Scotty Updates
A Newsletter from Scotland Elementary School
October 4, 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,
I hope this message finds you well and enjoying the crisp fall days! It is hard to believe that it is already October; September seemed to pass so quickly! It was wonderful seeing many of you at Open House this past Thursday! It felt amazing to once again have our parents in the building.
I wanted to take this week as an opportunity to share some information with you in the event that your child is placed in quarantine. If an entire class is placed in quarantine, students will be logging into their Google Classroom, and will participate in daily lessons with their classroom teacher. Our essentials teachers will also be logging into the Google Classroom to provide virtual instruction for students.
If individual students are placed in quarantine (perhaps due to an outside exposure, or an exposure on the bus, sports, etc), students will be invited to join our Quarantine Learning Classroom. You can view the Quarantine Learning Parent Handbook here. During their time home, students will receive grade level appropriate instruction provided to all students in their grade level district-wide who have also been placed in quarantine. You can find additional information about Quarantine Learning, shared by Dr. Da Silva on September 10th.
Our virtual learning expectations in either situation remain the same as last year.
- 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 also 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), kindly notify the quarantine learning or classroom teacher ahead of time, just as you would if they were in the building.
As always, I thank you for your partnership and support as we continue to navigate this school year together.
Kind regards,
Jill
Snaps around Scotland! 📸
We have the BEST Building Substitutes in town!!
5th Grade Design Thinking
Events and Happenings đź—“
WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Monday, October 4th:
- E Day
Tuesday, October 5th:
- F Day
Wednesday, October 6th:
- A Day
Thursday, October 7th:
- B Day
Friday, October 8th:
- C Day
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
Monday, October 11th:
- No School - Columbus Day
Thursday, October 21st:
- Early Dismissal for students (11:40am)
- Professional Development for staff
A Note from Our PTA
Attention Kindergarten and New to SES Families
Welcome to all our KINDERGARTENERS and NEW to SES STUDENTS. As a thank you for joining the PTA, your child will receive a t-shirt!
Please fill out the below form to receive your free t-shirt. Please note that we have some t-shirts in stock but we may need to order additional shirts - it seems we had many new families move to town this year!! T-shirts will be sent home with your students as soon as we can. Please be patient as the PTA is made up of hard-working volunteers. TEAM SCOTLAND T-shirts will only be provided to kindergartners and new to SES students whose families have joined the PTA. (The PTA provided all of our students Team Scotland t-shirts last year for Field Day)
CLICK HERE to fill out the form
If you have any questions, please email scotlandelementarypta@gmail.com
CVC's (Classroom Volunteer Coordinators) Wanted!
CVC Responsibilities:
-Organize classroom parties and special activities
-Communicate with classroom teacher
-Share communication with the class via email
-Recruit classroom volunteers as needed (dependent on whether volunteers are allowed in the classrooms this year)
** These are some of the typical CVC duties in a “normal” year, unfortunately we’re still not back to normal but this gives you a snapshot of what typical CVC responsibilities are.
If you're interested, please email, Kristin Rosengren with your name, your child’s name and their teacher’s name.
The PTA Needs You! Volunteers Wanted!
We're so excited to get parents involved again at SES! We're so LUCKY to be able to offer opportunities for you to help our kiddos and our school!!
Volunteering with the PTA allows you to contribute your skills and knowledge for the benefit of both your own children and the greater school community. You’ll also meet and make new friends!
Please fill out the form and you'll hear back from us soon!
CLICK HERE to find out all the ways YOU can make a difference this year - opportunities available for those with extra time and those with little time!)
Important Information to Keep Handy! đź“ť
Welcome Back Library Volunteers!
Click on the links here or find them on the SES PTA WEBSITE:
It's not scary to help out in the LIBRARY!
Quarantine Learning Update
On Friday, 9/10/2021, Dr. Da Silva shared an update regarding instruction for students placed in quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19. Please find that update below.
What is Quarantine Learning: Quarantine learning is an experience provided to all students across PK-12 as a result of a positive covid case or a required quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19. Quarantine learning should not be confused with the “Remote Learning” option that was made available to all students last fall regardless of quarantine status. Remote learning (outside of quarantine) is no longer mandated by the CSDE and does not count toward school hours, you can read the CSDE document here. Quarantine and isolation guidelines from the CSDE and DPH can be found here.
Who has access to Quarantine Learning?
Students placed in quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19.
Students with COVID-19 who have no symptoms.
How do you verify the need to Quarantine?
A Verified Quarantine is a COVID-19 exposure that has been reported to your school nurse and Director of Nursing, Aaron Crook (acrook@ridgefieldps.net) and has been determined to require a quarantine.
What does not qualify students for Quarantine Learning?
Illness
Confirmed Covid Case where the individual is ill
Travel (before, during, after)
Choice/Preference for the Learning Model
Vacation
Elementary Learning:
At the elementary level students will be invited to virtually participate in a class, led by a teacher, for the duration of the school day during quarantine learning. Any individual student(s) in quarantine across the six elementary schools log into the google meet for the grade level and is provided remote instruction for the entire day. All quarantine learning will follow the grade-level curriculum and scope and sequence, while the daily lesson may not mirror the exact lesson of the child's typical classroom; they will provide instruction to keep the student up to date on grade level learning.
Essentials may be asynchronous or synchronous. The classroom teacher will provide (as needed) the student with a bag of learning materials to be used during the quarantine and to be picked up at the home school. In addition, the classroom teacher is available to the family and student during quarantine to support any additional learning questions. All assessments are completed when the student returns to school. The elementary quarantine day will run from 9am to 3pm. Each morning the class will get a schedule including lunch recess for an hour and an essential activity.
Special Services:
Beginning September 20, 2021: All PreK-12 students with special and/or related services via an IEP or 504 plan, as well as EL services, will follow their daily schedule for these services, and be offered the opportunity to participate virtually. Similar to the Spring of 2020 and the 20-21 school year, parents will be provided with this confidentiality notice in order to access virtual services during a COVID-related quarantine.
Parents may opt out of virtual services at any time.
Health & Safety Update
The CT CSDE and DPH released updated quarantine and isolation guidelines for schools this week via Addendum 5. RPS will be following this guidance, please take a moment to read it. Key components that families need to know are:
Vaccinated and unvaccinated students and staff should stay home from school if you have symptoms; and contact your school nurse. You may return to school with a negative COVID-19 test after symptoms have resolved. Vaccinated and unvaccinated students who come to school with a symptom of COVID-19 will be sent home by the school nurse. Students who are sick should tend to their health and will not access quarantine learning.- Fully vaccinated students and staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 and have not developed any symptoms may continue to come to school. Unvaccinated students and staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 must quarantine at home. They can get a test on day 5 after exposure, and return to school on day 8 if they remain free of symptoms. Students who are required to quarantine and are symptom free will have access to quarantine learning.
Schedules
School Lunch
- School Lunch will be available from the first day of school. Chartwells is the District-wide food service provider. The school lunch menu is available online on the RPS website; click District Offices and click on Food Service, as well as below.
- School lunch will continue to be free during the 21-22 school year. Snacks and additional items will be available through The Lunch Time POS system that allows students to purchase their lunch by entering a 5-digit code at the cash register. These items can be prepaid online at School Payment Portal Powered By LunchTime Software and at the school kitchen.
- Questions in regard to Lunch Time POS can be directed to John Morris, RPS Food Service Director at 203-894-5550 x1127 or john.morris2@compass-usa.com
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.
Dismissal
- Pick up will begin at 3:20pm.
- 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 ask that you kindly use the crosswalk.
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