April 19, 2020
To our wonderful East Providence Parents and Guardians,
Here we are, another week in and no clear idea of when things will change. I cannot thank you all enough for the outstanding job you have been doing in supporting the education of your children. In a number of states, schools are simply closed – no formal learning is happening at all. We are confident that when “normal” returns we will hit the ground running. We do not foresee, as is happening in some states, talk about students repeating the year, having extended school days or eliminating vacations. This is because of you and your great efforts and support. Thank you so much.
COVID-19 Report
Governor Raimondo continues to provide her daily briefings (Channel 10 and 12, seven days a week, usually at 1:00 p.m.). The Governor talks about approaching the top of the COVID-19 curve. As we look at our schools and educating our students, we know the curve will not drop off to nothing immediately. More likely, it will take as long to get from the top to the bottom of the curve as it took to get from the bottom to the top – which was two months. We are still waiting for the Governor to announce her plans for reopening the schools – a decision we had hoped to have by now.
We sympathize with our graduating seniors. Graduation is generally a time for great celebrations with family and friends. Unfortunately, as we have learned, celebrations with large numbers of family and friends put far too many people at risk of infection with COVID-19. The High School and District administrations and the High School Improvement Team are meeting to find ways to help our seniors celebrate this milestone event. Seniors will be surveyed for their suggestions. See below for more news for our Class of 2020.
Report Cards
Brighter news – at least for parents if not for students, report cards will be available Wednesday, April 22. To access your child’s report card, go to Skyward and enter your child’s user name and password.
Kindergarten Registration will be On-Line only
Beginning Wednesday, April 8th, the East Providence School Dept. will be accepting on-line registration for Kindergarten SY 2020-21. To be eligible for Kindergarten, children in RI must turn 5 years old on or before September 1st of this year. RI state policy does not permit early entrance and East Providence abides by this policy. Please note that packets must be complete for your child to be considered enrolled. For registration documents, click on Kindergarten Registration Packet and select open link. For further information click on Requirements for School Registration. For other questions and to return completed registration packets, please contact Maria Rodrigues at 401-383-5745 or mrodrigues@epschoolsri.com.
Reading is just so important
If you have not already, there is a great reading resource available for free – the Library of Congress. The Library has hundreds of books for children of all ages (and thousands and thousands of other interesting materials). Reading with your child is a great way to spend quiet time. Go to read.gov.
After you have selected reading materials from read.gov, Take the April Reading Challenge created by Governor Raimondo and Commissioner Infante-Green. They ask all students in Rhode Island to read for at least 20-60 minutes every single day. Pre-K and Kindergarteners should read or be read to at least 20 minutes; Grades 1-3 read at least 30 minutes; Grades 4-5 read at least 45 minutes; Grades 6-12 at least 60 minutes. Of course, if you child wants to curl up with a nice book (or its electronic equivalent) for a few hours, please let them.
School Lunches
With these unsettled times, putting food on the table can be challenging. Free meals are available to anyone who qualified previously and to anyone who is struggling through being laid off or having wages cut. If you have not been receiving meals previously, please email Maria Rodrigues at mrodrigues@epschoolsri.com and let her know how many meals you would like to receive and on which bus route or site. There are no forms to fill out. The bus staff will be distributing the meals, so there is no need to go into the buildings.
For information on where meals will be available, go to the epschoolsri website. Click on News. A complete list of bus routes and times are noted under Meal Distribution Update. Please note, the Pierce Field site is no longer being used.
School Improvement Teams
If you are involved with our School Improvement Teams, and we know many of you are, virtual meetings will be arranged beginning this coming week. Please be on the look out for messages on the Teams.
Keeping in touch
I have been challenging our East Providence educators to maintain their physical fitness during a time when sitting on the couch with a bag of snacks is so inviting. The challenge is a daily three-mile walk. I post a picture of my husband and I on our daily walks. I have also been entering some of our virtual classrooms so as to maintain some contact with students – the most enjoyable part of being Superintendent. I think I have come up with a way to combine the two.
Over the next few days, we will try to work out a schedule where I can do my three-mile walk through East Providence neighborhoods. We will post a schedule so that students, if they want and while maintaining appropriate social distancing, can smile and wave. It’s a big city, so this project may take some time to complete. We will keep you posted.
Sincerely,
Kathryn M. Crowley
Superintendent of Schools
Thank You for watching over our children and their teaches during these trying times!