Happy Friday Ridgeview families! Here are your weekly updates.

We are working diligently to make sure our main office, as well as our building, is a safe space for students and staff during the school day. We’ve talked about changes being made and they are officially in effect. If you have questions about the below changes/additions, please feel free to contact an office staff member or an administrator.

• When you press the doorbell, you must identify yourself and say why you are wanting to come into the building. If you don’t respond, you will not be permitted to enter.

• If you arrive at the building prior to 7:15 am, please see one of our administrators (Mr. Lee by the bus lot or Mr. Smith by Door B near the cafe’) to get permission to go into the building. They will radio the main office to alert them of your arrival. NO ONE should just be walking into the building with students.

• No one will be permitted into the main office unless they have a meeting with office personnel and/or an appointment in another area of the building. All visitors will remain in the vestibule.

• If you are dropping off anything to a student, you will now need to leave the item(s) in the vestibule. There will be an area for you to label the item(s) with your students name and a place to place them. The office staff will pick up the items.

If you are picking up your student early, be reminded it must be done prior to 1:45 pm, only the guardian listed in Infinite Campus may pick up a student (unless you’ve alerted the office staff ahead of time), and you must show your state ID every single time. Early student dismissal will not be done after 1:45 pm for any reason.

Families, please consider contributing to our annual Staff Thanksgiving Day Luncheon. We're looking for either monetary donations or food/drink items to feed our awesome staff for the Thanksgiving holiday. A sign up genius is down in the PTO section of the newsletter. If you have any questions, please contact our PTO president, Kelly Martin.

Next Mon and Tue to end our week before Thanksgiving break, we’ll be having our 1st PBIS events of the school year. Staff vs. Student Volleyball games will take place for 7th grade (Mon) and 8th grade (Tue) students who’ve paid PBIS points to participate. Students who are currently athletes (basketball, wrestling, and cheerleaders) are not eligible to participate at this time. Bragging rights are on the line. Good Luck to all the participants!

Our next Lunch With A Loved One event will be taking place on Thur Dec 5th. Click here to sign up to attend. This event is open to all family members and will take place during all lunch periods. If you have questions about this event, please contact any grade level administrator.

We usually see an increase in behaviors as we get closer to holidays. However, the behaviors are picking up a little earlier than we would like. Students in unauthorized areas of the building (this includes the wrong restroom, as they are color coded to match each part of the building), roaming the halls vs. going to class, or taking things that don’t belong to them are a few examples. Please be advised penalties will become stiffer, as we are growing tired of saying the same things over and over and over again. With that being said, parents/guardians please be aware that it is the utmost expectation that all students, especially athletes, are following our T.I.G.E.R. expectations to the letter! We have too much to accomplish academically for administrators to be doing the amount of discipline we have lately. Please press upon your students on how they should act while they’re here. Holiday breaks may come early for those who can’t manage their 20 square feet (E + R = O).

Families, if you would like a second person (a guardian) added to receive Talking Points messages from the building, please reach out to one of our building secretaries to have this done. The guardian listed in Infinite Campus as the number one contact already receives messages. If you have questions, again reach out to a building secretary. Thank you.

Lastly, please continue to speak to your students about the proper use of technology, whether it’s on a personal or school device. We’ve also had an uptick of students demanding others to do their work for them on their device. This is cheating, as well as inappropriate use of technology - which is a double whammy. Students who are unable to use technology appropriately could potentially lose their right to use it at school, and/or be applied discipline for their actions.

Take care and we’ll see everyone soon! GO TIGERS!

Important Dates:

Nov 27-29: Thanksgiving Break - No School!

Dec 5: Q2 Lunch With A Loved One Event

Dec 20: End of Quarter 2 & Semester 1

Dec 23 - Jan 3: Winter Break - No School!

Sheila A. Evans, Principal

Ridgeview Junior High School

District Policy states that only guardians listed on Infinite Campus are permitted to pick up their student. If your student needs to be picked up early by someone who is NOT their guardian, a guardian must call the office to let us know who will be picking up their child. The other adult must present a valid ID to office staff for the student to be released to them.

Dress Code:

• All students should have shoes that cover their toes and that are appropriate for school (no slides, sandals, or slippers). Crocs are appropriate but must have the strap for the heel.

• Clothes should be appropriate length and cover all parts of the body (ex: no crop tops, spaghetti straps). If writing or pictures are on the clothing, it should be appropriate to wear at school. PJ’s are not appropriate clothing to wear to school.

• Students are permitted to wear hooded sweatshirts to school, but cannot have the hood (or any hat) on their head during the school day.

Personal Communication Devices:

• For this school year, when students enter the building, all devices (phones, wireless headphones or pods, iPads) are to be turned off and put out of sight for the entire school day. Smart watches may be used as a watch only. If it’s used for anything else, it will be confiscated.

• If a student is seen with a device OR uses their smart watch for anything other than a watch, the device will be confiscated and locked up in the main office. The first time it’s taken, the student may pick it up at the end of the school day. After the first time, a parent will have to pick up the device - it will not be returned to the student moving forward.

• Pick-up times for Personal Communication Devices will be Mon - Fri in the main office from 8:00 am - 1:45 pm and again from 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm as long as school is in session. The main office closes at 3:00 pm daily.

• The purpose of this is to have our students more engaged in classes. Devices are becoming more of a distraction every single day. We want to set our Ridgeview students up for success in every class. We believe this will be a better start to doing just that!

• We’re collecting more devices daily. If your student has a device confiscated and it doesn’t belong to them, the person that it belongs to AS WELL AS the student who had it taken from will be added to our spreadsheet for a confiscated device. Please make a note of this.

Our Care Closet currently needs boys socks and girls pants (leggings, jeans, sweats). If you are able to help, please drop off your donations to the main office.

THANK YOU!

We’re excited to start compiling this year’s yearbook and need your help! If you have any photos of art projects, tennis matches, or other school and sports events, we would love to include them.

Please send your pictures to aaron_christley@plsd.us or allison_garwood@plsd.us.

Your contributions will help make this yearbook truly special!

Click on the camera to order!

Event Code: FE61024

Questions?

Customer Care

M - F 8am - 5pm:

1-877-515-1447, Option 1

Click on the pictures below to apply!

**If you're paying with Venmo, there will be a fee - $1 for $20 and $1.75 for $40 or more. Please add the extra in your payment.**

Payments of cash and/or check will be accepted in the office with Ms Tiffany.

Email: tiffany_dalton@plsd.us with any questions!

IMMUNIZATION REMINDER: In order to start school, all immunizations must be up to date.

Click HERE for complete guidelines.

School-Based Health Clinic

Pediatric Associates has an office located at Tussing Elementary that is available to all PLSD students and the community of Pickerington. The clinic offers the following services: helping with sore throat, headaches, earache, bad cough, strep test, immunizations, blood work, physicals, well check-ups, sports physicals, medication, asthma, etc.

The clinic is open on Monday and Wednesday from 9:00 - 3:00 and closed from 1:00 - 2:00 for lunch. Walk-ins are welcome or to schedule an appointment call 614-864-3222.

Emergency Resources

Crisis Text Line: text "HOME" to 741741

Nationwide Children's Youth Hotline: 1-614-722-1800

Teen Hotline: 1-614-294-3300

Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

Safe Schools Tip Line: Call or text 1-844-723-3764

Suicide Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 1-614-221-5445

Sheriff Department: 1-740-652-7900

8th Grade Career Center Field Trip Dec. 3rd

8th graders will be going on a field trip to Eastland OR Fairfield Career Centers on Dec. 3rd. Students are divided by Pawtimes to accommodate the max numbers at each school. They will be learning about the programs the career centers offer and touring the facility. They will depart between 10:15 am (Eastland) & 10:30 am (Fairfield) and will return around 1:30.

NO PERMISSION SLIP IS NEEDED. Everything is in your annual Online Registration (OLR) through your Infinite Campus Parent Portal including, Emergency Medical and Field Trip permissions completed at the beginning of the school year. If you have not completed your student’s OLRInfinite Campus please do so in the parent portal by Dec. 1st at midnight. (Note: Your annual Online Registration (OLR) is complete if you haven’t heard from us. We have been working on getting the update completed for several months now. (There are only 33 students currently incomplete.) We will contact ONLY students and their families who are missing the update (students will receive a paper letter and parents will be sent a talking points). If we do not have the form completed by Dec.1, your child will not be permitted to attend.

Your child can either pack a lunch or they will be offered the option of ordering a sack lunch to pick up before they leave. Students will eat the packed lunch at the Career Center. The cafeteria sack lunch will include a Pizza Anytizer, Chips, Carrots w/ranch cup, Fruit cup, and Fruit juice.

For your information, the following pawtimes will be assigned as follows (Note there were a few minor changes)

Nationwide Children's (Virtual Options) and Fairfield County (In person in Lancaster) offer free Triple P parenting courses that cover a variety of topics and are delivered in multiple formats (e.g., workshops, seminars, one-on-one consults, etc.)

https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/specialties/behavioral-health/for-families/triple-p

https://www.facfc.org/parent-education-fcfc.html

Hi families. I am reaching out to ask for help in supporting our Girls group at Ridgeview. The ROX Program equips girls with tools to succeed in relationships, academics and life with evidence-based curriculum. This program will also help girls cope with stress/anxiety and address perfectionism while coaching families how to best support their child. Here at Ridgeview, we like to run a 7th grade group first semester and an 8th grade group second semester.

Your tax-deductible gift will help create generations of confident and successful girls who can control their own decisions, relationships, experiences and futures. For all the ways that you are able to give, we are honored to have your support in this work.

A gift of $100 provides a scholarship for 1 girl to participate in 20-weeks of the ROX Program. However, we appreciate any donation you are able to make. If you or your business want to sponsor a girl or make a donation please use the QR code below.

Tiger Athletics Website

Athletic Handbook

Winter Sports Registration is now OPEN!

Please be sure that your student is registered on Final Forms.

YOUR STUDENT MUST HAVE AN UPDATED PHYSICAL ON FILE IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN TRY OUTS OF ANY SPORT

A friendly reminder!

$77.50 due November 22

$77.50 due January 17

Be sure to register your student in Final Forms so that you get all of the up to date information regarding games and practices.

https://pickerington-oh.finalforms.com/

Students: $5 Adults: $7

Cash/Card is accepted at the gate. If you pay online, there will be additional fees.

Click here to purchase tickets: https://www.pickerington.k12.oh.us/Page/126

You may purchase a Tiger Club Pass ($50/student) or a Central Club Pass ($100/adult) that is good for all regular home games for every sport.

To purchase Club Passes, use the same link as above and select Central. Once there, you will select Purchase Yearly Passes.

**Students are now required to show their student ID card to attend athletic events. If your student does not have an ID card yet, you can show the attendant your Infinite Campus information from your phone until your ID arrives**

TGIF!! Happy Friday All and welcome the cold weather!

We would like to wish all of you a "Happy Holiday" as you gather next week with your family and friends - to give thanks and share what you are grateful for. As you all know, next week is a short week for our students, but once they return we have some exciting fundraisers in store. PTO, Web Leaders and Rox will be partnering together so be on the lookout for the Talking Point notifications, social media (Facebook) and continue to check out the Friday newsletter links shared.

Final reminder we are hosting our Staff Thanksgiving lunch on Monday the 25th, any dishes, drinks or desserts can be dropped off the morning of up until 9:15a. If you need to make arrangements to get it to us over the weekend instead, don't hesitate to email us or DM us on Messenger or Facebook. (kelly.martin_rvjhpto@hotmail.com or qsmith6@hotmail.com). You still have time to sign up as well, see link below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4CA5A62EA2FA7-53072741-staff

QR codes for PTO are listed in the newsletter so if you choose to donate via Cash App or Venmo, that is the best way to do so. We appreciate your donations and support!

If you have any questions at all we are always here to support you - Kelly Martin - kelly.martin_rvjhpto@hotmail.com and Qiana Ellis - qsmith6@hotmail.com.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Kelly Martin & Qiana Ellis

• PLSD 2024-2025 District Calendar - click here

• Districtwide Activities Calendar

  Upcoming events and important dates are listed in the Districtwide Google Events Calendar, which is synced with individual building, program and athletic team calendars. Once inside the district wide calendar, to display the events of a particular building, team, program or activity, you will need to check the specific corresponding color-coded box(es) from the list on the left-hand side.

  Pickerington Schools partners with the City of Pickerington and Yodel to bring you the Pickerington Community Calendar!
  

  Visit this link to view all Pickerington Schools activities included on the calendar and don’t forget to “favorite” our Pickerington Schools schedule! Once favorited, Pickerington Schools' events will be front and center on your calendar, enabling you to see what’s coming up.

The Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Public Safety have launched the SaferOH tip line that will accept both calls and texts 24 hours a day.

This tip line allows students and adults to anonymously share information with school officials and law enforcement about threats to student safety—whether that involves a threatened mass incident or harm to a single student.

Every tip can remain anonymous. School safety analysts may ask for additional information, but the caller can remain secret or leave his or her contact information for later follow-up.

Calls or texts to 844-SaferOH (844-723-3764) are answered by analysts in the Ohio Homeland Security’s Threat Assessment and Prevention (TAP) Unit. When action is needed, the TAP Unit immediately forwards information to Pickerington Schools, local law enforcement agencies, and others, if necessary.

Here at Ridgeview Junior High we value being Timely, Innovative, showing GRIT, being Engaged in our learning, and Respect! Notice the letters spell out TIGER! Click on our behavior expectations, and please take a moment to look over and review with your student(s).

Principal: Sheila Evans

Assistant Principal 7th Grade: Henry Lee

Assistant Principal 8th Grade: Kevin Smith

Dean of Students: Sydney Dillard

Building Secretary/Athletics: Tiffany Dalton

Building Secretary/Registrar: Lisa Holley

Attendance: Pat Petrini

Office Assistant: Madelyn Gomez

Counselors: Kris Owen: A-Ga, Erica Reynolds: Ge-N, Meghan Wade: O-Z

Nurse: Rachel Ross/Mindy Stillwell

Safety/Security: Jon (JT) Haynes

School Resource Officer (SRO): Mathew Swaney, Jeremy Collier

Email: Sheila_Evans@plsd.us
Website: pickerington.k12.oh.us
Location: 130 Hill Road South, Pickerington, OH, USA
Phone: 614-548-1700
Twitter: @RidgeviewPLSD