Hickory Ridge Highlights

PTG SANTA SHOP 🎅🏽

This week is our PTG Santa Shop. All items are less than $9.00. There will be several parent volunteers to assist the students when they shop. The schedule is listed below in the PTG section.

RIGHT AT SCHOOL 👩🏼‍🏫

If you are interested in learning more about the before and after care school program please email Ms. Jaelyn Bowman at HickoryRidge@rightatschool.com or watch the video below.

HOUSE MEETING 🏘️

Friday, December 13th is our next House Meeting. Please have your child wear their house shirt or their house color. Our PTG has supported this district-wide initiative by purchasing supplies and materials so all of our students can participate in the fun and engaging activities. The purpose of HOUSE meetings is to help everyone feel connected and build positive relationships among students and staff. By participating, students will feel a sense of belonging and community! This month we will be focusing again on our Journey of a Blue Devil competency of Responsibility. The activity planned by our committee will be great!

4th GRADE COGAT TESTING 📝

On Tuesday, December 10, 4th graders will take the Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®). The CogAT measures students' learned reasoning abilities in three areas that are closely related to success in school. Each of the three separate batteries provides a broad perspective on a student's reasoning abilities, helping to identify cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Many students in Brunswick City Schools have already taken similar tests to assess their academic and cognitive abilities for various reasons. If you believe that your child would not benefit from additional cognitive testing for future programming and gifted identification in the areas of superior cognitive ability and creative thinking, you may opt your child out of the CogAT test using the link below. Opt-out forms must be submitted on or before December 3, 2024. CogAT parent letter

3RD GRADE OST PARENT LETTER ✉️

Attention 3rd Grade Parents:

Coming home on Tuesday, December 10th, our 3rd grade families will receive parent letters along with score reports regarding the Fall OST results. Please reach out to your child's teacher with any questions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bailey

Principal

Hickory Ridge Elementary

330-273-0483

jamiebailey@bcsoh.org

IMPORTANT DATES:

December

12/9 - SANTA SHOP WEEK

12/10 - Growing Up Gardeners 3:30 pm

12/10 - 4th Grade CogAT test

12/11 - BookWorms 3:30 pm

12/12 - Healthy Hound Dogs (Grades 1-3) 7:45 am

12/13 - HOUSE MEETING -Wear your House Shirt

12/13 - PTG Evening with Santa 5:30-8:00 pm

12/16 - Announcement Recording (Groups B and C) 8:00 am

12/17 - 2nd and 3rd Grade Concert 9:30-10:30 am

12/19 - Healthy Hound Dogs Group 2 (7:45 am)

12/19 - Fire Drill

12/20 - End of Second Quarter

12/20 - Class parties 2:15 pm

2nd and 3rd grade students will be performing a Winter Concert on Tuesday, December 17th at 9:30am in the gym. Concert dress suggestions include: Christmas themes, winter themes, and dress clothes.

Seating

Due to an overwhelming response, there is very limited seating still available. Please plan to fill each seat upon entering the gym and if possible, hold small children on your lap. We will have students help usher families to the side that their grade level student(s) are on to try and maximize viewing.

Parking

Please consider parking on the street as the main parking lot will likely fill up quickly. Doors will open at 9:15.

If you plan to attend and have not done so already, please complete the RSVP form linked HERE by December 11th at 3:45pm.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Monica Tilbert

Congratulations to our November students of the month. They demonstrated our Journey of a Blue Devil competency of RESPONSIBILITY. We are so proud of our students!!

*Some of our students were absent and will be pictured in next week's newsletter. *

Santa Shop

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Santa Shop will be here December 9th -13th.

What is Santa Shop? It is a shop for students to buy gifts for their loved ones. Our volunteers guide the students while they buy gifts. We help the kids stay on
budget and find something for everyone on their list. We wrap the gifts for their parents and send home wrapping for the other gifts. We want you to see what they
got for everyone else! It is not limited to Christmas. Santa Shop is easier for the students to say.

Who should my student buy items for? Families will need to discuss what is best for them. The shop will have items for parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, teachers, coaches, pets and friends.

How much should we budget? Prices range from $1.50 to $9. You and your child can decide the amount per person allowed. I suggest $3-$5 per person, but that is not a required amount.

What products are available at the shop? Holiday Treasures provides an assortment of items. You and your child can preview these items online.
https://0412830.holidaytreasures.com/

We also offer a few handmade crafts. Every year we sell different products to keep the shop fresh and interesting. We do our best to have something for everyone at a reasonable price.

What else do parents need to know? This is a really fun event! You can join us and see it for yourself. If you have completed the background check to volunteer in the school, you can help us out! Any family members that have the background check may join too. This is a perfect event for grandparents to enjoy. We need a lot of helpers for this. Use the link below to volunteer!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D4EAEA72EA2F58-51114889-santa?useFullSite=true&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0e3yDnLg-S_JntOPh66fBo8wd3-RcDuObJSsmxSNdcrWA_tVWjZfnq3xE_aem_bdYh4KwtteIki2DXCd5CfQ#/

PIZZA & PAJAMAS WITH SANTA

Join us aboard The Polar Express for Pizza and Pajamas with Santa on Friday, December 13, 2024. This new spin on our previous "Breakfast" will be open house style from 5:00-7:30 PM. We will stop serving dinner at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $6 per person. The maximum amount for an immediate family is $30. Tickets will not be sold at the event. You must register and pay via the QR code or using this link: https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/pizza-and-pajamas-with-santa--2024. Time slots for a visit and photo opp with Santa will be emailed out prior to the event. Every family must sign up for an available time slot to make sure Santa has time to see everyone! Admission includes pizza, chips, beverage, popcorn and cocoa for the kids, crafts and games! If you have questions, please email hrptg@bcsoh.org. Ho Ho Hope to see you there!

HICKORY RIDGE BOX TOPS COMPETITION

We have officially found our winning grade level in our box top competition that's been running since August! There was some true competition but kindergarten earned the winning spot and will have a donut hole party! Scanning your grocery receipts truly can make a big impact on our students! Don't forget to download the box tops app and start scanning so you're ready for future events!

PTG MEETINGS

Our next meeting will be January 8th beginning at 6:30 PM in the pit at school. The remainder of our meetings take place on March 5th, April 2nd, & May 7th.

COMMUNICATION

Please reach out to us via our email hrptg@bcsoh.org with any questions, comments, suggestions you may have!

Like us on Facebook @HickoryRidgePTG & Follow us on Twitter @HickoryRidgeOH!

Happy Holidays everyone!! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with loved ones and are ready to begin the last month of 2024.This time of year can bring joy but it can also bring up sadness/stress for a multitude of reasons (grief, isolation, lack of sunlight, etc.). If you have counseling concerns about your child, please continue to use the counselor referral request form on the principal’s newsletter. Or you can call or email me directly at the contact information listed below.

Our Second Step SEL classroom lessons for December will complete our focus on Empathy. Empathy means understanding or feeling what someone else is feeling (or putting yourself in someone else’s shoes). Once we have empathy, we can show compassion to help others out when they are having strong negative emotions. Ask your child ways they have shown empathy to others over the past month. Please remember there are activities and explanations of the Second Step lessons online. Please see the parent links (listed below in this newsletter) for more information and how you can work with your child on these concepts at home to help with their social emotional learning.

Emphasize ‘giving’ rather than ‘getting’ this holiday season

To be successful in school, children must learn to share and become less selfish. A little philanthropy–giving to others–will help your child do this. There are many ways parents can promote giving this season and all year long. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Introduce the word philanthropy. It means sharing your time, talent or treasure to help other people.

• Identify volunteers and other people in your community who give. Talk about how special and important these people are.

• Let your child see you giving and let them participate. Take them with you when you volunteer. Ask what charities they’d like to help out.

• Help your child make simple gifts to give to family and friends or to distribute at a shelter. They’ll discover the joy of giving something they make themselves.

• Have your child gather clothes and toys they are willing to donate to a local charity. Be sure to take them with you when you drop the items off.

• Cook soup or bake something together to take to a sick or elderly neighbor.

• Praise your child when they give to others. Point out how good it makes them feel to share with other people and to know they have made a difference in someone’s life.

Source: Meeting the School Community: Ages 5-8, Learning to Give.

The Second Step Program has a link that parents can utilize to reinforce the skills that their children have learned for the week. All you need to do is the following:

Use this link www.SecondStep.org then enter the following Activation Key:

Kindergarten- SSPK FAMILY70 Look for Lessons under Home Link

1st Grade-SSP1 FAMILY71 Look for Lessons under Home Link

2nd Grade-SSP2 FAMILY72 Look for Lessons under Home Link

3rd Grade-SSP3 FAMILY73 Look for Lessons under Home Link

4th Grade-SSP4 FAMILY74 Look for Lessons under Home Link

5th Grade-SSP5 FAMILY75 Look for Lessons under Home Link

Families, at times, struggle to make ends meet. See links below for local food distribution centers and food banks.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RalJnbgkrdrLo6pBCXSCbEKRgM39O1R1SQ_Ysznsr

vw/edit

Referrals

Please contact me via the Mach Form attached to the Principal’s newsletter if you have any questions or concerns about your child. In addition here is a link to outside counseling services.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TMReVSoDhrRu2Q4GNJB3e1ERjlrLtsfHUUiNmBJ3t8Y/edit

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me:

Leanne Lalos

School Counselor

Brunswick City Schools

Hickory Ridge Elementary School

330-225-7731 ext. 1518

llalos@bcsoh.org

If you'd like to have your student's name on the electric sign the week of their birthday, please fill out the form and send in $5. Feel free to bring them up for a picture to celebrate in front of their name in lights. If your child had a summer birthday, no problem... we will celebrate for their half-birthday!

Over the summer, BCSD transitioned our lunch and student fee payment system to a new vendor, PaySchools. Click here for PaySchools Central to register and create your account.

Please note that any balances on your student’s lunch accounts (from MySchoolBucks) have already been transferred to PaySchools and will be available immediately upon creating your account in PaySchools. Also, any outstanding student class fees have been transferred to PaySchools. You will also have the option to pay any Athletic and Marching Band Pay to Participate fees through your PaySchools account.

Additionally, parents interested in applying for free and reduced lunches can submit applications starting July 31, 2024, using their PaySchools account.

There are no fees involved when paying your student's fees online.

There will be a small transaction fee for the Meal Accounts.

• Credit/Debit Cards (Transactions less than $25.00) $1.65 per transaction

• Credit/Debit Cards (Transactions $25 to $49.99) $2.00 per transaction

• Credit/Debit Cards (Transactions greater than $49.99) 4.5%

• Electronic Check (All transaction amounts) $1.75 per transaction

Several PaySchool links are provided below. At the bottom of each informational document, you will find PaySchools customer service contact information. Feel free to reach out to PaySchools if you encounter a problem when creating your account.

If you have a district-related question regarding your fees please contact Tina Campbell, Administrative Assistant to the Treasurer, at tcampbell@bcsoh.org. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with this transition.

PaySchools Parent Registration

PaySchools Free and Reduced Application

PaySchool Meal Account

In case you missed an email message from our school Superintendent Mr. Niedermeyer. Click here to view all previously sent notifications.

Website: https://www.bcsoh.org/Domain/12
Location: 4628 Hickory Ridge Avenue, Brunswick, OH, USA
Phone: (330) 273-0483
Twitter: @BCSDHRidge