Message from the Principal
Dear Ryan Elementary Community,
We are so excited to honor and recognize students at Ryan each and every day. This Friday, our students will participate in the first ever A.G.E. (achievement, growth and effort) awards at our school. We are going to celebrate students that reached mid year goals on the iReady Mid Year Diagnostic Assessment and Mid Year Math IXL measure. This first awards ceremony will be held by grade level with students and staff. We plan to have our 2nd A.G.E. awards ceremony at the end of the year and invite parents. Students will know what is needed in advance to receive one of the awards in May. Stay tuned for more details this spring.
Please note that some families will receive an invitation for your child to attend BVSD Summer Learning. Summer Summit is a full day of academic programming to support students who are determined to need additional academic or social-emotional support, or to help prevent the "summer slide." Your child was recommended either based on academic data and/or school/teacher recommendation.
If you have any questions about why your child was selected, please contact your child’s teacher or the administration team. If you have questions about the Summer Learning programming, please contact summer.learning@bvsd.org. If you do not receive an invitation and want your child to be considered, please call the main office to put on the list in case space becomes available.
The assembly on Friday with the Newbery-Medal winning author, Matt de la Pena was wonderful. Thank you to our school librarian, Allison Trippe, Ryan’s PTA and to BVSD Impact on Education for making this happen for our students.
February 5-9 is National School Counseling Week. We are so grateful for our full time counselor, Manele Short. If you get a moment and want to spread some cheer and joy, please send a thank you email to our counselor at manele.short@bvsd.org.
It’s always a great day to be a Rhino! Go Rhinos!
Sincerely,
Stephanie Jackman
Principal
In this newsletter you will find details on the following:
- Rhino TV Episode #4
- Souper Bowl Announcement
- Coffee + Connection Details
- Class Photos are coming up
- Spring Conference Dates
- Spelling Bee Details
- Rising 6th Graders Information
- Trivia Night Information
- PTA Updates
- Message from the Health Room
- Attendance Announcement
- Composting in BVSD
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Connect for Health Colorado
- BVSD Meals & Messenger Notification Details
- FAQs Section from past newsletters information
If you have an immediate need, please call the main office at 720.561.7000
Student Council Souper Bowl announcement
Sponsored by Student Council, inspired and made possible by the Moriarty Family
WHO: Everyone at Ryan is invited to participate
WHAT: Bring in cans of food to be donated to Sister Carmen
WHEN: February 5th-9th
WHERE: In the school entryway/vestibule
HOW: Chiefs vs. 49s - you put your canned food donation in front of the team that you think will win! Let's see who Ryan is rooting for!
Class Photos are Coming!
Friday, February 9th
We do need a couple parent volunteers, please email jamie.hanes@bvsd.org if you are interested and have done your Raptor background check.
For ordering information, click here.
Sign up Information for Upcoming Spring Conferences
Ryan's Spring Conferences will be held February 21st, 22nd and 27th, from 3-8pm.
You will be recieving an email from HelpatSchools to invite you to sign up on February 10th. Sign ups close on February 19th.
If you have questions, please contact your child's teacher or Jamie Hanes at jamie.hanes@bvsd.org
*If you have a student in Mrs. Peterson's Kindergarten class or in Miss Rachel's Preschool class, your sign up will be separate. For questions, please reach out to the teacher directly.*
Ryan Spelling Bee! Tuesday, Feb 13th
Spelling Bee registration and details > Click here. Participation is open to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.
The preliminary online testing window to determine qualification for the Ryan Spelling Bee is Jan 9th - 29th.
The 12 students who score the highest will move on to compete at the school level on Feb 13th.For questions, contact Ms. Tisha at tisha.lin@bvsd.org
Rising 6th Graders
Trivia Night and Online Auction
SAVE THE DATE FOR TRIVIA NIGHT - March 8
Ryan's annual Trivia Night fundraiser will be back this year! Save the date for Friday, March 8, at the Avalon Ballroom (6185 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder). Trivia Night is an annual fundraiser and community building activity. Teams of Ryan parents and teachers gather together (sometimes dressed in costumes!) to eat dinner and answer a fun variety of trivia questions. Trivia Night is a great way to meet new people and connect with other Ryan parents and staff. We also have a live auction and other activities and games. Don't miss out on this fun event! If you are planning to attend the event, we have a couple of volunteer needs that evening to help the event run smoothly. Please click here to help with set up, clean up, and other roles! More information about tickets coming soon—stay tuned!
Online Auction
We will also be holding our Online Auction fundraiser again this year in March! The auction raises approximately $7,000 every year to support everything the PTA funds—classroom resources, tutoring assistance, after-school activities, field trips, assemblies, and more! The PTA is hustling to secure auction items now, and we would love to know what people would be interested in buying in the auction this year. Is there a brand you and your family can't get enough of? An item you've seen in another auction? Do you have a connection with a local business that might be willing to provide gift card or experience donations? Please share your ideas with us at leadership@ryanelementarypta.org—we'd love to hear from you!
PTA Update
Dining Night Out - Ruby Ru's, February 21
Our next Dining Night Out will be at Ruby Ru's (1280 Centaur Village Dr., Lafayette), on Wednesday, February 21, from 4–8pm! Ruby Ru's will donate a percentage of sales that evening back to the PTA—just mention that you're there for Ryan! Ruby Ru's owner Chris attended Ryan when he was a kid, so this is a great opportunity to support a local business with Ryan connections. Take a night off from cooking and support Ryan at the same time!
Dinner for Teachers on Conference Nights - February 21, 22, and 27
Conferences are coming up! In order to thank our teachers for staying late on those nights, the PTA organizes dinner for them. We need volunteers to help set up, clean up, or bring a dish! Please click here for conference meals volunteer opportunities!
Message from Ms. Chrystal in the Health Room
Healthy students are better learners, please keep your child home if they feel ill, CDPHE’s Illness Policy for Students and Staff in School and Child Care: Policy
Please remember to send your child a change of clothes, especially in our younger elementary grades but it would be great if every kiddo had a full set of spare clothes in their backpack including socks and underwear. We have all sorts of accidents and often kiddos prefer clothes of their own and don't forget gloves and hats too.
Also if you have gently used/new leggings or sweatpants/joggers boys and girls of all grades, please email our health room para chrystal.terhune@bvsd.org to add them to our back-up! We are completely out but only have room for a few sets so email to see if we can use them. Thank you
Attendance Annoucement
If your child has an appointment during school hours, please ask the medical office for a school excuse note and bring it to the Ryan office.
To report your child's absences, please enter it through your Parent Portal or call the Attendance Line 720.561.7002 and remember to include the REASON FOR THE ABSENCE!
We understand sometimes our students need to be out for an extended period of time. We ask, if you know your child will be out for more than 3 days, to please fill out this form in addition to reporting the absence through the portal or attendance line.
Good habits start early! Research shows regular attendance at school has a DRAMATIC impact on student progress. Please see the How Sick Is To Sick guidelines as well as the BVSD attendance policy.
Composting returns to BVSD!
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering is a fun, simple way to get involved within the Ryan community. We have all sorts of opportunities to get involved. Whether you volunteer regularly in your teacher’s classroom or bring treats and coffee to teachers for late start or volunteer for the upcoming book fair, the impact can be huge. Not only does it benefit the school but it benefits your kids and families in our community as well! Please take a moment to fill out the background check through raptor: https://www.bvsd.org/parents-students/get-involved/volunteers and click here to see what opportunities we have available Help at School
We appreciate your help! Thanks!
Connect for Health Colorado Health Insurance Open Enrollment - November 1 through January 15, 2023
Connect for Health Colorado Open Enrollment - November 1 through January 15, 2023
From preventative services to the security it provides during a medical emergency, health insurance affords stability to families as they build and plan for the future. Free, in-person help is available from certified Connect for Health Colorado enrollment experts located throughout Colorado to help you get the right health insurance coverage.
Find an Enrollment Assister - Assistance Network Scheduler
Certified Enrollment Assisters can help you apply for financial help and are very experienced with complicated situations, such as when one family member receives Health First Colorado (Medicaid) or other public assistance while the others do not. They can also provide education about affordable health insurance and help you enroll in a Marketplace plan.
Meals are still free, but the payment system is changing
Free meals are still free, but the payment system is changing! Please be advised that on November 13th, the Food Services Department will be switching software systems from MyPaymentsPlus to School Cafe. If you have a balance on your account it will automatically transfer into School Cafe on the 13th. Meal account funds are not necessary for your student to receive a free breakfast and lunch every day, but are necessary to purchase items like second entrees, a la carte items, and side salads. Starting on November 13th, if you would like to add money to your student’s meal account, you will have to create a School Cafe account and do it there. Beginning on November 11th, MyPaymentsPlus will turn off and it will not be possible to add funds to your student’s account.
Please see the resources below to help with the transition.
BVSD's School Messenger support and notifications
Boulder Valley School District recently tested their emergency alert system.
The test alert included a phone call, text message and email to those opted in to receive BVSD Communications.
Users can adjust their communication preferences as desired via these instructions.
If you did not receive a text message, and would like to opt-in to receive text messages from the district and schools through SchoolMessenger, opting-in is a two-step process:
- The person's cell phone number must be in a cell phone field in Infinite Campus (students/parents) or Infor/Lawson (employees).
- They then send a text message from their cell phone to “67587” with the word “yes” in the message. They may opt-out at any time by texting “STOP” to 67587.
Ryan Elementary STEAM School
Website: https://rye.bvsd.org/
Location: 1405 Centaur Village Drive, Lafayette, CO, USA
Phone: 720-561-7000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RyanElemSTEAM