Week in Review

On Tuesday, we recognized the February 2023 Employee and Students of the Month at the regular Board of Directors meeting! Congratulations to all of this month’s honorees! You can read more about them on the district website, or watch our Facebook Live video from the event.

Thursday was the 100th day of the school year, and the kindergartners at South Ridge Elementary School are celebrating in style! Some students got into the spirit by dressing like they imagine they will when they're centenarians. No matter whether they were counting out 100 Froot Loops to put on edible necklaces, painting 100 sprinkles on a drawing of an ice cream cone, stacking 100 cups, or adorning paper hats with 100 stickers, these students in Mrs. Green's and Mrs. Rice's classrooms had a blast celebrating the milestone. See more photos on the district Facebook page.

Students at South Ridge Elementary School have been learning about segregation and equality from librarian Ms. Crawford this month. Last week, the students read "Goin' Someplace Special" by Patricia C. McKissack and Jerry Pinkey. The book is based on true events where segregation was experienced by a young girl visiting her local library. The goal is for the young learners to value different perspectives and experiences, and they were encouraged to reflect by expressing their personal connections to literature. You can watch Patricia McKissack read an excerpt "Goin' Someplace Special" below!

This week, Ms. Crawford's students started their annual bookmark design contest that will run for three weeks. The theme of the design contest is "My dream is..." and was inspired by MLK's infamous "I Have a Dream" speech. The five winning bookmarks (one for each grade K-4) will be printed in black and white and distributed to kids and staff in the South Ridge Library. Each winner will get a laminated, full-color version of their bookmark! Visit the district Facebook page to see more photos of 3rd graders working on their bookmark designs.

Ridgefield is the proud home of the 2022 National Knowledge Bowl champions—and last week, the community came together to raise enough money to send this year's team to compete in person in 2023. Generous donations poured in from Ridgefield citizens, the Ridgefield Lions Club, and many others to meet a one-week, $5,000 matching grant goal from the Ridgefield Public Schools Foundation. By the end of the week, a total of $12,235 was raised—enough for the team to travel to the national competition. They are incredibly grateful for the opportunity and excited about the chance to compete in person.

Last year’s Knowledge Bowl competition was held online due to COVID restrictions—as were many of the team’s other events over the last two years. This year, the team hoped to finally attend a national event in person and meet their competitors face to face. Unfortunately, attending those competitions is expensive, with team registration, travel, hotel, and food. The Ridgefield Public Schools Foundation stepped up with a matching grant that would allow students from all economic backgrounds to attend the national events. The Knowledge Bowl team set the lofty goal of raising $5,000 in just one week to get the matching funds. What they found was an incredible outpouring of support from the entire community.

The Ridgefield Lions Club donated $1,500 and local businesses, the City of Ridgefield, and other organizations also reached out and supported the fundraiser. Coach David Jacobson and his Knowledge Bowl students were overwhelmed by the community’s response. “It’s amazing!” Jacobson said. “I can’t say enough how grateful we are!”

The Knowledge Bowl team is thrilled to have met their goal, and they are looking forward to competing at National Knowledge Bowl and National Quiz Bowl events this spring. They will spend the next several weeks preparing, as each academic competition requires a different study strategy. As they start their journey to nationals, the students want to send a huge “THANK YOU!” to everyone in Ridgefield for their support, for making it possible for them to compete on the national stage.

The Ridgefield School District libraries partnered with the Ridgefield branch of Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries to host a fun movie night for kids last week. Ridgefield students and parents settled in with plenty of popcorn and snacks to enjoy the movie marathon event.

Students were excited to choose which movies they watched with a secret ballot box. They hand-wrote their choices on the back of Date Due slips, carefully spelling out movie titles like "The Secret Life of Pets" and "Night at the Museum."

Families were glad to enjoy a free, fun activity on a Friday night. The large meeting room at the downtown library filled quickly, with several kids already dressed for bed in comfy pajamas and carrying stuffed animals. When the lights dimmed, the movie played on the wall like a big screen while another projector lit up the ceiling with stars.

The event was a big success, and the Ridgefield library is looking forward to hosting more movie nights in the future. South Ridge Elementary School Librarian Emily Crawford said, “We’re hoping to make the next movie night even bigger and better!”

The mission of Abby’s Closet, an Oregon-based nonprofit, is to inspire confidence and respect in high school women by providing free formal dresses for prom or other memorable events.

Registration for the 2023 event March 18-19 at the Oregon Convention Center is open now! Advance registration required. Reserve your spot for a free prom dress here!

OSPI and the Centrum Foundation are excited to announce a weeklong arts academy specifically designed for foster care students ages 10-15 the week of April 2-7! The Strong Voices Arts Academy will take place on the beautiful campus of Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend and is FREE to participants (travel, accommodations and food included).

If you know a student who would be interested in attending, please share this information with them and their caregivers. Learn more at https://centrum.org/strong-voices-arts-academy/.

Ridgefield School District strives to recruit and retain the most qualified employees to support our mission of developing well-rounded students with the capacity to succeed in a technologically-driven global society. Here are just some of the positions that are currently open:

• Pre-K Lead Paraprofessional - Early Learning Center
• Accounting & Business Services Specialist - District Office
• Assistant Track Coach (2 positions) - View Ridge Middle School
  
• Assistant Baseball Coach (.4 FTE) - Ridgefield High School
• Counselor (Long Term Sub) - Sunset Ridge Intermediate/View Ridge Middle School
• Counselor (Long-term Sub 1) - Union Ridge Elementary School
  
• Counselor (Long term Sub 2) - Union Ridge Elementary School
• Math Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) - District-wide
• Youth Basketball Referee - Community Education
• Special Education Teacher - Union Ridge Elementary School
• Paraprofessionals several Class I and Class II positions are open at locations across the district
• Substitutes of all kinds (paraprofessionals, teachers, long-term, and emergency subs)
• here's more

To see a listing of Ridgefield School District's current openings and links to apply, please visit the jobs page on our website here.

• Ridgefield High School students earn dual credits in welding
  
• Ridgefield boys secure bid to 2A state regionals in 54-30 win over Black Hills
  

• Presidents' Day (No school): Monday, Feb. 20
• One Hour Late Start (all schools): Wednesday, Feb. 22
• Board of Directors Meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 28

Ridgefield School District aspires to be the state's premier district, leveraging strong community partnerships to provide each student personalized learning experiences, opportunities, and skills that ensure success and unlimited possibilities.

Email: communications@ridgefieldsd.org
Website: www.ridgefieldsd.org
Location: 510 Pioneer Street, Ridgefield, WA, USA
Phone: (360) 619-1301
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RidgefieldSchools
Twitter: @RidgefieldSD