Scotty Updates
A Newsletter from Scotland Elementary School
Week of December 7, 2020
Scotty Updates
The Scotty Updates has been created to provide families and staff with information regarding upcoming events, happenings, and programs at Scotland Elementary School. Please take time each Monday to review our newsletter. Thank you!
A Message from Mrs. Katkocin ❤️
Dear Scotland Families,
I hope this message finds you all well! We have recently updated our website, including a spot for all of our Scotty Updates. I know sometimes it is difficult to find an email, so we have provided access to all Scotty Updates from our website. Please see the pictures below as to how to access them.
As of tomorrow, Tuesday, December 8th, we have 12 school days until our winter recess! We will be doing 12 Days of Giveaways to honor our staff for all of their hard work this year. Each day, staff will participate in trivia questions to win a prize (students can help solve the trivia questions as well). Beginning next week, we will have spirit days to count down until winter break!
Wishing you all a wonderful week!
Kind regards,
Jill
Reminder: If your child is going to remain a temporary remote learner, please complete this form, and email both your child's classroom teacher and Mrs. Anderson at canderson@ridgefieldps.net to notify us.
*Follow Scotland on Instagram @ScotlandElementarySchool
Snaps around Scotland 📸
Events and Happenings
WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Monday, December 7th:
- F Day
Tuesday, December 8th:
- A Day
Wednesday, December 9th:
- B Day
Thursday, December 10th:
- C Day
Friday, December 11th:
- D Day
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, December 23rd:
- Early Dismissal Day (11:40am dismissal)
Thursday, December 24th-January 3rd
- Winter Recess
Friday, January 29th:
- Early Dismissal Day: Dismissal will begin at 11:30am
- Students will be involved in "asynchronous" (not live teaching) activities in the afternoon from home
Friday, February 26th:
- Early Dismissal Day: Dismissal will begin at 11:30am
- Students will be involved in "asynchronous" (not live teaching) activities in the afternoon from home
Monday, March 15th:
- Early Dismissal Day: Dismissal will begin at 11:30am
- Students will be involved in "asynchronous" (not live teaching) activities in the afternoon from home
Monday, April 26th:
- Early Dismissal Day: Dismissal will begin at 11:30am
- Students will be involved in "asynchronous" (not live teaching) activities in the afternoon from home
Monday, May 24th:
- Early Dismissal Day: Dismissal will begin at 11:30am
- Students will be involved in "asynchronous" (not live teaching) activities in the afternoon from home
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Information to Keep Handy! 📓
Classroom/Recess Attire
As we know in the north, the beginning of December may bring some much colder weather. At Scotland, we make every effort to send students outside for recess on a daily basis, as we are aware of the benefits of daily physical activity for children. As a part of our mitigating measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, our classroom windows will remain open to circulate air throughout the school year. As such, please send your child to school dressed in layers, as the classroom spaces can become cold.
Students go outside for recess daily, unless the weather/temperature is unusually severe. We will have indoor recess only when the windchill is below 20 degrees, or if it is actively precipitating. Please provide your child with appropriate outerwear everyday - gloves, hat, snow pants, and jacket. Students with appropriate clothing are permitted to play in the snow. Please note, for safety reasons, we can not allow children to play in the snow without gloves/mittens, snow pants, and boots. Students without snow clothing are permitted to play on the blacktop area. Please label your child(ren)’s outer clothing, sneakers, and rain wear for easy identification. Any lost clothing is placed in our lost and found area and kept for a period of time before being donated to charity. As always, thank you for your support!
Travel and Returning to School
Please refer to the website below regarding travel plans and what needs to be done if you and your family will be traveling to an affected state.*Please note that the CT State Travel Advisory has not changed as a result of the new CDC quarantine guidelines.
Connecticut travel advisory requirements have recently been updated and can be found here: https://portal.ct.gov/coronavirus/travel. If you plan to travel out of the state or out of the country, please check if your destination state is on the advisory list. A Traveler is exempt from the 14 day self-quarantine requirement if the Affected Traveler (1) has had a test for COVID-19 upon arrival in Connecticut (per the Ridgefield DPH), (2) the result of such COVID-19 test is negative, and (3) he or she has provided written proof of such negative test result to the Commissioner of Public Health via email to: DPH.COVID-Travel@ct.gov or via facsimile to: (860) 326-0529. Nucleic acid tests such as reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests are the only acceptable testing option. An Affected Traveler shall remain in self-quarantine in Connecticut until a negative test result is obtained and submitted to the Commissioner. If the test result is positive and the traveler is asymptomatic, he or she shall self-isolate for ten (10) days from the date of the test; if symptomatic, he or she should seek medical assistance. Travelers who test positive for COVID-19 prior to traveling to Connecticut should delay such travel and consult with a medical professional. All Affected Travelers are required to complete the Travel Health Form.
In summary, if your child will be returning from an affected state before returning to in person school, they will need to either quarantine for 14 days on their return to CT, or have a negative PCR test (the rapid test is not accepted). The results of this test need to be emailed to Mrs. Martire prior to their return to in-person learning.
If you will be traveling, please notify your child's teacher, the nurse, and me via email that the student will be quarantining due to travel. We need to maintain records on the learning model for each student in the building.
Message from Mrs. Gaitho and Mrs. Zuker, our SES School Psychologists
Dear SES families,
As we are well underway in the 20-21 school year, we continue to be faced with uncertainty and uncharted territory and we are all learning together how to best support our children.
If you are new to SES or did not have the chance to join our Google Classroom last year, we encourage all our students to join! It is full of Social-Emotional resources for students and families. You will find resources about how to talk to your kids about the virus, as well as activities to support their social-emotional skills. The code to join the class is satldnx. This will also be shared with your children through their teacher’s google classroom.
You will also find a list of links following this letter as we felt these were better to share directly with families rather than on the google classroom.
Melissa Gaitho
Email: mgaitho@ridgefieldps.net
203-894-5825 X6552
Kim Zuker
Email: kzuker@ridgefieldps.net
203-894-5825 X6574
All the best,
Mrs. Gaitho and Mrs. Zuker
Additional Resources
Child Mind Institute - Talking to and supporting kids - coronovirus https://childmind.org/article/talking-to-kids-about-the-coronavirus/
https://childmind.org/article/supporting-kids-during-the-covid-19-crisis/
https://childmind.org/article/how-mindfulness-can-help-during-covid-19/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Updated Sept 2019
Child Mind Institute - Holidays during a pandemic:
https://childmind.org/article/holiday-during-the-pandemic/
Child Mind Institute - Transitioning back to school or in between learning model/quarantines -
https://childmind.org/article/back-to-school-anxiety-during-covid/
National Association of School Psychologists - helping children cope
Dismissal 🚘
Our dismissal process has been working smoothly, and I am incredibly grateful for your patience and flexibility as we navigate the space we have to use. We will continue to work with Ridgefield Police to ensure a safe, efficient pickup at Scotland! Just a few dismissal reminders as we head into the week...
- Please be sure to enter dismissal information into School Dismissal Manager. If a family arrives to pick up a student whose name is not entered in SDM, the family will be asked to park, and then sign out their child with our security guard. This is to ensure the safety of each and every student.
- Please have your students name(s) visible in the front windshield on the passenger side of the car. This will allow our staff to call students for dismissal in the most efficient way possible.
- In the pick up line, students MUST enter the car on the passenger side of the car. We cannot have students walking between cars to enter from the driver's side. If your child must enter on the driver's side, please park your car, and one of our staff members will walk your child to you.
- If you need to help your child buckle, or perhaps open a snack for their ride home, kindly park the car in one of the available spots to do so.
A Note from Mrs. Martire 👩🏻⚕️
If your child is ill or has been exposed to Covid-19 please contact me at 894-5825 extension 6575 or email me at lmartire@ridgefieldps.net.
Attached below is the letter that was sent out from the RPS nurses at the start of the school year for your reference. It includes a link to Addendum 5 ( also attached below: link to CT Guidelines) which was a collaborative effort by the Connecticut State Department of Education and the State Department of Public Health to provide schools districts with guidance and protocols for responding to specific Covid-19 scenarios that may occur with school reopening.
Due to COVID health and safety concerns, any student with any one of the potential COVID symptoms (cough, difficulty breathing, fever or chills, fatigue, muscle or body ache, headache, new loss or taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea) must remain home until the CSDE and CT DPH guidance is met in accordance with Addendum 5.
Addendum 5 has several scenarios based on symptoms and exposure. Becoming familiar with the document will be helpful as I will be referring to this often this year as we continue to experience this global pandemic.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions .
Stay well,
Lisa Martire
Virtual Learning Reminders
- Students will be visible to the teacher and other participating students (please remind your child to have their camera on throughout the lessons).
- Parents are encouraged to have their students independently participate via a location that is quiet and free of distraction, to the extent possible. Other individuals in the home are not permitted to participate in or be visible on the video conference, or otherwise observe the lesson, other than reasonable adult supervision of the student.
- Parents and students are prohibited from recording video conferencing sessions. The district will not be recording any classes/sessions.
- Depending on each student’s individual circumstance, teachers or service providers may request the facilitation of the supervising adult to assist the student in engaging in the session.
- In addition, if your child needs to leave for a period of time during instruction (i.e. doctor or dentist appointment), please notify the classroom teacher ahead of time, just as you would if they were in the building.
Thank you so much for your partnership in making this experience a success!
School Dismissal Manager
We continue to use School Dismissal Manager this year at Scotland. Please click below for information regarding this system. This system will be available to families in late August. A welcome letter will be emailed to families when the system is available. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us!
A Note from Our PTA
Gift Cards for Shared Faculty and Support Staff
It takes a village to keep Scotland running and we want to celebrate it by providing gifts to 48 shared faculty and support staff members throughout our community. From the cafeteria staff to custodians to paraeducators to specials teachers (art, gym, library, and music), the special education services team, the entire drop-off and pick-up teams who weather the elements, the entire main office team, we want to provide a holiday gift to all of them since many are performing their magic and wearing multiple hats this year to help keep Scotland running smoothly.
100% of your donation will fund a pool that will be divided amongst all 48 shared faculty and support staff members and the PTA will deliver gift cards.
*Please note, this effort does not include your student's primary teacher. If you would like to provide a separate gift from your family, we know teachers would be very appreciative!
SES "Holiday Boutique" - December 6-13
A number of local stores will be offering special DISCOUNTS OR WILL DONATE PART OF THEIR PROCEEDS to the SES PTA!
Stores include: Tiger Sports, Audrey Road, Toy Chest, Miss Confident and many more. Also services like Tutoring Club, WHIP, Back to Rock and SDSS Martial Arts!
Enjoy two restaurant nights during the week at Brick House Kitchen & Bar and 850 Degrees Wood Fired Pizza!
Click here to see the full list of participating restaurants and stores!
The Perfect Holiday Gift for Our Teachers!
The Perfect Holiday Gift for Our Teachers!
Things may be a bit different this year, but one thing is for sure - our teachers deserve a big thank you during the holidays! If you're looking for a great way to show your child's teacher you appreciate them, visit Ridgefield Marketplace and order a gift card from over 60 vendors right here in Ridgefield! The best part is, you'll be supporting local Ridgefield businesses!
- Go to www.ridgefieldmarketplace.com
- Select an E-Gift Card
- Choose an Amount
- Enter Recipient (Teacher's) Name
- Enter Recipient's (Teacher's) Email Address
- Add a Message (Optional)
- Add to Cart & Checkout
- As soon as your order is placed, you will receive a confirmation and the E-Gift Card will be sent directly to the teacher!
Amazon Smile - The Easiest Way to Support SES
Scotties in Photos
We'd love to see all the wonderful things our kids are doing during each week!
Send Photos To: robinpro@live.com
Join the PTA Today!
Contact Us!
Email: jkatkocin@ridgefieldps.net
Website: https://ses.ridgefield.org/
Location: 111 Barlow Mountain Road, Ridgefield, CT, USA
Phone: 203-894-5825
Twitter: @Scotland_Elem