Category: PTSA

School Masks & Shirts

With the Wapiti Store not an option for the foreseeable future, we’ve decided to use those resources to provide students with either an Elk Ridge mask or water bottle, and a shirt. For those students who are learning from home, either full-time or just while on quarantine, we’ll have an official pickup time this Friday, Oct 9th from 10 – 11 am just inside the front door. If you miss that window for some reason, just let us know in the main office.

It’s Red Ribbon Week!

Red Ribbon Week starts today, and our PTSA has a lot of excitement in store. To get in on the fun, follow this Instagram account. Red Ribbon week runs from 10/5 to 10/9. The theme is “We’ll get through this together.” Each day has a different activity:

• Monday: Don’t go crazy on social media (Crazy Sock Day)
• Tuesday: Together we can do hard things (Dress Like Twins Day)
• Wednesday: Team kindness (Team Jersey Day)
• Thursday: It’s a great day to be a Wapiti! (Wapiti Gear Day)

Take a picture dressed in each day’s theme and tag @elkridge_redribbon on Instagram to be entered to win cool prizes!

Picture Retakes (Including Virtual Students)

Retakes for student pictures will take place on October 7th from 8 – 9 am. For those coming from home, just stop by the main office upon arriving. The order form can be found here and in the main office. You can order them online using this Picture Day ID: EVTG2DGJR

District Virtual Change Requests due Oct. 6th

If you are hoping to move from virtual to in-person or from in-person to virtual, you must submit that request in Skyward by Oct. 6th. Instructions were emailed out, and can be found here. 

Space for such moves will be extremely limited, and will be based within the existing virtual learning staffing and framework established by the district.

Community Council Nominations and Vote

We will hold a vote next week via Skylert if needed. You can nominate people here, and get more information on the school community council here.

Managing Quarantine Expectations & Opting to Self-Quarantine

We make every effort to keep students caught up when they are out on quarantine, and good communication is at the heart of quarantine success. But it’s definitely not as good as being here or being in a class actually designed for virtual instruction. It is intended to be a short-term solution and not a replacement for in-person or online instruction. Our goal is to lessen how behind a student is when they return, and to include them in the in-person class as much as possible. That said, it’s the splint and not the cast, and your student is still enrolled in an in-person class. 

If you are opting to keep your student out for self-isolation longer than a normal quarantine, please keep in mind that quarantine is meant to be a short-term solution, and while we will do what we can to involve them, it’s designed to hold students over and not to replace the in-person class.

Chalk Art Festival

Our Chalk Art Festival will be happening on Friday, October 9th, and students can participate in person or from home. Applications for in-person and online participants can be found here. In-person participant applications were due to Mrs. Gonzales by October 1st. Contact her if you are still interested in participating in any form.

Quarantine Schoolwork Point of Contact

If you have been out on quarantine, you probably already know this, but Lisa Hogan is our point of contact for schoolwork help and questions when on quarantine. She can connect you with teachers, counselors and more, and will be keeping tabs on you until you can come back.

Quarantine Process at ERMS

We get a lot of questions about symptoms and quarantine. If you have any questions, feel free to use this tool to see current guidelines we have from the health department and quarantine types specific to your situation. We use a modified version of this tool when determining exposure and length of quarantine. This tool is for your information only and does not collect any data. Please contact the school if you have symptoms or confirmed exposure to a positive COVID case.

Stress and Anxiety Group

Feeling stressed out or anxious? We want to help! Let one of our counselors know and we’ll make sure we connect you with resources and others that can support you.

Parent-Teacher Conferences Update

Parent-teacher conferences are September 23rd and 24th. Due to COVID-19, conferences will be held virtually this year. We will send out more information on Monday and post it on our website, but here are the basic steps for you as a parent:

1. Review recap videos from teachers (available Monday afternoon) for general information about each class
2. If you need to meet with a teacher, make an appointment (links on the website Monday afternoon)
3. At the time of your appointment, connect via Zoom.

While drop-in conferences are possible between 4-8 pm on Wednesday and 4-7:30 pm on Thursday, an appointment ensures the teacher is available. If you are unable to connect with a teacher for any reason, please contact the teacher to set up a time to meet. Our goal is meaningful two-way communication, so please reach out if this format doesn’t work for any reason.

In order to meet with as many parents as possible, we are asking that meetings be no longer than 5 minutes. Please also only set up an appointment if you need to speak to the teacher live and email or phone communication that happens normally won’t suffice. As a reminder, you are always able to set up an appointment to call, email or video conference with a teacher, regardless of the time of year. Read next Monday’s Skylert, check back on our website, and watch for information from your teachers for appointment and Zoom links for next week’s conference.

Curbside Lunch/Breakfast Service

Elk Ridge, along with South Hills and Joel P. Jensen, will be offering curbside and walk-up lunch/breakfast to-go meals for any JSD students regardless of grade level who are attending school virtually.

Prepared meals (lunch today, breakfast tomorrow) will be available in front of the school from 10-11 am. As with in-person lunches, all meals for students will be free of charge through the remainder of 2020. Menu options will vary based on what is being served in school each day. Students attending in-person should eat at the regular time in the cafeteria.

Last Chance to Get Prepaid Memory Books

Memory Books have arrived! If you have already purchased a memory book, just swing by the main office to pick it up. If your student is at another school, you can pick up your memory book at the main doors of Elk Ridge on Sept. 16 (Wed) from 5 pm – 7 pm.

At this point, we do not have extra memory books for sale. If some become available, we’ll let you know. The books look simply amazing, and we appreciate our PTSA’s ongoing efforts with this and so many other things!

PTSA Ambassador Application Deadline Extended

You can now submit your application to the PTSA Ambassadors until September 24th. It’s a great way to get involved and serve others. Talk to Kimberly Gilbert with any questions.

PTSA Newsletter & Reflections Contest

Our PTSA Fall Newsletter and annual Reflections contest are now live. Visit this link to view the newsletter and get information on the contest.

Quarantine and Symptom Check Online Tool

We get a lot of questions about symptoms and quarantine. If you have any questions, feel free to use this tool to see current guidelines we have from the health department and quarantine types specific to your situation. We use a modified version of this tool when determining exposure and length of quarantine. This tool is for your information only and does not collect any data. Please contact the school if you have symptoms or confirmed exposure to a positive COVID case.

Online Courses

Online courses are up and running, and you should be underway. If you have any lingering logistics with online courses, please let us know and we’ll do what we can to help.

Stress and Anxiety Group

Feeling stressed out or anxious? We want to help! Let one of our counselors know and we’ll make sure we connect you with resources and others that can support you.

Friday Appointments

If your student is coming to the building on Friday, please remember that in order to limit people in the building, we ask that parents remain at home or outside. If you are dropping off your student, arrange a time to pick them up or have your student call home when finished. Thank you for your understanding!

Friday Priorities

In a word, Friday is about differentiation. Our goals each Friday are to:

1. Meet individual needs of students
2. Provide flexibility via individual or small-group instruction (virtual and in-person)
3. Extend learning from earlier in the week and prepare students for the upcoming week
4. Preparation and collaboration according to normal Fridays

What Work on Friday Should Be

• Based on what teachers have seen earlier in the week
• A time to meet the individual needs of students
• Reworking and demonstrating learning
• Activities at the level of the student

What Work on Friday is NOT

• Another day of class as usual, but online
• A day off of school
• Busywork

The Question to Always Ask

Whether you are a parent or a teacher, the ultimate litmus test regarding what you are doing on Fridays is:

Is what happens on Friday helping my student succeed?

This year is full of unknowns. Fridays were set aside by the school board to help teachers be more responsive to the needs of students, and to actually give them time and space to do so. 

It should not be business as usual. It should be better business than ever before. It’s a day for the hopes and dreams of educators everywhere to become a reality: to have time to effectively and thoroughly differentiate for our students. Not everyone needs the same thing on Friday, and the goal is for Friday to become a day personalized to what each student needs.