RIDGEFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS
PROGRAM NEWSLETTER
Program Newsletter
Secondary Grades Edition: Learn more about programming in grades 9 -12
Website: http://www.ridgefieldschools.com/domain/112
Location: 555 Chestnut Street, Ridgefield, NJ
Phone: 201-945-7747
Where We've Been
Over the past three years, we have brought in new curriculum in the areas of math and science and varied the elective choices for students throughout the high school grade levels. Through our programs such as Community Service, senior students have become more involved throughout the school system and the local community. RMHS has provided opportunities for students and parents to experience college and career fairs, learn more about our Naviance guidance system, and become more familiar with the financial aide process for college.
At the high school grade levels, students are given greater independence. They are now responsible for their own learning and progress over the four years. They have the choice to develop their schedules and determine their interests in order to prepare for college and career. High school is a time when students discover who they are as young adults as they culminate their K - 12 academic career.
Where we are now
With the expansion of the PARCC testing to three grade levels within the high school. Our staff is provided with the opportunity to use the standardized testing data to determine the strength of our curriculum and instruction. Teachers have been examining the way in which our students performed over the past two years on the PARCC testing and using that data in combination with the quarterly benchmark data to drive their instruction and strengthen our curriculum. Classroom instruction is being informed by the data throughout the school year.
This year, we have continued the growth of our blended learning programs to the high school level. Blended learning is being piloted in the areas of English and math with the use of programs such as Revision Assistant, Achieve 3000, IXL, and ALeks. Students are being exposed to more online content with which they can drive the pace of their individual instruction. The programs also provide the teachers with real time data to help them to determine areas of strengths and weaknesses for the students and our curriculum.
The science sequence at the secondary level has also been revised to better align to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). All students at the ninth grade level are being exposed to physics through the new Geophysics class. This allows all students within our high school to experience physics concepts and perhaps continue their physics studies at the upper grade levels in more advanced classes.
An integrated studies class has also been introduced at the secondary level this year. Students in the twelfth grade are experiencing English through the lens of social studies. The literary works that are studied are linked to the history of the time and the social contexts that lend as a background for the literature. Students in this class benefit from instruction from both an English and social studies teacher.
Spotlight on our Special Services: Register Ready
The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) is partnering with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM) to improve the state’s ability to respond to residents with disabilities or those with functional needs when a disaster such as Hurricane Sandy occur. The “Register Ready Special Needs Registry for Disasters" is an online registry in which citizens can provide emergency response agencies with important information (e.g. if a resident is wheelchair bound or requires medical apparatus) so that emergency responders can be better prepared to serve those individuals during a natural disaster or other emergency.
Register Ready is a confidential database that can only be accessed by designated local, county and state emergency managers.
In support of NJOEM’s efforts toward disaster preparedness, the NJDOE is encouraging schools to circulate information about the registry to parents and guardians of students with special needs. The NJOEM Register Ready webpage contains links to brochures about the registry program in English and Spanish, which schools can download to share with students and their families. Citizens should go to the Register Ready Registration webpage to sign up for the program. The NJOEM encourages New Jersey residents with disabilities or access and functional needs to sign up with Register Ready well before disasters strikes.
More information will be provided as it becomes available to us. We thank you in advance for your participation.
Ridgefield Child Study Team
Business and Finance Focus: Staff Wellness Event
Our Wellness Committee is sponsoring a free Cycle Bar Class for School District staff on March 30, 2017 at 3:30 PM. Join your colleagues for a full body workout that is fun and exciting. CYCLE BAR is located at 2012 Hudson Street, Fort Lee, NJ. Space is limited!! Sign up online now at:
where we are going: Our Future Graduates
- Maintain the STEM and Humanities Chairperson in their current role. The continuation and expansion of these vital staff members to provide expertise to the teachers in all grade levels from K - 12 will strengthen vertical alignment of the math and ELA programs.
- Provide the funding for curriculum resources to continue to invest and implement in the programs that have begun their implementation over the past two years. Continue to invest in programs such as; Front Row and Aleks to expand the blended learning program into more classrooms. Provide more math classes with the necessary technology to access these programs. Expand the Envisions 2.0 program to the middle school level with a purchase of the current materials for great vertical articulation of the math program.
- Expand library media, technology, and information literacy by adding specialists. Currently, the Ridgefield School District has no operating library media centers. It has only one Library Media Specialist for all students in Grades K-12 who delivers part of a newly developed information literacy program. Additional staffing is needed to expand the information literacy program and provide students with a more comprehensive experience and the much needed and valuable instruction, giving students the tools to compete in the 21st century.
- Expand upon the Integrated Studies Program. Provide students a a greater variety of offerings where they can experience the cross-content connections, project based learning, and instruction from two teachers, each an expert in his or her discipline.
- Create a Business Program. Provide students with a program that provides them with career experience. In this program, students can take business electives over their four years of high school and participate in a business related internship in their senior year. This program will provide real life instruction for those who would like to major in business in college or enter workforce after high school.
Program Highlights: Preparing for the College Application Process
All four years of high school are in preparation for the college application process. Students begin building a resume for the college application process as early as ninth grade through the sports, clubs, and other extra curricular activities in which they participate. Here are some tips to help you and your child be prepared for applying to college:
- Encourage your child all throughout his/her highs school career to strive for academic excellence
- Discuss future plans and financial restraints with your child to gain a better understanding of his or her goals and the colleges that will meet those goals and the budget
- Gain an understanding of the college financial aide process through research online or attending the RMHS FAFSA Parent Workshop
- Research the various admissions tests, such as the SAT or ACT. Find out which one best meets your child's strengths and that the college of choice require
- Go visit the colleges of choice and discover the financial aide and scholarship packages
- Discuss application timelines with your child to ensure that all applications are submitted in a timely fashion
- If you are unsure of a step in the process for need assistance, please contact the guidance counselor at the high school
Much of the college application process is now online. Students use the Naviance system to gather their information and submit to the colleges. RMHS offers annual parent training workshops on Naviance.