Principal's Update

August 23, 2023

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Welcome Back Wolves

I hope each of you has had time to enjoy the things you love this summer! Our team has been working hard to prepare for the upcoming school year, and we wanted to send a few quick updates today.


Teachers will be emailing class placement information to families on Friday afternoon around 3:15 pm, so please be watching for an email from your child's teacher!


Additionally, on Monday August 28th, we will be hosting a Meet and Greet for all families. Information is shared below and we hope that you will be able to attend.


We are excited to welcome back our Ridges Wolves this fall and we look forward to working together as a team to make this an amazing school year! Important dates are included at the bottom of this update. Please note that our early release Wednesdays do not start until September 13th.


Hope you have a great end to your summer,

Miranda

Meet and Greet Night

Meet and Greet Night

All kindergarten through 5th Grade students are invited to join our Meet and Greet Night (formally Supply Night), on Monday, August 28th. This will be an open house event from 4-6 pm and your family can attend any time during that two hour block. Your families will have time to see your child's classroom, meet their teachers, and drop off supplies.


If you ordered a supply kit in the spring they will be waiting for you here at school that night. If you are purchasing your own supplies, a list of supplies for grades K-5 can be found linked here. Please note that PreK students will get supply information soon, and will bring their supplies with them to their orientation days. PreK does not attend the Meet and Greet Night, but they will receive an email from our PreK teacher this week.


If your family needs help with supplies, please see the section below from the SHARE center!

Meet and Greet Night

First Day of School

Our first day of school for grades 1-5 will be Wednesday, August 30th! Kindergarten and PreK information can be found linked below. School begins at 7:55 am and information about drop off and pick up can also be found below, as well as other important info about lunches, transportation and school volunteers.

Arrival/Dismissal

As a part of our annual safety and security review, our district elementary team has been thoughtfully considering how to make our elementary arrival and dismissal times as safe as possible. One major safety concern for our buildings is the entry of parents into the building for drop off in the mornings. Allowing parents to enter the building without background checks or scheduled volunteer times, creates a large breach in our building security measures. As such, we are going to continue to keep our arrival (and dismissal) procedures the same as last year. Parents will be allowed to drop off their students at the main entrance doors in the morning and all teachers will walk students out of the building at the end of the day. This will still provide parents with the opportunity to check in with teachers at pick up if needed, and will also help us to very closely monitor who is in our buildings at all times.


For more details regarding drop off and pick up locations please see the slide deck linked here.


Volunteers and parent helpers will still be welcome in our schools during pre-scheduled volunteer times with our PAC or our classroom teachers. Additionally, parents are encouraged to attend our Meet and Greet open house on August 28th from 4-6 pm to visit classrooms and see the building. We will also host an in-person Back to School Night on Thursday, September 21st from 6:00-7:30 pm, and in-person conferences in late October and early May. It is important to us that we balance both student safety and parent involvement in our school community, and we believe this plan will allow us to do both. Additional information about volunteering can be found below.

Free Meals Application

Free Meals Application

Information about lunch and breakfast prices and menus can be found on our Nutrition Department web page linked here. If you would like to apply for our free and reduced lunch program please complete the application linked here.
Free Meals Application

School Calendars

The Sherwood School Board has approved our school calendar for the 23-24 school year. The calendar can be found on the district calendar webpage linked here.
Transportation

Transportation

If your home address is more than one mile radius from our school, or you live on the opposite side of Hwy 99W, you may be eligible for transportation. To view transportation maps, routes, and pick-up/drop-off times please visit the transportation web page linked here.
Transportation

SHARE Center -- Back-to-School Supplies and Resources

The SHARE Center is here for all of your back-to-school needs! We have lots of clothing, shoes, backpacks and school supplies -- all ages and sizes!!


For an appointment at the SHARE Center, please contact:

Amy Gillett at agillett@sherwood.k12.or.us or Ursula Pinto at upinto@sherwood.k12.or.us


You are also welcome to call the SHARE center at (503)825-5087

Become a Ridges Site Council Member

The Ridges Site Council has an open position for the upcoming school year and we hope you will consider joining the team. Site Council meets on Tuesdays throughout the year from 2:30-3:30 pm at the school. The purpose of Site Council is to help identify school improvement goals and guide the school toward achieving these goals. If you are interested in being included on the ballot, please complete the survey linked here by Friday, September 8th.


Once names are collected, a formal site council member vote will be held in September to confirm our final team members.

Ridges PAC

Our parent volunteer group is a very important part of our school. Get connected with the Ridges PAC today! Visit the link here to see upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and other ways to get involved and be connected.


The Ridges PAC meets on the first Tuesday of each month from 7-8:30 pm in the Ridges Community Room. They would love to have any and all parents attend!

District Newsletter

District Newsletter

Our most recent District Newsletter with additional information about transportation, school meals, volunteers and more, can be found linked here
District Newsletter

Kindergarten and PreK Information

If you missed our Kindergarten Newsletter earlier this month, a copy can be found linked here.


Pre-K families will receive an email with general information on August 25th with additional details about orientation and supply lists.

Volunteers

The District will be welcoming volunteers back into our school buildings this year. All volunteers will need to complete and have an approved background check on file prior to volunteering (this must be renewed each school year). The background check process can take 7-10 business days, so please allow sufficient processing time if you are planning to volunteer for a specific event.


Ridges Volunteers will also need to sign up in the HelpCounter System. That information can be found below.

Help-Counter Volunteer Information

Help-Counter Volunteer Information

Our Ridges Parent Advisory Committee (PAC)is creating an updated email list for school information and other ways to support our school. If you are looking to volunteer at Ridges this year, please sign up using the link shared here. If you are new to the Ridges you will need to create a new login. Past volunteers can use their old sign in. (Please note that this link does not work well on your phone so you will need to use another device).


ALL parents will need to fill out their information again as the system was cleared out when we transitioned to the new school name. The registration will ask some questions about volunteer preferences, please still answer the questions even though we currently do not have volunteer opportunities and PAC will save that information for when things reopen again.

Help-Counter Volunteer Information

Upcoming Dates

August 25th | Teacher Placement Emails sent around 3:15 pm

August 28th from 4-6 pm | Open House Meet and Greet Event

August 30th | First Day of School for Grades 1-5

August 30th, 31st and September 1st | Kindergarten Orientation Dates (see Kinder Newsletter for more info)

August 30th, 31st and September 1st | PreK Orientation Dates (you will have one small block of time on one of these days- more info will be emailed directly from our PreK teacher on the 25th)

September 4th | No School- Labor Day

September 5th | Ridges PAC Meeting in the Ridges Community Room at 7 pm

September 7th | No School for Kindergarten Only

September 8th | Kinder Students Attend with Assigned Teacher

September 13th | Early Release- Students Dismissed at 1:15 pm

September 20th | Early Release- Students Dismissed at 1:15 pm

September 21st | Elementary Back to School Night 6:00-7:30 pm (more info to come soon)

September 27th | Early Release- Students Dismissed at 1:15 pm

September 29th | Ridges Fun Run! (more info to come soon)

October 4th | Early Release- Students Dismissed at 1:15 pm

October 11th | Early Release- Students Dismissed at 1:15 pm

October 13th | No School- State Inservice Day

Helpful Information

Ridges Front Office: 503-825-5700

Helpful Links for Ridges Families

Miranda M. Johnson

Miranda M. Johnson

Miranda M. Johnson

21472 Southwest Copper Terrace, Sherwood, OR, USA mmjohnson@sherwood.k12.or.us 503-825-5700 re.sherwood.k12.or.us/