RICHLAND REFLECTIONS
Week of 5/24/21 at Richland Elementary School
Dear Richland Families,
We have much to look forward to and celebrate this last week of May! On Tuesday, students who are redistricted to other elementary schools this fall will take a field trip to their new schools. We are happy to offer this first opportunity to see their new school and meet school staff to ease their transition. Permission slips are required.
On Wednesday night, PTO will hold a virtual meeting, and we will discuss opportunities to be involved as a PTO Board member! Please join us at the Google Meet link below.
Richland student leaders are at it again! Watch the digital compilation below of student-submitted projects for Project PROUD. We are truly proud of our students and how well they expressed their interests.
Families of students in grades 3-5, please read the PSSA information below for in-person and virtual students. Assessments will begin on June 2. Please reach out to nzuerblis@qcsd.org with questions.
Finally, we look forward to a spirit day every day until the last day of school! This week's spirit days are below, as well as a calendar of each day through June 21.
Have a wonderful week, and enjoy this summer-like weather!
Nicole Zuerblis
Richland Principal
MONDAY: Mindfulness Monday!
TUESDAY: Twin Tuesday!
WEDNESDAY: Dress as a Word Day!
THURSDAY: Thankful Thursday!
FRIDAY: Red, White, and Blue Day!
NEW SCHOOL VISITS FOR REDISTRICTED STUDENTS THIS TUESDAY, 5/25
As you know, the School Board passed the QCSD redistricting plan. To learn your school of attendance for the 2021-22 school year based on the map,
please click here and enter your address.
If your child is redistricted to a different QCSD elementary school beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, they will visit their new school on a "field trip" chaperoned by school staff during the school day on May 25.
Students will have this first opportunity to see their new school and meet school staff to ease their transition. Each school will hold additional opportunities for new students this summer.
Virtual students are invited to join this field trip and may be brought to school at 9:00. Parents should return to school to pick up virtual students at 10:30.
Permission slips were sent home to all redistricted students, and families of virtual students received electronic copies. Signed permission slips are required for this field trip.
All QCSD elementary schools and staff are looking forward to fostering a smooth transition for all redistricted students!
A MESSAGE FROM THE RICHLAND PTO
Hello Richland Families,
We hope you can join the virtual PTO Meeting on Wednesday May 26th at 7:30pm at this Google Meet link. We have a lot to discuss with the end of the school year approaching and we would love your input.
There are openings coming up for next year's PTO Board. All positions are important to fill to make our PTO successful and move forward. As a TEAM we work together with our Richland families to support the Richland staff and students. As always, our parent volunteers make such an impact helping the PTO so that we can accomplish all the fun activities at Richland and sometimes raise funds at the same time. This past year has been a little different but we hope for the best for the next school year.
We ask that you update your email with us at this time so you have a chance to receive all the update information the PTO has to pass on.
Email us at richlandtpo@gmail.com to be added or deleted from our distribution list.
Make sure to follow us on Facebook @RichlandPTO and on the Richland website at https://res.qcsd.org/our_school/richland_pto
Thank you, Richland PTO
Kara Diliberto, Meredith Kessler, Jenn Reinbold, Chrissy Hensel, Alysha Day, and Shannon McLaughlin
PSSA TESTING FOR GRADES 3-5
The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) will be administered online to students in grades 3-5 in early June. Scheduled dates for the PSSA are below.
*Please make sure your child comes to school with their device charged to use for assessments.
June 2-4: English Language Arts (ELA)
June 8-9: Math
June 10-11: Science (grade 4 only)
Students receiving in-person instruction will take online assessments at school on the morning of these dates.
Students learning virtually will take online assessments at school in the afternoon, after in-person students are dismissed. Please confirm your virtual student's attendance here.
Students in grades 3-5 who are scheduled to take the PSSA but opt-out will have required asynchronous learning at home on the testing dates.
Should you have any questions related to PSSA testing, please contact our school office.
Thank you to the dozens of students who submitted projects for this year's Project PROUD. Please click on the image below to watch the digital compilation!
Richland is PROUD of this demonstration of student leadership!
READING LEADERS BOOK DONATION DRIVE ENDS FRIDAY, 5/28
NO SCHOOL ON MEMORIAL DAY, 5/31
CLICK ON THE VIDEO FOR MORE INFORMATION
REGISTER FOR KINDERGARTEN BY 5/31 PRE-K AND HEAD START
The Quakertown Community School District has a wonderful kindergarten program.
Registration information can be found here. To be eligible for Kindergarten in the 2021-22 school year, a child must be five years of age on or before August 31. Registration needs to be completed by May 31st.
Please click here for information and an application about the Bucks County Pre-K Counts program.
Please click here for information about Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
MRS. GUMBERT, SPECIAL EDUCATION ASSISTANT
Habit 2, Begin With the End in Mind
Habit 7, Sharpen the Saw
At my house, I do my best, to incorporate Habit #2 and Habit #7, simultaneously.
I start with “Begin with the end in mind”, having a plan and making that plan work, and “Sharpen the saw”, which is taking care of myself and spending time with family and friends.
We are a very active and outdoors kind of family. Weather doesn’t stop us from our adventures. Our first hike this year was on January 2 at Hawk Mountain. It’s amazing how much you can learn, from being outside and sharing this time with family and friends. And things go so much easier when you have the right plan and follow through with it. Exercising our brains and our bodies is what it is all about and of course FAMILY too.
MRS. BOCKLET, SUPPORT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM COUNSELOR
I chose Habit 7, sharpen the saw. Between work, school, sports, and activities my family likes to enjoy some family time. Here is a picture of my family golfing together. This was my first time on the golf course and my boys encouraged me and gave me pointers on how to improve my game. It was a great day!
MRS. ESPOSITO, FOURTH GRADE TEACHER
The Esposito family has focused this year on Habit 3: Putting First Things First. Putting first things first happens day in and day out, moment-by-moment. It deals with many of the aspects of time management, but that’s not all it’s about. Habit 3 is about life management; your purpose, values, roles, and priorities. Family is non-negotiable so putting our time and effort into the most important thing, family, is our top priority.
We are often busy sharpening the saw with sports, however, family dinners, playing board games, shared TV shows, reading books together, and having adventurous weekends are most important and all translate to time with family. Once school work is done, we spend our nights together. Instead of everyone going to their own rooms, doing their own thing (the small rocks), we put the family (big rocks) first and focus on each other. Communication and bonding are strengthened when the focus is on each other. While many of our activities done together as a family falls into Habit 7: Sharpening the Saw, the focus is on the thing most important to us, our family.
Family has always been a top priority, but over the last three years, the picture has never been so clear. Our family got a call that an extended family member was in need of care. We thought caring for the 21-month-old would last a weekend to a few weeks, but luckily for us, it turned into 3 years. We are excited to share that we will be adopting Sophia on July 16, 2021. Our hearts have grown full and we look forward to our growing family and our continued time together. Family is not just an important thing, it's everything.
A great way to express gratitude. I share these weekly with staff. Keep the shout outs coming!
THIS WEEK'S DAILY QUESTIONS
Each day, we read a question of the day that stems from our work with Leader in Me. We encourage you to continue the conversations at home! Below are this week's questions. We'd love you to participate! Share your answers each day on Twitter @RichlandQCSD.
MONDAY: How do you respond to people whose opinions are different from your own?
TUESDAY: How do you serve others?
WEDNESDAY: In my family, we all like to…..
THURSDAY: What is your favorite way to exercise?
FRIDAY: What is your least favorite way to exercise?
FROM MRS. STAUFFER, OUR SCHOOL NURSE
This month's theme is all about reflecting on what gives our life meaning.
Being a part of something bigger than ourselves and focusing on things that we value is key to our wellbeing. So let's take time to reflect on what we care about this month and keep these things at the front of our minds as our societies begin to open up again.
CONSIDER APPLYING FOR FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH
Currently, our district is providing ALL families with children up to the age of 18 with FREE breakfast and lunch for the remainder of the school year through funds from the US Department of Agriculture. However, if you do not have a current application on file for the 2020-2021 school year, you could miss benefits from the State, should it decide to provide the Pandemic EBT Benefits again.
Please click here for the Free & Reduced Meal Program applications.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Stacy Reiss, Free & Reduced Lunch Program, at sreiss@qcsd.org or 215-529-2022.
A dedicated section of the website serves as a
COVID-19 directory place for families to locate resources and see the impact of the pandemic on the district. It's located in the Community Section and titled
COVID-19 directory.
OUR WORDS FOR 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR
Each school year, Richland staff adopts one word. This year called for two! We invite you to join us in supporting each other with courage and grace and explore what these words mean to you.
DISTRICT BOOSTS PAY FOR SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS
Hoping to incentivize more people with a Bachelor’s degree to become substitute teachers, the Quakertown Community School District is significantly increasing pay for substitute teachers for the 2020-21 school year.
The per diem rate is being raised from $105 to $120 per day. Long term per diem pay is being raised from $140 to $175 per day, highest in the area. The average per diem rate in Bucks County and surrounding districts is $109. The long term substitute rate is $125. Please click here for the story.
QCSD has several job openings that can be found by clicking here. They include substitute nurses, aides, and food service workers.
Click here for job openings in the Upper Bucks County Technical School.
ALL SCHOOL YEAR FREE BREAKFAST AND LUNCH FOR ALL QCSD STUDENTS
The free food program is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.
The United States Department of Agriculture has extended a nationwide waiver to allow the Quakertown Community School District to provide FREE meals to ALL students regardless of need. No qualification or identification is needed.
ALL students are eligible to receive FREE breakfast and FREE lunch through the end of the school year in June.
Breakfast will be served at Richland in our lunch room or classrooms from 8:45-9:00.
Lunch will have three selections daily: A sandwich/wrap/hot entree, a salad with a protein and roll, or a Grape/Peanut Butter Uncrustable. An assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables along with milk will be available daily. Students will order their lunches in the morning and will eat lunch in their classrooms. Lunches will be assembled by the cafeteria staff in bags, with aides delivering to rooms at the scheduled lunch times.
For Virtual Learners, free meal pickup is now held two days a week, Mondays and Wednesdays. On Mondays, students can receive meals for two days, and on Wednesdays for three days. Pickup remains at the Quakertown Community High School bus loop from 11:15 AM until 12:30 PM.
LIVE AND VIRTUAL DAILY ATTENDANCE
Attendance is mandatory for school age children, and the live portion of our school day is 9:00-2:00, with additional time allotted for work after these hours.
Every day Monday through Friday is a school day.
Please keep your child home if they show any symptoms and call to let us know. You will receive a follow up call from our school nurse. We will confirm if your child will become a virtual learner for a period of time so they are not marked absent from in person instruction while staying home with symptoms.
FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE PHYSICALLY IN THE BUILDING:
Attendance will be taken as in the past, and students will be marked absent if they are not physically present. *Please note, only students who need to quarantine or are approved by the principal or school nurse will learn virtually instead of in person.
FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE 100% VIRTUAL LEARNERS:
Attendance will be taken daily. All students are to complete their "check-in" activity as explained by their teachers by 2:00 daily. To allow for the completion of work asynchronously, students may complete other school activities after 2:00, but the check-in must be completed by 2:00 in order to be marked as present.
IF YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT:
You will receive an email at 3:00 on the day your child is marked absent. The school must receive an excuse from you within 3 days of the absence.
New this year, you may respond to the email with your absence reason. You can also email an excuse to lmoyer@qcsd.org. If you prefer, you may send in an absence note to the office. All excuses must be received within 3 days of the absence.
ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL PROCEDURES
Thank you for your support in making the changes to this year's drop off and pick up run so smoothly! To accommodate more car riders, that location has been moved to the back of the school. Please enter in the morning and afternoon from 313 on Chestnut Street.
The live school day begins at 9:00 and ends at 2:00.
Please note AM Kindergarten pick up at 11:00 and PM drop off at 12:00 are in the front of the school.
All buses will drop off and pick up in the front of the school.
RES REDISTRICTED STUDENTS VISIT NEW SCHOOLS 5/25
MEMORIAL DAY- NO SCHOOL 5/31
PSSA TESTING FOR GRADES 3-5
6/2-6/4 ELA
6/8-6/9 MATH
6/10-6/11 SCIENCE (grade 4 only)
Virtual students will come to Richland at 2:30.
5TH GRADE LUNCHEON & DRIVE UP PHOTOS 6/15
VIRTUAL SCIENCE ASSEMBLIES 6/17
KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION 6/18
5TH GRADE PROMOTION 6/18
Live streamed at 10:00
Richland Elementary School
