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The North Kingstown School Committee (NKSC) recently shared the following summary of progress. This progress was made, in partnership with administration, within the the last three months of the 2023-2024 school year and during the summer months.
Honoring Accomplishments & Recognition
Over the past three months, NKSC has recognized the Wickford Wrestling Team, Stony Lane Student Council Environment Team, NKHS Top Ten Students, NKHS Robotics Team, NKHS DECA Students, NKHS Decathlon Students, 2025 NEARI Teaching Excellence Award Winner Angela Boisclair, QuiCK Quidnessett Community Keepers, annual recognition of Pride Month, DMS Robotics Team, DMS MathCounts Team, NKSC Student Representatives Maggie Bush and Rachel Turcotte, Davisville Academy Student Recognition, Jack Reed Senatorial High School Art Competition winners, Wickford Middle School Student Council, and the Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund Poster Contest winners.
Parades
NKSC participated in the town’s Memorial Day celebrations by marching in the parade and attending the ceremonies honoring our country's fallen soldiers.
NKSC participated in the 2nd annual NK Pride Parade to support our LGBTQ community, especially our youth.
Dialogues in Democracy
Bi-annually, the high school hosts Dialogues in Democracy (aka Democracy
Night), which allows students to dialogue with community members, elected officials, and
business leaders about issues facing our communities and consider possible ways of
addressing those identified needs.
The events are open to the public and will be held on January 15 and June 5, 2025.
NKHS Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame
In May, Army Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Thomas S. Vandal was posthumously inducted as the first inductee
into the NKHS distinguished Hall of Fame.
End-of-School Year Events
NKSC attended the high school’s Honors and Scholarship Nights. Hundreds of awards and scholarships were awarded to students as their families and guardians beamed with pride.
We were also privileged to witness other outstanding end-of-year events, including the Quidnessett Elementary school play, grade promotions at various elementary and middle schools, NK elementary school exhibit at Wickford Art Association, elementary field days, and end-of-year concerts.
Community Recognition
NKSC recognized the North Kingstown Police Department’s Anti-Bullying campaign.
NKSC recognized the middle school students who represented North Kingstown in the Metro Regional Tournament as the Rhode Island Little League Champions.
The School Committee and School Administration honored the retirees for whom we are so
grateful for their service to our school community.
● Laurie Croteau, Grade 1 Teacher, Hamilton Elementary
● Norma Caiazza, Music Teacher, North Kingstown High School
● Marea Rice, Reading Specialist, Fishing Cove
● Pamela Rowland, Media Specialist, North Kingstown High School
● Joyce Hannon, Teacher Assistant, North Kingstown High School
● Richard Garland, Business Teacher, North Kingstown High School
● Christine Marks, Clerk, North Kingstown High School
● Maureen McMullen, Speech & Language Pathologist, Forest Park Elementary
● Cynthia Zito, Teacher PASS, North Kingstown High School
● Paula Annenberg, Parent Educator, Office of Family Learning
● Paul Graham, Science Teacher, Wickford Middle School
Senior Projects
The senior project is a graduation requirement in which students choose a topic to research,
propose a project plan, and execute the project using the skills set they’ve gained through their
K-12 education in NK. The presentation is the final step before graduation.
Community members, including local elected officials, are invited to serve as judges.
Graduation
Graduation ceremonies were held for the Class of 2024 on June 13.
Congratulations to all students who received their diplomas, including Valedictorian Zachary DiBiase and Salutatorian Sydney Howell. Kudos to the graduation committee, who organized a well-organized ceremony, and all the students who participated. Norma Caiozo was the student speaker.
Administration Presentations
The administration presented an update on district student attendance on April 1. The
percentage of chronically absent students decreased at all schools from the prior year.
Quidnessett has cut its rate almost in half over the past two years. Strategies are in place within
the schools at all levels (elementary, middle, and high) to make additional improvements, but as
a community, we need to work on addressing the underlying systemic causes.
District Personnel
NKSC is responsible for approving contracts for administrators, guided by recommendations from the superintendent. We were happy to welcome Dr. Frederick Schweizer
as the new principal at Hamilton Elementary, effective July 1.
We also welcomed Christopher Murphy as the new Director of Facilities. Chris joins North Kingstown with over 33 years of operations experience in facilities and operational
management.
We also renewed contracts for our dedicated administrators:
● Barbara Maher, Principal - Davisville Middle School
● Marissa Eisner, Assistant Principal - Davisville Middle School
● Colleen Loughlin, Principal - Fishing Cove Elementary
● Carolyn Johnston, Principal - Quidnessett Elementary
● Patricia Cawley, Supervisor of Child Nutrition Services
● Shawn Petrucci, Assistant Athletic Director
● Kendra Wnuk, Assistant Director of Pupil Personnel Services
● David Tober, Athletic Director
Budget
On April 29, 2024, the Town Council approved a budget for the North Kingstown School
Department of $74,673,654.This budget was particularly challenging as we had to work through
funding costs and positions previously funded by the ESSR grant. We greatly appreciate the
effort from the administration in putting together the budget and the fact that we could retain
positions that directly serve students, such as interventionists, Multilingual Learners (MLL), and
social workers.
Additionally, we maintained offering late buses for students to ensure access to
after-school support and activities. Although the budget wasn’t fully funded, the school
committee and administration will work to ensure that the staff members have what they need to serve our students.
Facilities
NKSC approved bond language and sent their request to the Town Council for a bond referendum totaling $137,201,331.
If approved by the citizens of North Kingstown, the bond would finance the construction, improvement, renovation, furnishing, and equipping of school facilities, including but not limited to a new Wickford Middle school and other capital improvements to school facilities throughout the district. The plan calls for one new 79,500 SF net zero-ready school at the existing Wickford Middle School site, with repairs and renovations at all other district schools, including Davisville Middle Schools.
NKSC approved the allocation of $352,000 from the district’s unrestricted fund
balance towards the Stage II Professional Design, Engineering, and Consulting services from
Perkins Eastman. These are the costs for the work needed to bring the district to the point of
submitting the Stage II paperwork with RIDE on September 15.
The HVAC upgrade for the D building was approved. The total cost of the project is $540,130. The upgrade will be paid for by using $360,000 from previously approved ESSER III funds, an additional $150,130 from ESSER III funds that were able to be reallocated towards this project, and $30,000 from Perkins Grant money for electrical work for machines. Machinist CTE Partnership with Electric Boat was also approved by the school committee with this approval. EB will be providing funding towards equipment in the amount of $250,000 for this program.
The fence at Hamilton Elementary, which was approved in March but then put on hold due to
concerns over placement, has been installed. The location was changed based on feedback
from the HES community.
Policies
The policy subcommittee meets multiple times a month, and the following policies have been
reviewed, revised, and approved by the full School Committee:
● GCCAC - Family and Medical Leave
● BCF - Policy Manual Advisory Committees and Liaisons
● BE - School Committee Meetings
● KF.1 - Community Use of School Facilities and Grounds
● GCCAB - Investigation and Administrative Leave
● JLCF - Administration of Medical Marijuana
● IJOA - Field Trips
● IJOB - Community Resources Persons/Speakers
● JLCE - Policies and Procedures Emergency and First Aid
● ACD- TitleIX Policy and Grievance Procedures
Policy Subcommittee meetings are open to the public. The dates are listed on the NKSD
website. The next meeting is scheduled for September 16, 2024, at 5:45 pm. There is time for
citizens to comment on policies on the agenda or policies they would like to be created or
reviewed. Follow this link for a list of all NKSD policies.
Grants
The Rhode Island Department of Education created a new initiative to enable schools to reduce
their carbon footprints by eliminating polystyrene foodservice materials and diversifying food
waste from the state’s landfill. NKSD applied for and was awarded a grant of $195,000. NKSD
chose a compostable service ware project because it was the more achievable program to
implement at the school at this time; it aligns with the District’s overall plan to move to
compostable service ware over time and, most importantly, allows students to play an active role
in the school’s waste reduction, Focusing on composting and recycling as proposed, will offer a
hands-on way for students to learn about the connections between the waste humans generate,
environmental impacts, and climate change.
Congratulations to Patricia Cawley from Food Services, the Forest Park Student Council, and Sherri Kennedy, Forest Park PTO President, for securing this grant for the District.
Program of Study/Class Rank
After discussions with administration and hearing feedback from parents, the program of study
for the 2024-2025 school year was changed to reflect the following: “Beginning with the class of
2020, students’ rank in class will not be published. The class Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and
top ten students will be determined by the 7th semester weighted GPA. If at the end of the year,
another student achieves a weighted GPA that is above or equal to the ones identified in the 7th
semester, the student will be announced as co-valedictorian or co-salutatorian, whichever is
appropriate. Effective with the program of studies for the 2024-2025 school year, if class rank is
necessary for scholarship or college admissions, a student or their parent/guardian can request
the information through the school counseling office after the student’s 6th semester.”
Previously, rank could not be obtained at all before the 7th semester.
School Committee Documents
The School Committee issues official correspondence as a body from time to time. The
documents can be found here.
School Committee Communication
The School Committee has a centralized email address, schoolcommittee@nksd.net, which is
sent to all school committee members. A committee member will recaps emails sent to this
address during a "correspondence" section at each school committee meeting.
School Committee Meetings
We typically meet at the Central Administration Building every other Tuesday at 7 pm. The dates
and agenda are published on the NKSC Meeting Calendar Website. There is time for citizen
comments (5 minutes on any subject), but you can also attend and just listen. You do not need
to be a North Kingstown resident to speak at our meetings.
School Committee meetings are live-streamed and recorded if you cannot participate in a meeting but want to watch.
School Committee "Office" Hours NKSD
The School Committee also holds office hours throughout the year to allow community members
to speak to two school committee members in a more casual setting. These will be posted on
the NKSD website as scheduled, but not recorded or posted. If a community group or PTO
would like to host an Office Hour with their members please contact Jennifer Lima at
Our next office hour will be at the North Kingstown Free Library at 6:00 p.m. on September 17. We look forward to continuing to work together to support the North Kingstown School District.
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