Scotty Updates

Scotty Updates has been created to provide families and staff with information regarding upcoming events, happenings, and programs at Scotland Elementary School. Our newsletter will be sent several times monthly to share news and happenings at Scotland!

Dear Scotland Families and Students,

Welcome back to what promises to be an incredible new year at Scotland! It was fantastic seeing so many of you at Open School today, and we are thrilled to welcome our students back tomorrow. To those who are new to the Scotland community, we are so happy to have you join us! For our returning students, it is wonderful to see you again. Tim and I are eager to collaborate with our staff, students, families, and community to make this a successful, challenging, and engaging year for all.

The Scotland staff is here to support you every day, and we look forward to working together to ensure that all students have a safe and engaging school experience. Please review the important information below regarding the reopening of schools for the new year.

Scotland Playground:

Many of you may have noticed the renderings of the much anticipated Scotland Playground, which we hope will break ground in mid to late September. I am humbled and grateful beyond words for the generosity of our community, who came together and raised $215,000 to contribute toward this structure! Thank you for your incredible support and dedication to making this space a reality for our students and community. Together with our town, you have shown how much our community values creating a safe and fun space for our children to play and grow. We couldn’t have reached this milestone without our Scotland families. We are excited to see the positive impact this playground will have, and we look forward to celebrating its opening with all of you soon!

Security:

To ensure the safety of all, if you are scheduled to come into the building for a meeting, classroom event, library helper, or any other visit, you will need to fill out this form before arriving at school. Please note this is a new form for the 2024-2025 school year. This form is required for any adult entering the building during school hours. As an added layer of security, you must have an appointment to come into the building. Please remember to bring your ID when arriving at the building.

We can't wait to see you all tomorrow! We are excited for an amazing year!

Kind regards,

Jill

• Each class will have one 45 minute essential per day (Art, Library, Music, or P.E.)
• We will continue to follow the six day A-F day schedule
• Please find the essentials rotation below

Monday, August 26th:

• Open School
• 1:30-2:30PM

Tuesday, August 27th: A Day

• First Day of School!!
• Shortened Day (11:40am dismissal) - (Kindergarten only)
  

Wednesday, August 28th: B Day

• Shortened Day (11:40am dismissal) - (Kindergarten only)

Thursday, August 29th: C Day

• Shortened Day (11:40am dismissal) - (Kindergarten only)

Friday, August 30th: D Day

• Shortened Day (11:40am dismissal) - (Kindergarten only)
• Scotty Spirit Day! Wear your Scotty spirit wear to show your school pride!

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Monday, September 2nd:

• Labor Day – No School

Tuesday, September 3rd: E Day

• 1st full day of kindergarten

Wednesday, September 4th: F Day

Thursday, September 5th: A Day

Friday, September 6th: B Day

• Scotty Spirit Day! Wear your Scotty spirit wear to show your school pride

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Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, September 10th:

• Picture Day

Thursday, September 12th:

• Open House - 5:30pm

Thursday, September 19th:

• Early Dismissal
• 11:40am dismissal for students, professional development for staff

School lunch will be available from the first day of school. Aramark is the District-wide food service provider. The school lunch menu is available online on the RPS website; click Departments and click on Food Service. For all students, utilize MySchoolBucks for families to fund student lunches.

MySchoolBucks is available via the PowerSchool Parent Portal, and communication was sent to families in early August regarding adding funds for lunch. Any balances have been rolled over from LunchTime to MySchoolBucks. Additionally, the district sent a communication in early August regarding Reduced Lunch for eligible students.

Snacks for Purchase in the Cafeteria:

Students in grades 2-5 are permitted to purchase snacks during lunch (last 10 minutes). Please be sure you have set up MySchoolBucks if you would like your student to be able to purchase a snack.

• In short, students eligible for reduced lunch will be provided free lunches in grades K-8 for the 2024-25 school year.
• Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the Free School Meals for Children grant, please do not hesitate to contact us or the District Business Office.
• Questions in regard to school MySchoolBucks can be directed to Andrea McCurry, RPS Food Service Director at 203-894-5550 x2143 or amccurry@ridgefieldps.net

Website to set up an account.

MySchoolBucks

Some Support Links for Troubleshooting:

Updating Your Payment Method | MySchoolBucks

Setting up Automatic Payments | MySchoolBucks

Adding a New Student | MySchoolBucks

Setting Up Low Balance Alerts | MySchoolBucks

Reset Your Password Using Your Mobile Phone Number

Reset Your Password Using Your Email Address/Username

We will follow a similar drop off / pick up procedure that we did last year.

Arrival

• Drop off begins at 8:30am. Please do not drop off your child prior to 8:30am as there will be no supervision at this time.
• After 8:45am, you will need to walk your child into school, as they are late. You will need to sign them in with security. Please do not drop your child off without adult supervision.

Dismissal

• Pick up will begin at 3:15pm.
• Each day, please have your child(ren)’s first and last name displayed on your passenger visor, and have it remain visible until your child is in the car. This needs to be bold and large enough to be visible at a distance. This is a very important step to ensure we have your child ready when you arrive.

• For the safety of both students and staff, proceed carefully and slowly through the lot.
• Please have your child exit/enter the vehicle when your gear is in the park position and is one of the cars at the front of the line designated for drop off.
• Students must exit the vehicle on the passenger side (building side) of the vehicle. Multiple children must exit on the passenger side. It is dangerous to exit/enter on the driver's side of the vehicle!

• Students need to have all of their items ready in hand and will then exit the car immediately.
• Parents, please stay in your vehicle at all times so that the process will prevent backups on Barlow Mountain Road.
• If you miss the drop off time (after 8:45 a.m.), please park in the front lot and walk your child across the designated crosswalk to the main entrance of the building. If you arrive after the drop off window and must park in the parking lot, we kindly ask that you use the crosswalk.

We will continue to use School Dismissal Manager this year at Scotland. Please click below for information regarding this system. This system will be available to families in late August. A welcome letter will be emailed to families when the system is available. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us!

• For information on this year's Chromebook distribution and policies click here to watch a short video
• If you have further questions or concerns email: helpdesk@ridgefieldps.net

Playdates and Riding the Bus:

We know how fun it is for our students to get together after school and enjoy time together! Due to safety and limited space on the buses, we are asking that students have no more than 2 guest riders with them at a time. Anytime there is a need for more than 2 additional students to ride, families will need to make arrangements for parent pick up that day. Thank you for understanding!

Hats & Hoodies:

Over the last several years there was no standard hat/hood procedure in the elementary schools, likely related to Covid, when classroom windows were kept open for air circulation and there was the potential for it to be cold in classrooms.

As we have started the 24-25 school year with a typical school opening, we will return to only permitting hats to be worn outside the school building. Students may choose to wear a hat, but will be reminded to remove it upon entering the school building. Students will be permitted to wear hats for outdoor recess. Teachers have discussed this with students and I will remind our school community during the morning announcements on Tuesday.

On special occasions/spirit days, hats may be permitted and this will be communicated to students and families.

The Scotland PTA is an amazing support to our school community - students, staff, and families! Joining the PTA helps you stay connected with the school community. You will receive information about family events, before & after school programs, school events, parties and much more! Get to know teachers & staff better with informational sessions throughout the year!

Stay up to date on all of the PTA happenings on the PTA website!

RPS distribution flyers for outside groups via a Digital Backpack.

Organizations that meet the RPS policy may submit their request for inclusion in the digital backpack. Please help us in our effort to go green by checking students' Digital Backpacks Organizations that meet the RPS policy may submit their request for inclusion to cmelagrano@ridgefieldps.net. Thank you!

Email: jkatkocin@ridgefieldps.net
Website: https://ses.ridgefield.org/
Location: 111 Barlow Mountain Road, Ridgefield, CT, USA
Phone: 203-894-5825