1/4/2025

Dear Rippowam families,

Happy 2025!  It was wonderful to welcome your children back to school and get back even for 2 quick days.  Students seemed happy to see each other and their teachers.  Thanks to our wonderful PTO president, Tracie Dinc, for starting our annual Penny Wars fundraiser during the cafeteria shifts.  Students brought bags of coins already and are excited to pie staff members in the face if they are part of the winning team.

Stay warm and cozy this chilly weekend!

PTO Penny War Fundraiser for the month of January!
Proceeds from our penny wars fundraiser will go to support grade level field trips.  Pennies are “positive” points and the team with the most positive points will be rewarded.  The winning team gets invited to the auditorium and students are selected to pie a teacher/administrator in the face. 

• Each penny counts as one positive point for YOUR team

• Each silver coin counts as negative points for OTHER teams

• Put your pennies in your team jar and silver coins or bills in other team jars

i-Ready Mid-Year Assessment
Students will be taking their i-Ready mid-year assessments for ELA between January 30th-31st and Math assessments February 5th-6th.   They are taking these assessments in class over the course of 2 days and we will run a special testing schedule. 

Math Quarterly Exam
All middle school students in SPS are taking quarterly math assessments in their classes.  The quarter 2 assessment is scheduled to happen between 1/16 - 1/24 in your child’s math class.  They will have in class time to review key concepts and will be provided with a study guide.  The exam is part of their quarter 2 grade. 

ROSCCO after school will start again on 1/21
Students will have the opportunity to register for the 2nd session of ROSCCO, which will begin on Tuesday, January 21st.  In the meantime, there are no after school sessions for the ROSCCO program. 

Lottery Applications for AITE Due on Monday, 1/15
Any 8th graders interested in AITE?  AITE is an interdistrict magnet high school and enrolls students from all parts of Stamford and the surrounding towns by a lottery process. The deadline for submitting AITE School Lottery applications is January 15 at 4:00pm. Click HERE for the application link.

School Closings, Delays, and Early Dismissals
January and February bring the likelihood of 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.

We have a lot of exciting events happening in the coming weeks!  Make sure you check out our Rippowam Events Calendar for upcoming and planned events.

Best,

Kristina Colmenares
Principal, Rippowam Middle School

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