At the start of the 2025/2026 school year, RENEWport began a Morning Greeting Program at Pell Elementary School. We stood at the entrances and cheerfully greeted the children, “Good morning, welcome to school!” or “Have a good day!” We launched the program to help children understand that they are treasured by the broader community and to rebuild community commitment to our public schools.
From 8:00 to 8:45 am on school days, volunteers from RENEWport, the Boys & Girls Club of Newport County, TeamFAME, Bike Newport, the Providence Journal, BankNewport, newportFILM, the Newport Public Library, Conexión Latina, the Newport Gulls, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, the Newport Public Education Foundation, and Salve Regina University, as well as engaged citizens, greeted Pell students. Ellen Pinnock, RENEWport Co-Founder, who is also FabNewport Director of Community Engagement and Equity and Ward 1 Newport City Councilor, welcomed children almost every school day over the past year.
Most Newport residents and visitors do not have much exposure to Newport’s evolving student population and are unaware that close to 70 percent of the city’s schoolchildren receive free or reduced lunch. Broader community support and connection have become more important than ever for our schoolchildren.
Over the course of the school year, the morning greeters saw a big change. Last fall, most Pell students walked by the greeters and did not respond. By June, the majority of students returned our hellos and, sometimes, initiated a greeting or conversation. Parents waved as they dropped off students.
“We hope you will come back next year,” Traci Westman, Pell principal, told RENEWport about the Morning Greeting Program. “We like it and the parents like it.”
Last January, school administrators asked RENEWport to help with another need – to open the Pell library daily before school hours. Although literacy is the foundational academic skill, Newport, Rhode Island does not employ a full-time school librarian for its elementary schoolchildren.
Ellen and I put out a request for library volunteers. Generous community members, who obtained clear background checks, helped students check books out of the library. Most of them do not have children at Pell. They came because they want to give children greater access to books and to encourage reading. This dedication to children and community is a genuine, real-life miracle.
One day this spring, I stood outside Pell, welcoming children to school. I turned around and saw students streaming upstairs to return and check books out of the library, where they were assisted by RENEWport volunteers. I experienced an overwhelming feeling of happiness that RENEWport was helping Newport’s schoolchildren unlock the joy of reading.
I want to emphasize – the RENEWport Library Volunteer program is not a replacement for a certified and skilled full-time librarian. It is a stopgap measure. The Pell library collection is not being updated and damaged books are not being repaired or replaced. The volunteers are generous people who care about children, education, and community; they are not librarians.
RENEWport cannot solve Newport’s budget or school staffing issues. We are doing what we can to help children now. We believe Newport’s schoolchildren belong to all of us. When they thrive, the city flourishes. We plan to welcome Pell students to school again next year, and we are currently working on creative ideas to give Newport’s schoolchildren improved library access. We will keep you posted. In the meantime, please let us know if you can join us and volunteer. We need you, and Newport’s schoolchildren need you.
Susan Sipprelle
