12/20/2025

Dear Rippowam families,

As we move through this season of celebration, I want to extend warm wishes to those who are currently celebrating Happy Hanukkah, and to all of our families who will be observing holidays in the days ahead. Whatever you celebrate, we wish you time with loved ones, moments of rest, and plenty of joy—and we wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2026.

This week marked our last full school week of 2025, and I am incredibly proud of the strong learning, growth, and community spirit our students and staff continue to demonstrate. As we look ahead to 2026, we are energized and focused on finishing the school year strong.

While next week is a short one, it is filled with some of our most anticipated events. Our annual Talent Show and Holiday Hoops will highlight the many ways our young Raptors shine—artistically, athletically, and as teammates. One quarter of Holiday Hoops will be played with our Unified Sports team, celebrating inclusion and the positive school climate we value so deeply. We are also excited to livestream the Talent Show so families can join in the celebration. We will send the link via Remind before the event.

Please enjoy this slideshow of photos featuring our Winter Wonderland HEART Decorating Day from last Friday. In just two hours, each HEART class collaborated to design and create something unique, and the creativity, teamwork, and school pride on display were truly impressive and has made our school a joy to walk through this past week.

Upcoming events:

• DEC 23rd -  EARLY RELEASE DAY - TALENT SHOW AND HOLIDAY HOOPS

• DEC 24th - JAN 2nd:  WINTER RECESS

• JAN 8th - MATH iREADY MID-YEAR ASSESSMENT

• JAN 13th - READING iREADY MID-YEAR ASSESSMENT

• JAN 20th- ROSCCO AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM RESUMES

• JAN 20th - JAN 23rd:  Q2 MATH EXAM

• JAN 23rd - END OF Q2

Tuesday, December 23rd - Winter Community Day
On this early release day before winter break, we have our second annual community day featuring our talent show and Holiday Hoops sports event with players from our Basketball Team and our Unified Sports Team. 

Early Release and Winter Break
All Stamford Public Schools will follow the early dismissal schedule on Tuesday, December 23. In addition, all schools will be closed from Wednesday, December 24 through Friday, January 2 for Winter Break. We look forward to seeing everyone back to school on Monday, January 5, 2026.  

School Closings, Delays, and Early Dismissals
Winter weather brings school delays, early dismissals, and closures due to inclement weather. When poor weather is forecast for our area, Dr. Lucero remains in close contact with local meteorologists, the City of Stamford Operations and Public Safety Departments, First Student, our facilities team, and the superintendents from neighboring school districts. Our goal is to make decisions about closings and delays no later than 5:15 am. Decisions about early dismissals are generally made by 9 am.

Families will be notified via school messenger phone calls and emails using the contact information in PowerSchool. Staff will be notified via phone calls and emails. Early dismissals also will be announced in-building. More information about inclement weather protocols can be found here.

Middle School Debate Team Recruiting Members
The Academy of Information Technology and Engineering (AITE) is proud to sponsor a Middle School Debate Team that is open to ALL Stamford Public Schools students in grades 6 through 8.  Participating in debate helps students build critical thinking, communication, and research skills, and debate participation has been shown to improve academic outcomes. All three of our high schools have debate teams, and many of our high school debaters regularly win or place in regional and state-wide competitions.   This FREE after school enrichment activity will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 5:30 pm in the AITE cafeteria beginning Tuesday, January 6. Click here to register your child for this activity.  In addition to meeting twice weekly at AITE, the Middle School Debate Team will participate in tournaments on Saturday, February 28th in South Windsor and Saturday, April 25 in Greenwich.  Please direct any questions about the Middle School Debate Team to Simon Walker at swalker1@stamfordpublicschools.org.

Best,

Kristina Colmenares
Principal, Rippowam Middle School

If you didn’t see the Superintendent’s weekly message, please click HERE.