RPS Update

A busy week for the Board of Education! In addition to the regular meeting of the Board of Education, both the BOE Curriculum and Policy Committees met this week and had robust conversations on a variety of topics. You can watch the meetings here.

Assistant Superintendent of Special Services, Dr. Elizabeth Hannaway and her team will offer a virtual session for parents on tips for PPTs and 504 participation on October 22. If you are interested in attending, email Dr. Hannaway at: ehannaway@ridgefieldps.net

I want to remind families of services offered through Kids in Crisis. This organization provides wrap-around services to all families and children who may require support outside the school day, including weekends. If you need help after school hours, you can contact Kids in Crisis, 24/7, at 203-661-1911. You are not alone!

Our students celebrated Spirit Week at RHS, which will culminate with the homecoming football game tonight and dance tomorrow. There is no doubt that we love cheering on our Ridgefield Tigers! We’d like to remind all of our students who plan on attending the game to show RPS sportsmanship to all.

Another great weather weekend- Go Tigers!

Warmly,

Susie

Susie Da Silva, Ed.D

It’s that spooky time of year again! We welcome back to Tiger Talk the First Selectperson of Ridgefield, Rudy Marconi. We discussed all of the exciting and fun activities that are happening in the next few weeks. From a very scary paranormal park to an adorable trunk or treat at the Lounsbury House. There’s something for everyone this Halloween in Ridgefield. Thanks for listening! Click here for more information on these events.

Parents of teenage drivers, please remind your students to stay safe—never drink and drive, or get in a car with someone who has been drinking or taking drugs. As a reminder, we reserve the right to breathalyze students for any school sponsored event.

Parents attending the game with younger children, please supervise them on Tiger Hollow 2. We want everyone to have fun and stay safe!

Please check your school calendar for early dismissals and other school events.

Please help RPS go green by checking your students' e-Backpack weekly for important information. Organizations that meet the RPS policy may submit their request for inclusion to cmelagrano@ridgefieldps.net

The State Board of Education has defined two levels of criteria for an absence to be considered an excused absence.

“Level 1” includes the first nine absences and these days are considered excused absences for any reason that the student’s parent or guardian approves. The parent or guardian must submit either written or oral documentation within ten school days of the student’s return to school.

Excused “Level 2” absences are the days beginning at the tenth absence and meet one or more of the State’s acceptable reasons. For more information regarding the acceptable reasons, please visit the Connecticut State Department of Education Guidelines for Absences.

If your child reaches the thresholds below, you will receive a notification. The notifications will lag the actual absences. For example, your child may reach their 6th absence on a Wednesday and you may not be notified until the following Monday.

Typical attendance notification thresholds.

• At 6 absences a notification is emailed.

• At 9 absences a notification is emailed.

• At 9 absences and 6 unexcused, a notification is emailed.

• At 9 excused absences and 10 unexcused absences, a truancy notification is emailed.

On Wednesday, RHS co-hosted the Candidates Assembly, with seniors serving as moderators and timers. They asked candidates tough questions and learned about candidates' positions in a lively assembly and annual celebration of democracy, civics, and citizenship. The auditorium was filled with Red, White, and Blue for Spirit Week. On Thursday, seniors had the opportunity to cast their ballots, with the support of the PTSA, League of Women Voters, and town officials. Please see the full write-up, including the election results, from the League of Women Voters below. Vote, RPS!

Written by Frances Walton, League of Women Voters of Ridgefield, President

The students at RHS addressed a number of topics with the candidates at the 63rd Annual Candidates Assembly on 16 October. They ranged from the tax burden, gun safety, potential banning of cell phones in high school, reducing the cost of living in CT, federal law on abortion, teachers leaving the profession, mass transportation and climate change. All 4 candidates seeking election for the State Senate attended. They seek to represent the 24th and 26th Senate districts. There was a second debate where the two candidates for the 4th US Congressional District race were also in attendance. Candidates were asked questions developed by students in American Government; Politics and AP US Government and Politics classes. The debate was moderated and timed by fellow classmates.

The candidates who attended were Michele Coehlo, Julie Kushner, Kami Evans and Ceci Maher, for state office, and for the US Congress, Michael Goldstein and Jim Himes.

The moderators of the debate were students Ava Murdock, and Sai Marapareddy. Student questioners included Blake Consentino, Adam Janzon, Hannah Gilland, Will Trotman, David Zaslavsky and Sam Gonzalez. Timers for the assembly were Chinwenma Duke, and Gabriela Regalado.

Seniors who are 18 years old or who will be turning 18 prior to November 5th , were given the opportunity to register to vote with both the Ridgefield Registrars of Voters and the League of Women Voters of Ridgefield (LWVR).

The LWVR has a long history of working with the high school on the candidates’ debate, and also the Mock Election, which was held on 17th October. The Government and Politics program emphasizes civic participation, and all seniors were encouraged to vote in the Mock Election whose results are always highly anticipated. Students could vote for one candidate in each of the races, Senate District 24 and Senate District 26 and US Congressional District 4.

With 238 votes cast the successful candidates were for the President and VP, Harris/Walz, for the 4 th US Congressional District, Rep Jim Himes, for the 24 th State Senate District, Julie Kushner, and for the 26th State Senate District, Ceci Maher. The students voted using real ballots and a town vote scanner/tabulator. The Mock Election was made possible by the generosity of the Ridgefield High School Parent Teacher Student Association, Ridgefield’s Registrars of Voters, and the League of Women Voters of Ridgefield.

This week, East Ridge and Scotts Ridge counselors brought together eighth graders to present some of the local public high school options beyond Ridgefield High School, as part of the School Counseling curriculum. Scotts Ridge students learned about five magnet school programs.

• Henry Abbott Tech—Danbury
• AITE—Stamford
• Stamford Regional Agriscience and Technology Program—Stamford
• Center for Global Studies—Norwalk
• Regional Center for the Arts—Trumbull

Families should contact their counsellors to learn more about the application process and deadlines.

Last Friday, fifth-grade math teachers from all six elementary schools, the math coaching team, and Grade 6-12 Math/Science Supervisor Jeff Corbishley came together for professional learning. This initiative is part of purposeful district efforts to achieve vertical articulation—a process that ensures students learn in a coherent way from one grade level to the next—as students move from elementary to middle school.

Scotts Ridge seventh graders wrapped up their unit on Empires with the Museum Walk. Students voted on which empire had a more positive or negative legacy on the world.

The RPS elementary math curriculum uses the curricular resource think!Mathematics. Many of the lessons begin with an anchor task that provides opportunities for students to solve problems in multiple ways and encourages students to share their thinking with one another.

On Wednesday, Farmingville Elementary fourth graders are tasked with making as many different rectangles using all 24 squares as possible. Sara Schaefer, the staff developer who has been working with RPS teachers for several years, leads the lesson. Students start on the rug together to hypothesize how many rectangles they might be able to make with all the squares. “Twelve,” guesses one student. “Four,” guesses another. Schaefer asks students to Say it, Draw It, and Write the Equation.

Students break into randomly assigned groups and start to build rectangles using manipulatives. One group builds a four-square by six-square rectangle. “I made a rectangle, boom!” crows one student. Another member of the group writes down 4x6=24 on the whiteboard. They keep going. Schaefer and the classroom teachers see one group is not using all the rectangles and ask them if they know what the anchor task is. The group quickly rethinks their approach and starts building rectangles with all 24 squares.

After ten minutes, students return to the rug. What seems like a geometry lesson is a lesson in factors of 24, factor pairs, and multiples. Shaefer leads students to understand that there are eight factors of 24, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24. A student asks if zero is a factor of 24 and they talk about it before another student says, “No. Zero isn’t a factor of 24 because nothing times zero will get you 24.” They skip count by twos starting at zero to reinforce the idea of multiples being different than factors. The lesson reminds them that in multiplication changing the order (4x6 or 6x4) doesn’t change the product; the rectangles are the same but just oriented differently.

After the lesson, Ms. Schaefer, District Math Coach Jamie Palladino, Amanda Cody, Math Specialist at FES, and the classroom teachers have time to reflect. They talk about how zero came up and how they could teach without derailing the lesson outcome. “When I’m teaching a lesson, I think of myself as a coach, constantly adapting the line-up and game plan, based on what I see in front of me, what the students need and say,” explains Schaefer. After that, the team plans the important upcoming lessons of multiplying two and three-digit numbers. They discuss strategies for encouraging groups to come to the answers themselves, textbook resources, and what a teacher might do if a group isn’t understanding the lesson. At the end of the professional learning session, one of the teachers says, “That was so wonderful!.I just learned many approaches I can try with my class starting tomorrow.”

Ms. Schaefer will visit all elementary schools during these two weeks, working with third and fourth-grade teams, and fifth-grade math teachers. Last Friday, she gave a professional development workshop for first and second-grade teachers. The insight that she brings into elementary math instruction is transformative; “If it was just about getting the right answer,” she says at one point, “students could just ask Siri. It’s about an understanding of what ten, one hundred, or twenty-four means and how the numbers relate to each other. Our goal is to develop problem-solving and reasoning skills in our mathematicians so they can be confident when approaching a new problem.”

Last Friday, Ms. Schaefer also led a similar professional learning session with the fifth-grade math teachers and District Math Team. To further develop the transition from elementary school to middle school Jeff Corbishley, 6-12 Math and Science Supervisor, joined the session during which he commented, “This is great because many of the practices we are talking about today in fifth grade are also used at secondary level so that can only help with the transition from fifth to sixth-grade.”

Sweet dreams come true! East Ridge sixth-grader Stella Tompkins has been cast as the main role, Clara (also known as Marie), in New York City Ballet’s Company "The Nutcracker," performed at Lincoln center for the duration of the holiday season. Stella has been studying ballet with The School of American Ballet since she was six by audition and after three audition years has finally received her dream role.

Congratulations, Stella!

Please visit the RHS Athletics page for game schedules, tickets, and more!

Congratulations to the RHS Boys Cross Country Team for defending their FCIAC title this week!!! Senior Magnus Manley, committed to run at Yale University next year, won first over all, with Trevor Fuller taking third, and Sullivan Dunn running fifth.

The RHS Girls Swim and Dive Team is kicking more than water:) On Senior Night, this RHS powerhouse swam by perennial swimming juggernaut Greenwich High School. Read all about this undefeated team in the Ruden Report here. Congratulations and let's go!

Spirit Week at RHS is one of the best weeks of the year. In anticipation of Homecoming Weekend—pep rally, games, and dance—the Student Government arranges a week of activities to get the student body hyped. This year's Class Challenge to foster a little inter-class rivalry, was unparalleled in its student engagement with over 20 million points divided between the grades at the time of writing this. The biggest winner might be Family and Childrens Aid in Danbury, who will receive bags of non-perishable goods, courtesy of our generous families and in the true spirit of RHS. What class will win the Cup and $1000 from the PTSA? Attend the Football Game tonight to find out. See the photos below for a taste of the fun. Special shout out to the Student Government, including Student Body President Naomi Vakil and Student Government Advisor Jen DeJulio for all their work to pull this week together.

The RHS field hockey team celebrated their seniors with snacks, balloons, gifts, t-shirts, and a rainbow! Congratulations, Seniors! You will be missed.

Scotland Elementary showed off its creativity and Halloween spirit at its annual Pumpkin Blaze.

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.