East Ridge Suns Newsletter
August 17, 2020
Dear East Ridge Families,
At East Ridge and around the district, we are working hard to plan a successful launch of the 2020-21 school year. Although our district is launching remotely instead of in person, we are so committed to connecting with you! I know that our staff is creative, collaborative, and capable, and I believe that together with your partnership, we will make it the best year possible for your child!
I hope you have had the opportunity to read about Northshore Learns 3.0 in the updates from Dr. Reid. In addition to that information, you may also find it helpful to tune it to her live broadcasts both on YouTube and Facebook each Wednesday.
Here are some important updates that I hope will answer some of the questions you have about the start of school:
Classroom Placement
Many of our teachers will be attending training for our new Schoology learning management system this week, and you may have heard that teachers will have access to their new class lists. Working with a class list of real students is an important part of helping them to get familiar with this new learning management platform. However, our class lists are still changing, and therefore placement information is not available to families at this time. Please do not email teachers to ask about placement for your child. Currently, our school continues to experience enrollment changes on a daily basis, and we continue to address the balance of classes as these changes occur. As we work on our final class lists in the coming weeks, our goal is to create balanced classes, both for potential in-person school and for distance learning. Classes are balanced using a variety of factors, including academic and social/emotional needs, student behavior, previous engagement both in school and in distance learning, gender, participation or qualification for special programs, other information we know about students, and family input received during our spring process.
We will have our student and teacher placements finalized by Tuesday, August 25th, which is our teachers’ first day back to work. On that date, you will receive a brief email from our school office with your child's placement. By Friday, August 28th, each teacher will also be sending a welcome letter to their students and families.
First Day and First Weeks of School
ALL students, K-5, will start school on Wednesday, September 2. The first three weeks of school, September 2- September 18, will be a time when our staff will focus on community building across the school, within classrooms, and with each student’s family. Students will have opportunities to build relationships with one another and their teachers, and they will participate in activities that help them learn how to be engaged and successful learners in their new grade and with our new learning platform and schedule. As part of these community building weeks, teachers will be scheduling individual family/teacher conferences. All conferences will be held virtually. If your child is supported in our Special Education or English Learning program, your child’s case manager will also connect with you during the first few weeks of school. Look for more information from our school and from your child’s teacher(s) the last week of August.
School Day Schedule
During distance learning, the student school day will be from 9:00 AM-3:30 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The first three Wednesdays of September (September 2, September 9, and September 16) are regular school days, 9:00AM-3:30PM. Thereafter, most Wednesdays are early-release Wednesdays, and the school day will run from 9:00 AM-2:00 PM. You can view the district calendar for 2020-21 here.
District information about the daily schedule can be found on the Northshore Learns 3.0 site. Within the 9:00-11:00 AM and 1:00-3:30 PM time blocks, your child's schedule will include some live class meetings, live or recorded teaching, asynchronous or independent work periods, and some small group sessions. Between 11:00 AM-1:00 PM daily, your child will have time for lunch and movement, as well as options for asynchronous learning. Students will receive instruction in Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies and Social Emotional Learning during the week. Students will also have Music, PE and Library embedded in their weekly schedules. Wednesdays will look slightly different, as the focus will be more on small groups, 1:1 learning and teacher office hours. Attendance will be taken daily. We recognize that these specific times and schedules may not work for every family, and you will have the opportunity to share about your family’s circumstances and work closely with your child’s teacher to help your child engage in learning.
When our teachers return to work the last week of August, our grade level, specialist, and intervention teams will be developing more specific plans for East Ridge. We thank you for your patience as we collaborate to align our schedules and content. We are committed to planning for a successful learning experience for each of our students!
Calendar
More Information Soon!
We are waiting for district guidance about the following back to school topics. We hope to communicate with you soon about:
School supply lists. (If your student could benefit from school supplies you may request support for a supply kit from the Northshore Schools Foundation here (do by 8/20): https://bit.ly/NSDSchoolsupplies)
Materials pick up event (textbooks and other student learning materials) - sometime in September!
Technology device check out (or trade out)
Attendance procedures
Meal pick up and delivery
Childcare information (use this link to complete a childcare need form)
Office and Administrative Support
Our opportunities to work on site are limited, so email is the best way to reach us.
Sarah White, Principal: swhite@nsd.org
Kris Held, Office Manager: kheld@nsd.org
Rae Shepherd, Secretary: rshepherd@nsd.org
East Ridge Main Office: (425) 408-4400 (We are checking phone messages remotely and will get back to you as soon as possible.)
We appreciate your patience, flexibility, and understanding as we wait for more guidance and take the time to plan carefully as a staff. I hope this initial information helps to reduce your worry and wonder as you prepare for your child’s start to this school year. Please reach out to me with specific questions or concerns.
Warmly,
Sarah White, Principal
East Ridge Elementary School
Website: www.eastridge.nsd.org
Location: 22150 Northeast 156th Place, Woodinville, WA, USA
Phone: (425) 408-4400