Scotty Updates
A Newsletter from Scotland Elementary School
Week of October 26, 2020
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 all well! We have a fun, busy week ahead! As I mentioned last week, we will begin the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) for grades 2-5. At Scotland, our testing window will begin on Wednesday, October 28th, and continue through November 17th. Please refer to the schedule shared by your child's teacher last week.
This week, we will celebrate Halloween on Friday! Students and staff are excited to engage in festive activities on Friday throughout the day! I would like to invite our temporary remote learners to a celebration with me at 12pm on Friday. Please see click here for more information! Don't forget about our Halloween Spirit week this week (see below for the schedule)!
Just a reminder that Thursday, October 29th is an early release day for students. We will begin our dismissal process at 11:30am. Students will have asynchronous activities with which to engage for the afternoon.
Wishing you all a wonderful week!
Kind regards,
Jill
Reminder: If your child is going to remain a temporary remote learner, please complete this form, and email both your child's classroom teacher and Mrs. Anderson at canderson@ridgefieldps.net to notify us.
*Follow Scotland on Instagram @ScotlandElementarySchool
Halloween! 🎃
It is hard to believe, but Halloween is going to be here soon! We are getting very excited for this festive day, though we know it may look a bit different this year! All students K-5 are invited to wear Halloween costumes to school on Friday, October 30th. If your child would prefer not to wear their costume to school, they are welcome to participate in crazy hair day instead. Mr. Tornatore and I are working to reimagine our Scotland tradition of a Halloween sing-a-long. We will share our plan as we get closer to Halloween.
Each teacher will engage students in curriculum throughout the day. Our classroom based Halloween celebrations (with individual crafts or games, no food) will take place at the end of the day to ensure that students are engaged and learning throughout the day at school. We would like to ask the following to ensure safety of all students and staff:
- If students choose to dress up, please have them come dressed to school in their costume, as there will not be a space for them to change once here.
- Costumes must allow easy bathroom use so students can independently use the restroom.
- To ensure safety, costumes may not include props or masks, and please limit makeup to the eyes only. Students will be expected to wear their day to day mask, as they have been doing.
- Please encourage your child to choose a costume with a non-violent theme. Costumes should be “kindergarten friendly” (not scary or gory). Gentle storybook characters or heroes often lend themselves to fantastic costumes as they encourage reading for pleasure!
- Kindly refrain from sending your child in an inflatable costume or any other distracting costume.
We are so very excited for this festive day!
Parents and Caregivers of Temporary Remote Learners
You will find more information about the assessment including some technical preparation steps that may be helpful for parents and caregivers of temporary remote learners. Temporary remote learners do have the option of coming to school to complete the computer based assessment. Please email your child’s teacher if you wish for your child to complete the assessment in school.
Please find information regarding the MAP assessment below. Your child(ren)'s teacher will be in touch when our assessments begin.
For Virtual Learners: Preparing Your Computer for the Test
Prior to Test Day:
1. Make sure your device has an internet connection.
2. Disable pop-up blocking on your internet browser.
3. Make sure your device meets testing requirements using the Device Readiness Check
4. Watch the MAP Growth introduction video:
- username: grow
- password: grow
On Test Day:
2. Provide a quiet testing environment
3. Allow the teacher/proctor to open the session first. (With support from classroom teacher)
4. Log in at test.mapnwea.org
5. Make sure you keep the Meet open to provide a way to communicate with the teacher/proctor during the test
6. Follow any additional instructions from the teacher/proctor.
School Lunches 🍕🥗
Did you know that school lunches are free for all students every day? All in-school students in grades K-8 are able to get one free meal per day while attending school!
- Any additional food or drink beyond the prepared meal will cost extra and be processed to your child’s lunch program account (i.e. extra slice of pizza, cookies, chips, water, milk, etc.).
- All remote learners, including home schooled students may pick up free meals at our remote meal distribution location at East Ridge Middle School on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 3:00-5:00pm.
- Due to food safety reasons each student may pick up 2 meals on Mondays, up to 2 meals on Wednesdays, and up to 3 meals on Fridays.
Beginning on Friday, October 16th, RPS will be sending home bagged lunches with every Scotland student for Saturday and Sunday. These lunches will include one muffin fun lunch and one cereal fun lunch. Again, these lunches are free of charge to all Ridgefield students. Students will receive these lunches in their homerooms at the end of the day before dismissal. They will be in their backpacks upon returning home. Most of the items in the lunches will be shelf-stable food, though a few items may require refrigeration (i.e. milk). Keep an eye out for these lunches beginning Friday!
- If your family would like to opt out of this free service, kindly contact John Morris, Daryl Speirs, and AnnaMarie Williams to let them know. (John.Morris2@compass-usa.com, Daryl.Speirs@compass-usa.com, awilliams@ridgefieldps.net)
Dismissal 🚘
Our dismissal process has been working smoothly, and I am incredibly grateful for your patience and flexibility as we navigate the space we have to use. We will continue to work with Ridgefield Police to ensure a safe, efficient pickup at Scotland! Just a few dismissal reminders as we head into the week...
- Please be sure to enter dismissal information into School Dismissal Manager. If a family arrives to pick up a student whose name is not entered in SDM, the family will be asked to park, and then sign out their child with our security guard. This is to ensure the safety of each and every student.
- Please have your students name(s) visible in the front windshield on the passenger side of the car. This will allow our staff to call students for dismissal in the most efficient way possible.
- In the pick up line, students MUST enter the car on the passenger side of the car. We cannot have students walking between cars to enter from the driver's side. If your child must enter on the driver's side, please park your car, and one of our staff members will walk your child to you.
- If you need to help your child buckle, or perhaps open a snack for their ride home, kindly park the car in one of the available spots to do so.
Snaps around Scotland 📷
Virtual Learners
A Note from Mrs. Martire 👩🏻⚕️
If your child is ill or has been exposed to Covid-19 please contact me at 894-5825 extension 6575 or email me at lmartire@ridgefieldps.net.
Attached below is the letter that was sent out from the RPS nurses at the start of the school year for your reference. It includes a link to Addendum 5 ( also attached below: link to CT Guidelines) which was a collaborative effort by the Connecticut State Department of Education and the State Department of Public Health to provide schools districts with guidance and protocols for responding to specific Covid-19 scenarios that may occur with school reopening.
Due to COVID health and safety concerns, any student with any one of the potential COVID symptoms (cough, difficulty breathing, fever or chills, fatigue, muscle or body ache, headache, new loss or taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea) must remain home until the CSDE and CT DPH guidance is met in accordance with Addendum 5.
Addendum 5 has several scenarios based on symptoms and exposure. Becoming familiar with the document will be helpful as I will be referring to this often this year as we continue to experience this global pandemic.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions .
Stay well,
Lisa Martire
Virtual Learning Reminders
- 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 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), please notify the classroom teacher ahead of time, just as you would if they were in the building.
Thank you so much for your partnership in making this experience a success!
School Dismissal Manager
We 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!
Events and Happenings
WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Monday, October 26th:
- D Day
Tuesday, October 27th:
- E day
Wednesday, October 28th:
- F day
Thursday, October 29th:
- A day
- Early Dismissal Day: Dismissal will begin at 11:30am
- Students will be involved in "asynchronous" (not live teaching) activities in the afternoon from home
Friday, October 30th:
- B day
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
Scotland PTA Online Auction Visit https://www.32auctions.com/supportSES to bid today!! LIVE now - Nov 7th at mid-night!!
October 26-30th: PTA Virtual Pumpkin Carving Contest. See details below.
Saturday, November 7: PTA Virtual Wine Tasting from 8-9pm. Visit ScotlandPTA.org for more information.
A Note from Our PTA
Virtual Wine Tasting & Auction Details
Scotland PTA Online Auction LIVE Now-Nov 7!
VISIT https://www.32auctions.com/supportSES to bid today!!
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