April 26, 2019 Forest Ridge Forerunner

Fri, 04/26/2019 - 10:53am

For PTA News, Upcoming Event Dates, Counselor's Corner, and Community News, click here.

Don't forget to check out the Green School section on our home page!

Forest Ridge Forerunner

Important Things to Know:
  • The office phones are answered 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
  • Students should arrive to school by 9:10 a.m. so that they are able to put their things away and be ready to start the day when the bell rings at 9:15.
  • Students go out for recess when the temperature with wind chill is 20 degrees or more.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather.
  • To get text alerts from FRES or HCPSS, you must opt in to receive those alerts. Text "YES" to 67587 from the cell number that is on file in HCPSS/Connect.
  • If your child's dismissal changes, due to a change in transportation, an after school class, etc., please email the teacher, and copy Dr. Varlack, Ms. Pazornik, Ms. Traini, Mrs. Jackson, and Mrs. Farrell.  All the emails can be found in the "Our Staff" section of our website.  We want to make sure the message is received!
  • Want to get a head start on next year's school supplies?  Click here for the list.

From the Office

  • If you are sending money to school for field trips, lost books, etc., please understand that the school does not supply change.  Please write a check or send exact change.  Thank you!

Important Dates
May
1    Class and optional individual picture day
8    Last Chick-fil-A fundraiser (proceeds go to help pay for 4th and 5th grade field trips)
14  4th Grade field trip to St. Mary's City
      2nd Grade field trip to Howard County Conservancy
15  2:00 5th grade panoramic picture
16  FRES Field Day
17  3-hour early dismissal (12:34 p.m.)
21  5th Grade visits middle school
23  Enrichment Fair
27  Memorial Day Holiday - Schools and offices closed
30  5th grade Simulated Congressional Hearing
31  5th grade field trip to Mt. Vernon

Forest Ridge News...

Class Pictures and Optional Individual Picture Day is May 1
May 1 is Class Picture Day.  Optional individual pictures will also be taken.  Look for picture envelopes coming home on Tuesday, April 30. View the flyer here.

Last Day of School
The last day of school is now June 21.  The last three days of school, June 19, 20, and 21 are 3-hour early dismissal days.

Field Day is Coming!
Hello FRES Parents!  Our Field Day is being held Thursday, May 16th during the entire school day (the rain date is Wednesday, June 5th).  If you have had a child here in the past, you know that Field Day is one of our students' favorite days that is full of exciting activities.  However, this event does not succeed without the support of parent volunteers!  Field Day has been broken into an AM and PM schedule, so you can choose to give half a day of your time, or the whole day to help!  More information on the day and the volunteer sign up list are in the link below:

Doing some Spring cleaning?  Donate your gently used or new sports equipment!
Forest Ridge is partnering with Leveling the Playing Field to run a collection drive through April 30th.  Equipment may be dropped off in the FRES gym or cafeteria.  Leveling the Playing Field accepts soccer, baseball, softball, volleyball, hockey, golf, basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, tennis, and recess type equipment.

LPF collects donated sports equipment and redistributes it to low-income kids throughout the Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia area. All donations benefit needy schools, after school programs, and athletic leagues looking to engage their students in the physical and mental benefits of youth sports participation. LPF relies on used/excess sports donations from local communities to engage underprivileged children, so clean out your garages and basements of your unused sporting equipment, and help LPF get more kids off the sidelines and into the game!

Contact Mrs. Goodwin (janice_goodwin@hcpss.org) for questions about Forest Ridge’s collection.  You may visit the website at www.levelingtheplayingfield.org to learn more about the organization.

Give Your Unwanted T-shirts A New Lease on Life
Less Plastic Please's mission is to reduce the use of single-use plastic in Howard County. To that end they have an on-going project to create reusable bags from unwanted t-shirts and to distribute them to local grocery stores.  A "Rags to Bags" collection box has been placed in the media center near the intermediate hallway so that we may supply LPP with the shirts they need to create reusable bags. This will be an on-going collection, so please check your closets and bureaus for unwanted t-shirts. They do not have to be in perfect condition.  Your donations will help change our throw-away culture into a sustainable one. Thank you!

Watch DOGS
Our Watch DOGS dads this week were Mr. Barsic and Mr. Gajan.   Thank you so much! 

Patuxent Valley Middle School PTA Needs Board Members
The PVMS PTA is still looking to fill Vacant Board positions for the upcoming school year.  Please consider volunteering for Treasurer or Secretary.  Without these positions filled, we will need to dissolve the PVMS PTA. The PTA is involved in so many fun things at school, and we support our students and staff in a variety of ways as well. While it may seem that PTA “just raises money”, we do this to help our students and families defray costs/expenses for education field trips and class activities. We will need to present the names/nominations to the PTA membership on May 9th (our next PTA meeting), and vote in the new board members on June 6th (our last PTA meeting of the year).  If you want to be apart of something fun and know what’s going on at school, please consider volunteering to fill the President, Secretary or Treasurer positions. Please contact Marci Isaacs at marci.isaacs@gmail.com  or Katie Schneider at pulver222@gmail.com

Good News!
The Gorman Road and Skylark Boulevard intersection will become a multi-way traffic stop!  The project will involve the addition of a stop sign on westbound Gorman Road and one on eastbound Skylark Boulevard at the intersection to create a new traffic pattern.  Recent studies have shown that traffic volume continues to increase in the area, making the change necessary to improve safety for turning traffic at that intersection.  Signs will be posted in the area a week prior to the change to alert motorists of the reconfiguration.  For questions or concerns about the new traffic pattern, contact Lisa Brightwell, Public Works Customer Service, at 410-313-3440 or by email at publicworks@howardcountymd.gov.
 

From Howard County Recreation and Parks:
For Complete information on Before & After School classes, including how to Register, please go to  www.howardcountymd.gov/afterschool