Cougar Ridge Elementary E-news
5.5.2021
Upcoming Events
May 11 - PTA General Meeting - 7:00 pm
May 12 - (New Date!) - Materials Distribution - Last of the Year
May 21 - Coffee with Mr. Terry, 8:00 am
May 31 - No School, Memorial Day
June 1 - Streetside Singalong, Lewis Creek Park, 5:00 pm
June 3 - Streetside Singalong, Newcastle Commons, 5:00 pm
June 7-11- Spirit Week - Stay Tuned
June 8 - Streetside Singalong, Belvedere Park, 5:00 pm
June 10 - Streetside Singalong, Cougar Ridge Elementary, 5:00 pm
June 16 - 5th Grade Promotion, Location/Time TBD
June 17 - Last Day of School
Remote Student Materials Distribution Wednesday, April 14, 1:30-4:00 pm
Cougar Ridge Street Side Sing-a-Longs
Cougar Ridge Streetside Singalongs are coming to a neighborhood near YOU! Ms. Webb & Mr. KP have been helping students learn a group of songs that we’d like to share. If you are comfortable, we plan to meet outside to make our music. Masks are required, and family groups will be spaced 7 feet apart. Please save a date- or two- to join us in our singalong. We will meet rain or shine- here are the dates and locations:
- Tuesday, June 1 at 5 p.m.- Lewis Creek Park- we will be at the basketball court and grass surrounding it. Look for the hula hoops!
- Thursday, June 3 at 5 p.m.- Newcastle Commons- we will be by the athletic center at Newcastle Commons Drive and 134th Place SE.
- Tuesday, June 8 at 5 p.m.- Belvedere Park- we will be at the playground and lawn. Please park on 166th Way SE and walk up to the park- there is no public parking.
- Thursday, June 10 at 5 p.m.- Cougar Ridge Elementary School- Please park on SE 46th Street and walk onto campus- we will be set up in the parking lot.
Your whole family is invited to attend and participate- we look forward to seeing YOU!
Warm Weather Reminders: Dress Code and Bicycles on Campus.
Dress Code:
- Revealing clothing such as low-cuts, cut-outs, belly-button showing, spaghetti strapped attire; sagging pants; and tight clothing are not allowed.
- Straps on tops must pass the “three finger” (child-size) width test. If the strap is narrower than three fingers, the top must have another shirt to cover it.
- Shorts and skirts may not be shorter than the student’s fingers when arms and hands are extended down their sides.
- Bare or stocking feet or flimsy footwear (like flip-flops) are not allowed.
- Hats, caps, or other head coverings, and sunglasses are allowed to be worn outdoors, but not in the school building.
Bicycle and Scooter: Children in grades K-2 may bike to school only when accompanied to and from school by a parent/guardian. Those children in grades 3-5 may ride to school unaccompanied. All children must wear helmets. All children must walk their bicycles off and on the school grounds, using the marked crossings, and are to follow the directions of the school patrol. Bicyclists need to give pedestrians the right of way on the sidewalks. In-line skates, wheelie sneakers, and skateboards are prohibited on school grounds.
REMINDER FROM THE ATTENDANCE OFFICE
Please remember to call in, email, or report via the Issaquah School District website if your student will not be in attendance. We have had an increase in the number of unexcused absences, presumably due to attestation reporting. Please remember the following:
- We cannot excuse absences based on attestation answers.
- Please do not rely on your student’s teacher to forward emails or messages regarding attendance. Teachers are sometimes absent themselves.
- If your hybrid student is absent from in-person instruction they are still considered absent, even if they are logging in to their class, and must be excused.
Attendance line - (425) 837-6407
Web attendance reporting - https://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/live/attendance
Questions? Contact Michell Franko at frankos@issaquah.wednet.edu or (425) 837-6402
Hybrid Families -Please Complete Daily Attestations by 7 a.m.
All parents/guardians of students who attend school in-person must continue to complete a daily attestation for their student prior to arriving at the school site. Students will not be allowed to enter the school without a completed attestation.
To help speed up the daily check-in process, we are asking families to please complete the daily attestation by 7 a.m. each day. This is due to ongoing delays with the system the District is using.
- Each school day, an email will continue to be automatically sent to the contact designated as “Parent 1” in Skyward (for students with more than one family of record, the message will only go to Parent 1).
- If you also signed-up to receive the daily attestation form by text message this message will now be sent at 5 a.m.
Thank you for your help in ensuring that students can safely enter our buildings.
Marker/Pen/Pencil Recycling at School
The Cougar Ridge Green Team and PTSA are proud to announce a Cougar Ridge marker/pen/pencil recycling bin. It will be housed outside the front door. To help the Earth please be sure to only put pens, markers and pencils in this box. Thanks for doing your part to help our planet!! 💚🌍💚
PurposeFull People - Cooperation
This month's trait will be Respect. During this time of year our students start to exhibit behaviors that they might not show at other times. They start to feel a little too comfortable and say something that isn't respectful to you or their classmates. So, let's take the time to reinforce how important it is to be respectful to each other and ourselves.
Click here for conversation starters, family challenges, reading recommendations, and a poster to remind your Bobcat that respect means seeing the good in people and things and treating them with care.
Cougar Ridge News - Student Broadcast
May 3rd-7th - Staff Appreciation Week!
Let's party like it's 1999 and celebrate our teachers and school staff *Old School Style* with a 90's themed week-long show of support and thanks. To really make it special we need your help! We have several gift creations planned as well as coffee and treats for both onsite and remote staff. Donations are optional, but if you are able, please consider contributing. Click here for an Amazon shopping list. All items should be sent to event coordinator Dorothy Davis. Look for her name as the “registry” shipping option. Please email Dorothy with any questions or concerns.
Green Team UpCycle Challenge Update
Join Our Team
Join the 2021-22 Cougar Ridge Elementary PTSA Board of Directors! Many current Board Members' terms are coming to an end. Our newly elected Nominating Committee is currently interviewing for the following Board of Directors positions: President, Executive Vice President, Secretary, Outreach, Service & Recognition, Fundraising & Membership, and Programs. There are also various ways to volunteer and assist the Board! If interested in learning more and/or getting involved, please fill out this survey. Please reach out to Diana Heyd for more information.
Join the Cougar Ridge PTSA
The PTSA will be working to see how best we can support our students and community as plans for remote learning are being implemented. CR Together, We Got This!
To join, please click here.
New Website Development Activity - We Want Your Help!
Update: Kindergarten Highly Capable Program Screening Identification Process for the 2020-2021 School Year
- The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has advised districts who are unable to follow their usual identification processes, due to pandemic related restrictions, to use the data they already have for each student in the annual Highly Capable Program screening identification process. Therefore, a screening process using existing data will be conducted. The district will use the spring iReady Math diagnostic and Fountas & Pinnell reading assessment scores to conduct a screening process to determine kindergarten students who are eligible for further testing. Thus, scores will be reviewed for all enrolled kindergarten students and no other referral processes will be conducted.
- Students eligible for PEP will be identified prior to the start of the 2021-2022 school year and services will begin in September of 1st
- There will be no universal CogAT Screener testing this year due to pandemic related restrictions.
ISD Parent Workshop on Reporting Incidents Related to Culture and Identity
What can I do to help my child if they are experiencing racist remarks, bullying, harassment, and/or intimidation at school? What do these terms truly mean? What is the difference between the terms? Should I report? Who should I report to? How do I report? What can I expect if I do report? The ISD Family Partnership Team, School Administrators and School Counselors welcome you to attend a workshop regarding reporting incidents related to culture and identity on zoom. Sessions are available in English, Spanish and Chinese. If you need an interpreter in another language, please request the language in the registration form. For more information, please visit the webpages for our elementary workshop event or secondary workshop event.
Student Art Calendar 2021-2022 - Now Accepting Artwork Submissions
Thanks again to the support of the Seattle Times, every family and staff member in the Issaquah School District will receive a free print copy of the Student Art Calendar in the 2021-2022 school year—easy to hang on the wall to keep track of important school dates! Every current student in the district is invited to submit artwork to fill the pages for thousands of homes and offices. Get your creative juices flowing! The deadline to submit artwork is Monday, May 10, 2021 at midnight. For more information on how to submit artwork, please click here to visit our Call for Art webpage.
Elementary In-Person Summer School Program – Planning Information for Families
K-5 Elementary Summer School by Invitation Only
The Issaquah School District is moving forward with plans to offer a free in-person K-5 Summer School program in July. Due to the challenging circumstances brought about by COVID 19, Elementary K-5 Summer School registration will be by invitation only. This will enable the District to focus efforts on providing COVID recovery instruction to those students who have had the greatest challenge accessing learning opportunities this past year and are identified as having been most significantly impacted academically. Elementary principals will work with their teams to determine the students most in need of summer school by reviewing multiple academic, engagement, and social emotional data points gathered throughout the year. Invitations will be sent to families of identified students in mid-May.
We recognize this is a change from previous K-5 summer school offerings. We also acknowledge that all students have felt some level of impact by the closure of the school buildings. Please be assured that the District’s Teaching and Learning Department has already begun planning the work to support teachers and school staff so they will be prepared to meet the needs of all students as they return to school in the fall.
- The dates for K-5 Elementary Summer School are July 6-July 30, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Clark Elementary School.
- Transportation will be provided.
- Some kindergarten students may be invited to attend summer school at additional school sites within the district. Families of invited students will be informed if their student will be attending an alternate school site in mid-May.
- Registered students will attend in-person with social distancing and appropriate PPE measures in place.
- We will continue to follow guidelines from OSPI and the Governor’s Office regarding COVID 19 mitigation measures.
- The number of students invited to participate will be based on the number of staff we are able to hire to meet required staff-to-student ratios and classroom COVID capacity.
Pre-K and Kindergarten Summer School
The Issaquah School District will again be providing a free in-person summer program designed to help students get ready for kindergarten. This 4-week program is by invitation only and seeks to provide a jump-start to those students who would most benefit from a preschool experience prior to kindergarten. In addition, this year we will be offering invitation-only classes for some current kindergarten students who have had the greatest challenge accessing learning in a remote environment. Invitations will be sent to families of identified students in mid-May.
- The dates for Pre-K and Kindergarten Summer School are July 6 - 30, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- Transportation will be provided.
- Programs will be located at Apollo, Issaquah Valley, and Challenger elementary Schools. Families of invited students will be informed of their student’s summer school of attendance mid-May.
- Registered students will attend in-person with social distancing and appropriate PPE measures in place. We will continue to follow guidelines from OSPI and the Governor’s Office regarding COVID 19 mitigation measures.
Another round of P-EBT is coming!
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT), or Pandemic EBT, is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic EBT will be automatically issued to families that qualify for free and reduced lunches. If you feel you may qualify for free and reduced-price lunches and have not yet filled out an application, please click here. Funds will be automatically issued by mail, so it is imperative that the address we have on file is correct. Please contact your student’s school to update your address.
Summer Day Camp
It’s time to think SUMMER CAMP! Register now for Camp ‘Quah, Kindercamp, Mighty Mites, Tennis Camp, Golf Camp, Cheer Camp and Gymnastics Camp…all through Issaquah Parks & Community Services! Details & Online Registration or call us at 425-837-3300.
We’re back in action! Check out all the Spring & Summer Programs through Issaquah Parks & Community Services! Snapology, Karate, Volleyball, Cheer, Gymnastics, Skyhawks Soccer and more!
Sno-King Learn to Skate
Help us welcome our new neighbors – the Sno-King Ice Arena in Snoqualmie! Learn to Skate programs open for registration now! Family Friday on the Ice is set for Friday, May 21 – register today!
Translation Tool
To view this E-newsletter in another language, please click the Translate Newsletter button in the upper right hand corner. Then select the language of your preference from the drop-down menu, and the newsletter will be translated on your screen.