Dates to Remember
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
May 16 Happy Birthday, Mr. Conroy!
May 18 Yearbook Order Deadline (Extended-See info in PTA Message)
May 25 Memorial Day
A Message from Mr. Conroy and Ms. Pazornik
We hope you and your family are healthy and well. This week, you received important updates from your child’s teachers regarding HCPSS virtual check in enhancements. These enhancements were included as a result of valuable feedback from parents and teachers across our district. Beginning on Monday, May 18th and throughout the remainder of the school year, your child will have the option to participate in two, 30-minute virtual check ins each week. One check in will be with his/her ELA teacher and the other will be with his/her math teacher. The former A/B week schedule has been eliminated. Please refer to your teacher’s email messages for more specific details, including the optional session date/time. We are very excited to engage with our students more often! As always, thank you for your continued support of your child’s education.
Attendance and Grading
We have completed three weeks of the full online distance learning program and we are very proud of the hard work of teachers, parents and students. We have accomplished a lot in the past few weeks and there is still a lot of learning to take place until the end of the school year. The information below provides further clarification and expectations for attendance and grading. This is in addition to information previously shared from the HPCSS website.
Attendance
Students will be marked “present” for the week if they do at least ONE of the following each week:
• Attend one Virtual Check-in
• Engage in LexiaCore5
• Engage in DreamBox
Academic Expectations
Students are expected to participate in 1-2 hours of learning activities each day which includes:
• Lexia-Core5—20 minutes
• DreamBox—20 minutes
• Daily Teacher Video and Tasks in ELA, Math, or Social Emotional Learning –about 20 minutes
• Science, Social Studies or Health—choose daily—about 20-30 minutes
• Related Arts—choose a different activity daily—about 20-30 minutes
Grading K-5
Students will receive a Pass (P) for each content area if they complete at least 50% of the assignments by the end of the quarter. This is 50% of each content area
• ELA—263 minutes of LexiaCore5
• Math—263 minutes of DreamBox
• Science—Press the submit button 3 out of the 6 weeks after completing the activity/assignment
• Social Studies-- Press the submit button 3 out of the 6 weeks after completing the activity/assignment
• Health-- Press the submit button 3 out of the 6 weeks after completing the activity/assignment
• Art-- Press the submit button 2 out of the 5 weeks after completing the activity/assignment
• Music-- Press the submit button 2 out of the 5 weeks after completing the activity/assignment
• Technology-- Press the submit button 2 out of the 5 weeks after completing the activity/assignment
• Media-- Press the submit button 2 out of the 5 weeks after completing the activity/assignment
• Physical Education-- Press the submit button 2 out of the 5 weeks after completing the activity/assignment
If students do not complete these minimums, they will receive an Incomplete (I). If students receive an Incomplete (I), they will have until September 15th to complete the minimums and have their grade changed to a Pass (P).
Please remember, minimum amounts of completed assignments were shared for the purposes of grading. Families should strive to complete all of the academic expectations. We understand that due to a variety of circumstances it may be difficult for children to fully meet all expectations. Please do your best. If you have any questions, please contact me at scott_conroy@hcpss.org.
Reminder: Incoming Kindergarten and New Student Online Registration continues
Due to the COVID-19 school closures, please begin your registration process online below and upload the required documents:
HCPSS Online registration directions
HCPSS Online registration link
In order to be prepared, please have the following information:
parent picture ID
a signed original lease or deed with signatures
one of the following with parent’s name and address on it –current gas and electric bill, current cable bill, or current telephone bill (land line)
student(s) proof of birth (birth certificate, baptismal certificate, hospital certificate, passport, or military identification)
proof of custody (divorce settlement papers, court papers, adoption papers)
student(s) current proof of immunization
Any questions regarding registration, please contact rebecca_jackson@hcpss.org
FRES News and Events...
We have a number of videos that we put together for you to reference if you are having difficulty.
If you need to recover your username or password, click here.
If you need assistance with Google Meet, click here.
This document can be used as a resource for Google Meet as well.
Birthdays!
We are still wishing happy birthday to our FRES students during this new distance learning phase! Select this link for this past week's celebrations!
Services from our School Counselor and Psychologist
TGIF FRES families!
The weather has certainly gotten much better over the course of the week! I hope you’re able to enjoy the weather by spending time outdoors or just enjoying the sunny days. Amina and I began planting some vegetable seeds and herbs just after schools had closed. We’ve had to bring them in from the deck nightly because of the frigid overnight temps! Let’s hope we continue to have warmer weather from here on out!
We are looking for more guidance on how to conduct elections for next year’s PTA Board. But in the meantime, we’d love to begin the search for nominees to fill next year’s board. If you’ve been wanting to get more involved in supporting FRES, this is a great opportunity to do so! Most of our current officers will not seek re-election. All positions will be up for elections and elected board members will serve a 2-year term (to help with continuity). The following are the board positions: President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer.
Please see the by-laws for more information about the PTA and the duties outlined in the by-laws or feel free to reach out to the current board members to get a sense of the duties involved. Look out for more information next week.
Have a great weekend!
Khaleda Hasan, FRES PTA President
FRES Yearbook Order Deadline Extended to May 18th!
Due to some technical issues with the ordering website today, we are extending the order window to Monday, May 18th to order the FRES Yearbook! Please place your order online ASAP! The PTA has been working with the school to produce a 2019-2020 FRES Yearbook! To keep everyone safely socially distanced, yearbooks will be shipped directly to your home this year and will not be available to purchase at the school and will not be available to purchase later. To get a 2019-2020 FRES Yearbook, you MUST place your order online now. It will arrive in home in June.
To quickly place your order, simply follow these instructions:
1. Visit http://reorders.schoolpix.com/login_shoot
3. Enter the access key in the box: N5WE7VYW
Last Call for FRES Yearbook Candid Photo Submissions!
We are currently adding candid photos from the school year as well as adding a section for pictures from families at home doing distance learning and other activities while social distancing! This could include family game nights, neighborhood walks, your online learning setups, and other fun things you did while school was out. Please submit your favorite pictures to fresyearbook@hcpss.org! In the email, please include some information (student, grade, event, etc.) to help identify the event and appropriate grade section. Thank you in advance for your help to make this a fantastic collection of a good variety of photos!
Attention ALL 5th graders!!!
We are excited to be continuing the traditional of gifting 5th graders with their end of year T-shirt. This year's 5th grade class is missing out on a lot of their capstone experiences, so PTA decided this was one way we could celebrate their end of elementary school. Each child's name will be on the back of the T-shirt inside "the 20". It is completely FREE for each 5th grader, we just need help with names and sizes. Please take the time to complete the google survey by Friday, May 15: https://forms.gle/8aNNbf7qJxFSY4W57
New Continuity of Learning Website and Help Function.
The HCPSS' Continuity of Learning website has been restructured to give you an even more user-friendly and easily navigated resource, providing information essential for ensuring students continue to learn and thrive. The new site features pages with schedules and information dedicated to high school seniors and students at each level. All of our previous content remains online and can be accessed via the new Continuity of Learning site.
There is also a new HCPSS Help site, which is grouped by subject to allow quicker and easier navigation, and includes a convenient new keyword search function. This new Help site will make it easier for parents, students, staff and community members to quickly find answers to their most frequently-asked questions.
Device Delivery
Broken Devices
Students/parents should email their school principal, who will forward requests to the library media specialist and/or the elementary technology teacher to triage and attempt to resolve the issue. If it is determined that a repair is needed, school staff will engage HCPSS support technicians to manage the repair. If a repair cannot be done remotely, a new device will be sent to the student with a FedEx return label for the broken device to be sent back.
Returning Devices
Students who no longer need a borrowed device, should email their library media specialist, who will enter a return ticket. HCPSS Information Technology staff then will arrange for FedEx mail or in-person return.
Food Access Resources - Please see the following links for resources that you and your family can access as we continue through this time.
SNAP Benefits-Emergency Allotments Flyer-English
Apply for SNAP Benefits today-Flyer-English
Apply for SNAP Benefits Today-Flyer-Spanish
Grocery Delivery Flyer-English
Grocery Delivery Flyer-Spanish
Food Pantries:
Community Action Council Pantry
Free Grab N Go Meals
Free Grab-N-Go meals are served weekdays from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. to anyone age 18 and under and/or any HCPSS student at Forest Ridge Elementary. Participants are encouraged to bring bags to carry meals home. Please note that parents/guardians may pick up meals for their children, who do not need to be present. Social distancing is in place during meal distribution.
Want to Receive Text Messages from HCPSS?
To receive text messages from HCPSS, please text the word "YES" to 67587 from the cell phone number on file in HCPSS Connect.
Canvas and Canvas Announcements
Teachers have and will continue to send messages to students using Canvas. Visit https://www.hcpss.org/connect/faq/#notify to ensure that your child is set up to receive notifications. This page is also a great resource to make sure that you understand Canvas and Synergy. Parents/guardians unfamiliar with Canvas may find it helpful to review the features in this Canvas Orientation.
Setting Canvas Notifications to receive emails of all Canvas notifications.
Account Self-Service for Students
Students now have the ability to retrieve their usernames and reset passwords, independent of teachers and staff. Directions on using self-service can be found online.
Internet Access
Comcast has opened free access to its Xfinity WiFi network, making hotspots across the country available to anyone, including non-subscribers, at no cost. Search by zip code or city to find a hotspot near you at wifi.xfinity.com. Comcast is also providing low cost internet access to eligible families through its Comcast Internet Essentials program.
2020 Census
Several HCPSS programs rely on funding based on accurate census information, so all families are encouraged to participate in the 2020 census, which may be completed online. Learn more.
Supporting Language Needs
Find information on the ways that HCPSS is supporting the language needs of families through in-person and online resources.
Special Education Continuity of Learning
This new webpage provides an overview of special education services for continuity of learning, timeline for service delivery and links to online resources for family use at home.
SECAC Awards
The Special Education Citizens Advisory Council (SECAC) annual awards have been postponed until October. Families can continue to nominate their child's fabulous educators, related service providers, administrators, inclusive programs and student leaders at https://forms.gle/DD6phamcmPhGxzU79