Nov. 15, 2019 Forest Ridge Forerunner

Mon, 11/11/2019 - 10:46am

Forest Ridge Forerunner
November 15, 2019

Our phones are answered Mon.-Thurs. 8:30-4:15; Fri. 8:30-4:00

Important Dates:

November
18-22 American Education Week - See info below
18-26  FRES Book Fair - volunteers still needed!  Click here to volunteer.
20   7:00 Council of Elders Celebration at Hammond High School
22   5:00-7:30 Book Fair Family Night (note time correction)
25   Schools close 3 hours early for parent/teacher conferences (12:36)
       PTA-sponsored Teacher and Staff Conference Dinner - 4:00-5:00 p.m.
26   Schools close 3 hours early for parent/teacher conferences (12:36)
27   Schools closed for parent/teacher conferences
28-29 Thanksgiving holiday - schools and offices closed
December

3     PTA Meeting - Media Center - 7:00 p.m.
3-5  Holiday Shoppe
6     Ice-skating Night, The Gardens Ice Center - 7:50-9:20 p.m.
11   Chick-fil-A Day at Johns Hopkins Road location - Be sure to say you're with FRES!
18   6:00-7:00 p.m. Kindergarten Gingerbread House Night
January
15   FRES Book Club - The book will be Season of Styx Malone (more info to come)

Items of Note:

  • As the weather gets colder, there is the possibility that schools will be closed or open late because of inclement weather.  HCPSS sends out text messages to let parents know.  These messages usually go out between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m.  To receive text messages from FRES or HCPSS, you must opt in.  Please text "YES" to 67587 to receive text messages.
  • The last Chick-fil-A Spirit Day this year will be on March 18.  Proceeds will help to defray the cost of 4th and 5th grade field trips.

From our Administrators...

Dear FRES Community,

We hope everyone had a great week.  Winter is finally here.  During this time of the year, our weather can be unpredictable.  Please continue to dress your child for colder weather conditions.  Students will have outdoor recess when the temperature is above 20 degrees. Also this is a good time to double check your Family File to ensure that your Early Closing procedures are still current.  

We look forward to seeing many of our parents here next week during American Education Week.  Please take note of the schedule and if possible try to schedule your visits during those times.  As always, please have your photo ID available when you come to the school.  

We’d like to thank our Media team for their help in organizing our Book Fair.  The Book Fair will be open next week beginning on Monday.  Parents are welcome to browse the Book Fair when they visit during American Education Week.  The Fair will be open during school hours, with a special Family Night on Friday, 11/22, 5-7:30.  Students will get their chance to browse and create wish lists during their media time.  If you have any time to volunteer to help, click here for the sign-up.  Thank you!

Student News...

Congratulations to our Eagle Egg winners for this week:

5th- Ameer A.; 4th- Evan M.; 3rd- Aaron A.; 2nd- Lilah Peerson; 1st- Zaria E.; K- Joseph W.
Class Winner: Mrs. Carey (and Mr. Washington)
Teacher Winner: Ms. Leser
 
Great job!
 

Forest Ridge News...

American Education Week, November 18-22

Hello parents!  American Education week is November 18-22.  This is the only week during the school year in which parents may visit the classroom without pre-arranging the visit with the teacher.

Be sure to sign in in the office before visiting the classroom.  Although you may visit anytime during the week, teachers have set aside these visitation dates and times for each grade as listed below:

K    11/22   2:35 - 3:35  Stone Soup
G1  11/21  10:30 - 11:30
G2  11/20  11:35 - 12:35 lunch in the classroom and recess
G3  11/19  11:30 - 12:30
G4  11/21  1:35 - 3:30
G5  11/22  12:00-1:30

Conferences
Parent/teacher conferences will be held Monday, Nov. 25-Wednesday, Nov. 27. Conferences can be scheduled online through HCPSS/Connect from November 11-22.  This video shows parents how to schedule a conference through their HCPSS Connect account: https://youtu.be/QcMwkkIgkls

Watch DOGS
Many thanks to Mr. Alimasi, Mr. Araujo, Mr. Kim, Mr. Knutson, and Mr. Murphy, who came in this week to serve as our Watch DOGS!

PTA News...

November
25   PTA-sponsored Teacher and Staff Conference Dinner - 4:00-5:00 p.m.
December
3     PTA Meeting - Media Center - 7:00 p.m.
3-5  Holiday Shoppe
6     Ice-skating Night, The Gardens Ice Center - 7:50-9:20 p.m.
18   Kindergarten Gingerbread House Night

Hello FRES families!

I hope everyone is staying warm out there with the sudden drop in temperatures!  Despite the cold weather, we had a great turnout of 83 skaters, who helped us pull in $248 for the PTA!  Our next “Skate Night” will be an Ice-Skating Night on Friday, December 6 at The Gardens Ice House.  Stay tuned for details!

Thank you to the everyone who completed our PTA School of Excellence Baseline Survey!  We received 130 responses and have submitted our initial application to earn the designation as a National PTA School of Excellence.  Survey results can be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1E4isLfxz-6BOR8GJzYv5OGKwVFCw5KJQ9uPASgdgZ1k/edit?usp=sharing

Our plan moving forward includes working with the school to improve on our survey results by the end of the year and also to work on the focus area "Support the Arts" with the objective of increasing access to arts programs at FRES.  We’re really excited about strengthening the school/PTA partnership while increasing supports for our students!

Finally, last week at our PTA meeting, we discussed the school boundary review process (redistricting) and how to advocate for your schools and communities.  Since then, there have been several more work sessions with possible changes for some FRES attendance areas (polygons).  The process is very dynamic and every attendance area may be changed at any point during the process until the final vote on Thursday, November 21.  We urge parents and communities to remain engaged to monitor the progress.  For more information, including how to find your polygon number, please visit: https://www.hcpss.org/school-planning/boundary-review/.  For the latest updates on work sessions, please visit this section.  Finally, please write to the BOE at redistricting@hcpss.org by 4:30pm on Tuesday, November 19 to voice your position, opinion, and/or concern for any aspect of the process.

Have a great weekend!

Khaleda Hasan, FRES PTA President

More from the PTA

Dad’s Club
Forms were sent home this week for upcoming sporting events.  The first game will be the Maryland Terrapins Women's Basketball team taking on the Loyola Greyhounds on Sunday, December 8 at 1pm. The second game will be the Washington Wizards taking on the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, January 4 at 8pm.  We hope that you will be able to join us at one of these fun activities!

Staff Appreciation
The next staff appreciation event is a Conference Dinner for the teachers and staff on Monday, November 25 from 4-5pm, since they are at the school all day conferencing with parents.  The theme will be Comfort Food and Casseroles (good old fashioned Pot Luck/ Crockpot Dishes).  If you’d like to provide a dish or help out, check out the SignUp Genius!

Looking for ways to support our FRES teachers and staff throughout the year or wonder what some of their favorite things are?  We now have an online directory of the FRES Staff Favorite Things to all interested FRES families.  We ask that you provide your name and email address for instant access at this linkThis is strictly voluntary and requesting access does not require you to volunteer or make a donation.

Community News...

Howard County families can get free coats, gloves, hats and scarves tomorrow: 

NOVEMBER 16, 2019 AT WILDE LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL. 10:00 AM-2:00 PM

    Reservoir High School Presents "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." 
    Learn more: RHS Fall Play Newsletter for Community E-Newsletters.pdf