RPS Update

Throughout the week, I was reminded how important it is to take the time to show care and kindness to others. The day to day gets busy, and the pressures of daily life can be demanding, and yet we know as difficult as our days may be, there are others whose days are likely even harder. Stress, anxiety, and pressure can manifest itself in many different ways in young people. I learned that February 17 is Random Act of Kindness Day. However, we can take the opportunity every day to express our care, heart, and kindness to others. We can share compassion in simple ways- noticing someone who may look stressed and offering help, giving a deserved compliment, sending a random message, or reaching out to someone you haven’t connected with in a while. I hope that we can commit to taking the time each day to express ourselves with the small acts that can make a big impact.

The primary goal of the Board of Education meeting this coming Monday evening will be to present my 2024-25 proposed budget to the Board. While adding the finishing touches to my presentation, I re-watched the RPS Showcase from this past week (you can watch it here), and am truly inspired by the work of our faculty and students. There is a great deal to be proud of at RPS. Across the budget process, all members of the community will have the opportunity to ask questions through a variety of modalities: public comment, public hearings, and through an online Google form. We will send out additional details after Monday evening.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Warmly,

Susie

Susie Da Silva, Ed.D

The Board of Education held its first meeting of 2024 remotely because of winter weather. The meeting was rich, engaging, and full (three hours and twenty minutes!). In the following section of this week's Update, you can find some summaries and clips from the meeting. The full recording is here.

The BOE will meet again this Monday, January 22 at 7 pm. On Saturday, January 27, there will be an all-day virtual BOE Budget Meeting. Links to these meetings (as well as past BOE and BOE Committee Meetings, agendas, budgets, and BOE contact info) are available on the Board of Education website.

At Tuesday night's BOE meeting, Dr. Powers explained his ongoing work with RPS District administrators and teachers. He described RPS educators as passionate, welcoming, and open—committed to putting students first. Over the next few months, Dr. Powers and his CoLab team will be in conversation with RPS to assess District strengths and opportunities for growth in Structured Literacy. They are also working with RPS Curriculum leaders to streamline and update literacy programs.

In Cory Gillette's introduction of Dr. Powers, she explained why the District partnered with CoLab "We wanted an outside expert," says Ms. Gillette, "with no connection to a curriculum resource—an objective point-of-view as a learning partner." Please watch Dr. Powers presentation below. Read a Q&A with Dr. Powers in the September 15, 2023 RPS Update to learn about his lifetime work in literacy.

The Graphic below comes from Dr. Ben Powers and explains the Five Pillars of Literacy or Building Blocks for a Reading Brain—Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension—as described in a 2000 Reading Panel study.

More about RPS Elementary Curriculum resources is available on the RPS Curriculum website.

RPS Special Services department leaders Dr. Liz Hannaway and Dr. Anthony Showah gave a report about Special Education Programming (2-hour 10-minute mark). In addition to explaining how the Special Services Department has integrated the Structured Literacy Programs outlined above and expressing deep gratitude to be in a town where every student is valued and considered, Drs. Hannaway and Showah explained the changing needs of the district and some of the requisite costs and goals.

During her report to the Board, PTA Council Co-President Angela Rice shared quotes from school PTA presidents about why they got involved in their schools' PTAs. Scotts Ridge Middle School PTA President Robert Flegel (shown in the photo below with his kids) writes, " I decided to get involved with my school's PTA as a way to give back to the community. It has been rewarding to partner with the faculty and administration to enhance the learning and teaching experiences in the school and district. Being involved with PTA allows me to be informed in a way I never would have been otherwise, and has afforded me the opportunity to have a voice I would not ordinarily have."

RPS Update will continue to share stories from PTA volunteers in the next few months. PTAs are integral partners to RPS. Thank you, Angela, Robert, Co-President Kelly Debald, and all the PTA members for your time, support, hard work, and thoughtfulness. RPS couldn't do it without you!

The RPS Showcase at this week's Board of Education meeting was a short highlight reel of some of the heart-warming sights and sounds from 2023. Note It's the same video as Dr. Da Silva shared in her letter. If you haven't already, check out the short clip below.

Please check your school's calendar for important dates.

NOTE: Saturday, January 27 is the all-day Virtual BOE Budget Workshop. More information will be available on the Board of Education page.

The tentative last day of school for students is now Thursday, June 13. Teacher PD day is now Friday, June 14. RHS Graduation (which will not change with weather-related closings) is on Friday, June 14.

RHS juniors Elias Warholak and Elijah Yurkovsky received the highest marks on the ACT (American College Test)—36! According to the press release issued by ACT, "about one-quarter of 1% of students who take the ACT earn a top score. In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2022, only 3,376 out of 1.34 million students who took the ACT earned a top composite score of 36."

Wow! Congrats, Elias and Elijah!

Thank you to Branchville Elementary Psychologist Katie Greges for the SEL Spotlight below.

In this week’s episode, we welcome Becky Laus, Principal of Barlow Mountain Elementary School, and Nancy Caron, Principal of Farmingville Elementary School, to talk to us about some of the innovative ways that they promote Social Emotional Learning (also known as SEL) in their schools. It’s not just about what we do in the classroom but what the school does with all members of the community. Thanks for listening!

We are excited to announce the official launch of Forever Summer Bridge at RPS. We have taken all of the successful elements of our grant-funded Summer Bridge programs and created a new low-cost, high-quality summer experience for RPS students taught by our qualified and talented RPS teachers. Read more about our plans for each level below. We'll have a new program for our incoming kindergarteners! More information will be released soon with registration opening at the end of January.

Students can sign up for up to three weeks of innovative project-based experiences with a new theme each week. A new element is the Jump Start to Kindergarten program for our rising kindergarteners. Students in Jump Start, in addition to themed-project based learning, will engage in academic, social emotional, and executive function activities to help bridge the transition to kindergarten. Click here for more about the elementary program.

Our middle school will offer our traditional selection of intensive, project-based courses from 2 to 3 days. Last year, the offerings included cooking, crafts, STEM, and visual arts projects. For the first time, we are also offering one week-long 'Tune-Up' courses in academic areas for students who want a little extra practice. Classes run from 9 am-12 pm and will be held at RHS during the first three weeks of June. Prices range from $80 per student for a two-day intensive, to $120 for a three-day Intensive Course, and $200 per student for a five-day tune-up.

Ridgefield High School plans on offering three types of experiences to our students this summer. We will continue to present engaging intensive courses, which are fun, cross-curricular, and project-based for two to three days from 9 am to 12 pm. In addition, we will run one week-long 'Tune-Up Courses' designed to build skills needed at the high school level, which will be for two and a half hours a day. Finally, we will offer a few courses for high school credit. All high school-level courses will take place in July.

The Forever Summer Bridge Program at RPS will also continue to offer volunteer opportunities to RHS.

Please contact Assistant Superintendent Cory Gillette cgillette@ridgefieldps.net with any questions.

The presentations available on the RPS Curriculum YouTube Channel offer enriching ways to engage in important education topics. Please make a note of the following dates and take a look at the resources already available.

Elementary Mathematics (recorded)

Skills for Life (recorded)

Mathematics Placement Process - January 25 @ 11:30 am (link to register above)

Artificial Intelligence - February 29 @ 11:00 am

Science of Reading - March 28 @ 10:00 am

Next Generation Science Standards - April 25 @ 11:00 am

In grades K-8, students complete universal screeners three times a year in reading and mathematics. These diagnostics help teachers support the needs and build upon the strengths of our students. Additional resources for families will be added to the engagED webpage on the RPS Curriculum Site in the next few weeks. The engagED page provides important information for families and community members to support learning at home, in school, and beyond. The page will include information about aimsWebPLUS Reading and NWEA Mathematics used in the Elementary grades as well as the iReady Reading and Mathematics diagnostics given in Middle School.

RPS is excited to be a part of the milestone experience of kindergarten registration with our youngest students and their families. We ask that RPS families alert their neighbors, friends, etc. that kindergarten registration is open. Because of the change in CT's cut off date, prior planning will be particularly important this year so please enroll students ASAP.

The State of Connecticut announced a new cut off date so all children who reach the age of five (5) on or before September 1, 2024 are eligible for enrollment. RPS wants to work with families during this transition year. Please read all of the information here. The following dates might be helpful in preparing for this exciting rite of passage.

Mini-Kindergarten (Pre-registered Students)

Branchville 5/16/2024 5/30/2024

Barlow Mountain 5/31/2024 5/31/2024

Farmingville 6/5/2024 6/5/2024

Ridgebury 5/21/2024 5/21/2024

Scotland 5/28/2024 5/28/2024

Veterans Park 5/30/2024 5/30/2024

Any registration questions may be directed to our District Registrar Brigid Clancy.

bclancy@ridgefieldps.net.

Please check your students' e-Backpack for this important information and other programs across the district. Organizations that meet the RPS policy may submit their request for inclusion to cmelagrano@ridgefieldps.net.

Katie Blake's baking students brought their knives to the annual RHS Cupcake War—decorating knives, that is. Cupcake Wars is the kind of midterm assignment students can really sink their teeth into and the winning is sweet. The Lorax took the Grand Prize with Cookies and Cream in second. Maybe the judges are the real winners. Great creativity and execution!

Congratulations to our awesome RHS musicians on their acceptance and participation in the 2024 CMEA Western Region Festival. These students prepared for and auditioned against other high school musicians to earn spots in the Western Region Band, Choir, String Orchestra, and Symphonic Orchestra. Bravo to Sophia Aguilar, Alyssa Bello, Ethan Dawson, Andrew Fan, Qijia Fan, Eva Figlar, Alex Hansen, Graham Kitchin, Yerim Lee, Theo McCue, Ava Murdock, Charlotte Overs, Claudia Padilla, Hancheng Peng, Sofia Rossi, Sofia Fazzioli Sague, Kiril Volkov, Elias Warholak, Ian Whitehurst, and Ryan Zou!

The Ridgefield Prevention Council (RPS) announced the winners of its annual Anti-Vaping Poster Contest this week. The Council reports that this year's competition was steep and that all who contributed will receive a small gift card. They chose a Grand Prize winner ($300) from each school and a runner up ($200). The six posters honored are below.

RHS Grand Prize by Hailey C.

RHS Runner-Up by Charli M., Grade 12

Scotts Ridge Grand Prize by Madeline N., Grade 8

Scotts Ridge Runner-Up by Joseph S., Grade 8

East Ridge Grand Prize by Lauren G., Grade 8

East Ridge Runner Up by Jaden D., Grade 8

The RPS PTA Council and Ridgefield Library will co-sponsor a Young Writers' Conference this February with a three-part program designed to inspire creativity for students in grades three to five. More information about the program and registration below and on the Ridgefield Library Website.

Check the RHS Athletic Department Website for game schedules, tickets, and viewing options.

Scotland first graders learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rising ninth graders and their parents came to RHS to learn more about the course selection process, requirements, and the wide range of programs available. Course recommendations will be provided soon. Thank you to current RHS students and staff who came to share their academic passions.

We would love to hear from you! Families and staff can submit stories, comments, or corrections to RPS Communications. Please follow us on Social Media with links below.