The Pirate Press
December 2020
Dear Families,
Thank you to all of our families who participated in the Kiwanis Food Drive! Your donations were greatly appreciated! I loved the "attitude of gratitude" displayed by our families and it was a great way for our students to show "Pirate Pride"!
Progress reports will be sent home next week. We appreciate our virtual and in-person families working hard to ensure children are completing assignments and participating in lessons. Our teachers review data and assessment information on a regular basis to plan instruction. Our goal is to individualize student needs to help fill learning gaps from last year and prepare them for the next school year. Current research indicates that students are experiencing greater deficits in math than reading due to our emergency quarantine situation last spring. To help us meet student needs, we are very fortunate to have access to the iStation instruction online for math and reading this year. This is a great supplemental tool for the students and we want every child to complete their iStation instructional time each week.
Parents, health and safety protocols continue to be priorities for us. Please remember the three Ws! Also, if your child is sick or has been exposed to someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 it is important that you contact the school nurse as soon as possible. Thank you for doing your part to help us maintain a safe and healthy school environment.
Sincerely,
Cheryl L Lawrence
Principal
What's Happening? Important Dates
December Dates
- Dec. 2 CogAT testing for 3rd grade only
- Dec. 2 Site Based Meeting 2:45-4:00 PM
- Dec. 2 PTO Board Meeting 4:15
- Dec.7-11 Computer Science Education Week
- Dec. 8 Progress Reports go home with students
- Dec. 9 Staff Meeting 2:45-4:00 PM
- Dec. 14 Last day to submit the family Gingerbread House contest photos
- Dec. 21 Remote Learning Day for ALL students (calendar change(
- Dec. 22-Jan. 4 Winter Break
- Jan. 4 Optional Teacher Workday-No School for Students (virtual or in-person)
- Jan. 6 Kickoff for Boosterthon-Dance Fit
- Jan. 6 PTO Board Meeting 4:15
- Jan. 14 Boosterthon Dance Fit Event Day-80s Theme!
PBIS
Porter Ridge is proud to be a PBIS school! PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and it is the system we use to help students achieve and demonstrate respect, responsibility, and safety throughout the school day. The PBIS system is not limited to the students physically at school. Virtual students can also display positive behaviors such as participating in lessons, completing assignments, and being respectful.
With PBIS we reinforce positive behaviors through recognition and appreciation. Students are rewarded with Dojo points using our Class Dojo system. These points can be used to purchase prizes. Recently we had our first "PBIS Cart" day and students were able to select their prizes. Students' points also contribute towards a class goal celebration. Class goals help students to focus on collaboration and teamwork to support each other.
Boosterthon Is Almost Here! Are You Ready to DANCE????
Congratulations to Our November Terrific Kids
Wild About Reading Thanks to all families that supported our book fair this year! Our "Wild About Reading' theme was a lot of fun for the kids and the adults! | Food Drive = Success Thank you for supporting our Food Drive! We were amazed at all of the food we collected to help others in need! | Putting and Chipping Skills Students have been working on their golf game in PE with Mrs. Pearman! We might end up with some pros, you never know! |
Wild About Reading
Food Drive = Success
Have You Joined Our PTO?

