Fern Ridge School District is committed to the to the health and wellness of all students and staff.  To help ensure students possess the knowledge and skills necessary to make healthy choices for a lifetime, a comprehensive district nutrition program has been prepared and implemented that is consistent with or exceeds state and federal guidelines.  This program reflects the FRSD School Board’s commitment to the wellness of its staff and students.

As a part of this program, a district wellness committee was established several years ago.  The committee reviews the District wellness policy, coordinates staff wellness activities, and provides feedback and suggestions as our district food advisory committee.

The committee includes representatives from administrators, licensed teachers, instructional assistants and parents.  They meet monthly during the school year, with meetings at the beginning and end of the year specific to policy review and food advisory issues.  This committee also plans and promotes district-wide health and wellness opportunities for students and staff as well as ensuring that the wellness program policy is being implemented throughout the district.  If you are a parent who is interested in this serving on this committee, please contact the district office at 541-935-2253 ext 1203.

For more information, here is a link to the FRSD Wellness Program Policy and its accompanying administrative rule: Wellness Policy Link to PDF    Wellness Policy AR Link to PDF

If you would like more information on our program you can check the District and State reports page of our website for the triennial wellness program assessment report that will be published this fall (October 2019)

Fern Ridge School District Families, and Staff:

As we close out the 18-19 school year, I want to thank our families, students and staff for a fantastic school year.  A little over a week ago I was fortunate enough to shake the hands of all our 2019 graduates.  Many people in our community supported these students along the way, and they leave prepared to enter a career or continue with their education.

A school year is demanding, as this one draws to a close I want to reflect on many of our accomplishments.  First, thank you to our staff.  Your dedication, energy and commitment to ongoing professional development and growth is clear.  Our high school continues to excel in both graduation rates and state test data.  Our middle school made noticeable improvements in both math and language arts test scores in 18-19, and both of our elementary schools made significant improvements in regards to our math and language arts test scores in 18-19.  I appreciate and thank you for this work.  We need it to continue in the years to come.  The students that come to Fern Ridge deserve quality schools, and we have  classified, certified and administrative staff that work hard to ensure they receive just that.  The “extra” things our staff do on a daily basis to provide extended learning and extracurricular opportunities are too numerous to list.  Please know that whether it is clubs or outdoor school, field trips or assemblies, or simply one-on-one extra student academic support….these things are noticed and appreciated by many.

To our parents, thank you for your support.  We have numerous parents, grandparents, or simply community members in our District that volunteer in our schools in a wide variety of ways.  If you are one of the many folks that spend time supporting or volunteering in our schools, on behalf of all the staff, students and School Board, thank you.

Both reflecting on 18-19, and looking ahead to 19-20, I am excited about many things:

– Student attendance in Fern Ridge improved in 18-19

– Student academic achievement K-12 improved in 18-19

– We look forward to additional resources  in our District in 19-20, to include:

– Elementary Physical Education Teachers at both VES and EES

– An additional core content classroom teacher at FRMS

– Some added instructional assistant and secretarial time across the District

– The addition of a District funded Athletic Trainer at EHS

– Additional student access to technology

As we wrap up 18-19, the work here at the District Office is already beginning for 19-20.  I look forward to helping us move forward and continuing to grow with the District’s vision in mind:  “Provide excellence for every student so that each will reach their greatest potential.”  Have a restful summer with your families, and be proud of a job well done in 18-19.  I am already looking forward to a great 19-20.

Gary E. Carpenter, Jr.

Superintendent, FRSD 28J

  Teachers earn our gratitude each and every day, however, this week is set aside to give us the opportunity to say Thank You and recognize the work  they do throughout the year.

Our Fern Ridge educators are creative, driven, hardworking and passionate teachers who care deeply for the children of our communities.  Take a moment this week and thank a teacher who has made a difference in your life.

Thank you Fern Ridge Teachers ~ We respect and appreciate your hard work and dedication.

Our school board members are unpaid volunteers with their own jobs and families who give countless hours to our district.  We want to take this opportunity to thank them for all of their hard work and dedication.

Our board members make many critical decisions that have an impact on our staff, students and community.  They attend workshops and conferences, are responsible for setting policies, completing a yearly evaluation of the superintendent and reviewing financial reports.

In Fern Ridge, our school board members work hard to connect with students and school staff.  They take time out of their own personal and professional lives to be a part of special events held throughout the district in addition to attending the monthly board meetings and all of the budget committee meetings.

Thank you Mark Boren, Sterling Pew, Andrea Larson, Barbara Graham-Adams and Jebadiah Flowers.  You are superheros in our community and we appreciate all that you do!

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) produces yearly report cards for schools and districts.  These reports were mandated by the 1999 state legislature and provide educators with an opportunity to communicate directly with parents and community members abut how local schools are performing.  The state “revamps” the way these report cards look every few years, and that is the case again this year.  The new report cards create an “At-A-Glance School Profile” that provides a wide range of information.

School Districts are required to inform families of these report cards, and where they can be found.  When students return from winter break, each school in Fern Ridge will have a copy available in the front office for parents that are interested.  In addition, we have placed a direct link to the ODE website where the reports can be viewed.  That link can be found under the “PARENTS” tab on the main page of our website.  Click on parents, then scroll down near the bottom where you will find two links:  one for the current years report cards (17-18), and one for previous years.  The direct link to the 17-18 Report cards is:  https://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your school.

Over the next month or so, FRSD is collecting data from a wide variety of groups. This is for the “Continuing Improvement Plan” required every three years by Oregon Department of Education. Input from multiple sources and stakeholders is required by the state for the final plan. Emails are going out to Teachers, Instructional Assistants, Administrators, etc.

For the two groups mentioned in the title above, Community Partners, (e.g. Businesses/Elected Officials/Non-Profits, Early Childhood Education/After School Programs, TSP) and Parents, we have links to the surveys here in this post. The “indicators” on your particular survey were chosen from 18 different indicators the state wants Fern Ridge School District to address in our improvement plan and are verbatim from the master list. If you fall into either of these groups, please take a few minutes and answer the questions in these surveys. The direct links are below. Thanks in advance for your participation.

For more information on this project you can view this “Frequently Asked Questions” page from the Oregon Department of Education: Link to PDF Document

SURVEY FOR PARENTS:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FRSDPARENTSANDFAMILIES

SURVEY FOR COMMUNITY PARTNERS:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FRSDCOMMUNITYPARTNERS

Throughout the school year, State Testing information will be posted under the “Resources” category on the left hand side of the main page.  Please visit this location for general information.  If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact your student’s school directly.

With the 2018-19 school year well under way, I wanted to take a moment to provide some important information about this year’s state testing that is rapidly approaching.

For the last three years, students in the Fern Ridge School District and around Oregon took state tests in English Language Arts and Math called Smarter Balanced. The tests move away from previous fill-in-the bubble exams that focused on rote memorization to a format which asks students to explain their reasoning and write out their answers. These new tests measure more complex, real-world skills such as critical-thinking, writing, and problem solving so that your child can successfully transition from grade to grade and be prepared for his or her next steps after high school.

Fern Ridge School District will give Smarter Balanced tests this spring.  The tests are not timed so your child can take as long as he or she needs to fully demonstrate what he or she knows and can do.  At the high school level, successfully passing these tests is a requirement for an Oregon diploma.  The practice our students get in grades 3-8 by taking these exams, helps prepare them for the high school exam they will take in the spring of their 11^th grade year.

We know that an end-of-the-year test cannot possibly tell us everything about your child’s academic progress. However, the results do act as a snapshot of your child’s strengths and areas for improvement and can be used as a way to ensure he or she is getting the supports he or she needs. Additionally, the tests help Fern Ridge School District’s efforts to equitably distribute resources and support student learning. When fewer students take the test, we are left with an incomplete and inaccurate picture of how our students are performing, and this limits our ability to address issues, better serve students, and continue to improve our educational system.  The participation of your student is greatly appreciated. 

While we discourage opting-out of the exams for several reasons (a few of them mentioned above), the opt-out form for 18-19 can be found on the Districts main website page under the Resources category that was mentioned above. The direct link to the pdf is:   http://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Opt-Out_Form_2018-19.pdf.  Should you wish to opt your child out, please submit the form to your child’s school’s main office.

In Fern Ridge School District, we are deeply committed to ensuring each and every student in our schools has the supports he or she needs to achieve at high levels and graduate prepared for his or her next steps. Our ultimate goal is to make sure that all students are set up to be successful from grade to grade and that will remain the focus of our district throughout the rest of the school year.

If you have general questions or want more information about the end-of-year tests, please do not hesitate to contact the school directly.  I encourage you to reach out to your child’s teacher(s) with any questions you may have about your student’s progress.

Looking for ways to learn more about the social media sites your child may be using?  Would you like to know what some of the internet “lingo” stands for or gather some tips on how to better protect you and your child’s online privacy?

The saferschoolstogether.com website has provided links to free information for parents and guardians.  Here you will find articles, checklists and information that you can use to learn more about popular social media sites along with tips on privacy, talking to your kids about online safety, decode some of the internet, texting and social media slang, look over sample family contracts and much more.  Here is the link to the parent resource page.