Good Afternoon,
I hope everyone had some time to rest and enjoy a much needed winter break last week. We are excited to look forward to spring and continue to strive to provide the best educational experience for each child who attends EWG schools.
Here are some important updates and reminders:
We continue to monitor our student attendance, as this is a district and state goal for all Rhode Island schools. Last year, more than one out of every four children were chronically absent. This has a dramatic impact on overall student achievement. Thank you for helping us to make regular school attendance a priority. As of today, here is the status of our schools:
Metcalf Elementary - Current chronic absenteeism rate: 11.6% (compared to 18.1% at this time last school year)
Wawaloam Elementary - Current chronic absenteeism rate: 13.7% (compared to 24.7% at this time last school year)
EWG Senior High - Current chronic absenteeism rate: 15.7% (compared to 20.1% at this time last school year)
EWG Junior High - Current chronic absenteeism rate: 16.5% (compared to 22.5% at this time last school year)
In my last communication, I shared some information about the annual survey that is now open to the public. Principals from each school have shared highlights about their schools, and I have previously shared several items from my "most proud" list as well. Here are a couple more for your consideration...
For the first time in EWG, we added a Transition Program for our 18-21 year old students who qualify for extended services to support their transition into adulthood. In the past, students received those services through an outside agency, outside of the district. The program has been a remarkable success. Students have become more involved in their home communities, have participated in supervised/supported employment and volunteer activities, and continue to build life skills for increasing independence. One of our students has even secured paid employment! Our Transition Program teacher, Carol Spaulding, was recognized at the January 12th Providence Bruins game as an outstanding and impactful educator for the work she and her staff have done with this new program.
Based on feedback from our community, we have implemented some after-school extracurricular program opportunities at Metcalf School. Parents and children have expressed a desire for us to provide experiences to engage our Metcalf students outside of the typical school day. Many of the children have participated, and many of our staff members have volunteered to supervise and facilitate the activities. It has been a huge success - and I am pleased to report that we have included funding to expand these opportunities in our school budget proposal for next school year.
We really do take your feedback seriously and we are always looking for ways to improve. Your input is valuable and necessary. I encourage you to take the time to complete the annual Survey Works family survey.
As always, please reach out with any questions or feedback. If there is anything you would like addressed in my next update, let me know!
Sincerely,
James Erinakes
Superintendent