In conjunction with our transportation and food service providers, we will be implementing the following meal distribution plan for as long as the District remains in CDL (Comprehensive Distance Learning). If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call your respective school.  This plan begins the week of Nov 30 – Dec 4th.

EHS Site for daily meals (Monday-Friday): From 11:00-12:30 each day of the week (Monday-Friday), food service staff will continue to serve meals through the “drive-up” in the North parking lot at EHS.  There are both hot and cold options, and all you need to do is circle around by the cafeteria door, give your last name and the number of children to receive both a lunch and breakfast for the following day.

EHS Site for a “weekly meal” pick-up (Monday night only): Every Monday night from 5:00-6:00 PM, a family may pick up a meal “kit” that contains fruit, vegetables, milk, sandwiches, and breakfast items for the week.  You need to place your order by either emailing our food service director at afullerton@fernrige.k12.or.us, or by calling your school and asking them to forward the information to Mr. Fullerton.  You just need to include the last name and number of children ages 0-18 that you will be picking up for.

Daily bus stops (Tuesday-Friday):  Every Tuesday through Friday morning, FRSD buses will be at 10 locations throughout the community from 8 – 9 AM.  The buses will have available a daily meal kit that includes lunch and breakfast for the day in one bag. The 10 sites are:

1.  Fern Ridge Child Development Center on Jeans Road

2.  The Noti Market

3.  The DS Mart

4.  5th and Woodland

5.  Veneta Elementary Parking lot

6. Ray’s Parking lot

7.  Church on the corner of Hunter & Huston

8. Baker Rd. (the end)

9. Fleck & Central

10.  Oak Island & Legacy Ct.

Please share this information however you can, and access this resource daily!  Thank you to our transportation and food service departments for working with the District to provide these opportunities!

Students and Parents of the Fern Ridge School District.  Over the past 2 weeks the district has been reviewing the new requirements imposed by the state, evaluating infection rate data, and coming up with a plan for what school will look like in the coming weeks.  On Monday the 23rd the new County infection rate data was released that has the two week “look-back” rate at an all-time high of 253.9/100,000, up from 175.5 the previous week, and 133.6 the week before that.  That information, combined with the Governors requirements released December 13th, including isolation/travel requirements placed on staff and students, necessitates this move to Comprehensive Distance Learning from December 1st-December 18th.  Below are the bullet point details of this change, and what these three weeks will look like in December:

• For the vast majority of students in grades 4th-12th, and FRSD OPTIONS program students, nothing will change.
• The primary changes will be for:
  • Kinder-3rd grade students will no longer be coming in for Limited In-Person Instruction, a daily schedule is currently being worked on by administrators, in conjunction with teaching staff and will be released soon.  Especially at the youngest grades, the amount of daily CDL will probably start a bit more slowly, and grow over time as we see what is working well, and what isn’t.
  • Our  handful of 4th-12th grade students that have been coming in either daily, or every other day, will not be able to do so during this period of CDL.
• We are working on a plan to make school meals more accessible, and will have that information posted as soon as it is available.
• While some instructional staff will be working from home, the front offices of all schools as well as the District Office Building will remain open.
• We currently have a drop in “tech-support” time at the District Office from 1-3 PM. In addition to that, we are now adding a morning time from 8-9 AM.
• Currently, this decision is being made only for the 3 weeks in December, over winter break, new information, requirements and data will be evaluated and a decision will be made regarding any changes that will occur in January.

We realize there is no replacement for face-to-face interaction with our students and we look forward to students and teachers returning to school buildings as soon as it is safe to do so.  The district is continuing to engage parents, teachers, school leaders and policymakers throughout this process. For now, our students will continue learning from home and we will do everything possible on our end to get back to in-person learning as soon as possible.

Reminder:  We WILL be able to offer this the week of Thanksgiving, on Monday, November 23rd (there is NO SCHOOL at all that week).  We will take orders beginning Monday, November 9th and continue through Wednesday November 18th (DEADLINE TOMORROW).  You can place your order (just need last name and number of children ages 0-18) by either emailing our food service director at afullerton@fernridge.k12.or.us, or by calling your local school and asking them to forward the information to Mr. Fullerton.  Once your order is placed you just need to show up at EHS between 5:00 and 6:00 PM on the 23rd to receive the meals.

Pre-ordering allows the food service staff to order the right amount of product, and ensure nothing is going to waste! We hope that many families will participate!  Any questions, you can also call Mr. Fullerton at 541-935-8218.

With winter approaching, I wanted to share our current plans should a school closure be necessary.  If the District closes for weather (snow, ice, loss of power, etc..) there will NOT be any remote classes for that first day.  However, this is only a 100% commitment on the first day of the closure.  On day 1 of a closure due to weather we will let our students and families enjoy the excitement of a no-school day.  As that day progresses and we look at the possible length of a closure, teachers and administrators will get together to discuss if we will resume virtual/remote classes, and if so when and for what grades.  Please pass along this information to anyone that needs it.

A reminder that our “Emergency Information” page can be found here: https://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/?page_id=478

At this page you can sign up for Flash Alert Notifications (updated 2020 snow routes coming) https://www.flashalert.net/login/.  On the morning of a weather delay, we will also post information on the website, social media, and do a district wide phone dialer.

Below is a a graphic that describes the current metrics in Lane County, as well as the different models of instruction schools need to be working towards depending on the current county health data.  You can see that in Lane County, we are currently in the orange “transition” phase.

The updated numbers come out every Monday evening.  If the numbers move to the yellow “On-Site and Distance Learning” column on Monday the 16th (and stay there), we will look to return K-3 students in an all day A/B model the Tuesday following the Thanksgiving Break, with 4th and 5th graders returning the following week, December 8th.

Each week that the metrics stay where they are at or go higher, this return date will get pushed out.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your building administrator.

Greetings students and parents of Kindergarten-5^th grade students (EES, VES and OPTIONS).

To improve the usability and security of our student’s computer accounts, elementary students will be assigned new passwords on their district account. The new passwords will be easy to remember and will ensure that students will be able to more easily access their accounts. Teachers will be contacting families with the new passwords today and tomorrow (Nov 9^th and 10^th), via their normal means of communication. Please be on the lookout for this new information. Beginning the morning of Thursday, Nov 12^th, passwords will switch and old passwords will not work.

Students who are locked out of their accounts on Thursday morning can get their passwords by calling the school directly or by calling the student tech support line at 541-952-7030.

A reminder to our families that meals for the week (lunches and breakfasts) can be ordered and then picked up every Monday night from 5-6 PM at EHS.  For details regarding that program you can view an earlier post at:  https://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/?p=10449.

We are also pleased to announce that we WILL be able to offer this the week of Thanksgiving, on Monday November 23rd (there is NO SCHOOL at all that week).  We will take orders beginning Monday, November 9th and continue through Wednesday November 18th.  You can place your order (just need last name and number of children ages 0-18) by either emailing our food service director at afullerton@fernridge.k12.or.us, or by calling your local school and asking them to forward the information to Mr. Fullerton.  Once your order is places you just need to show up at EHS between 5:00 and 6:00 PM on the 23rd to receive the meals.

Pre-ordering allows the food service staff to order the right amount of product, and ensure nothing is going to waste! We hope that many families will participate!  Any questions, you can also call Mr. Fullerton at 541-935-8218.

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.