FRSD Students and families,

Earlier today, Governor Kate Brown announced new metrics that specify when schools can return for in-person learning. The new metrics reflect updated research and CDC recommendations and are consistent with those being used by many other states which are successfully holding school in-person.  These metrics are more relaxed and will allow for in-person learning to resume sooner and for more students than was previously allowed.

[LINK TO NEW METRICS]

Although Lane County’s COVID-19 case rate is still too high for us to welcome students back to school, because the standards have been eased, we are closer to reopening our schools. As you will see in the metrics, the elementary grades (with a focus on the primary grades) are prioritized. However, the county metrics have been relaxed for all grades, and the state positivity rate requirement has been eliminated. We will continue to monitor the local metrics and share information with our students and families as those metrics indicate the ability to resume in-person learning.  Once metrics allow, the transition will not happen overnight.  We will prepare and communicate with all of our families before beginning any transition to an in-person learning option for our students and families.

If you have questions, do not hesitate to reach out to the district office, or your building administrator.

Gary E. Carpenter, Jr., Superintendent FRSD 28J

Greetings students and parents of 6th-8th grade students (both FRMS and OPTIONS)

To improve the usability and security of our student’s computer accounts, students will be prompted to set new passwords on their district account. That prompt will go out first thing Thursday morning (Oct 29th). Beginning Thursday morning, when students log into their chromebook or google account with their current password they will be asked to create a new password to continue.

Students should choose a password they can remember, write it down and store it somewhere safe. They will need that new password to log in, and are responsible for remembering it and keeping it secure.

Students who do lock themselves out of their accounts can get their passwords reset by calling the school directly or by calling the student tech support line at 541-952-7030.

NOTICE:  We have completed this process for H.S. students already, and will be moving to a similar process for elementary students at some point next week.

Greetings students and parents of 9th-12th grade students (both EHS and OPTIONS)

To improve the usability and security of our student’s computer accounts, students will be prompted to set new passwords on their district account. That prompt will go out first thing Monday morning. Beginning Monday morning, when students log into their chromebook or google account with their current password they will be asked to create a new password to continue.

Students should choose a password they can remember, write it down and store it somewhere safe. They will need that new password to log in, and are responsible for remembering it and keeping it secure.

Students who do lock themselves out of their accounts can get their passwords reset by calling the school directly or by calling the student tech support line at 541-952-7030.

NOTICE:  We will be doing the same thing for both 6th-8th and elementary students at some point next week.

Dear Options Elementary Parents,

Recently the Fern Ridge District became aware that our elementary
students have been receiving emails from outside our system.  This is a
safety issue and the feature will be turned off by the end of today.

Turning off this feature may impact some students who rely on a parent
cellphone taking a picture of an assignment and emailing it to the
student.  In order to continue doing that, a parent will have to log
into the cellphone browser using the student email, and then email the
picture to the student (from the student account).  Alternatively, a
student can always take a picture directly from their chromebook or
laptop camera, and upload.

We anticipate this will not inconvenience most parents.  If a technical
problem arises, please feel free to contact the Options staff for
assistance.  The wellness and safety of our students is a paramount
concern.

—
Forrest Cooper
FRSD Options Director
541-952-7025

This past Monday, was our first night of a 5-6 PM Meal Service in the EHS Backlot.  This service, where you can pick up meals for a week, will continue to operate on Mondays. Overall, our first service went well.  We served 57 students for a total of 285 meals.  We hope this option continues to grow and be accessed by many.  There are a couple of items worth mentioning that would help us tremendously in the weeks to come:

1.  About 40% of the families that participated this week had not phoned or emailed ahead.  We placed a larger order, anticipating that might happen, but it was still too close for comfort!  You can send an email to afullerton@fernridge.k12.or.us, or call your resident school and ask them to pass along the information to Mr. Fullerton.
2. We also had several families that emailed to participate and not show up.  Please reach out if your plans change, or would like to be taken off the list.
3. A reminder that if you participate in the Monday evening meal distribution, then a family is not eligible to access meals at the schools, or any of the pick-up sites.  It is one or the other.

Finally, for a reminder about what these meals contain and other specifics, you can revisit this post:  https://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/?p=10388

Good afternoon VES students and families,

This morning district staff have spoken Lane County Public Health and worked with them to review the circumstances of the positive COVID-19 test, examine our cohort logs, and to identify and inform any individuals who may have been exposed.  All students and families that MAY have been exposed have been notified.  Below is the most current information regarding what we have done, what we will be doing, and what changes, if any, will occur at Veneta in the coming days.

1. The positive case has not been in the building since Friday morning.
2. The person began having minor symptoms over the weekend, and tested positive on Monday evening.
3. Despite the fact that the individual hasn’t been in the space for nearly 100 hours, we are currently sanitizing and disinfecting the spaces they were in (which were very few).
4. Our cohort groups and logs worked well, resulting in the need for only one teacher, one instructional aide, and one classroom of students to isolate.  Those families have been notified.
5. School will resume for all other students K-5 at Veneta Elementary beginning tomorrow.  Virtual for 4th-5th, and “B” day for our K-3 students.  In consultation with the local public health authority, we are immediately closing one cohort (again they have been notified) who will remain at home for 14 days under Comprehensive Distance Learning, with a tentative plan to return to Limited In-Person Instruction on Tuesday, November 3rd.
6. For the one classroom of students, stay tuned for direct communication from the school staff/teacher around next steps.  We will be coming up with a 2 week plan to provide learning opportunities over the next two weeks.  This will include CDL (virtual instruction) with your teacher on a chromebook.  The plan to get these out to you will start immediately.

Thank you for  your patience during this process.  It will not be the last time we go through this at one of our schools.

Dear Staff and Families of Veneta Elementary

Just a short time ago (this evening) we were notified that a member of the Veneta Elementary Community has tested positive for COVID-19.  As members of the school community, we understand that this might raise concerns alongside a caring response.  We are working closely with Lane County Public Health to respond to this news and protect the health of our community.

Each situation calls for different protocols.  In this case we are taking the following steps:

1. Due to finding out so late this evening, school is closed for all students K-5 and staff at VES on Tuesday, October 20th.
2. The school will be sanitized fully on Tuesday by our custodial staff.  This is out of an abundance of caution, as the last contact at the school for the individual that tested positive, was Friday morning the 16th.
3. First thing Tuesday morning we will be communicating with Lane County Public Health (LCPH) and supporting their contact tracing protocols and providing our contact tracing logs.
4. Our District Nurse is also working closely with LCPH and will be available to support the District, our staff, students and parents.
5. Lane County Public Health will be directing us tomorrow in regards to if any specific families/students need to be notified, or isolate.  Those families will be informed as early in the day on Tuesday as possible.
6. We expect classes to resume on Wednesday, October 21st.  If LCPH directs us to isolate any specific “cohorts”, those students will be notified immediately.  In that case, the students would move to Comprehensive Distance Learning.
7. A phone dialer will go out to VES families this evening, to share this information.
8. This only effects Veneta Elementary School.
9. We will provide updates both here, on the VES website and Superintendent Carpenter Facebook page.

The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is through staying home when ill, wearing face coverings, physical distancing, and practicing good health hygiene habits.  Be sure to wash your hands frequently with soap and water, cover your coughs and sneezes, and avoid contact with people who have signs of illness.

We will keep you updated with any new information as it comes out, while meeting the requirements to honor everyone’s right to privacy.  More information can be found on the Oregon Department of Education’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners page and the Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 page.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the District office, or your school administrator.

Professionally,

Gary E. Carpenter, Jr.

Superintendent, FRSD 28J

We have spent some time going over the survey comments and questions from the last week, and as a result wanted to respond to some of the larger topics addressed.  First off, thank you to EVERYONE that participated.  All of the positive comments around the supports and work of the district to this point have been passed along and were greatly appreciated.  Equally as important, were the comments sharing all of the areas where students (and parents) are struggling.  Below are couple of the most common concerns that were brought up, as well as the work we are doing to address them:

1.  Workload is too high:  Conversations are occurring at all levels around re-examining the workload for our students.  While we are committed to maintaining academic rigor, keeping students connected, and showing them care is our #1 priority.  If the amount of material that is traditionally covered through a course is not covered in this environment, that is OK.
2. When are school staff available for questions or extra help?:  I am asking building administrators to post something on their school website regarding this so everyone has the information.  Some buildings may also choose to send out an email with this information or do a phone dialer.  Stay tuned.  However, as always, do not hesitate to call the school or email the principal with any questions, such as this one, anytime!
3. Is Pass/No Pass an option:  Traditionally this is only an option through the first two weeks of a term. However, these are not traditional times.  We will be working right up until Monday morning to identify any limitations of our system, overcome those and by Monday morning we will have a plan in place that I will share here.  At a minimum, the plan will allow for extensive flexibility in regards to not having any deadlines to make this request for a course or multiple courses.  GPA should not be a stressor for students and families in this time. This will be consistent in grades 6-12 in both CDL at EHS and FRMS, as well as 6th-12th graders in the OPTIONS program.  Stay tuned for the exact details.  Needless to say, Pass/No Pass will be an option for all 6th-12th grade students right up until the end of the term.
4. How can parents get teacher contact information? On the left hand side of our webpage is a staff directory.  We made sure that it is up to date.  All FRSD staff should be listed there as well as the building phone number and their email address.

Thanks for your continued patience.  As we get these things resolved, we will be moving on to other areas of concerns shared in the survey.

Gary E. Carpenter, Jr., Superintendent, FRSD 28J

If you have a Chromebook that looks like this for your student enrolled in Kindergarten through 8th grade …….

AND your power adapter (charging cord) has markings that match this picture (look for the “Chicony” label)

Please come to the FRSD District Office at your earliest convenience and exchange it (JUST THE CHARGING CORD) for the proper adapter for that model chromebook.  If you have any questions, please call 541-952-7030.  If you cannot come to the District Office, let us know and we can schedule a home visit to make this swap.  It will help us out tremendously to get these back, and get the correct ones to you.  These chargers were only given students in Kindergarten through 8th grade, they were not issued to high school students. 

FRSD District Office
88834 Territorial Rd
Elmira, OR 97437

The learning curve of the various technology and platforms has been steep for everyone.  To assist with that, we have started to create a list of training videos to support students and families with this new learning environment.  The links to these videos can be found under the red “2020 School Year” tab on the right side of the main district webpage.  The direct link is here: https://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/2020-school-year/

We currently have videos on Zoom, Google Classroom, Accelerate and Edgenuity.  We are reviewing recent survey data and will be adding more training videos in the weeks to come based on feedback we receive.