Friday 2/3: NO SCHOOL, Grading Day

Monday 2/6: NO SCHOOL, Professional Development Day

Monday 2/6: 6:00-6:45 Middle School Information Session

Monday 2/6: Due date for the Talent Show video clips

Thursday 2/9: Ridgeline Board Meeting

Friday 2/10: Talent Show

Friday 2/10: Report Cards sent home

Tuesday, 2/14: Return UofO Test Kits

Wednesday, 2/15: RCO meeting

Be sure to check the full calendar at https://www.ridgeline.org as some dates may change. Please note that Ridgeline’s calendar differs slightly from 4J elementary and middle school calendars.

Remember, there is NO SCHOOL this Friday, February 3rd, as well as a NO SCHOOL day on Monday, February 6th. Monday’s no school day differs from the 4J schedule.

5th and 6th grade parents who are interested in learning about Ridgeline Middle School should sign up for the Monday, February 6th webinar to get a chance to find out what middle school looks like!

The Talent Show is coming up and student submissions are due on Monday February 6th!

Ridgeline Apparel is still available, the due date for ordering has been extended so you have a chance to order if you act now!

There are many volunteer opportunities: Sign up to help at the Talent Show viewing or to be a Crossing Guard, and contact Becky Fay if you are interested in contributing your creative touch to the Direct Donation Drive or the Rummage Sale!

Check out a special message from Michelle about how much we love to have you here at school!

Friday, February 10th, 2023 at 6 pm is the Ridgeline Talent Show!

This year, the Talent Show will be virtual with a special viewing event at Ridgeline as well as being available on YouTube so everyone can enjoy it together whether at home or with our school community! We are thankful to have the opportunity to come together on February 10th in the school Gym to watch the video together on a big screen!

• We need volunteers to help set up and clean up the evening of the talent show so head over to Track it Forward to sign up for the event!

Students need to submit a video clip of their talent to wobblykate@hotmail.com by Monday, February 6th.

Talent Show Acts must be 3 minutes or less. Any musical lyrics must be school appropriate. Please avoid themes of violence, drugs/alcohol, sex, etc. Kids are welcome to provide a solo act and/or a group act. Be sure to send a video clip of their talent to wobblykate@hotmail.com by Monday, February 6th!

If your child is interested in being a classroom MC and introducing their peers, please email wobblykate@hotmail.com. We will accept the first 2 applicants from each class on a first-come-first-picked basis. Parents will be emailed a script for their MC to read/recite on video a few days before the talent show and those videos will play before the class performances. MCs may also submit a talent act, but do not have to submit an act for the talent show.

5th and 6th grade families: Sign up here and attend the Middle School Information Webinar on Monday, February 6, from 6:00-6:45 pm! Pre-registration is required to attend.

Our Middle School teachers, Jon Labrousse and Carrie Culliton will give a special presentation for Ridgeline's Upper Elementary families and students to learn more about the powerful, empowering Middle School experience at Ridgeline.

You will have the chance to hear about the classrooms, ask questions, and learn about what your students have to look forward to!

Ridgeline's K-8 program is carefully crafted to prepare our students not just for academic success but success in life and our Middle School team does an outstanding job of putting the finishing touches on our students' education to make sure they are ready for the social and academic challenges of high school and adulthood.

The webinar format has been chosen so that we can record the session and make it available on our website for those who can not make the February date, while protecting the anonymity of the participants.

Ridgeline's Direct Donation Drive (aka "The DDD") is coming up in March! This is our once-a-year, just-write-a-check-and-be-done fundraiser. We have some fun theme ideas and are looking for 3 volunteers:

1. a graphic artist who wants to do some design work with the campaign theme and our electronic communications

2. a photographer who can spend some time capturing our students in their classrooms sometime in early to mid February, and

3. writers/storytellers who are interested in sharing a little about why they love our school through a theme-based piece.

The orders for Ridgeline apparel are up and running! Please enter your information in the website, https://ridgelinemontessorigear.bigcartel.com/ and place your order before February 16, 2023. We will be processing the order mid February. All apparel should arrive by early March!

We continue our “T-shirts for All Students” program which provides a t-shirt at no cost to any student who qualifies on Ridgeline’s Income Survey Form. If you are able to, please make a donation to go towards another child's t-shirt order. If you need any assistance getting a t-shirt for your child please reach out to the Ridgeline Equity Committee. If you have any questions about ordering, reach out to equity@ridgeline.org.

Hop on into the next RCO (Ridgeline Community Organization) meeting on February 15th!

RCO monthly meetings (including Zoom link) are on the Ridgeline calendar and open to the entire Ridgeline community to join.

As we look to the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year, we welcome any Ridgeline parents who are interested in joining the RCO as a grade-level representative, or who have suggestions or contributions for RCO-led activities.

Feel free to reach out to rco@ridgeline.org with any questions, and be on the lookout for upcoming events!

Sign up and work toward your commitment of 40 hours of volunteering at Ridgeline!

HELP US TO KEEP ALL OF OUR STUDENTS SAFE!

• Crossing guards are needed daily at 8-8:30 am and 3-3:20 pm.
  This is one of our largest, ongoing needs as far as volunteers!

You will help guide Ridgeline students to safely cross between building B and the sidewalk, and cross West Amazon to and from the Amazon trail.

Safety vests and stop signs provided. Sign-up for any slot that fits your schedule!

If you would like to volunteer, go to the Volunteer Page of our website and review the requirements.

Fill out a background check form if you have not done so in the last five years.

Directions for how to log your hours on Track it Forward are found at the bottom of this page.

We've heard from several families that they would love the return of our rummage sale fundraiser! In order to make this popular community event happen, we need someone to coordinate organizing it, with training and assistance from experienced folks.

Are you a yard sale fan? Love reclaiming gently used items and the joy of finding them new homes? This could be a wonderful way to fulfill your hours and support our school!

Please review Ridgeline’s Personal Electronic Devices & Social Media and have a conversation with your student reminding them that the use of cell phones during school hours is prohibited.

Student phones are to be turned off and stored in their backpacks during the day. The only exception would be in the event of an emergency and direction on messaging will be provided to students from teachers. Students and families may contact the school office to relay a message.

Siblings of students who are currently enrolled and will remain enrolled in Ridgeline in the coming year receive enrollment priority. If space is unavailable, students with sibling-level priority will be the first group selected by an equitable lottery process for placement on the waiting list.

In order to qualify for sibling preference, you MUST complete the Online Enrollment Application for any incoming sibling by February 26, 11:59 pm.

Have you ever wondered how Ridgeline uses the State assessment data? Indeed, Ridgeline does not put a lot of emphasis on the State assessment to our students. We present it as another work they participate in, and generally, our students enjoy taking the test because it is so different from what they usually participate in. It’s a novel activity to them.

Behind the scenes, Ridgeline takes the data collected from the test and level teams look for trends. Teams meet to deep dive into what trends emerge, cross-reference what concepts were taught and how, and collaborate on strategies to improve their teaching practices.

Additionally, the data offers information on students' strengths and weaknesses in those academic areas to help form a pathway for following the child as they progress through their experience here at Ridgeline.

The data is also reported to the district and the state; both use it in their assessment and annual reports for Ridgeline.

Oregon schools are required to have at least 94.5% participation of all eligible students each year. Due to a high level of opt-outs and exemptions last year, we did not meet our participation goal, and the results showed that we had under-representation of various student demographics in our school-wide participation. Please keep that under consideration when making a decision for your child.

Parent information about this spring's 2022-23 state testing, including the linked ELA and Math Opt-Out form and the Science Exemption form are available below:

30-Day Notice and Opt-Out Form (English)

Aviso de 30 días para evaluaciones estatales de Oregón en Artes del Lenguaje Inglés y Matemáticas

OSAS Science Exemption Form-English

Aviso de 30 días para evaluaciones estatales de Oregón en Ciencias

The testing window at Ridgeline will open in early to mid-April and last approximately four weeks (Middle school may test a bit later). While we encourage students to test, parents do have the choice to opt their child out of testing by completing the opt-out or exemption forms and submitting them to the school office by Friday, April 7th. Please note that if you wish to opt your 5th or 8th grader out of OSAS Math, ELA, and Science testing, you must fill out two forms (Opt-out for ELA and Math; Exemption for Science).

Effective February 5th, 2023, LTD will be making schedule adjustments to some of their routes due to driver shortages.

Many students take Bus Route 28 at 1:26 after dismissal on Friday. Schedule changes have eliminated this pickup time and the soonest bus will be available at 1:56.

Exhibit Opens 1/28 at Museum of Natural and Cultural History

In the 1960s–1990s, hundreds of young women who identified as lesbians came to Eugene.

They founded organizations central to the city and provided leadership for community service agencies. They created lesbian magazines, photographs, music, films, dance performances, theater, and art. They influenced Oregon's political landscape and contributed to the larger LGBTQ movement.

Come discover stories about the Eugene lesbian community from the women who created and sustained it.

Registration is now open for the South Eugene Babe Ruth 2023 youth baseball season! Players ages 6-14 are invited to evaluations on Saturday, February 4th or Sunday the 5th for team placements. New and former players are very welcome. Go South!

Eugene IHS is a choice school for students in grades 9-12 offering a 4-year interdisciplinary humanities curriculum focused on international studies. Students spend two class periods each school day in their IHS classes and the other three class periods in host school classes.

ANY student can enroll. All interested students must fill out an online 4J School Choice application, regardless of attendance area: www.4j.lane.edu/choice. The in-district deadline is January 31, 2023.

IMPORTANT DATES for the 2023-2024 School Year:

January 1……Online application period for 4J School Choice Lottery opened for in-district students

January 31…..Deadline to submit in-district 4J School Choice Lottery Applications

March 1………Online application period for 4J School Choice Lottery opens for out-of-district students

March 31……..Deadline to submit out-of-district 4J School Choice Lottery Applications

Spanish and French Immersion students from Monroe and Roosevelt will be enrolled in Eugene IHS without the lottery process because they entered immersion through the lottery in elementary or middle school. However, immersion students do need to submit the Eugene IHS Enrollment Form to the Eugene IHS office at South or Sheldon by the January 31st deadline. This form will be included in a special mailing to immersion families.

If your student has an interest in the world, and wants to learn about other countries and cultures, we hope they will consider becoming part of our Eugene IHS family.

For more information contact one of the Eugene IHS offices below, or visit the Eugene IHS website at www.ihs.4j.lane.edu.

Eugene IHS @ Churchill: 541-790-5225

Eugene IHS @ Sheldon: 541-790-6636

Eugene IHS @ South Eugene: 541-790-8030

Ridgeline will continue to utilize Track it Forward for volunteer sign-ups and to log your volunteer hours. If you are new to Ridgeline or have not yet created an account, please do so! Last year we had a lot of folks forget to log their hours. Volunteer hour reporting is important for us to show support for Ridgeline when applying for grants and for reporting to our sponsoring district.

• Track It Forward app can be added to your phone!

If you are a first-time Track It Forward user and have not set up an account you will need to create an account first. If you already have an account, skip to step two.

Step One:

Go to https://www.trackitforward.com/site/ridgeline-montessori

Select sign in

Create your account.

Step Two:

Go to the app store on your device and search for Track It Forward.

Download the app

Log In

You are all set!