Rocket Wrap Up

September Newsletter

Welcome Back!

Dear Families,

What a wonderful first week and a half we have had! The students have been so excited to enter the building and be together again and our staff has been so eager and excited to begin working with your children. It has been such a refreshing and energizing start to the school year.

As a district we are focusing on several different pillars this year. One of those is safety. Our entire district staff received training for emergency situations (such as active threats, etc.) from the Marion County Sherriff's Office. This was well received by our staff and has started some very important conversations. We will continue to practice keeping our building doors locked and required to be "buzzed" in at the office. Please plan ahead if there is an event during the school day that families are invited to attend. All visitors/guests to the building will be required to enter through the main office and sign in/sign out.

Our students are working on completing their beginning of the year diagnostic assessments. These assessments give our teachers a better look at what area/s students are succeeding in and which area/s students will need more support. This information is used for intervention time, as well as ensuring that content covered in class is taught in a way that is appropriate for each child.

As we continue throughout the year, please reach out to your child/ren's teacher or to the office if you need assistance. We look forward to partnering with you and watching your children grow!

Yours in Education,

Jess Parthemore, Ed.S.

Principal

Ridgedale Elementary

Great News--Playground Updates Coming!

Over the summer, Ridgedale was contacted by the township trustees from Grand Prairie Township with amazing news. Grand Prairie has received grant funds through the American Rescue Plan Act and has chosen to use those funds to help improve the playground at Ridgedale Elementary.

Our playground is a community gathering spot--and we are thrilled to accept this amazing gift to our district.

As of the end of August, the Township has purchased $60,000 worth of playground equipment that will be installed starting in May 2023. Much of this equipment is inclusive--meaning students of all abilities will be able to enjoy! We will also be working to replace the mulch/soft surface of the playground.

We are excited to see this project through and cannot wait for our community to be able to enjoy this revitalized area!

ClassDojo

All of our teachers use ClassDojo to help keep families informed of activities within their classrooms and to communicate between home and school. Please download the app and/or create an account to be able to connect with your child's teacher.

We have also started posting items that are left in our lost and found to try to find their owners much faster!

Call the office if you are having trouble getting connected through ClassDojo and we will help you!

Afternoon Dismissal

Please send a note to the office or call the office whenever there is a change from your child's regular dimissal schedule. Our staff will follow your selected dismissal path unless we hear otherwise.

Buses are released at around 3:10 each day (after the Tri Rivers shuttle returns), so it is often too late to get someone off the bus or put them on the bus if we do not know about it before dismissal begins (and not that we don't trust your child, but sometimes they want to go home the opposite way that they are supposed to and will try to make that choice for us :-)).

Thank you for your help with this!

Chromebook Cases--Please Help!

Please help reinforce to you child/ren that nothing can go inside their chromebook cases other than the chromebook. If earbuds, headphones, pencils, pens, markers, etc. are placed in the cases, they can get trapped between the screen and the keyboard and cause the screen to break. We had two screens break the first week of school!

If you have selected that you would like the chromebook insurance, please make sure that it gets paid in a timely manner!

PowerSchool Access

PowerSchool/Parent Portal access information was available for each student at Open House. If you were not able to attend Open House, your child's teacher would have sent it home the first day of school.

Student grades are available online. Interim reports will also be made available online (paper copies are not sent home). One paper report card will be sent home for each student at the end of each grading period.

If you are experiencing difficulties getting in to PowerSchool Parent Portal, please call the office and we will work to get you set up!

Picture Day

Picture Day is September 22nd.

Forms will be sent home soon.

If you are interested in volunteering to help with picture day, please contact the office. As a reminder, all volunteers must have a current background check on file with the school district.

FinalForms

Please take a moment to log in to FinalForms to complete your paperwork for this year. This is a great opportunity to update any medical needs, contact information, or pick up information. This is also where you will have the opportunity to select Chromebook insurance.

Feel free to call the office if you have any questions or concerns.

Stay Safe Speak Up Safer Schools

Ridgedale Schools has partnered with PublicSchoolWorks to offer the Safer Schools site to help with student safety reporting.

You can now use this to report any concerns that you may have. PublicSchoolWorks monitors these reports 24/7. If there is anything that is especially concerning, administration is immediately called to begin to address the concern. If it is not considered an immediate need, administration will receive an email notification to address the situation the following day at school. Please see below for screenshots (they are also hyperlinked to be able to direct you directly to the site).

You may always access the site from the Ridgedale website and app.

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Now Offering--After School Care!

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What do I do if my child is absent?

Daily, consistent attendance is crucial for your student's development and academic growth. The State of Ohio has establish attendance law that requires us to track student attendance, notify you when your student is not present at school, and notify you if your student meets certain attendance thresholds. Please see the document here for more information about attendance law.

Sick

If you child is sick, please call the office or send an email to Mrs. Shumaker (cshumaker@ridgedaleschools.org). If you take your child to the doctor or urgent care, please send the school excuse in to school (paper form or email).

This will be an excused absence.

Medical Appointment

If your student has a medical appointment (doctor, dentist, counseling, etc.), please send the school excuse (paper form or email) in to the school.

This will be an excused absence.

Vacation/Planned Absence

If your family has a planned absence, please send a note/email in to the school before the absence. This allows our staff the opportunity to provide work or materials for your student and allows for the absence to be an excused absence.

Any vacations or planned absences that are not notified before the absence occurs will be not be excused absences.

Nurse's Note

Reminder to make sure your students are up to date for School Immunizations! By law immunizations are due by October 15th to continue attending school. Mrs. Mosher will be reviewing all grades required to have immunizations reported, along with all new students to the district and will be sending home letters if your child is missing a required dose. Please call 740-382-6065 x 127 or email amosher@ridgedaleschools.org with any questions/concerns

Volunteers

If you are wishing to volunteer at any point during the school year (field trips, special events, field day, etc.) a current BCI background check is required. Please call the office for more information.

Ohio Governor's Imagination Library

Do you have a child under 5 at home? Do you know a family that has children under 5?

The Imagination Library, offered through the Ohio Governor's Office, Marion Public Library, and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library provides a FREE book for any child under 5 that is signed up, each month!

If you are interested in signing up, please use the QR code below or download the sign up form. This program is free for all who participate!

"The single most important factor influencing a child's early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school."