Middle School Matters
November 6, 2023
Be Safe. Be Respectful.
Be Responsible. Be Ready to Learn
The Mission of Portsmouth Middle School is to create a strong and safe learning environment: promote social, emotional and physical well-being and to provide opportunities for each student, to the best of their ability, to meet high academic standards, develop responsibility, and achieve the positive social values and behaviors to become productive citizens.
Can the Coordinators!
Get ready to Can the Coordinators with our Thanksgiving Food Drive!!
Who: All students and staff
What: Fill up the offices of our Coordinators of Student Life with nonperishable food items to benefit those in our community.
Where: Grades 5 and 7 - Mr. Gonsalves' Office
Grade 6 and 8 - Mrs. Pritchard's Office
When: 11/1-11/10
Which office will fill up first?
Submissions will be collected from November 1st to November 17th. Any type of artwork can be submitted as long as it is created on their own time. Name and learning center on the back and the artwork can be submitted to Mrs. Cavaco in the art room.
The winning artwork will be displayed in the SmArt gallery in the front of the school for the upcoming art show on November 27th. Winners will receive a certificate and prize as well.
Here is the flyer.
Mustache Dash Success!
Congratulations to all who participated in the 2023 Mustache Dash! Here is the list of Mustache Dash Finishers!
Top 3 Runners:
Greyson Barth
Grayson Sanders
Ryan Love
Faculty
Best Mustache Award - Karyn Straka
Parent/Teacher Conferences
If you feel you are going to need a parent meeting, more formal and longer in length than our conference times, those can be scheduled with the team of teachers outside of the parent/teacher conference style conferences. Three dates will be offered for Parent/Teacher Conferences:
11/15 - 3:00-5:00
11/29 - 4:00-6:00
12/13 - 5:00-7:00
Portsmouth Middle School @the PBruins!
Come and join the PBruins for Portsmouth MIddle School night! There is a link to the flyer here. There will be a God Bless America Performance by the members of our very own PMS chorus on Sunday, December 17th at 4:05pm! Group rate tickets are $25 and all kids receive a FREE P-Bruins Hat!
From the PTO: Boost Fundraiser info
Portsmouth Middle School families,
The day is here! You can now SIGN UP for our PMS Booster Bash! Our goal is to raise
$8,000 for outdoor improvements, field trips, and enrichment. Creating your page for the
fundraiser is easy and free! And if you and your student sign up before kickoff - your
student could win a $50 gift card!
⭐️Sign up now on MYBOOSTER.COM ⭐️
Be sure to check out the easy sharing functions on MYBOOSTER.COM in order to send
your custom fundraising page to family and friends.
Thank you for working with us to make our school stronger. We are grateful for your
support!
PMS PTO
PTO Board Openings next school year
Please see the letter linked here from the PTO regarding board openings for next school year.
School Meals Program
Breakfast, lunch, and milk are available for purchase for all PMS students.
Full price breakfast is $1.00 and lunch is $2.60. If your family qualifies for reduced prices, breakfast is $0.30 and lunch is $0.40. Milk is offered for $0.55 as a stand alone item.
Apply for free or reduced lunch only by visiting this site: My School Apps.
Payment for breakfast, lunch, and milk can be made online at MySchoolBucks. Your student's LASID will be needed to create and make payments.
You may also send cash or a check to school with your child's name, LASID, and amount included. If paying by check, checks should be made payable to Portsmouth School Department with your child's LASID noted on the memo line. Send a separate check for each child in your family as payments cannot be split between accounts.
Keeping your balance paid in full is very important.
Per the PSD policy, "Elementary and middle school students may not purchase "a la carte" items (i.e. milk) or snacks until all charges on the account have been satisfied." Your child's LASID may be found in your Aspen portal.
Locker Update
The order of locks has come in. We are currently cataloging them in our database system and will short for a quarter 2 locker hand out. We will send out a communication once we go online with the lockers with students.
Additional After School Help!
Join us Thursday afternoons starting November 2nd, to team up with a National Honor Society high school student! They are ready to help you with your homework, give you some tips and strategies to master your academics, and assist you with your assignments. Make arrangements for a ride home or sign up for the late bus. Please sign up using the link here.
Flu/COVID Booster Clinic returning to PMS
Please see the linked brochure here for the next flu clinic being offered at the middle school. This clinic will also have the COVID booster.
From our School Counseling Office
There will be a free Thanksgiving dinner available to all community members at the Portsmouth United Methodist Church located at 2732 East Main Road on Thursday, November 23rd from 1:00-3:00 P.M.
Community Winter Programming
Please see the linked flier regarding a winter soccer program.
Please see the linked flier regarding winter basketball programming.
Drill Information
Fire drills occur on a regular basis. State law requires each school to conduct eleven fire drills, two lockdown drills and two evacuation drills each year. Shelter in Place drills are conducted throughout the school year. Children are given instruction on all procedures. Children are expected to behave in a calm, orderly manner during these exercises. Please review the importance of such exercises with your child and emphasize the need for appropriate behavior.
A lockdown is an alert to a school community that students and staff should not leave the classroom and should gather in one area of the room until provided with further direction.
An evacuation requires all students and staff to exit the building and meet at a designated safe place.
A shelter in place is an alert to a school community that movement outside of classrooms is being restricted for a brief period of time. It is typically used when a student or staff member is requiring some sort of attention (sometimes medical) and the school is trying to keep that area clear and/or protect that person’s privacy. If there were a serious safety concern the school would not issue a shelter in place.
We will send notification of lockdowns, evacuations, and shelter in place drills and events via email.
Need Help with Aspen?
For access to your child's schedule and grades, please log in to the Aspen Portal.
If you are having issues accessing Aspen, please email familyportal@portsmouthschoolsri.org with your child's name, date of birth, grade level, and your name. The system administrators will be able to restore access to your account and make sure that you can login.
Reminders
- Students should come to school with a charged Chromebook
- Students should come to school with a reusable water bottle.