Dear Families, Faculty, and Staff,
On Tuesday, May 14, the annual Town referendum will take place. On this day, the community has the opportunity to vote on the Town budgets, which includes the Board of Education budget. We are thrilled to announce that at the Annual Town Meeting the community voted to take the first step in upgrading the RHS auditorium through the development of an architectural design. A small step, but an important one in moving forward with upgrading our school and community spaces.
This week, the musical Aladdin showcased at Ridgebury. We are proud to see the expansion of musical performances to all of our elementary schools. The talent across our elementary schools, both in cast and crew, is going to make for some outstanding productions at East Ridge and Scotts Ridge Middle Schools next year.
Our schools are hustling with many year end events- some fun, others perhaps a little less….(exams!). Today, I joined our seniors for their 3rd annual RHS Senior Field Day. This newer tradition allows our seniors to join together one last time for some good old-fashioned fun. Despite the less-than-perfect weather, our students had a great time, and our faculty volunteers are outstanding. Thank you to each and every one of them. Soon, there will be many open parking spaces at RHS as seniors venture out into the real world of work through their senior internships. You will see our young adults across the community, building their level of understanding of the intricacies of different organizations, including our schools.
We end the week by extending our gratitude to our educators for Teacher Appreciation Week, as well as our school nurses. You can watch a short video shared with our faculty here.
Happy Mother’s Day! Have a wonderful weekend.
Warmly,
Susie
Susie Da Silva, Ed.D
We have a charged-up episode of Tiger Talk! Joining host Dr. Wes DeSantis is Dwayne Escola, the chair of the Ridgefield Energy Task Force. They discuss the environmental impacts of installing solar panels on our schools, the up-and-coming solar canopies that will be installed in the high school parking lot this summer, and some of the future endeavors that the task force is looking forward to. Thanks for listening!
Please read through the RPS Update for opportunities for reflection, celebration, and community building. Monday is the Board of Education Meeting (agenda and link to stream available on the BOE page). Tuesday is the Town Referendum. Check your school's calendar for important dates. We celebrated National School Nurses Day on May 8!
Junior Prom is Saturday, May 18.
Senior Prom is Friday, May 31.
Please check your students' e-Backpack for important information. Organizations that meet the RPS policy may submit their request for inclusion to cmelagrano@ridgefieldps.net
RPS in collaboration with Ridgefield Music Parents, a dedicated group of parent partners, funded the commission of "Blue Hour," by Jessica Meyer. The composer was at East Ridge last week to work with Symphonic Director Shane Peters, Co-Director Juliana Chetcuti, and the Middle School Symphonic Orchestra students on the piece and run a workshop.
The public is invited to the "Blue Hour" premiere on May 29 at 7 pm at East Ridge Middle School.
Anna Gillan is a high honor roll student with a weighted GPA of 4.4. Taking all honors/APs her senior year, Anna also balances being a tri-captain athlete in soccer, basketball, and track. She earned all New England honors for soccer her senior year, first team all FCIAC in basketball her junior year, and first team all FCIAC for track during both her sophomore and junior years. She is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year along with MVP for soccer, MVP and Tiger Pride award winner for basketball, and Most Outstanding Newcomer for track. Anna plans on attending the University of Connecticut next fall where she wants to pursue a career in Sports Management.
Steven Hergenrother is the RHS Class of 2024’s valedictorian. Steven has been the co-captain of the cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track teams for the past two years. Steven anchored the National Championship-winning distance medley relay (DMR) team in outdoor track 2023 and indoor track 2024. He was the FCIAC, State Class, and State Open champion in cross country in 2022 and 2023. He was also the New England Cross Country Champion in 2023. He has led the RHS cross country team to FCIAC, State Class, State Open, and New England championships. Steven was the CT Gatorade Player of the Year for cross country in 2022 and 2023. He had the US high school #1 time in the 1000m distance in indoor track 2024. In addition to the DMR’s All-American result, Steven was All-American in the individual mile as well as the 4 x 800m relay in indoor track in 2024 and has achieved All-American results in eight races total. Steven holds numerous school records in indoor and outdoor track. Steven plans to study physics at Princeton University and will continue to run cross country, indoor and outdoor track there.
Submitted by RPS Special Correspondent, Mae Carpenter, RHS Grade 9
With the recent decision by Town Hall to not raise a pride flag this year, the RHS Gender and Sexuality Club (GSA) is excited to start a new mural dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Its main purpose is to increase visibility, while serving as a beautiful and permanent art piece, reinventing what a traditional mural looks like at RHS. “Installing something significant such as a mural is a necessary step toward recognizing and accepting all students who attend RHS,” club member and senior Levi Groth says.
At a meeting with RHS Principal Dr Jacob Greenwood, club members discussed many different aspects of having a mural—Location, Design, Timeline, Dimensions, and Draft.
Members of the GSA suggested many ideas, such as putting pride flags on RHS staircase risers or a large design on the first floor. However, the idea that looks most promising for this year is painting the pawprints near the Community entrance (current photo below) with the Pride flag colors. That isn’t to say the other designs will not happen. Future club leaders are already preparing for the GSA's projects next year.
"A display of pride such as the 'pride paws' is a great way to show our support for queer students in our community. We are excited for future projects that will continue to demonstrate RHS's inclusivity," Sofia Mongardi and Ace Carpenter, future presidents of the GSA say in a joint statement.
“It's our students’ building and we want to celebrate all members of our student body, as well as all clubs,” Dr. Greenwood says.
