Thursday, 2/16: Last day to order Ridgeline apparel!

Tuesday, 2/21: Return UofO Test Kits

Monday, 2/20: No School, President’s Day

Sunday, 2/26: Lottery Applications Due

Be sure to check the full calendar at https://www.ridgeline.org as some dates may change. Please note that Ridgeline’s calendar differs slightly from 4J elementary and middle school calendars.

Ridgeline currently has openings on its substitute list! When a classroom staff member is out, a substitute steps into the role of the classroom assistant.

Substitutes may be booked ahead of time for a staff member’s planned absence or will be texted first thing in the morning for same day needs.

For more information check out employment opportunities on our website.

If you are interested in getting on our sub list, please send a resume and three references with their contact information to careers@ridgeline.org.

If you have questions about subbing, contact Cynthia in the office.

Sign up and work toward your commitment of 40 hours of volunteering at Ridgeline!

Head over to the Volunteer Page of our website and review the Code of Conduct and

fill out a background check form if you have not done so in the last five years.

DIRECT DONATION DRIVE

Ridgeline's Direct Donation Drive (aka "The DDD") is coming up in March! This is our once-a-year, just-write-a-check-and-be-done fundraiser. Most work will happen in the next 2 weeks and the campaign runs 3/10-3/19. We have some fun theme ideas and are looking for 3 volunteers:

• A graphic artist who wants to do some design work with the campaign theme and our electronic communications

• A photographer who can spend some time capturing our students in their classrooms sometime in early to mid February, and

• Writers/storytellers who are interested in sharing a little about why they love our school through a theme-based piece.

Contact Becky Fay if you would like to contribute your skills to these volunteer opportunities!

CROSSING GUARDS AT PICK UP AND DROP OFF!

• Crossing guards are needed daily at 8-8:30 am and 3-3:20 pm.
  This is a simple way to fulfill your volunteer hours and is one of our largest, ongoing volunteer needs!

You will help guide Ridgeline students to safely cross between building B and the sidewalk, and cross West Amazon to and from the Amazon trail.

Safety vests and stop signs provided. Sign-up for any slot that fits your schedule!

RUMMAGE SALE

• Rummage Sale Lead needed!

In order to make this popular community event happen, we need someone to coordinate

organizing it, with training and assistance from experienced folks.

If you love yard sales and the joy of finding new homes for gently used items, contact Becky Fay!

Directions for how to log your hours on Track it Forward are found at the bottom of this page.

We share with a heart full of gratitude and support that Ridgeline’s kindergarten teacher, Sarah Maxwell's last day will be February 17. She will be focusing her time and attention on her family’s needs. Sarah has positively impacted our youngest learners and created strong connections with her kindergarten families. She will be greatly missed. Click here to read Sarah’s letter to kindergarten families.

We share this unexpected news to let you know that Kristin Warner will be stepping up as the long-term substitute teacher through the end of this school year. She has more than five years of experience working with Ridgeline’s youngest students and is enthusiastic about taking on this leadership role. This will provide important consistency for our students during the transition. A long-term substitute assistant will support the classroom while we begin the hiring process for a temporary kindergarten assistant.

Sincerely,

Chrystell Reed, Executive Director

The Ridgeline Equity Committee is planning to start hosting family events for the Ridgeline Community where families, parents, and Ridgeline community members can deepen their understanding of equity and how to support Ridgeline in further being a welcoming and inclusive school for all student identities.

Please complete this brief survey to share what type of events you are most interested in.

Lower El students delivered handmade Valentine's Day cards to residents at Emerald Valley Assisted Living on Tuesday!

Thank you to our dedicated art teacher, Merideth Turner, for engaging all Lower El students in this project. The RCO continues to build our relationship with Emerald Valley and welcomes any ideas from parents or students!

Student Marketplace returns to Ridgeline April 29, 2023 and now is the time for students to start planning their offerings!

Marketplace is a student inspired fundraising art and craft fair. Students can create art and crafts (sorry no food can be sold by students) either individually or as a group, set their prices and donation amount (minimum 20% of profit donation is required to participate, but students can choose to donate more, up to 100%). All donations go to the school wide fundraising effort.

While historically held in December, we have moved to a spring event in order to allow for the use of outdoor spaces. One exciting change this brings is to allow students who choose to participate the opportunity to explore new craft ideas related to spring activities.

Students and families can submit proposals here: https://forms.gle/UtGHYtabjo3hSaQZ9. Due to time restraints, all proposals will be considered approved UNLESS you hear otherwise from me within 2 business days.

If you are interested in participating, but do not have the means to get supplies, please contact me and we will try to find a way to get supplies for your student. Families can also utilize community resources to get supplies such as MECCA or Facebook buy nothing groups. This event is open to all grades K-8.

More information to come soon, but if you have any questions contact Heather!

Wow! Ridgeline students have so many unique talents, from snowboarding, aerial silks, gymnastics, playing musical instruments (violin, piano, ukulele, electric guitar...), creating short films, and so much more. Here is the link in case you missed it. A huge thank you to Kate Downing, Sarah Mauney, and Chauncey Davis-Mauney for organizing and creating the Talent Show video and hosting the live screening party. We also appreciate Becky and Jesse’s assistance, along with our students who shared their many talents.

The orders for Ridgeline apparel are up and running! Please enter your information in the website, https://ridgelinemontessorigear.bigcartel.com/ and place your order before February 16, 2023. We will be processing the order mid February. All apparel should arrive by early March!

We continue our “T-shirts for All Students” program which provides a t-shirt at no cost to any student who qualifies on Ridgeline’s Income Survey Form. If you are able to, please make a donation to go towards another child's t-shirt order. If you need any assistance getting a t-shirt for your child please reach out to the Ridgeline Equity Committee. If you have any questions about ordering, reach out to equity@ridgeline.org.

Siblings of students who are currently enrolled and will remain enrolled in Ridgeline in the coming year receive enrollment priority. If space is unavailable, students with sibling-level priority will be the first group selected by an equitable lottery process for placement on the waiting list.

In order to qualify for sibling preference, you MUST complete the Online Enrollment Application for any incoming sibling by February 26, 11:59 pm.

Effective February 5th, 2023, LTD will be making schedule adjustments to some of their routes due to driver shortages.

Many students take Bus Route 28 at 1:26 after dismissal on Friday. Schedule changes have eliminated this pickup time and the soonest bus will be available at 1:56.

As this affects a number of students, you may be interested in contacting LTD with your thoughts on this schedule change. Contact information for LTD and comment forms are available on their website.

Ridgeline will continue to utilize Track it Forward for volunteer sign-ups and to log your volunteer hours. If you are new to Ridgeline or have not yet created an account, please do so! Last year we had a lot of folks forget to log their hours. Volunteer hour reporting is important for us to show support for Ridgeline when applying for grants and for reporting to our sponsoring district.

• Track It Forward app can be added to your phone!

If you are a first-time Track It Forward user and have not set up an account you will need to create an account first. If you already have an account, skip to step two.

Step One:

Go to https://www.trackitforward.com/site/ridgeline-montessori

Select sign in

Create your account.

Step Two:

Go to the app store on your device and search for Track It Forward.

Download the app

Log In

You are all set!