SPS Weekly Newsletter

This week's header photo features Dawe School staff gathered around Mr. Cancellieri at the end of the assembly to celebrate him winning the MSAA Elementary School Principal of the Year award. Dawe staff wore faux tattoo sleeves to match Mr. C's real tattoos!

Following the good news about the building project ballot question passing last week, we had more reasons to celebrate this week. Further down in this newsletter you’ll read about our celebration for Rob Cancellieri, the Massachusetts School Administrators' Association (MSAA) Elementary School Principal of the Year, and how we honored the cast and crew from the Stoughton High Theatre Program's state finals winning production of Anon(ymous). Always nice to head into a school vacation week on a positive note.

I am wishing all Stoughton Public Schools families, students, staff, and community members a restful and relaxing April vacation week spent with family and friends. I am looking forward to seeing you when we return to school on April 28. When we return from vacation, it is a busy time of year with Town Meeting coming up, spring events, MCAS and AP tests. We’ll also be sharing information about bus registration for next school year after the vacation week and will also share info about our limited summer fee-based programs, so stay tuned.

Have a great holiday weekend and a great vacation.

Sincerely,

Joseph F. Baeta, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Stoughton Public Schools

The Dawe School celebrated Principal Rob Cancellieri on Thursday to honor him for being named the 2025 Massachusetts School Administrators' Association (MSAA) Elementary School Principal of the Year.

Dawe School students and staff and administrators from across the district gathered in the Dawe cafeteria on Thursday for a special assembly for Mr. Cancellieri, or "Mr. C" as he is affectionately known to the Dawe School community. Dawe Assistant Principal Cassie Thibeault ran the event, which was a surprise for Mr. Cancellieri.

Mr. Cancellieri received his official Principal of the Year trophy from MSAA Executive Director. Dr. Bob Baldwin, a special plaque from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Baeta, and even a wrestling style World Championship Principal of the Year belt! Students presented Mr. Cancellieri with a binder of full of reasons why he is a great principal and the 5th grade made a special video (with the help of Dawe Math Instructional Coach Mindy Redman). Dawe teacher Amy DeLello presented a book the staff made with shout outs for Mr. Cancellieri.

Mr. Cancellieri has been the Dawe School Principal for eight years. This is his 14th year working for SPS, teaching fifth grade at the Gibbons Elementary School before becoming Principal at the Dawe. Mr. Cancellieri is also a product of the Stoughton Public Schools, having attended the Hansen Elementary School and O'Donnell Middle School before graduating from Stoughton High School in 2004.

At the April 15th School Committee meeting, Chris Shannon was voted Chair of the School Committee and Armando Barbosa was voted Vice Chair. Congratulations!

We also want to welcome new members Jillian DiStefano and Dr. Jennifer Sears, who both won seats on the School Committee in the April 8 Town Election.

The five-member School Committee is pictured below before the start of the April 15th meeting. Pictured left to right: Armando Barbosa, Jillian DiStefano, Chris Shannon, Dr. Jennifer Sears, and Karen Powers.

The cast and crew from the Stoughton High Theatre Program's state finals winning production of Anon(ymous) were recognized at the School Committee meeting Tuesday night.

Anon(ymous), a modern adaptation of Homer’s “The Odyssey”, which tells the journey of a young refugee from a faraway land and his efforts to reunite with his mother, was Stoughton High's entry to the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild's High School Drama Festival. Stoughton was one of three schools to take home the top prize at the festival, along with Peabody and Milton.

There were more than 100 schools to enter the festival, with just 15 advancing to the finals. Stoughton had previously taken part in the preliminary round on March 1 (serving as one of the host sites) and the semi-final round on March 15, before competing in - and winning - the final round, held March 27-29 in Boston.

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Anon(ymous) and to SHS Theatre Director Kevin Hallock! We are so proud of this amazing accomplishment!

Last Saturday Stoughton High School’s Jazz Combo and Jazz Voices, Directed by Mr. Wang and Mr. Weigel, competed and performed at the MAJE Combo Choir festival, held at Wellesley High School.

Both the Jazz Combo and Jazz Voices received silver medals for their performances!

Caleb Mendonca, Andrew Carlson, and Nicolas Uchani received “Outstanding Musicianship” awards for their performance in the Jazz Combo.

Melodee Aurelien, Gabrielle Paul, and Azalea Torres received “Outstanding Musicianship” awards for their performance in the Jazz Voices.

Congratulations!

The SHS Jazz Combo

The SHS Jazz Voices

Last Saturday, 24 members of the Stoughton HOSA Chapter (Future Health Professionals) attended the state HOSA Conference at Worcester State University. Stoughton High had two students qualify for the International Leadership Conference: Neena Onyeka (2nd place in Medical Assisting) and Anaira Johnson (3rd place in Clinical Specialty). Congratulations!

Here is a look at some of the great artwork on display at the O'Donnell Middle School's recent Knight of Excellence!

The Stoughton Public Schools annual Spring Author Series is back! Students from all of our elementary schools are invited to attend a series of engaging and fun author presentations over the course of four Mondays, starting April 28.

• Monday, April 28 at the Wilkins - Raul the Third
  
  
• Monday, May 5 at the South - Marietta Apollonio
  
  
• Monday, May 12 at the Hansen - David Biedrzycki
  
  
• Monday, May 19 at the Gibbons - Peter Reynolds
  
  

All events are from 5-6pm. The first 75 families at each event will receive a free copy of one of the author’s books. (Please keep in mind that food will not be provided at these events.) Please fill out this Google form to let us know if you plan on attending.

Attention families looking to register for next school year:

The pre-registration portal for preschool, kindergarten, and grades 1-12 for the 2025-2026 school year is open. More information and the link to the pre-registration forms can be found by clicking here.

Please keep in mind:

• Preschool students must be 3 or 4 years of age by August 31, 2025 and be toilet trained. Pre-registration does not guarantee a spot in the preschool program as there are limited spots available.
  
  
• For kindergarten, children must be 5 years old by August 31, 2025. Any student currently attending the Jones Early Childhood Center for preschool that will be entering kindergarten in the fall must still register for kindergarten.
  
  
• Students only need to register for grades 1-12 if they do not currently attend the Stoughton Public Schools.

The Stoughton Public Library is holding a poetry contest as part of the Stoughton Reads Together Program. Students are being asked to write a poem to celebrate friendship and exploration, themes of Stoughton Reads Together! 2025 and its children's book companion The Ship in the Window by Travis Jonker. Children's poems will be displayed in the children's room of the library.

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: