Superintendent's Message

Dear Newport Schools Parents, Families, and Staff:

Welcome to April!

Testing: Starting this week we are in a critical period of state mandated assessments for all of our students. Our Rogers students are taking their SAT and PSAT exams this week, and our Pell and Thompson students are sitting down for their RICAS English Language Arts, and Math & Science tests beginning next week. Parents/families, check in with your student every school day this week. Make sure they get a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast so they are rested and ready for exams. And of course, we need all of our students in school every day this week and on time. These test results give us the information we use to tailor our curriculum and learning supports. Good luck to all our Rogers, Thompson, and Pell students! You’re going to do great and remember we’re here for you!

Parent/Family Teacher Conferences: I hope that all of our parents who participated in parent/family-teacher conferences on Monday benefited from meeting with our teachers and principals. Thank you for coming out and please remember that our teachers are available to meet with you anytime with advance notice.

We Need Your Feedback - SurveyWorks & Newport-Middletown Coming Together: Speaking of parent/family engagement, we have two important opportunities for you to provide feedback about the future of Newport Public Schools. Please fill out the SurveyWorks so we know what you want for our schools. Use the following links to take the survey based on what school your student attends (Pell Survey, Thompson Survey, Rogers Survey).

Second, as I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, Newport and Middletown Public Schools are in the preliminary stages of exploring the option of coming together as one school district or, at the very least, joining our Central Office District leadership together. Most importantly though, we need to hear from parents, families, and the community. We already have some opinions and ideas on both sides of this discussion- all good points. We already know the school building projects for both communities would receive an 80% or more reimbursement, and other financial benefits. We already know we share a lot of the same curriculum with Middletown, as well as our EBCAP Cozy programs for before and after school in each of the communities. So, what else would you like to see, or not? Please take 5 minutes to share your thoughts using our Regionalization Feedback Form. The more information and feedback we have the better!

Administrator Spotlight & Thanking Our Paraprofessionals & School Librarians: This month we are highlighting the contributions of our talented and dedicated Thompson Middle School Principal Dr. Michael Browner, Jr. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to our students, families, and community! Today is also Paraprofessional Appreciation Day and an opportunity to recognize the contributions of our teacher’s aides, classroom assistants, and other paraeducators who support our students and teachers. We cannot do our jobs without you. Thank you for everything you do! Finally, this Friday is National School Librarian Day. A huge thank you to our school librarians for connecting our students, families, and teachers with amazing books and other resources!

Have a great week of learning and good luck to all of our students as they take exams and assessments this week! Work hard and do well!!

Colleen Burns Jermain, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

A native of Newport, Dr. Browner attended Newport Public Schools (K-12) and is a proud graduate of Rogers High School. Dr. Browner grew up in the Community Baptist Church (Newport) where he attended Sunday school, served as a youth usher and a junior deacon, sang on various choirs, and later served as a choir director and as the church organist. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education/History and a Master of Education in School Administration from Rhode Island College. Dr. Browner earned a Ph.D. in Education from the joint program with The University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College; his dissertation title is: A phenomenological study of perspectives on teacher diversity and the lived experiences of Black public school teachers.

Prior to becoming Principal at Thompson Middle School, Dr. Browner served as a Grade 7 social studies/history teacher at TMS for 23 years (1998-2021). In August of 2021, Dr. Browner accepted a position with the Pawtucket School Department as an Assistant Principal at Charles E. Shea High School, returning to his hometown and TMS in 2022, to resume his passion for teaching as a teacher of grade 5 English language arts. Throughout his career as an educator, numerous awards and other forms of recognition have come to Dr. Browner for his hard work, perseverance, and commitment to the children and families of the city of Newport. Most notably, Dr. Browner was named “Newport Teacher of the Year” for 2007-2008.

Dr. Browner is an active member of the Rhode Island Civic Readiness Task Force, the Rhode Association of School Principals, and the RWU Education Advisory Board. Dr. Browner is a member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church (Providence) where he serves as the church organist, and has been a member of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (RIAGO) since 2006. Dr. Browner has worked in education in Rhode Island since 1998 and, in addition to his work in the realm of K-12, he has also served as an adjunct professor at both Roger Williams University (RWU) and The University of Rhode Island (URI). He was appointed by Gov. McKee in October, 2024 to the RI Ethics Commission and is very passionate about this work and upholding the mission of the Ethics Commission.

In March, Automotive students had fun building a kit car that will be the foundation of a vehicle which will be used to compete against other CTE programs in an event called Greenpower F24 also known as the Greenpower Electric Car Challenge. The event is a hands-on STEM project that encourages students to explore aspects of design and teamwork. Participating students will have the opportunity to connect with peers, other career and technical staff, and a mentor from the RI Computer Museum to customize a formula-24 car kit as a real-world exploration of STEM careers.

This is the first year NACTC Automotive is participating. Since the main elements of the car are completed, over the next month they will collaborate with students from Ad Design and Construction Technology to create an exterior body and add the finishing “NACTC touch.”

As mentioned above, please don't forget to complete the Rhode Island Department of Education’s annual SurveyWorks survey by this Saturday. We need ALL of our Newport Public Schools families to take the survey to share your feedback. Please fill out the survey for the school your child attends:

• Claiborne Pell Elementary School

• Frank E. Thompson Middle School

• Rogers High School

Are you getting ready to graduate and looking for a career plan? Electric Boat is holding a series of career info sessions where you can learn about 3 different trade areas and next steps for training and employment opportunities. Spots are filling up fast, so open the attached flyer and sign up ASAP!

RENEWport Newport Together Event Series- April is going to be a fun filled month!!! See all the calendar events below!