Scotty Updates
A Newsletter from Scotland Elementary School
Week of April 5, 2021
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 and Staff,
I hope you are all well and enjoyed your weekend! Last week, our days were filled with activities, texts, and presentations focused around celebrating individuality with our Diversity Days. We had many engaging, school-wide events throughout the week, including a presentation from Mrs. Gaitho and Ms. St. Jean, a Diversity Days music video created by Mr. Tornatore, parent read alouds of the text Just Ask, a community art project created by Mrs. Anderson, and all students enjoyed a presentation from The Prospector Theater. A huge thank you to Ms. Weirsman, Mrs. Gaitho, Ms. St. Jean, Mr. Tornatore, Mrs. Anderson, the Diversity Days Committee, our literacy team, and our PTA for all of their work in creating these experiences for our students! It was truly an incredible week!
This week, we will begin our semi-final round #2 for both the K-2 and 3-5 brackets of our SES March Book Madness. Below are the semi-finalist titles for the week:
- K-2 - Eyes that Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho v. Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away by Meg Medina
- 3-5 - Emmanuel's Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson v. I See You by Michael Genhart
As we head into the weeks surrounding our spring break, please note the following:
- As Dr. Da Silva shared in her email on March 19th, the Connecticut Travel Advisory has changed from being a requirement to being a recommendation. The state of CT will no longer require a 10-day quarantine or a negative COVID-19 test when returning from out-of-state travel.
- However, in an effort to keep our community safe, RPS strongly recommends and requests that you provide a negative COVID test for your student(s) after out-of-state travel. This is our strong recommendation, however it is not a requirement. Remote learning will be authorized while awaiting the test results.
Wishing you all a wonderful, healthy week!
Kind regards,
Jill
Reminder: If you are requesting to change your child's learning models, please complete this form, and email your child's classroom teacher, Mrs. Anderson at canderson@ridgefieldps.net, and Jill Katkocin at jkatkocin@ridgefieldps.net to notify us. We ask for 72 hours notice for any change in learning model, so we can ensure our records, PowerSchool, and classrooms are prepared for the change.
*Follow Scotland on Instagram @ScotlandElementarySchool
A Message from Ms. McGowan
Snaps around Scotland 📸
C.L.U.E. Presentation & Read Aloud
The Pencil Presentation - Grades K, 1
-Mike (Munchie) Santini, The Prospector Theater
The Raptivity Presentation - Grades 2, 3
- Mike (Munchie) Santini, The Prospector Theater
The Sparkle Presentation - Grades 4, 5
- Mike (Munchie) Santini, The Prospector Theater
Author Visit with Brod Bagert
Events and Happenings 📅
WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Monday, April 5th:
- A Day
Tuesday, April 6th:
- B Day
Wednesday, April 7th:
- C Day
Thursday, April 8th:
- D Day
Friday, April 9th:
- E Day
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Monday, April 12th -Friday, April 16th:
- No school - Spring Break
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
Town Meetings Focused on the Board of Education 2021-2022 Budget
Saturday, April 24, 2021
- Anticipated Town Meeting on the Town and Board of Education Budgets
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
- Town Referendum on the Town and Board of Education budgets
Author Visit Coming Soon
June 2 - Author Grace Lin will join our Scotland community for virtual presentations, sponsored by the Scotland PTA.
- Grades 4/5 will attend a 50-minute virtual presentation: "Behind Where The Mountain Meets the Moon" with an opportunity for Q&A.
-Grades 2/3 will attend a 50-minute virtual presentation: "Making a Big Mooncake For Little Star" with an opportunity for Q&A.
-Grades K/1 - 30-minute virtual presentation with read-aloud, drawing demo, and opportunity for Q&A
Mrs. Katkocin has also graciously purchased copies of Ms. Lin's books for all of our classrooms...thank you, Mrs. Katkocin!!
SES Read-a-Thon Coming Soon!
Attention 5th Grade Parents!! Scotts Ridge Middle School Needs You!
Join the PTA Today!
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Information to Keep Handy! 📓
A Message from Dr. Da Silva
Per Dr. Da Silva's communication on 3/19/2021, please note the following:
Remote Learning:
Remote learning is available to students:
have elected this option as their learning model
who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, but are well enough to attend school
who are awaiting COVID-19 test results
who are in quarantine
Remote learning is not available to students:
who are on vacation
who are located at a second home and are not sleeping in Ridgefield
who occasionally prefer to remote learn
who are running late to physical school
who are not well enough to engage as a learner
who have an appointment, and may otherwise be “late”
Students who do not meet the criteria for remote learning will be considered absent.
Health And Safety:
Travel Advisory: As of Friday March 19, the Connecticut Travel Advisory changed from being a requirement to being a recommendation. The state of CT will no longer require a 10-day quarantine or a negative COVID-19 test when returning from out-of-state travel. RPS will continue to recommend and ask for a negative COVID test after out-of-state travel however we will not be requiring it. Please find the Governor’s press release here.
The Town of Ridgefield and RPS have seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks. COVID-19 is spread primarily via droplets from person to person when individuals are not wearing a mask and are less than 6 feet apart. Please continue to practice social distancing and the wearing of masks when meeting with individuals outside of your home. It is important that we remain vigilant with the mitigating measures.
Virtual Attendance of In-person Learners
The main office staff and teachers have been receiving many questions regarding temporary switches to remote learning for students. Our elementary principals have put together these reminders to clarify questions around attendance and remote learning.
Remote learning is available to students:
have elected this option as their learning model
who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, but are well enough to attend school
who are awaiting COVID-19 test results
who are in quarantine
Remote learning is not available to students:
who are on vacation
who are located at a second home and are not sleeping in Ridgefield
who occasionally prefer to remote learn
who are running late to physical school
who are not well enough to engage as a learner
who have an appointment, and may otherwise be “late”
Students who do not meet the criteria for remote learning will be considered absent. As a reminder, if you wish to change your child to cohort C, we do request that you provide 72 hours notice.
Please note:
The learning experience, on short notice, may not replicate the remote experience that occurred during hybrid, or with other remote learners, as the lesson plan may already be drawn up for the day.
Students will receive live on camera instruction, but some instructional materials may not be available for the student. If a student is going to be marked as "remote present" for a long duration, by the third school day, the teacher will provide an experience that resembles the typical remote learning experience.
Kindly let your child's teacher, the principal, and the nurse know by email if your child will be participating virtually prior to the start of the school day. The nurse will give you a call. If this is not possible, your child will be able to begin participating virtually the following school day.
Thank you so much for helping our teachers provide the best experience they can for all of our students.
Travel Advisory - Connecticut
Health And Safety:
Travel Advisory: As of Friday March 19, the Connecticut Travel Advisory changed from being a requirement to being a recommendation. The state of CT will no longer require a 10-day quarantine or a negative COVID-19 test when returning from out-of-state travel. RPS will continue to recommend and ask for a negative COVID test after out-of-state travel however we will not be requiring it. Please find the Governor’s press release here.
The Town of Ridgefield and RPS have seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks. COVID-19 is spread primarily via droplets from person to person when individuals are not wearing a mask and are less than 6 feet apart. Please continue to practice social distancing and the wearing of masks when meeting with individuals outside of your home. It is important that we remain vigilant with the mitigating measures.
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!
We'd love to see all the wonderful things our kids are doing during each week!
Send Photos To: robinpro@live.com
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