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Back-to-School Updates

Visit Back2SchoolRI.com for resources and information for the 2022-2023 school year

A Message to the Rhode Island Community

It's Great to Be Back!

The start of a new school year symbolizes a fresh start. Our students will meet new teachers, befriend new classmates, and invigorate new passions. With students eager and energized, educators and administrators will have the exciting opportunity to build and sustain a positive school culture and establish and develop best practices that will help students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

Equally important as embracing this fresh start is keeping the momentum. Governor Dan McKee and I are proud of the progress our school communities have made as Rhode Island rebuilds its education system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, researchers with the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment found that it will take approximately three to five years of accelerated learning to bring Rhode Island students up to pre-pandemic levels of learning. However, we don’t just want to catch up; we want to move ahead – we want our students to leap ahead to academic success.

With guidance from the Learning, Equity & Accelerated Pathways (LEAP) Task Force, Rhode Island quickly took action to address learning loss in our schools, identify research-based strategies for equitable learning recovery, and align stimulus funding with our top priorities. We are proud to see our local education agencies (LEAs) making smart, forward-thinking decisions, and RIDE will continue working with education leaders to strengthen community partnerships and support LEAs in their efforts to accelerate learning and improve social-emotional health.

Additionally, Rhode Island will continue transforming our facilities into 21st century learning environments to ensure every student succeeds, regardless of their zip code. To provide families peace of mind in the wake of tragic incidents nationwide this spring, the state required walkthroughs and detailed analyses of every school building in Rhode Island. Upgrades have begun as a result of this cross-agency collaboration. The state of Rhode Island is committed to providing LEAs the appropriate human and financial resources they need to best serve our school communities.

Every student deserves to feel safe in school. Every student deserves to learn, grow, and thrive in a warm, welcoming environment with comprehensive and accessible mental health supports. Every educator deserves to feel safe, supported and celebrated. Thank you for your patience, grace, and dedication during a profoundly challenging time in our history. Here’s to keeping the momentum, and a new year of learning, opportunity and growth.

--
Angélica Infante-Green

Education Commissioner

Statewide School Calendar

One of the key supports for our school communities during the COVID-19 pandemic has been utilizing a statewide school calendar so that all Rhode Island students, educators and families are operating on one shared schedule. A unified school calendar ensures that educators from across the state have the opportunity to prepare and engage in professional development opportunities to better serve students and families.

The unified calendar for the 2022-23 school year is now available: 2022-23 School Calendar [PDF, 157 KB]. This calendar allows:

An earlier school year start for districts and for the inclusion of any religious holidays the school community celebrates.
Alignment of vacation weeks and professional learning opportunities. Keeping vacation weeks the same provides consistency for families and staff. Sharing the same Professional Development days allows us to pool our resources and utilize state offered professional learning.
Flexibility to LEAs on the last day of school, depending on the year start date and holidays, still requiring 180 days minimum of learning.

Families and staff should check with their local LEAs and schools for specific schedules.

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Education Blogs

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Rhode Island rises to the challenge

All across Rhode Island, our teachers, school leaders, families, and especially students are rising to the challenge of making education happen during challenging times. I want to personally thank all of you for going to great lengths to make sure learning goes on in the Ocean State.

I can think of no better way to show the nation that we are committed to “Turning Hope into Results.” Our vision for education in Rhode Island is founded on three core pillars: World-Class Talent, Excellence in Learning, and Engaged Communities. I am incredibly proud of how we are turning that vision into reality, even as we deal with a very real public health threat.

Now more than ever we need your support to ensure we give the best education to students across our state. You can help by donating to the Fund for Rhode Island Public Education. Charitable contributions in any amount will be accepted and used to support initiatives aligned to our vision that benefit the education of our public school students.

You are amazing. Thank you!

Angélica Infante-Green
Commissioner