Monday, March 25, 2013
East Providence art teacher Amanda Rapoza is creating a mural as a thesis project; she describes what she is working on in this video.
East Providence art teacher Amanda Rapoza is creating a mural at Martin Middle School with a lot of help from her students and fellow teachers. The kids are being asked to create leaves for a tree that describes who they are. It's a mural that will become her master's thesis at Rhode Island College. Rapoza is the best person in the world to describe her project. See the video to hear all about it in her own words.
Kimberly Mercer steps in as new East Providence superintendent of schools starting this morning.
East Providence's new superintendent of schools was scheduled to start the transition of taking over the department this morning. Kimberly Mercer, the deputy superintendent in Pawtucket for 11 years, is expected to work for a week with Interim Superintendent John DeGoes before he departs. She will move into the position even though the East Providence Budget Commission must still sign off on her employment contract. That is expected to be just a formality with Mercer on board already. The School Committee voted unanimously on March 12 to approve her. The vote was hardly unexpected. She was the only finalist selected by the search committee, which included Budget Commission Chair Diane Brennan. “We got a clear recommendation for Ms. Mercer…
Friday, March 22, 2013
The annual Martin Middle School PTO-sponsored event will run from 9 am to 3 pm at the school on Brown Street.
It’s spring, and that means its time for the annual Martin Middle School PTO “Spring Fair." The PTO-sponsored event runs tomorrow, March 23, from 9 am to 3 pm at the school on Brown Street. The spring fair dates back to 1999 when the middle school made the transition from a junior high. It includes games, raffles, a silent auction, a penny social and a bazaar table. The MMS Mural project also will begin at the fair. Students are encouraged to help art teachers decorate a new school mural and then visit the Scholastic Book Fair in the school library. The fair also includes the “MMS Idol Contest” at 1pm in the auditorium. It will be hosted by the middle school drama club. Vendors this year, according to a Patch post, include Pampered Chef…
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Donna Rapoza of East Providence's Myron J. Francis Elementary School received the honor recently.
An East Providence teacher has been selected as the physical education educator of the year in Rhode Island. Donna Rapoza, of the Myron J. Francis Elementary School in Rumford, received the honor recently, according to eastbayri.com. Officially, the award is for the Rhode Island Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (RIHPERD) Teacher of the Year. Rapoza has been an East Providence teacher for 34 years – the last four at Francis School. “It makes me proud,” said said in the eastbayri.com story. “I’m proud of the fact that my peers picked me. I’m proud that even after 34 years of teaching I still love what I do.” Classroom methodologies, lesson plans and past accomplishments are among the criteria for the annual award. With the …
Monday, March 18, 2013
By the end of this week, more than $37,000 worth of cameras and access-control equipment will be added to East Providence's secondary schools.
By the end of this week, more than $37,000 worth of new security equipment is expected to be installed in East Providence’s secondary schools. Anthony Feola, a facilities manager for the East Providence Public Schools, and East Providence Police Lt. David Blinn made that report to the School Committee last week. The new equipment includes 16 additional cameras at East Providence High School, and new access-control equipment to Martin and Riverside Middle Schools and the Career and Technical Center next to the high school. The equipment is being purchased by the East Providence Police Department for the schools with a Homeland Security grant earmarked for the city. The cameras will be added to the 15 already in the hallways, staircases and…
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Emma Whiteknact School launches a Math-Poetry Project that will publish an all-school book.
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Thursday, February 21
Emma Whiteknact Elementary School kicked off last Friday, Feb. 15, a Math Poetry Project with the "Tandem Tellers" storytellers. Students were entertained with stories, songs, and poems by Anne-Marie Forer and Cindy Killavey, the "Tandem Tellers." The storytellers focused on math concepts in their stories and the children sang a math song. This week, students will be given poetry journals and Killavey, a folk artist, will work with each classroom to inspire students to write their math poems. The goal is to publish an all-school math poetry book to share with the students and their families. The project is funded by a $595 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts grant. The RISCA grant complements a $3,000 Crayola Creatively Alive Children …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The East Providence Budget Commission approves spending for new access-control and 16 more hallway cameras at the high school, middle schools and technical center.
Security at East Providence’s secondary schools will be beefed by the police department by the end of March. The East Providence Budget Commission approved the spending of $37,150 in asset-forfeiture cash to add access-control equipment to the Martin and Riverside middle schools, and the Career and Technical school next to the high school, and 16 more cameras to the 15 that are already installed in the hallways, staircases and common areas at the high school. The money for the security cameras is actually coming from a Homeland Security fund earmarked for the Providence urban area. That money will reimburse the police department for the cameras. The access-control cameras will be aimed at the entrances to the middle schools and career …
Friday, February 15, 2013
East Providence Interim Superintendent John DeGoes sees a lot of good and not so good in the NECAP achievement scores released last week.
Student achievement in East Providence seems to be moving in the right direction, according to Interim Superintendent John DeGoes. He is basing that assessment on the most recent NECAP achievement test scores, which were released a week ago by the RI Department of Education (RIDE). “There were a lot of areas where we did well,” he said. “There are others where we’re struggling.” He pointed to significant gains at the high school and Martin Middle School in reading and mathematics over the past five years – 20- and 14-point gains in reading and 13- and 11-point gains in math since 2008. And Hennessey School has gone up 17 points in reading over the past five years. Unfortunately, the mathematics scores all the way through the elementary …
Monday, February 11, 2013
Streets, sidewalks, parking lots in good enough shape to reopen the East Providence Public Schools on Tuesday.
There will be school in East Providence Tuesday. The streets and sidewalks near all of the city schools and the parking lots at them are all in good enough shape to open the schools, said City Manager Peter Graczykowski. The schools will reopen after a couple of days of closure wrapped around the weekend of the Blizzard of 2013. "We still need to ask people to clear the snow from their sidewalks," said Graczykowski. "We're not going after anyone right away. But we want to keep students off the streets."
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The East Providence Budget Commission signs off on the plan to close Oldham Elementary School and move all of its students and staff to Meadowcrest.
The shutters were closed on Oldham Elementary School in Riverside on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 31. The East Providence Budget Commission approved the recommendation by Interim Superintendent John DeGoes and the East Providence School Committee to close the school at the end of this year. The budget board left the implementation of the closure plan and the costs that will be incurred up to the administration to address at future budget commission meetings. “There will be a financial impact,” said Diane Brennan, chair of the budget commission. “I’m looking to the administration to come back to us." The city’s smallest elementary school is being closed almost entirely for financial reasons – it needs more than $2.1 million in health and …
Team Dawg
7:14 pm on Saturday, March 30, 2013
As children's book authors and character education/anti-bullying workshop presenters we believe that building good character at a young age is paramount to a child's education and development. It is important that they realize that they are as vital a part in their communities and schools as anyone else. Amanda, your project will go a long way towards helping your students to learn that valuable … more ›