January Newsletter
Oakland Beach - Lippitt - Norwood - Hoxsie - Scott
January, 2024
What’s happening in January?
Happy New Year! We hope your family had a wonderful Holiday Break. We are starting another round of Parenting Partners at the end of this month. This group will meet on Mondays starting January 29th at Lippitt Elementary and is open to ALL Title I school community members. I highly encourage you to come connect with other parents and discover more ways to support your child's growth. As parents, we all want the best for our children and Parenting Partners is an incredible program designed to strengthen school communities. Mondays can be rough, but we guarantee they will become your [second] favorite day of the week! (we can’t compete with Friday) We’re providing free childcare AND dinner for your family so that you, the adult(s), can laugh and have a wonderful experience with other parents. 100% of past participants in Warwick recommend this program to others. Seriously, we make you take a short survey at the end and the results speak for themselves. If you haven’t been to this workshop yet, you’re missing out, RSVP today!
Monday, January 22nd, 6 PM - Internet Safety with The RI State Police
The RI State Police will share information regarding cyber security, social media, child predators, and other related content. This event is for adults only due to the content being shared and discussed and can be triggering for those with a history of abuse. It is never too early or too late to educate ourselves on safe internet use, RSVP here.
Hoxsie Happenings
Welcome back Hawks! I hope you all enjoyed your festivities over winter break. Holiday cookies and Christmas lights are high on my list of favorites this time of year! As we step into 2024 and before our calendars begin to fill up once again – take a moment to add these 3 important dates!
Friday, January 12th, 10-11 AM - Coffee Hour in the Family Center. All are welcome to attend! An opportunity to meet other parents and join in the discussion. This month will conclude promptly at 11am as our new Resource Teacher, and family center roomie, Miss. Odell has a scheduled group at that time. We hope to see you there!
Wednesday, January 24th 5-6 PM- Kindness Counts! Save the date for this engaging family event! More information to come.
Questions or concerns, please email Ms. Cassidy: cassidy.kamer@warwickschools.org
Life at The Beach
Afterschool programming is going well, first trimester programming is coming to an end while the next round of programs is beginning. Children from the Gamm Theater group performed for their families, Students in the Roger Williams Zoo program got to meet and learn about many animals, including turtles, hedgehogs, snakes, and even scorpions! The Kindergarteners had many exciting holiday activities including building gingerbread houses and hosting a Polar Express event. The entire school participated in the "Reindeer Games", which was a day filled with learning, exciting games, and lots of laughter.
We will be having our monthly coffee hour, an opportunity for parents and guardians to sit down with Principal Yates and Ms. Corriea, on January 25th starting at 8:30 AM. Please enter through door D15 over by the bus lane and Westbay School.
Noteworthy at Norwood
Yoga with Miss Bonnie begins on Tuesday, January 30th.
A five-week session that runs on Tuesday evenings from 6-7:15. The dates are Jan.30, Feb.6, Feb. 13, Feb. 27, and March 5. Registration information will be shared soon!
Lippitt Lately
Welcome back, Leopards! I hope you had a wonderful holiday break. We have several things happening this January.
Monthly Coffee Hour, Tuesday, January 9th at 8:45 AM. This month we will focus on our School Improvement Plan, we hope you will join us to provide valuable insight as to how we can improve our school community in several key focus areas.
Heroes Unite! Wednesday, January 17th from 6-7 PM. Join other families with children in kindergarten, first, and second grade, as students make their very own superhero mask, cape, and cuffs! Because space is limited you must register to attend this event, please do so here. We have created an age limitation for this activity because it will be most exciting for our younger students, and create a great opportunity for parents of this younger age group to make connections.
Status at Scott
Join Mrs. Sullivan and Mr. Smith for Coffee & Connections, on Monday, January 22nd at 9 AM.
Save The Dates!
Quick & Easy Family-Friendly Meals with URI SNAP-Ed at the Warwick Public Library, February 27th.
Our annual Mental Health & Wellness Fair will take place on Wednesday, May 1st at Veterans Middle School.
What’s Happening in Our Schools?
Norwood Elementary is ready to ROCK Indoor Recess
Cold, icy, and snowy weather is a sure bet in a Rhode Island winter, so school playgrounds can become less than ideal or even dangerous. Warwick’s Norwood Elementary principal Sabrina Antonelli says “Recess is sometimes one of the most important parts of the day for student socialization and activity,” so she makes sure her students still get daily recess, even if it has to be indoors.
Norwood is part of the Recess Rocks in RI family (a program partnership from BCBSRI, Playworks New England, and RI Healthy Schools Coalition), having had a team participate in an initial two-day core training plus a Youth Leadership training. This school year, Norwood hosted the annual RRIRI Active Indoor Recess workshop. Principal Antonelli and staff from other schools across the state were taught games and strategies by the Playworks coach to plan for kids to safely get the wiggles out in an indoor space. Says Antonelli, “The games provide an excellent way to get kids to collaborate and work together, using teamwork, turn-taking, sportsmanship, problem-solving, and verbal, as well as nonverbal communication”. A lot of learning happens at recess!!
Norwood Elementary is going into its fourth year as a Recess Rocks in RI school. Last year, they added a Junior Coach program after participating in the Recess Youth Leadership training. Fourth and fifth-grade students sign up to assist younger grades at recess and get them engaged in the game of the week that Norwood features. The game can be introduced in class, during SEL time, in PE, or during lunchtime before students head out to recess. Junior coaches learn the game of the week every Monday and can lead it on the playground or indoors during recess. 
As part of RRIRI Active Indoor Recess Week, those who attended the workshop or registered and reported daily program activities were eligible to win raffle prizes for their school. Last year, Norwood Elementary won a visit from Providence College Friar student-athletes, who joined the Norwood kids at recess for play and talked about the importance of being active, being a good student, and being a good/kind team player and friend. Join the RRIRI Facebook group to learn some new games and share with others to improve YOUR recess!
- Source, Rhode Island Healthy Schools Coalition