Ravine Drive Elementary School
January 2021
January Highlights
A Note from the Principal:
Happy New Year! I hope you and your family had a healthy and happy winter break. As we enter January, the month of resolutions and new beginnings, I am excited to welcome back all of our students!
As explained in Dr. Majka's January 7th Letter to the Community, our hybrid students will be returning to the building the week of January 11th for in-person instruction. Students will still be assigned to the same cohort as they were assigned back in November. They will follow the same schedule for arrival and dismissal as they did back in November. Cohort A and Cohort B students should also be following the "District Cohort Calendar" for the weeks of January 11th and January 19th.
Beginning Monday, January 25th, "hybrid" students in grades Pre-K-5 will attend school, in-person, five days a week. (There will no longer be Cohort A or Cohort B.) Those students will still arrive at 9:20 AM, and dismiss at 1:20 PM to have lunch and recess at home. The students will then have to log-on remotely from home to continue instruction in the afternoon from 2:50 PM - 3:35 PM.
Any special student populations that were previously attending school full-day prior to the district’s pivot to full remote in November will continue to attend full day beginning January 11th.
For school and district planning purposes, the district developed an In-Person Instruction Parent Survey for Marking Period # 3 to collect information from full remote students opting to return to school five days per week through the end of the third marking period. The district is asking that parents/guardians of full remote students who wish to send their child(ren) back to school five days per week beginning January 25th (Prek-5) or February 1st (6-12), complete and submit a response to this survey no later than Wednesday, January 13, 2021.
If you are a parent/guardian of a Hybrid student and you wish to switch your child to Full Remote, please send an email to your child's teacher and the school principal.
As always, if you have any questions, please contact our main office at 732-705-5800.
Wishing you all a safe and healthy 2021.
Jessie Zitarosa
Interim Principal
Reminder About Arrival and Dismissal Procedures
Here are a few reminders for students who will be returning to the building for in-person instruction:
- Parents/Guardians will need to complete the daily Crisisgo app each morning. In addition, a parent or guardian will need to escort the student(s) to the building or the bus stop and display the green Crisisgo QR code to a staff member so it can be scanned into our system.
- Parents/Guardians of "walkers" will need to park in the kiss and drop loop parking lot or along neighborhood streets and walk their child/children to the designated building entrances. Parents may not drop off or pick-up students within the loop itself. This is a safety hazard.
- At the designated dismissal times, parents/guardians who will be picking-up their child/children are reminded to stand at the designated areas for their child's/children's classrooms or bus stops and adhere to all social distancing guidelines while on school property or bus stops. This includes the wearing of masks.
- The doors open for student arrival at 9:10 AM and school begins promptly at 9:20 AM. If a child is tardy, the parent/guardian will need to escort the child to the main entrance at the front of the building by the flag pole and follow the school's sign-in procedures.
Questions About Travel or Illness
If you have recently travelled or have spent time with someone who is ill, please make sure to notify your child’s teacher, our school nurse, and the main office. This information is important for keeping all of our school’s occupants healthy and safe.
After you notify the school, our school nurse, Mrs. Karen Lorenzo, will contact you to discuss details, next steps, and when your child will be eligible for returning to in-person learning.
If you have questions, please contact Nurse Lorenzo at klorenzo@marsd.org or by calling 732-705-5830.
Inclement Weather
In addition, please make sure all of your parent portal information (for yourself and any contacts) is correct. In the event of a school closing due to inclement weather, it will be important for you to receive up-to-date information from the school district regarding any emergency school closings.
Important Dates to Remember!
- 01/04: Students Return - Fully Virtual for all students
- 01/11: Students return for In-person instruction based upon cohort
- 01/11: BOE Meeting - Committee of the Whole - 6:30 PM
- 01/15: Early Dismissal/4 Hour Session-All students dismiss @ 1:20
- 01/18: School Closed - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- 01/20: Early Dismissal/4 Hour Session - All students dismiss @ 1:20
- 01/20: PTO Zoom Meeting - 6:30 PM
- 01/21: PTO Virtual Family Paint Night - 6:30 PM
- 01/25: Hybrid Students return for in-person instruction 5 Days a week
- 01/25: RD McTeacher's Night-Relay for Life (drive-thru/pick-up only) - 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM
- 01/25: BOE Meeting - Regular Action Meeting - 6:30 PM
- 01/27: End of MP 2
- 01/28: Early Dismissal/4 Hour Session - PreK-8 - All students dismiss @ 1:20
For your reference:
Additional News and Information About Our School
Free Preschool for Matawan-Aberdeen Residents
The Matawan Aberdeen Regional School District is excited to announce its free preschool program which begins in February 2021! Please click here to learn more about the program and how you may register your child. Registration begins in January.
Kindergarten Registration - 2021-2022
Information from Ravine Drive Elementary PTO
Please click on the links below to find out more information about our PTO as well as upcoming fundraisers and events!