Ridgecrest Panther Press

It’s a great day to be a PANTHER!

Dear Parents,

This is the last Panther Press for the year 2024! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. See you in 2025!

We welcome scholars back to school from winter break on Monday, January 6th, 2025. This is a schedule change which is a hurricane make-up day. All scholars should return to school, ready to learn at 8:45am.

Thursday, January 9th will be Picture Retake Day! Scholars who would like to complete their retake, must bring their original photos on this day.

January 27th through the 31st is Literacy Week and The Book Fair! Look for more details after the holidays.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Gardner

Mrs. Nguyen

January:

1/6/25 - Hurricane Make-up day- School is back in Session

1/9 - Picture RETAKE Day

1/14 - PTA Meeting 5:30pm

1/21 - Spirit Night @ Texas Roadhouse 3:00pm to Close

1/20 - Martin Luther King Day - No Students

1/27 - 1/31 - Literacy Week

• BOOK FAIR - LOCATED IN MEDIA CENTER

1/31 - ALL PRO DAD'S 7:45am

February:

2/6 - Ready Set Kindergarten - 5:30 to 6pm details coming soon

2/11- 2/12 - Walk-A-Thon Color Run

2/12 - Spirit DAY - Chick-Fil-A- 6:30 am to 10pm

2/13 - Class Pictures

2/14 - Coffee with the Principal - Topic will be iStation and Dreambox

2/14 - 2/22 - Dental Health Week-School based sealant application

2/17 - Students in class for Hurricane Make-up day

2/28 - iMoms, 7:45 Media Center

March

3/3 - 3/7 - Read Across America - Plans to follow

3/6 - Enterprise Village - 5th Grade Students

3/14 - PTA Pi/Pie Day

3/17-3/21 SPRING BREAK!

3/26 - Spring Photos

3/28 - All Pro Dads 7:45 am

This past week our School Advisory Council (SAC) met to discuss schoolwide goals, initiatives and needs. Attached below is the presentation that was shared among families. We hope to see you at our next SAC meeting held on Friday, February 14th, 2025 from 8:30-9:30am. The topic for the February meeting will be Dreambox and iStation for families.

Did you know that we have a PAWSitive Room at Ridgecrest? Our scholars earn points for following our P.A.W.S expectations,

Practice respect

Act responsibly

Work together

Stay safe.

On Fridays, scholars shop for a variety of special incentives, one of which is spending time in our PAWSitive Room which houses games, books, arts and crafts, a couch and bean bag chairs.

We could use your help in making our PAWSitive Room even more amazing!

With the holidays upon us, please consider donating slightly used or new board games, puzzles, playdough, arts and crafts, etc.

Ultimately, we are seeking a gaming system to incorporate into our PAWSitive Room.

Donations can be sent to the office. We are excited about bringing more fun and excitement to the Ridge through our PBIS program!

Ridgecrest has been offered an Organ for donation. If you or someone you know is interested in acquiring an organ, please contact Mr. Michael our Music Teacher at: michaelj@pcsb.org.

Typing resources for scholars to use at home:

kidztype.com

typingbee.com

play.typeracer.com

Join the Ridgecrest YMCA for a FREE BREAKFAST WITH SANTA!

Various activities including breakfast, photos, and games! No Reservations Required.

Parents will need to sign their children in and stay with them for this event.

Tuesday, December 24th, from 9am to 11am.

Each month our school focuses on a character trait to model, practice and showcase around our campus. For the month of January, we highlight INTEGRITY.

You can support us by talking about what INTEGRITY looks like, sounds like, and feels like at home and at school.

Ways we encourage INTEGRITY at school:

1. Doing the right thing even when it’s hard or when no one is looking
2. Honesty is key: This includes telling the truth, even when it's difficult
3. Working together for the greater good.

As you know, attending school is one of the most important steps we can take towards building a bright future for our students.

School is not just a place of learning; it is a community.

Every day at Ridgecrest is an opportunity to grow our scholars.

For this reason, we are excited to announce the Popping for Attendance incentive and competition!

Starting on December 2nd, the entire school will be participating in this friendly competition to see which class has the best attendance rate.

Each Friday we will be tallying the numbers, and the class in each grade with the highest attendance will earn a popcorn point.

Additionally, the class with the most popcorn points at the end of each month will earn a class reward! Our attendance incentive will continue through the end of the school year so everyone will have an opportunity to show up and show out.

Improving our attendance is just one more step to meet our goals!

Parents must complete the online application and return 1 teacher recommendation form from a current ELA or math teacher by January 17th. We will review all applications by the end of January and send out acceptance letters and waitlist letters in February. We had a lengthy waitlist last year and we are only taking 75 students for 6th grade next year, so spots will fill up quickly.