January 8, 2021 Forest Ridge Forerunner

Tue, 01/05/2021 - 1:50pm

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Important Dates

January 11    The Council of Elders Celebration - Email invitations were sent to participants
January 12    7:00 PTA Meeting (rescheduled date)
January 13    FRES School Restaurant Fundraiser:  Chick-fil-A Johns Hopkins Road (6 a.m. - 10 p.m.,)
January 18    Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Holiday - Schools and Offices Closed
January 20    6:30 PVMS Parent Information Night for Incoming 6th Grade Students
January 21    6:30-8:00 PTA Virtual Bingo (advance registration required)
January 28    Family Book Club
January 29    Math Conference Scheduling Opens for Parents - stay tuned for more information
February 3    PTA Restaurant Night:  Chipotle in Maple Lawn

From our Administrators...

Hello FRES Community,

Welcome back from winter break, and happy 2021!  We hope everyone enjoyed their time off.

January is a busy month at FRES:

  • On January 11, we will celebrate the academic achievements of our African-American students who excelled in many academic areas last year.
  • The next PTA meeting is Tuesday, January 12.
  • On January 13, from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. we will hold our drive-through Chick-fil-A fundraiser at the Johns Hopkins Road location. Please remember to say you're with Forest Ridge before placing your order, or if you place a mobile order, put "Spirit Day" in the special instructions. That's the only way orders are tracked through mobile.  Offer only valid in the drive-thru, mobile curbside, or mobile drive thru.  Carryout orders will not count toward the spirit day.
  • January 20 brings 5th grade parents and students an orientation for Patuxent Valley Middle School. (See below for details.)
  • PTA will be holding a Virtual Bingo Night on January 21.
  • We wind up January with our family book club, hosted by our media folks on January 28.

We look forward to seeing many students as we visit classrooms next week.  Enjoy your weekend!

Mr. Conroy and Ms. Pazornik

Forest Ridge News...

PVMS Orientation for Incoming 6th Grade Students
Have a student who is new to HCPSS and/or Patuxent Valley Middle School?  Please join us for the PVMS New Student Orientation occurring Wednesday, 1/20.  (This event welcomes rising Grade 6 students, new to PVMS Grade 7 and 8 students, and parents/guardians).
 
PVMS Sessions
  • (6:00-6:30 pm) Interested in hearing about our GT Program?  Please join this virtual session using the Google Meet code pvmsgt.
  • (6:30-7:30 pm) During our PVMS Orientation, families will be introduced to staff, the middle school schedule, program requirements, supports for the middle school student, and important upcoming dates.  Please join this virtual session using Google Meet code pvmsorientation.
Directions for joining
  1. Log into hcpss. me using your student’s HCPSS username/password.
  2. Select Google Meet from the menu.
  3. Choose “join a meeting.”
  4. Enter the Meet using the assigned code at the time indicated above.
If you have questions or need assistance, please email Samantha Armstead at samantha_armstead@hcpss.org.  We look forward to meeting you.  Hope to see you there.

Savage Library and FRES Spirit Week
HCLS-Savage Library and FRES are partnering to present a week-long celebration of reading and culture. Join us the week of Jan. 25-29th for nightly events including read-alouds, arts and crafts, cooking demonstrations and the 3-5 grade book club.. Events will take place at 6:00 p.m. nightly and no registration is required. A Google code will be sent to all students/staff on Monday, Jan. 25th.

EXTRA SPECIAL NEWS: There will be two special competitions during the week of Jan. 25th- 29th. First, there will be a competition to see which grade at FRES can checkout the most books from the SAVAGE LIBRARY. The grade level that wins will get a "no homework" pass from Media.  The second competition will be FRES vs. Gorman Crossing ES to see who can checkout the most books. You can checkout books using contactless pick-up or through ebooks. Let's show Gorman Crossing that we are serious readers at FRES.

From Our GT Teachers and the Green Team
The FRES Green Team is working hard to learn about our environment and what we can do to become good stewards of our environment. Check out the Green Team Newsletter here.

Inclement Weather Policy for 2020-21 School Year
As the weather gets colder, we begin to think about how inclement weather will be handled this year.  Please take a look here to get familiar with this school year's inclement weather procedures.

From the Health Room
Check out this flyer about pediatric eye exams with one year of follow-up for uninsured or under-insured children.

From the PTA...

Welcome back! I hope everyone is managing to get into the swing of things after the holiday break. 

This month's PTA meeting is Tuesday, January 12 at 7 p.m. and we will have a special guest speaker to answer all of our questions about the Maryland 529 Plan for college savings. If you have questions to submit in advance, please email them to president@frespta.org by Tuesday morning. 

To access the meeting, use password "frespta" at https://zoom.us/j/98309997211?pwd=aEl4aXdpTmZOWG5Ma2hvQ3FGQ3NpUT09

Virtual Bingo Night: We will have our first virtual bingo night for FRES students on Thursday, January 21, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Bingo cards will be emailed the day before the event. Students will have the opportunity to win a variety of fun prizes! Advance Registration is required by January 19. 

Tutoring Help: 

BioMonkey is a group of student volunteers from RHHS who are providing virtual tutoring. The organization’s mission is to bridge the gap in education by providing cost-free tutoring in the community. Their 100% virtual program is not only a cost-free service and a safe alternative to learning during the pandemic but is also run by highly motivated and responsible high schoolers who hope to inspire leadership among youth. Additionally, all tutors are screened to ensure that they are A-students in the subjects they teach and have previous tutoring experience, making them very qualified mentors. You may learn more about them at mybiomonkey.org .

Virtuassist is a FREE local program in which K-2 students can be paired with a high school volunteer. They will meet virtually, one-on-one for 30 minutes, up to twice a week. During these individual sessions, volunteers, aka Virtuassists, will be able to provide academic support, do a homework check-in, simply chit chat with your student, and much more! Your student will also be placed in a  Virtupod, a group of 3-5 students, moderated by a Virtuassist, in which they will meet virtually every Wednesday and be able to freely talk with one another and do fun activities! Sign up and learn more about the program at:  virtu-assist.org . If you have any questions, contact virtuassisthoco@gmail.com

Wellness Kits: If your child hasn't received one yet, it is still possible to arrange a time to pick one up at the school. Please send an email to Ms. Schuck to coordinate a time. We still have 200+ kits to distribute.

Green Committee: Christmas lights can be recycled at MOM's Market until January 31. 

Save the Date:
Upcoming PTA Meetings: Tues. January 12 (Rescheduled date) February 8, March 8, April 12, May 10, June 14. All meetings begin at 7 p.m. and have the passcode frespta. 

Virtual Bingo Night will be held on January 21. 

PTA Spirit Nights
Feb. 3 - Chipotle Maple Lawn

PTA Request: We are looking for a donation of a newspaper vending type box that we could use at FRES for picking up/dropping off items. If you have any ideas, please email me at president@frespta.org

Feedback: Please let us know if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions either by email or via our suggestion box. Suggestions are anonymous, so if you would like a reply, please include your email address. 

Thanks and have a great weekend!

In the Community...

Does Your Child Need Online Learning Help?
Four of our former Forest Ridge Students are offering to help our students with online learning, while working toward their Girl Scout Silver Award.  Check out their flyer here.  You can request their help by filling out their survey here.

Community News and Programs
Be sure to check out the Howard County Community News and Programs page here!