RPS Update

Yesterday evening, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to make a non-binding recommendation to the Board of Finance in support of the Board of Education’s FY 24 Budget with a 3.79% increase over last year's budget. Members of the Board of Selectmen toured schools this fall, viewed Board of Education meetings and asked thoughtful, yet challenging questions to our team. We value and respect this partnership and will continue to do our part in advocating for our students, growing our District, while also understanding the financial implications of the school districts budget on the community as a whole.

As I reflect and write this update, I have a few thoughts to share about innovation in RPS, and separately, about conversations on social media.

I share each year during the budget process what I see on the “horizon” for RPS, which often includes forward thinking and inspired work by our educators. I want to express my admiration for the work that is happening across our schools each week, and often highlighted in our weekly RPS Updates. Innovation and creativity can’t only be measured by something new, shiny, or with an additional price tag, but rather, it can be quantified by the depth and work of our students. If you haven’t already, please take some time to browse our RPS Updates each week - we are proud to share the work happening in our schools. Additionally, I encourage anyone who wants to learn more about the depth of innovation at RPS to tune in and listen to our very own seniors Heather and Aditi, joined by their teacher Mr. Hughes, on this week's Tiger Talk Podcast. We take such great pride in showcasing our students at meetings, podcasts, school updates, and social media.

On the topic of social media. We have all come to realize the great benefits that this tool has on our ability to communicate, consume, create content and amplify. We have also seen, indirectly or directly, the hurtful and serious consequences that this tool has had or can have on children. In fact, we discussed exactly this at the Board of Education meeting this past Monday evening. As we take it a step further, as adults, we set the tone for children and we all have a role in combating unkindness that can spread on social media. Whether it be social media, or other communicative methods, mis-information, mis-representation, and negative commentary have the ability to have a long-lasting and damaging impact on others personally and professionally, and on the community as a whole. Words convey meaning, and when we write them, speak them or post them, someone else receives them and is impacted by them. Please partner with us, let’s use our words to elevate, grow and support each other, not otherwise.

Our team is always here to answer any questions or wonders that you may have. Have a great weekend, and see you Monday.

Warmly,

Susie Da Silva, Ed.D

The RHS Play "Into the Woods" opens on Friday, March 10! Tickets for this family-friendly showcase of RPS talent are available here. For those unfamiliar with the musical, it's Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's modern take on classic storybook characters like Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and more. To read more from the cast and crew please see the Arts section below.

March 10, 11, 17, and 18 at 7:30 pm in the RHS Auditorium.

Snow Date: March 19 at 2 pm

Here is a link to the FY 2023-24 Calendar.

During Monday's BOE meeting, administrators and building leaders presented on Safe School Climate and Mental Health Support at RPS. Leaders discussed RPS processes, protocols, and policies. Please see a recording of this presentation on the BOE YouTube Channel (approximately 35 min mark).

On Tuesday, registration for the RPS Summer Bridge program started. Already hundreds of families have taken the opportunity to sign up for these enriching PK-Grade 11 programs. This is the third summer RPS is offering students an out-of-the-box, project-based experience that includes unique opportunities to create connections with students and staff at no cost to RPS families. Please visit ridgefield.org for more information, dates, and registration. Elementary and Middle School registration will close on March 10 and families will receive a confirmation by March 17. High School registration will be open until courses fill up.

Ridgefield Tiger Talk returns from winter break with a bang! Pat Hughes, a Physics and Science Research Teacher at Ridgefield High School, brings on two remarkable students to tell us about their research. Aditi Gupta (Grade 12, photo left) with her research on the Impact of Artificial Sweeteners and Heather Wallace (Grade 12, photo right) with her research on the efficiency of different micrometeorite collection methods. These impressive RHS students tell us about their original research conducted right here in Ridgefield. Thanks for listening!

Annually each of the nine Ridgefield Public Schools nominates and selects a member of its faculty to be its Teacher of the Year. This teacher then represents his/her school in the selection process for the district's Teacher of the Year. This year, RPS invites parents to submit nominations for School Teacher of the Year. A committee at each school will make the selection. The required components are as follows:

• Nominee should be a certified teacher employed by the Ridgefield Public Schools.
• Nominee should be an exceptionally skilled and dedicated teacher who plans to continue active teaching status for the 2023-24 school year.
• Nominee should be poised and articulate.
• Most importantly, the nominee should possess a superior ability to inspire learning in students.

To submit a nomination, click the link below. Nominations can be submitted until March 15, 2023.

We are so pleased to include parents' voices in this important celebration of the dedicated educators in our school system.

Click here to submit a nomination for Teacher of the Year

Thank you in advance for your participation!

A shout-out to last year's winners:

Barlow Mountain Elementary - Julia Kolakowski; Branchville Elementary - Jennifer

Phippen; Farmingville Elementary - Anna Harkins; Ridgebury Elementary - Deirdre

Rolfes; Scotland Elementary - Thomas DiMarzo; Veterans Park Elementary - Mike

Faloon; Ridgefield High School - Michael Murphy; East Ridge Middle - Jessica

Margiotta; Scotts Ridge Middle - Kathy Beall.

This article by Ridgefield Press editor Sandra Fox covers the progress RPS and the town are making in installing solar panels on school and town buildings. The town district partnership is projected to save millions of dollars and cut carbon emissions over the next twenty years.

Please remind your neighbors, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances to register their children for kindergarten ASAP so they can take full advantage of all the orientation programs and so RPS can plan to welcome all our youngest students. View all the information about dates and eligibility in the 2023 Kindergarten Press Release.

A K-12 representative team gave an overview of standardized state assessments on Wednesday. They covered the assessment calendar, what parents can expect, and how the results are shared with families. A recording of the presentation is available on our Curriculum YouTube channel.

Information about the RHS AP testing schedule and SAT/ACT can be found here https://sites.google.com/ridgefieldps.net/rhs-school-counseling/satactpsat-testing.

Juniors will take the SAT in school on Wednesday, March 22. They do not need to register for this separately.

In addition, the SATs will be administered at RHS on May 6 and June 3 this spring. Registration and payment required. All registration for the Saturday SATs @ RHS is done online through the College Board. If you have any questions about the Saturday tests, you may email MaryAnn Goldstein at mgoldstein@ridgefieldps.net.

Test Date: Saturday, May 6, 2023

Registration Deadline: April 7, 2023

Late Registration Deadline: April 25, 2023

Test Date: Saturday, June 3, 2023

Registration Deadline: May 4, 2023

Late Registration Deadline: May 23, 2023

Registration Information: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/dates-deadlines

With new variants of COVID circulating and the cold and flu season upon us, we wanted to share a few reminders with you. RPS continues to monitor and collect information about positive cases of COVID across the district. This information is updated daily, by school, on the RPS website and can be found by clicking on this link: RPS COVID-19 Data. Please note: we no longer contact trace COVID cases or send notices regarding exposure to, or level of, illness-specific by classroom. All students and staff are encouraged to observe illness prevention measures as deemed necessary due to individual and family needs. Hand washing (or sanitizing when soap and water is not available), observing proper respiratory etiquette, masking, remaining home when experiencing symptoms of illness, and updating vaccines as advised by your individual healthcare provider remain the cornerstones of illness prevention. Our current COVID practices can be found here. Please reach out to your school nurse if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s health at school.

The State of Connecticut distributed millions of at-home COVID-19 antigen rapid test kits in 2022 to municipalities, schools, faith-based organizations, non-profits, and healthcare facilities to allow for convenient, rapid self-testing during multiple surges. On January 11, 2023, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted another three-month shelf-life extension for iHealth COVID-19 antigen rapid tests, bringing the current extension to 15 months from the date of manufacture and nine months from the date printed on the kit. iHealth test kit instructions are available from the DPH in multiple languages including Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Khmer, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. If you have any questions about the iHealth test kits or to obtain alternative language instructions for the iHealth test kits, please submit an email to PHAD.dph@ct.gov.

Please visit the links below to view the FDA-authorized antigen rapid test kits

products, extensions, and to look up the new expiration dates.

FDA iHealth Extension:

https://www.fda.gov/media/164513/download
https://www.fda.gov/media/164551/download

Eighth-grade students at Scotts Ridge Middle School participate in CT History Day and gather together in the LLC to discuss and showcase their projects. Tom Broderick and Keira Kowalczyk, the grade-eight Social Studies teachers, collaborate with our library media specialist and other teachers to have students from other grade levels visit and engage in a peer review. 35 of our students will compete in the regional CT History day contest this year!

CT History Day is an affiliate of the National History Day content. Each year there is a new theme in which students across the state and country engage in Project Based Learning research and the products of their research could be a documentary, exhibit, performance, paper, or website.

National History Day Theme for 2023 is: “ Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas." This theme invited the students to research people, places, or ideas that they claim to be a “frontier” that was crossed and required the students to design their research questions to “consider questions of time and place, cause and effect, change over time, and impact and significance.” All of the SRMS eighth-grade projects were on display and ranged in product types, topics, and time periods.

Superintendent Susie Da Silva, Assistant Superintendent Cory Gillette, and Director of Elementary Education, Linda Johnson, are just some of the guests reading across the district this week.

More photos below!

The RPS elementary school PE curriculum has five unit themes: Manipulatives, Invasion Games/Activities, Non-Invasion Games & Cooperative Games, Physical Fitness, and Fundamental Movement. Invasion games include activities/sports like soccer, basketball, or capture the flag, in which teams try to score and defend. Recently, RPS kindergarteners worked on their volleyball skills which are part of the non-invasion games and cooperative games unit theme. VPES PE teacher Mike Fraioli explains, “Each student works with a beach ball through a volleying/striking progression that focuses on hand/eye coordination. Toss the beach ball up, clap your hands, let it bounce, and attempt to catch the ball off the bounce. The students were extremely excited to see their timing and control over the beach ball develop and then attempt to volley it over the net!"

Shirley Hughes, PE teacher at Barlow Mountain incorporates balloons during volleyball lessons. "Balloons provide additional time for younger students to react, allow proper hand placement, and experience longer tracking time with their eyes. They love to count how many strikes in a row they can get."

Fraioli explains that the volleyball unit is planned and modified to accommodate a wide range of ability/skill levels. “We want to help build foundational skills and confidence through carefully designed progressions and activities.” Hughes writes, “Our kids explore movement in a variety of ways and develop grit.” As a result, students are able to reflect and respond to our curricular essential question: Why don’t we always want tasks to be easy?

Tickets for the RHS musical, "Into the Woods" are available here.

March 10, 11, 17, and 18 at 7:30 pm in the RHS Auditorium.

Snow Date: March 19 at 2 pm

Anyone who has seen an RHS spring musical knows it's one of the highlights of the RPS calendar. RPS Update asked students involved in this year's production why readers should get tickets now before they sell out.

People should make sure they don’t miss this year’s musical, Into the Woods, as it is a beautiful, somber, funny, and talented take on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. The cast and crew worked together to create this incredible production that will entertain everyone.

James Pereyra, RHS '23, Head of the Lighting Crew

People should buy tickets because it is cheaper and closer than Broadway, and is just as entertaining!

Frankie Belden, RHS '24, the Narrator

People should come to see the show because there are so many people that have worked incredibly hard to put this show together and make it as good as it can be. Also, because the show itself is very clever. We use many special effects in the show like a rising and falling beanstalk that my family worked on engineering. This involved a lot of extra days of set work and some expertise to pull off.

Lloyd Mills, RHS '25, Jack

Into the Woods does a great job of showing the journey of overcoming some of life's complexities, through a fairy tale lens. Not only is this such a well-written musical, but I'm also lucky to have such talented castmates and crew who have been working hard to bring it to life!

Abigail Black, RHS '26, Little Red Riding Hood

More photos below. Follow @ridgefieldtheaterboosters on Instagram to see some great videos and photos

The Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra will present its 2023 Winter Concert on Sunday, March 5 at the Wilton High School auditorium. The concert will feature RHS senior Francesca Rossi, Winner of the 2023 WCYO Concerto Competition, and the WCYO Wind Ensemble, String Orchestra, and Symphony Orchestra. Please read the full press release from the WCYO here. Congratulations, Francesca!

RHS art teacher Jane Grassi announced the following students' work has been accepted in a juried show at the Brookfield Craft Center.

Nate Davi – Butterfly on the Balcony- Digital Art

Abigail Freeman – Tree of Life Necklace- Jewelry

- Flower & Bird Copper Cuff- Jewelry & Metalsmithing

Isabella Pereira – Untitled (digital piece)

Hannah Rosenfeld - From the Depths- Digital Art

The show runs from March 4-26.

There will be a reception and awards ceremony on Saturday, March 11 from 5:00-8:00 p.m.

https://www.brookfieldcraft.org/artists-on-the-rise-2023/

Jewelry by Abigail Freeman

On March 1, DECA business students from Ridgefield High School competed in the annual DECA SCDC state conference and competition. Each of the students prepared business scenarios, took a content-related test, and competed in role-play scenarios. Our students competed against over 600 high school students from all over Connecticut. The team's only senior, Brayden Bloom (photo right), took home third place in his category and an invitation to the International Conference (ICDC) in Orlando. We are so proud of the entire team for their dedication to DECA and RHS and their drive for success. This was a great day filled with valuable business experience and bonding among classmates.

The Ridgefield girls ski team carved out a win at the State Open on Monday, sharing the top spot and becoming co-state champions with the Fairfield Co-op team-—an unprecedented result and a first in league history. After twelve runs of combined times from each school's top six finishers, the Ridgefield girls team and Fairfield Co-op team (consisting of racers from both Warde and Ludlowe) ended the race in a tie to the one hundredth of a second.

RHS scoring racers (girls):

• Sonia Gaughran: 4th place in the state
• Hadley Drever: 7th place in the state
• Hayden Drever: 11th place in the state
• Sophia Pomposello: 23rd place in the state
• Sophie Bragg: 37th place in the state
• Aveline Pomposello: 40th place in the state

(out of close to 150 girls)

The Ridgefield boys ski team battled their way to a seventh place finish in the state, showing growth from last season and potential as a young team with many talented ski racers. Charlie Chrysler, Brody Apinis, Jaden Mahoney, Charlie Murphy, Vinny Szumski, and Rem Gill were the top six finishers, representing the scoring times for the state open results.

Season Results

• Girls: 2nd place Class L
• Boys: 3rd place Class L

Individual Results/Highlights

All State--Girls

• Sonia Gaughran, Hadley Drever, Hayden Drever

All State Honorable Mention--Girls

• Sophia Pomposello and Aveline Pomposello

All State Honorable Mention Boys

• Brody Apinis

Team Connecticut

• Sonia Gaughran, Hayden Dreve, Aveline Pomposello, Hadley Drever

Coaches' Note: This is the most athletes RHS had make All State/ Honorable mention in modern memory. Team CT is composed of the best 12 racers in the state, as determined by qualifying individual races. RHS represents 1/3 of Team CT this season, again, a record breaking number for RHS.

East Ridge seventh graders Ari Sarup, Connor Sacco, and Quinn Sacco went to Washington for two busy days filled with lots of history and learning as they participated in our democratic process. They met with Congress to advocate on behalf of Ari’s brother Jordan, an RHS ninth grader who was born with a rare genetic condition, as well as to advocate on behalf of all Americans living with disabilities. In addition to requests for CDC, NIH, and DOD funding for research, they also advocated for more access to telehealth services, so that everyone has easier access to medical care.

The Branchville PTA's Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging Committee partnered with the Center for Empowerment and Education in Danbury to provide students in grades 1 and 5 enrichment experiences on the subject of empathy. First graders participated in a book talk about Be Kind, by Pat Zietlow Miller, and fifth graders watched videos and discussed how to "step into another's shoes" and view a situation from someone whose perspective is different from your own.

The cast of "Into the Woods" poses with a cow who is older than they are.

At a recent meeting, the East Ridge STEM club made ice cream to demonstrate phase change and temperature depression.

Scotland celebrated Read Across America with a week of Spirit Days. "Read My Shirt," "Get Comfy," and a Readers Parade were a few of the fun themes and activities the whole school got behind.

Superintendent Dr. Da Silva with Lisa Magee's Branchville kindergarten class. The superintendent read Let Me Finish! by Minh Lee to this engaged group of avid readers and listeners. The students were among the first to learn of a possible snow day the next day—their first snow day ever.

Barlow Mountain Elementary pulled out all the stops and good spirits during this week. Here are some photos from Wacky Wednesday and Bobcat Monday.

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.