensure they are not tardy for any other reasons. Please no coffee stops in lieu of getting your child to school on time. Children should learn being on time matters- as well as attendance.

Next month we will also be hosting School Report Card Nights in March to help parents better understand recent Rhode Island Department of Education report cards for Pell, Thompson, and Rogers High School, and for our district. Please attend these important meetings to better understand these accountability report cards and what each of our schools are doing to improve student achievement. Mark your calendars now for these dates!

TMS - March 17th at 5:30pm

Pell - March 27th at 5:30pm

RHS - March 25th at 5:30pm

Improving results for our school district requires a sense of urgency and a commitment for everyone to work together collectively to support our students. We know what they can achieve when they are in school, on time, everyday and learning the skills they need to succeed in the classroom and in life. Our children are bright and talented. We need all of us as adults to make certain they have our support to be successful. Let’s work together and let them thrive!

Have a great week of learning everyone- and remember together we can do this!

Colleen Burns Jermain, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

PS - Happy Public Schools Week to all of us!!

• TOMORROW: Learn 365 Black History Month celebration, 5:00-6:30 PM at the MLK Jr. Community Center (20 Dr Marcus Wheatland Blvd).

Congratulations to all of our NPS Honor Roll students for Quarter 2! Keep up the great work and let’s see more students on our next Honor Roll!

Thompson Middle School Honor Roll

Rogers High School Honor Roll

February 24–28, 2025 is national Public Schools Week (PSW25), a time to honor the incredible work of our public schools and the educators, staff, parents, and school board members dedicated to supporting students. This year’s theme is Community Engagement and we are fortunate to have so many amazing One Newport community partners who support our students and our schools. Thank you to everyone who plays a part in Newport Public Schools and helps to provide our students with the quality public education they deserve!