Smithfield High School Principal's Blog – Page 2 – The SHS Principal's Blog provides the latest in news and updates on the events at Smithfield High School.
The 14th Annual College Planning Forum is for students with disabilities, 504 plans and other challenges, as well as their parents and school personnel. This informative, no cost event, provides first-hand experiences along with tips to better prepare for a successful college transition. Light lunch will be served, registration is required.
Spring sports will be starting soon. A number of spring teams have already had their sign-up meetings. If you missed the meeting you can still sign up. Please reach out the head coach or stop by and see our athletic director.
The course selection process has begun. Our annual course fair will take place on Wednesday during the school day. If you have any questions regarding the selection process, please visit the Program of Studies website or contact your child’s counselor.
The SHS Music Department has been rehearsing for the spring musical, The Little Mermaid, which opens on March 8th. The shows are Friday and Saturday, March 8th and 9th at 7:00pm and Sunday, March 10th at 2:00pm. Tickets are $10 ($5 4/under) and can be purchased in advance or at the door.
I hope everyone enjoys a couple of days off. We look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday, February 20, 2019.
SHS is proud to partner with Fidelity Investments to provide a copy of What The Eyes Don’t See for every ninth grader. This non-fiction text investigates the Flint water crisis.
SHS is hosting a College Information Panel on March 12th @ 6pm in the auditorium. The focus of the event (college application, financial aid, best-fit schools, essay writing, etc) is geared toward grade 11 students but all parents and students are welcome.
Lot’s of SHS athletes competing this past weekend. Congratulations to the following.
The girls swim team was unable to defend their state championship and finished third at the Division 3 State Meet.
The JV Girls basketball team won their first game of the JV State Tournament but got knocked out in the next round.
The varsity boys 4×800 team finishes in 8:39 to end the season, 7th place overall, but breaking their own school record at the RI State Indoor Track Meet.
Outdoor track sign-ups will take place on February 26th at 2 pm.
Boys tennis is still looking for players for the spring season.
This past week was School Counseling Week. I wanted to take a moment to thank our school counselors for everything they do to support our students. They wear many hats each day, from counselor to therapist to confidant to cheerleader. We appreciate them!!!!
Second quarter and first semester grades are finalized. Parents and students may log into Infinite Campus to review them. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the specific teacher or your child’s school counselor.
The SHS Parent Council will have its monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, at 7 pm in the Media Center.
This month’s guest speakers are pharmacists from CVS. Gabrielle Dziuba and Cassandra Conte will present a program called One Choice. This presentation will focus on prescription drug misuse. Check out the flyer for more information.
Hard to believe but spring sports start in less than a month. Pitchers and catchers report March 11th and all spring sports begin March 18th. There will be a boys tennis meeting on Monday, February 11 at 2 pm for those students interested in playing tennis. Baseball will have their meeting on Wednesday, February 13 at 7 am in the gym.
Reminder….No School on February 18 & 19 for mid-winter break.
Eva Chaput’s artwork was selected to appear in the RI State House artwork exhibition highlighting exemplary art students of all grade levels in our state. The piece that was chosen was a mixed media work that included a beautiful rendering of her family vacation home with figure drawings of herself as a baby, toddler, child, and teenager. Eva and her family have been invited to a reception at the statehouse to celebrate this honor.
A few SHS students worked with students at Bryant University as part of the Bryant University Chinese New Year Celebration. Led by Kathy Qi, Norin, Madeline, Leah, Sophia, Ashley, and Emma performed a Chinese Paper Umbrella Dance. Their performance was chosen the best of the day!
A few pics taken by Mare Studios from recent basketball games.
Due to dangerously cold temperatures in the Midwest, and cold/flu outbreaks throughout the U.S., our sister blood centers are struggling to meet blood and platelet donation collection goals for patients and hospitals. These combined factors are a perfect storm resulting in an urgent need for more donors everywhere. Rhode Island Blood Center donors are needed to help bring the blood supply up to safe levels!
The Raymond C. Laperche Elementary School blood drive is Monday, February 11th from 3pm to 7pm in the Cafeteria. Please help us get the word out to donors to make it a priority to give blood at this drive. ALL BLOOD TYPES ARE NEEDED, especially type O- and B-. Ultimately, all donations are heading to help someone else fighting for their lives! Little Rhody may be small, but we have big hearts and an amazing, giving community. Thank you!
The AP tests will be ordered on 2/15. The cost is $94 for each test. Students need to get their payment to Ms. Koller by February 15th. Checks should be made out to Smithfield High School. Any student having difficulty paying for the test should see Ms. Koller by February 7th.
Congratulations to the 49 seniors inducted into the National Honor Society this past week! How fortunate they were to hear such an inspirational speech delivered by Smithfield High School alum, Erik Deneault ’97, centered around the importance of service.
SHS was well represented at the Winter RIIL Leadership Seminar.
The SHS National Honor Society, the Little Heroes Fund, and the Matt Light Foundation helped bring some Patriots spirit to SHS this past Friday. Our students brought in canned goods and peanut butter for local food banks.
The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is urging families to encourage good health habits to prevent the spread of norovirus, flu, and other respiratory illnesses currently circulating throughout the state. The most common causes of illness are flu and norovirus, but there are many viruses that circulate this time of year.
The flu circulates in Rhode Island most years through the end of the spring. It’s not too late to get vaccinated. Flu shots are available in pharmacies (for adults) and doctors’ offices. If you or your child do catch the flu, prescribed antiviral drugs (not antibiotics) may reduce some of the symptoms.
Stay home if you are sick and keep children home from school if they are sick.
Cough or sneeze into your elbow.
Wash your hands often throughout the day. Use warm water and soap. If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based hand gel.
Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone.
Norovirus is a highly contagious stomach illness that can cause people to have extreme vomiting and/or diarrhea for 24-48 hours. (It is often called by other names, such as stomach flu or food poisoning.) Norovirus is found in the stool and vomit of an infected person. People can become infected by eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated with norovirus; touching surfaces or objects that are contaminated with norovirus, and then placing their hand in their mouth; eating food that is prepared by an infected person; or being in the same room when an infected person vomits.
Wash your hands carefully with soap and water, especially after using the toilet and changing diapers and always before eating or preparing food.
After an episode of vomiting or diarrhea, immediately clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces by using a bleach-based household cleaner as directed on the product label or a solution made by adding 5-25 tablespoons of household bleach to 1 gallon of water.
Do not prepare food while sick. People who are infected with norovirus should not prepare food for others while they have symptoms and for 3 days after they recover from their illness.
With hospital emergency departments throughout the state seeing high volumes of patients, RIDOH reminds everyone that going to an emergency department for most cases of norovirus and less severe cases of flu, will likely result in long waits because emergency department staff prioritize more serious injuries and illnesses. If you are not sure if you or your child need to go to the emergency department, contact your primary care provider. A primary care provider will be able to give you guidance about the next best step for you or your child. (Most offices have physicians on-call after hours.) Urgent care and express care facilities are also a good alternative to the emergency department. RIDOH maintains a list of non-emergency care locations in Rhode Island at http://health.ri.gov/find/urgentcare.
Interested in serving the community of Smithfield??? Smithfield Rotary is looking for new members. Check out more information here.
Check out the latest from our school hashtag #SHSLegacy.
Who thinks the day after the Superbowl should be a holiday? Go Pats!
First semester grades will be finalized by February 4th. Any incompletes must be completed by February 8th.
The community of Smithfield can stay current with the budget process by checking this site each week. The Budget Workshop from this past week may be found here. This workshop focused on staffing across the district. SHS staffing may be impacted significantly. The next Budget Workshop is scheduled for February 4th.
Do you need expert assistance completing the FAFSA form? If you would like to meet with a College Planning Center representative to complete and submit all necessary FAFSA paperwork at Smithfield High School, please contact the guidance office at 349-4744 and book your appointment. Available dates are January 29, February 5th, and February 12th.
You can take the short survey online between January 14th and March 31st. Please check your email for the survey link and the code.
The Rhode Island Foundation recently awarded SHS teacher’s Samantha Armstrong and Megan Hall a significant grant. Samantha Armstrong’s physical science students and Megan Hall’s art students will participate in a cross-curricular unit that investigates the function, history and construction of sundials. Students will begin the project separately, science students focusing on the role sundials played in understanding our heliocentric universe and art students will learn the fundamentals of working with clay. Students will come together in multi-disciplinary teams to create their own functional clay sundials. Congratulations!
I want to remind you that your students’ families can apply for free and reduced lunches at any time during the school year, especially when there’s a change in income. The government shutdown has affected many families. If you have knowledge of a family affected by this, please encourage them to fill out a lunch application.
The first semester ends on Wednesday, January 23rd. Teachers will be finalizing grades this week. We will make an announcement about when grades are final sometime next week.
The Smithfield School Committee has two meetings on Tuesday, January 22. The first meeting is a budget hearing with a specific focus on staffing for next year. The regular meeting begins at 7 pm. Both meetings are in the media center.
The NHS Induction Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, January 23rd. The ceremony begins at 6:o0 pm in the auditorium.
Join us for a screening of “SCREENAGERS: Growing Up in the Digital Age” & moderated panel discussion to follow. This event explores the struggles of tech time/social media, as well as offer solutions to how we can help our children navigate the digital world. Jan 24 6:30pm at Smithfield High School.
Check out the latest school accountability information on the RIDE website. There is a great deal of information on this link.
Our state treasurer recently proposed that all RI students should receive instruction in financial literacy. SHS has had financial literacy as a graduation requirement for a few years now. You can find more information about the story here.
Check out the latest from our schoolwide hashtag!
Winter Ball will take place on Friday, January 18th from 6:30-11. Tickets are no longer on sale for the event. Any student on the list for the Winter Ball may leave at 1:30 pm on the day of the dance. You will need to bring a note from a parent to the main office letting them know of the early dismissal request. This will get you out before the busses. Enjoy the dance.
Parent Council is having a January membership drive. This is your opportunity to earn money for your class funds! For each new membership that a student brings in, he or she will earn $5 toward their class fund. Parent Council will DOUBLE the donations to the class that brings in the most new memberships! The membership drive ends on Friday, February 1st.
Our Unified Sports teams are now on social media. Check them out.
Monday, January 14, 2019, at 4pm in the Smithfield High School Media Center. Come learn about the Smithfield Education Foundation’s mission and how we support the Smithfield Public Schools by awarding grants to teachers.
The Smithfield Education Foundation is looking for new volunteers. If you are interested but cannot attend, please contact us at smithfieldedfoundation@gmail.com.
All are invited to a screening of the documentary, “Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age” on January 24th from 6:30-8:00 at SHS. The event is co-sponsored by our parent organizations. This award-winning documentary and the moderated discussion that follows address the challenges regarding tech time and social media and offers strategies to help our children navigate the digital world.
This is one of two emails Mr. Kelley received after the Smithfield/Coventry boys basketball game on January 7th.
I wanted to reach out to let you know how proud I was of the Smithfield High School community last night at the boy’s basketball game. I attended the game to see one of Coventry’s seniors, Troy Osterhout, hit 1000 points. As you can imagine, we were hoping to have Troy achieve this milestone at a home game, but Smithfield did not disappoint. The athletic director, coaches, score keepers, referees, parents, players, and fans were all so supportive and excited for Troy’s accomplishment. The game stopped, announcements were made, Troy was presented with the game ball, and Smithfield fans were on their feet giving Troy a standing ovation. It was such a touching moment to see players and students rally around an athlete from another high school.
Please let your school community know how grateful Coventry High School is for Smithfield’s hospitality and support last night.
Check out this great video from my good friend Joe Sanfelippo….The Struggle is Real.
Check out the latest news from our schoolwide hashtag.