Scotty Updates
A Newsletter from Scotland Elementary School
Week of September 18, 2023
Scotty Updates
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.
A Message from Jill & Tim
Dear Scotland Families,
It was wonderful seeing so many of you on Thursday evening at Open House! This is always such a great way to kick off the school year and come together as a community to learn about our school goals for the year, as well as the wonderful learning that takes place in our classrooms day to day. Please find our building goals as shared on Thursday below. Thank you for joining us and being a part of our special night!
Playdates and Riding the Bus:
We know how fun it is for our students to get together after school and enjoy time together! Due to safety and limited space on the buses, we are asking that students have no more than 2 guest riders with them at a time. Anytime there is a need for more than 2 additional students to ride, families will need to make arrangements for parent pick up that day. Thank you for understanding!
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As shared last week, we began rolling out PIN numbers for students in the cafeteria. Students did a nice job entering their PIN and many of them began remembering it without their card within a few days. Starting Monday September 18th, students in grades 2 and 3 will begin using their PIN. This aid is to help parents and students transition to the system. This is being implemented to help speed up the serving line as well as keep student accounts more secure. The PIN will be different from their student ID numbers and can also be found on MySchoolBucks.
PIN Cards: Student PINs will be different from their student ID numbers. In order to avoid any confusion, we will hand out student PIN numbers for the first couple of days until students are able to remember them. An example of what the PIN cards will look like is pictured below. Please ignore the barcode, students will be entering the PIN.
Once students remember their unique 5-digit PIN the cards will not be necessary. We will take the cards at the end of each day so we can repeat the process until students are comfortable.
Student will enter their numbers on the PIN pad seen below. Once they enter their 5-digit number they will then press enter. Once the cashier gives them the ok, they can go to their table to eat.
Kind regards,
Jill & Tim
Scotland Building Goals 2023-2024
Looking for peer models for social skills groups!
Peer Models:
Our school psychologists are looking for student volunteers to participate in a small social/emotional skill development group where they can act as peer models for similarly aged peers. The groups occur once weekly for approximately thirty minutes. Groups will generally take place during lunch or extension block and are facilitated by a school psychologist. Please click here to read more and sign consent for participation.
RPS - Working Together for Ukranian Children
Events & Happenings
Monday, September 18th:
- C Day
Tuesday, September 19th:
- D Day
Wednesday, September 20th:
- E Day
Thursday, September 21st:
- F Day
Friday, September 22nd:
- A Day
- Scotty Spirit Day! Wear your Scotty spirit wear to show your school pride!
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Coming Soon:
Monday, September 25th:
- Yom Kippur - No School
Friday, September 29th:
- Scotty Sprint - After School until 4:30
- Movie Night - 6:30-8:30pm
Snaps around Scotland 📸
A peek into our essentials classes
🖤❤️ A Message from Our PTA ❤️🖤
Join the PTA!
Joining the PTA helps you stay connected with the school community. You will receive information about family events, before & after school programs, school events, parties and much more! Get to know teachers & staff better with informational sessions throughout the year!
To join, visit our website: www.scotlandpta.org
The new PTA registration form is now live on the website, click here!
❤️ CVCs (Classroom Volunteer Coordinators) wanted! 🖤
CVC Responsibilities:
-Organize classroom parties & special activities
-Communicate with classroom teacher
-Share communication with the class via email
-Recruit classroom volunteers as needed
If you're interested in being a CVC, please email jennelleblack@gmail.com with your name, your child’s name and their teacher’s name. Thank you!
Important Information
Classroom Teachers
2023-2024 School Hours
⚽️ 🎼 Essentials 🎨 📚
- Each class will have one 45 minute essential per day (Art, Library, Music, or P.E.)
- We will continue to follow the six day A-F day schedule
- Please find the essentials rotation below
Arrival & Dismissal 🚗
We will follow a similar drop off / pick up procedure that we did last year.
Arrival
- Drop off begins at 8:30am. Please do not drop off your child prior to 8:30am as there will be no supervision at this time.
- After 8:45am, you will need to walk your child into school, as they are late. You will need to sign them in with security. Please do not drop your child off without adult supervision.
Dismissal
- Pick up will begin at 3:25pm.
- Each day, please have your child(ren)’s first and last name displayed on your passenger visor, and have it remain visible until your child is in the car. This needs to be bold and large enough to be visible at a distance. This is a very important step to ensure we have your child ready when you arrive.
- For the safety of both students and staff, proceed carefully and slowly through the lot.
- Please have your child exit/enter the vehicle when your gear is in the park position and is one of the cars at the front of the line designated for drop off.
- Students must exit the vehicle on the passenger side (building side) of the vehicle. Multiple children must exit on the passenger side. It is dangerous to exit/enter on the driver's side of the vehicle!
- Students need to have all of their items ready in hand and will then exit the car immediately.
- Parents, please stay in your vehicle at all times so that the process will prevent backups on Barlow Mountain Road.
- If you miss the drop off time (after 8:45 a.m.), please park in the front lot and walk your child across the designated crosswalk to the main entrance of the building. If you arrive after the drop off window and must park in the parking lot, we kindly ask that you use the crosswalk.
Chromebooks 💻
- For information on this year's Chromebook distribution and policies click here to watch a short video
- If you have further questions or concerns email: helpdesk@ridgefieldps.net
School Lunch 🥪
School lunch will be available from the first day of school. Aramark is the new District-wide food service provider. The school lunch menu is available online on the RPS website; click Departments and click on Food Service. For all students, we have transitioned away from LunchTime software to MySchoolBucks for families to fund student lunches.
MySchoolBucks is available via the PowerSchool Parent Portal, and communication was sent to families in early August regarding adding funds for lunch. Any balances have been rolled over from LunchTime to MySchoolBucks. Additionally, the district sent a communication in early August regarding Reduced Lunch for eligible students.
Snacks for Purchase in the Cafeteria:
Students in grades 2-5 are permitted to purchase snacks during lunch (last 10 minutes). Please be sure you have set up MySchoolBucks if you would like your student to be able to purchase a snack.
- In short, students eligible for reduced lunch will be provided free lunches in grades K-8 for the 2023-24 school year.
- Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the Free School Meals for Children grant, please do not hesitate to contact us or the District Business Office.
- Questions in regard to school MySchoolBucks can be directed to Eric Nickelson, RPS Food Service Director at 203-894-5550 x1127 or enickelson@ridgefieldps.net
Website to set up an account.
Some Support Links for Troubleshooting:
Updating Your Payment Method | MySchoolBucks
Setting up Automatic Payments | MySchoolBucks
Adding a New Student | MySchoolBucks
Setting Up Low Balance Alerts | MySchoolBucks
Reminder about hats & hoodies 🧢
Hats & Hoodies:
Over the last several years there was no standard hat/hood procedure in the elementary schools, likely related to Covid, when classroom windows were kept open for air circulation and there was the potential for it to be cold in classrooms.
As we have started the 23-24 school year with a typical school opening, we will return to only permitting hats to be worn outside the school building. Students may choose to wear a hat, but will be reminded to remove it upon entering the school building. Students will be permitted to wear hats for outdoor recess. Teachers have discussed this with students and I will remind our school community during the morning announcements on Tuesday.
On special occasions/spirit days, hats may be permitted and this will be communicated to students and families.
August/September Lunch Menu
School Dismissal Manager
We will 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!
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