Good morning,
This week’s Backpack Express is ready for your reading pleasure:
Octoberfest: Once again, I want to thank everyone who made Octoberfest such a fun and successful day. To the many volunteers, thank you for giving your time to help before, during, and after Octoberfest. To the various committee chairs and members, thank you for working so hard to make sure everything was ready for the day. And, to our Co-Chairs (Shae Goodhue, Justine Rua, and Carly Stearnbourne), thank you for the many hours you put in to make sure Octoberfest was so successful. Our students, faculty, staff, and I are so lucky to have such supportive parents. Don’t forget to pick up your Silent Auction items in the office if you “won” anything.
Instruction Opt-Outs: The RI Department of Education has shared new guidance on instructional material opt-outs due to religious objections. Please see the updated process below and note that this is a revision to the instructional material opt out process that was shared at the start of the school year. Pursuant to the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S. 145 S.Ct. 2332, 2360 (2025), parents have the right to remove their children from class when books or other material they sincerely consider to be religiously objectionable are being taught. Parents interested in examining the curricular materials that will be used in their child’s classroom are welcome to contact Ruth Corley, Assistant Superintendent, at corleyr@barringtonschools.org, and make an appointment to do so. If a parent then seeks to have their child opt out of a particular class when material they find religiously objectionable is being taught, they will be provided with a simple form to complete and appropriate arrangements will be made.
PTO Calendar: The PTO has created a calendar for the month of November. You may access it here.
Primrose Hill Spooky Stroll: If you are looking for something fun to do this weekend, Primrose Hill School has their very popular Spooky Stroll this Saturday. Information about this may be found here.
Morning Drop Off: Rainy days means much more traffic at morning drop off. In order to prevent a long back up on Sowams Rd., it is necessary that students get out of the vehicles where there is a sidewalk, especially if a bus/van is unloading. When you wait and pull up and stop again to unload, this creates a traffic jam in the driveway and on Sowams Rd. and could possibly make your child late to school, like it did for some students today.
Vision Screening: Per state regulations, all students will be screened for their vision tomorrow morning (Thursday, October 23, 2025). If your child wears glasses for reading, they need to have them with them. Mrs. Mungovan, our school nurse teacher, will reach out to you if your child needs any type of follow up.
FYI: The Barrington Fire Department will be here on Monday afternoon to meet with our kindergarten students in recognition of Fire Prevention Week. You may see the trucks if you drive by the school.
Halloween: Halloween is coming up soon. So you are aware, children do not come dressed in costumes and we do not pass out candy to any of our students. If you send candy in to be passed out to your child’s class, it will be sent back home to you. Our policy is not to distribute food to our students (except those who purchase breakfast, snack, and/or lunch).
Community Notice: Arts Alive is having a fundraiser tonight at a local restaurant. More information may be found here.
Have a wonderful day.
Best,
Jim Callahan
Principal
Sowams School Mission: Everyone learns every day.
Sowams School Vision: Sowams School will engage students to be their best selves.