Cougar Ridge Elementary E-news
4.21.2021
Upcoming Events
May 19 - Materials Distribution - Last of the Year
May 31 - No School, Memorial Day
June 7-11- Spirit Week - Stay Tuned
June 17 - Last Day of School
REMINDER FROM THE ATTENDANCE OFFICE
Please remember to call in, email, or report via the Issaquah School District website if your student will not be in attendance. We have had an increase in the number of unexcused absences, presumably due to attestation reporting. Please remember the following:
- We cannot excuse absences based on attestation answers.
- Please do not rely on your student’s teacher to forward emails or messages regarding attendance. Teachers are sometimes absent themselves.
- If your hybrid student is absent from in-person instruction they are still considered absent, even if they are logging in to their class, and must be excused.
Attendance line - (425) 837-6407
Web attendance reporting - https://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/live/attendance
Questions? Contact Michell Franko at frankos@issaquah.wednet.edu or (425) 837-6402
Hybrid Families -Please Complete Daily Attestations by 7 a.m.
All parents/guardians of students who attend school in-person must continue to complete a daily attestation for their student prior to arriving at the school site. Students will not be allowed to enter the school without a completed attestation.
To help speed up the daily check-in process, we are asking families to please complete the daily attestation by 7 a.m. each day. This is due to ongoing delays with the system the District is using.
- Each school day, an email will continue to be automatically sent to the contact designated as “Parent 1” in Skyward (for students with more than one family of record, the message will only go to Parent 1).
- If you also signed-up to receive the daily attestation form by text message this message will now be sent at 5 a.m.
Thank you for your help in ensuring that students can safely enter our buildings.
Cougar Ridge Student Placement and Parent Input Letters
The student placement process is quite complex and many factors enter into the decision-making process. Teachers meet in grade level teams (with assistance from specialists, resource room teacher, ELL teacher, guidance team members, etc.) to consider these factors. Listed below are some of the factors (not in any particular order) considered before final class lists are prepared:
- the program needs of the child
- balanced ratio of boys and girls
- a balance of achievement levels in literacy and mathematics
- motivation level of each student
- behavior factors regarding each student
- compatibility of students with others in the classroom (i.e., separating students who have not worked well together in the past)
- independent work habits
- social needs and leadership skills
- information provided by the teacher
Teachers take the task of placement quite seriously. We assure you that each grade level team takes much time, effort, and care in developing class rosters that result in offering all children a quality educational experience. Once balanced rosters are created teachers will then be assigned.
Parent Information and Input
Many parents ask what opportunity they have in providing input into their child’s placement from year to year. As parents you may have pertinent information about your child that you would like considered in the placement process. Examples of information staff find helpful are: “Please separate my twins, Blake and Morgan,” or “Please do not place my daughter Mary in the same class as Jane since they are cousins” or “Please separate Bobby and Steven since we are neighbors and they play together all of the time.”
We strive to create and maintain classroom environments that are warm, structured, nurturing, caring, supportive, and challenging for every child. For the placement process, the task for the teachers is to develop balanced classrooms based on the knowledge they have about all students.
Parent Input Letter
Parents have the opportunity to write a letter to provide input for placement. If you write a letter, it is believed that you have information that the current teacher does not have or may be unaware of. A letter is optional. If you choose to write a letter, please include your child’s name, current grade level, teacher’s name, and parents’ names. Be reassured that these letters will be kept confidential. I will use the information in the letter to help place students. Please send a separate written letter (no e-mails) for each child to:
Drew Terry, Principal
Cougar Ridge Elementary
4630 167th Ave. SE
Bellevue, WA 98006
You may also drop off your letter in one of our drop boxes in the front of the school. We will not accept letters that specify teachers by individual name, gender, or experience. These requests will be discarded.
Deadline for parent input letters is Wednesday, May 5, at 4:00 pm. No letters will be
accepted beyond the deadline.
Marker/Pen/Pencil Recycling at School
The Cougar Ridge Green Team and PTSA are proud to announce a Cougar Ridge marker/pen/pencil recycling bin. It will be housed outside the front door. To help the Earth please be sure to only put pens, markers and pencils in this box. Thanks for doing your part to help our planet!! 💚🌍💚
PurposeFull People - Respect
This month's trait will be Respect. During this time of year our students start to exhibit behaviors that they might not show at other times. They start to feel a little too comfortable and say something that isn't respectful to you or their classmates. So, let's take the time to reinforce how important it is to be respectful to each other and ourselves.
Click here for conversation starters, family challenges, reading recommendations, and a poster to remind your Bobcat that respect means seeing the good in people and things and treating them with care.
Cougar Ridge News - Student Broadcast
Green Team UpCycle Challenge Update
Join Our Team
Join the 2021-22 Cougar Ridge Elementary PTSA Board of Directors! Many current Board Members' terms are coming to an end. Our newly elected Nominating Committee is currently interviewing for the following Board of Directors positions: President, Executive Vice President, Secretary, Outreach, Service & Recognition, Fundraising & Membership, and Programs. There are also various ways to volunteer and assist the Board! If interested in learning more and/or getting involved, please fill out this survey. Please reach out to Diana Heyd for more information.
Join the Cougar Ridge PTSA
The PTSA will be working to see how best we can support our students and community as plans for remote learning are being implemented. CR Together, We Got This!
To join, please click here.
ISD Parent Workshop on Reporting Incidents Related to Culture and Identity
What can I do to help my child if they are experiencing racist remarks, bullying, harassment, and/or intimidation at school? What do these terms truly mean? What is the difference between the terms? Should I report? Who should I report to? How do I report? What can I expect if I do report? The ISD Family Partnership Team, School Administrators and School Counselors welcome you to attend a workshop regarding reporting incidents related to culture and identity on zoom. Sessions are available in English, Spanish and Chinese. If you need an interpreter in another language, please request the language in the registration form. For more information, please visit the webpages for our elementary workshop event or secondary workshop event.
Student Art Calendar 2021-2022 - Now Accepting Artwork Submissions
Thanks again to the support of the Seattle Times, every family and staff member in the Issaquah School District will receive a free print copy of the Student Art Calendar in the 2021-2022 school year—easy to hang on the wall to keep track of important school dates! Every current student in the district is invited to submit artwork to fill the pages for thousands of homes and offices. Get your creative juices flowing! The deadline to submit artwork is Monday, May 10, 2021 at midnight. For more information on how to submit artwork, please click here to visit our Call for Art webpage.
Exceptional Placement Math Test for Incoming 6th grade students
Exceptional Placement provides an additional acceleration option for students who are ready to skip CC 7/8 and begin middle school in CC 8/Algebra 1. Students must demonstrate mastery of CC 7/8 skills on a district-administered assessment. The Exceptional Placement test will be offered to interested students on Thursday, August 19 and Friday, August 20, 2021.
For more information on the exceptional placement math test, including course registration guidance for next year if you plan to take the test, please click here to visit the ISD website.
Elementary In-Person Summer School Program – Planning Information for Families
K-5 Elementary Summer School by Invitation Only
The Issaquah School District is moving forward with plans to offer a free in-person K-5 Summer School program in July. Due to the challenging circumstances brought about by COVID 19, Elementary K-5 Summer School registration will be by invitation only. This will enable the District to focus efforts on providing COVID recovery instruction to those students who have had the greatest challenge accessing learning opportunities this past year and are identified as having been most significantly impacted academically. Elementary principals will work with their teams to determine the students most in need of summer school by reviewing multiple academic, engagement, and social emotional data points gathered throughout the year. Invitations will be sent to families of identified students in mid-May.
We recognize this is a change from previous K-5 summer school offerings. We also acknowledge that all students have felt some level of impact by the closure of the school buildings. Please be assured that the District’s Teaching and Learning Department has already begun planning the work to support teachers and school staff so they will be prepared to meet the needs of all students as they return to school in the fall.
- The dates for K-5 Elementary Summer School are July 6-July 30, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Clark Elementary School.
- Transportation will be provided.
- Some kindergarten students may be invited to attend summer school at additional school sites within the district. Families of invited students will be informed if their student will be attending an alternate school site in mid-May.
- Registered students will attend in-person with social distancing and appropriate PPE measures in place.
- We will continue to follow guidelines from OSPI and the Governor’s Office regarding COVID 19 mitigation measures.
- The number of students invited to participate will be based on the number of staff we are able to hire to meet required staff-to-student ratios and classroom COVID capacity.
Pre-K and Kindergarten Summer School
The Issaquah School District will again be providing a free in-person summer program designed to help students get ready for kindergarten. This 4-week program is by invitation only and seeks to provide a jump-start to those students who would most benefit from a preschool experience prior to kindergarten. In addition, this year we will be offering invitation-only classes for some current kindergarten students who have had the greatest challenge accessing learning in a remote environment. Invitations will be sent to families of identified students in mid-May.
- The dates for Pre-K and Kindergarten Summer School are July 6 - 30, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- Transportation will be provided.
- Programs will be located at Apollo, Issaquah Valley, and Challenger elementary Schools. Families of invited students will be informed of their student’s summer school of attendance mid-May.
- Registered students will attend in-person with social distancing and appropriate PPE measures in place. We will continue to follow guidelines from OSPI and the Governor’s Office regarding COVID 19 mitigation measures.
Another round of P-EBT is coming!
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT), or Pandemic EBT, is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic EBT will be automatically issued to families that qualify for free and reduced lunches. If you feel you may qualify for free and reduced-price lunches and have not yet filled out an application, please click here. Funds will be automatically issued by mail, so it is imperative that the address we have on file is correct. Please contact your student’s school to update your address.
Meal Pickup Location Changes Beginning April 12
Beginning Monday, April 12, we will no longer distribute meals for pickup at our middle school and high school locations. Instead, we will begin distributing at four additional elementary schools. The final day for food distribution will be Monday, April 5 at these school buildings:
- Beaver Lake Middle School
- Issaquah High School
- Liberty High School
- Skyline High School
Beginning Monday, April 12, we will begin distribution at these schools:
- Briarwood Elementary, 17020 SE 134th St, Renton
- Clark Elementary, 335 1st Ave SE, Issaquah
- Discovery Elementary, 2300 228th Ave SE, Sammamish
- Sunny Hills Elementary, 3200 Issaquah-Pine Lake Rd SE, Sammamish
Distribution will continue as usual at Apollo, Endeavour, Grand Ridge, Issaquah Valley and Sunset elementary schools. Pickup will be continue to be available each Monday from 4 to 6 p.m.
This change will allow us to prepare to provide meals to middle school and high school students attending school in-person beginning Thursday, April 15. Our meals program provides free breakfasts and lunches for any child 18 or under. See more information about the program here, including a list of all pickup locations.Nourish Every Mind is Coming this Spring!
Join us for our 23rd Annual Nourish Every Mind Flagship Event! You'll hear from Issaquah School District students about their personal experiences, how donor support made a difference this year, and what is still needed to ensure their overall success.
Mark your calendar and register here to join us for the Nourish Every Mind event and auction. Register early to be entered into a drawing to win a gift basket for the event and receive links for the event and auction via email. The winners of the gift basket will be announced on April 16.
Event info: https://isfdn.org/nourish-every-mind/
Registration Link: https://bit.ly/3kNcv0J
Summer Day Camp
It’s time to think SUMMER CAMP! Register now for Camp ‘Quah, Kindercamp, Mighty Mites, Tennis Camp, Golf Camp, Cheer Camp and Gymnastics Camp…all through Issaquah Parks & Community Services! Details & Online Registration or call us at 425-837-3300.
We’re back in action! Check out all the Spring & Summer Programs through Issaquah Parks & Community Services! Snapology, Karate, Volleyball, Cheer, Gymnastics, Skyhawks Soccer and more!
Sno-King Learn to Skate
Help us welcome our new neighbors – the Sno-King Ice Arena in Snoqualmie! Learn to Skate programs open for registration now! Family Friday on the Ice is set for Friday, May 21 – register today!
Issaquah Youth Advisory Board
Apply to represent your middle school or high school on the 2021-2022 Issaquah Youth Advisory Board. Details can be found on the City of Issaquah website
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