Thank you to the many staff members that put in extra work to make sure our current 5th and 6th graders are getting an “Outdoor School” experience.

Special thanks to Mrs. Leatham and Mrs. Marshall who spearheaded this effort. While it looks different than normal, the first day of 6th grade outdoor school is a success and we look forward to our 5th graders participating next week!

Bus routes have been updated to reflect the new return to learn schedule for Kindergarten, 1st grade and the students in each grade level who were notified.

Click here to access the updated route schedule

If you have any questions about the new schedule please reach out to the bus barn at 541-935-1969

As many FRSD families may have heard by now, the U.S. Department of Education recently denied the Oregon Department of Education’s request for a waiver of summative testing for the 2020-2021 school year. Due to this decision, the Fern Ridge School District is currently beginning the process of readying our staff and students for state assessments.

ODE’s window for state assessments is April 13-June 11, however, each individual school will set their own testing dates within that window. Due to the nature of this school year, ODE has shortened the blueprint and the time each assessment takes, as well as reducing the number of required assessments at each grade level. The table of required assessments, optional assessments, and approximate test time frame is below. All students will have the opportunity to take all available grade level assessments.

If families do not want their child(ren) to participate in state assessments this year, the link to opt-out of the Math and ELA assessments is below. Please fill out and return to your child’s school as soon as possible. They will be accepted until the day before testing begins (dates vary by school). Science has a separate student exemption procedure. See note below for an explanation of that process. If you are not opting your child out, your child will participate in the required (not optional) state testing with their grade level. If you wish for your child to participate in the optional assessment opportunity, please contact your child’s teacher and/or school.

Thank you for your continued support!

Oregon Department of Education Summative Assessment Administration Information:

Opt-Out Link for ELA & Math Assessments:

https://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/?page_id=6919

If choosing to opt-out your child from state testing, please fill out and return to your child’s school before the start of the testing window (as designated by your child’s school).

Information on Exemption from Science Assessment from ODE’s Website:

Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 581-022-1910 allows school districts to excuse students from a state required program or learning activity, including state testing, to accommodate a student’s disabilities or religious beliefs. This rule governs exemption requests for the state tests in Science and Social Sciences, the English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA21), and the Kindergarten Assessment.

• Are there eligibility requirements? Yes. Parents may request exemptions under OAR 581-022-1910 based on the student’s disability or religion.
• What is the process for a parent to make this request? The authority to exempt students from state testing belongs to local school districts. In order for a school district to excuse a student from testing under Oregon law, the student’s parent or guardian must submit a written request to the school district listing the reasons for the exemption and proposing an alternative individualized learning activity for the student that meets the same goals that would be accomplished by participation in state testing. Appropriate school personnel must evaluate and approve the parent request.

Fern Ridge Middle School will open for 6th grade students this week.  On Thursday/Friday February 25th/26th, 6th graders will be back in the classroom on an A/B schedule.

9th grade students return to Elmira High School next Tuesday/Wednesday, March 2nd/3rd with all grades in session on their A/B schedule beginning Thursday/Friday, March 4th/5th.

For more details on plans for returning to in-person instruction please visit this recent website post.

Bus routes can be accessed on the district transportation page, or by clicking on the links below:

Elmira Elementary Bus Routes as of 3/3/21

Veneta Elementary Bus Routes as of 3/3/21

Fern Ridge Middle School Bus Routes as of 3/3/21

Elmira High School Bus Routes as of 3/3/21

The FRSD Wellness policy can be found at:  http://policy.osba.org/fernridg/E/EFA%20G1.PDF

Every three years  (last done in the Fall of 2019) we do a triennial evaluation report, and post it to the website on the “District and State Reports” page:  http://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/?page_id=5734

Parents that are interested in becoming more involved in the district’s wellness policy monitoring and implementation can contact building principals regarding becoming a member of the building ESSA teams.  These teams meet monthly at each building and discuss a wide range of topics, including the District Wellness Policy.

Limited-In-Person Instruction for around 200 students begins tomorrow, January 5th.  Any student that is in this group has already been contacted by their school.

Below are the links to the updated bus routes:

Elmira Elementary LIPI Bus Route
Veneta Elementary LIPI Bus Route
Fern Ridge Middle School LIPI Bus Route
Elmira High School LIPI Bus Route

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your school administrator.

With some students returning to school beginning in January, we need to adjust the ways we get out meals for students.  Below are the options that will begin on Monday, January 4th.  These options will be in place for at least a few weeks, and if we can add a bus stop in the community after a week or two, we will do that.

OPTION 1:  Each weekday (Monday-Friday) from 11:00-12:30 in the EHS North parking lot, there are two meal options.  The options include a “hot meal” or a sack lunch.  Breakfasts for the following morning are available as well.

OPTION 2:  Each Monday night from 5-6 PM, in the EHS North lot, families can pick up a “kit” of meals for the week.  To ensure your family is on the list, and we make the appropriate amount of meals, you should email our food service director, Alan Fullerton, at afullerton@fernridge.k12.or.us, or leave him a message at 541-935-8218, stating the number of children ages 0-18  you will be picking up for.

OPTION 3:  For the approximately 200 students district-wide that will be coming onto campus beginning Tuesday, January 5th, for 2 hours a day, they will have an option to leave school with a sack lunch containing lunch and a breakfast for the next morning.

Please share the above information!

Like many things in our current environment, the ASPIRE program at EHS will look different this year.  If you are a senior, or a PARENT of a senior, and are not aware of the ASPIRE program, please contact Sandie Smith at EHS immediately!  Sandie has been a volunteer in our ASPIRE program for many  years.  This year, we were able to use some of our Student Investment Act dollars to make this a paid position.  This position is a tremendous support to EHS students and parents.

With this change, a couple of challenges have come up

1. Please communicate with Sandie at her new Fern Ridge email account:  ssmith@fernridge.k12.or.us
2. When communicating with Sandie and doing ASPIRE activities, students should be sure and use their personal email account, not their district account, as outside agencies like OSAC, FAFSA, colleges, etc…. need to communicate with you, and not only are outside emails blocked for students, your district account will go away when you graduate.

For more information on ASPIRE and what it is (essentially a support system helping students and parents with college and financial aid applications), you can visit the post on the High School webpage at (click here)

While the focus is on the COVID-19 virus it is important to stay up-to-date to prevent other diseases.  Students are required to have certain vaccinations to be at school. The State requires that all students, if they are in person or online, be current on their vaccinations. 

Every year the State allows students time to get the vaccines before the student is not allowed to come to school. This year the exclusion date is February 17. This means a student must be up-to-date on their vaccination by that day or they will not be allowed to come to school on February 18.

With the restrictions for COVID-19 in place it may be difficult to get the required vaccinations so it is important to schedule an appointment with your medical provider.

Other options for vaccinations include:

Lane County Public Health can provide low or no cost vaccinations. Call Lane County Public Health at 541-682-4041.  

Veneta Bi Mart is able to provide some vaccinations to ages 7 and up. They do have the Tdap vaccination that is required for all students in the 7th grade and higher.

The school will be sending letters home for students who are not current on their vaccinations. It is important that the student receives the vaccination to avoid being excluded from school in February.  

Remember vaccinations are not just for children. It is important for adults to be up-to-date on their vaccines also. It is not too late to get the flu vaccine for this year. Other recommended vaccines for adults include the Tdap, pneumonia, Hepatitis A & B, and shingles. 

If you need any assistance in getting the vaccines or have questions you can contact Nurse Teresa at tparsons@fernridge.k12.or.us.

Thank you,

Nurse Teresa

Students and Parents (6th-12th grade) at FRMS, EHS, and FRSD OPTIONS:

For the last week, we have been working on protocols and things we can implement and execute in regards to providing students and families more flexibility with letter grades, GPA’s and Pass vs No Pass grading. Below is our plan. If you have specific questions, please reach out to Ms. Johnson (FRMS Principal), Mr. Gardner (EHS Principal), or Mr. Cooper (FRSD OPTIONS Program Coordinator).

EHS: In the past, the option to take a class with a P/NP vs a letter grade at the High School, extended through the first two weeks of a semester. In our current environment, that option will be available to students and families for up to one week FOLLOWING the end of the semester (you can check your student’s grades through the Home Access Center). With the semester ending Feb 5th, this will allow a student to select a Pass/No Pass option up until the 12th of February. This will delay report cards by one week. A PARENT OR GUARDIAN may elect to inform the H.S. today, tomorrow, in a few weeks, or following final exams in early February, that they would like to take a class Pass/No Pass. The earlier you inform us, the better. Letter grades will continue to show on progress reports, up until the time that this request is made. Once the request is made and entered, grades on the progress report will show up in the one class, or multiple classes, as a Pass or No Pass as requested. A student can elect to take one, or all four classes as Pass/No Pass. A grade of a Pass or a No Pass will NOT affect a student’s GPA. To make this change you can call the High School at 541-935-8200 and ask to speak to Mrs. Baker (EHS Registrar) or email her at abaker@fernridge.k12.or.us

The second level of flexibility at EHS we are able to afford students is an extended period of time to “drop” a class, without having an “F” or “No-Pass” penalty. Typically, students had two weeks to notify us they wanted to drop a class without the penalty. We are now extending this to the mid-point of the semester, November 13th.

The third level of flexibility that MAY be provided is an “extended semester’ This would be a case where a student is given two more weeks following the end of the semester, to work with their teacher to improve their grade to a passing one. This is NOT afforded every time, to every student, it MAY be available to some based on their specific circumstances.

FRMS: In the past, there has not been an option to take a class with Pass/No Pass vs a letter grade at the Middle School. In our current environment, (similar to that at EHS described above) that option will be available to students and families for up to one week FOLLOWING the end of the semester (you can check your student’s grades through the Home Access Center). With the semester ending Feb 5th, this will allow a student to select this option up until the 12th of February. This will delay report cards by one week. A PARENT OR GUARDIAN may elect to inform the FRMS today, tomorrow, in a few weeks, or following final exams in early February, that they would like to take a class Pass/No Pass. The earlier you inform us, the better. Letter grades will continue to show on progress reports, up until the time that this request is made. Once the request is made and entered, grades on the progress report will show up in the one class, or multiple classes, as a Pass or a No Pass as requested. A student can elect to take one, or all five classes as Pass/No Pass. A grade of a Pass or a No Pass will NOT affect a student’s GPA. To make this change you can call FRMS at 541-935-8230 and ask to speak to Mrs. Eutsler (FRMS Secretary) or email her at teutsler@fernridge.k12.or.us

OPTIONS Program (Grades 6-8): Any student in the Options 6-12 program who is not passing a class at the November quarter grade will receive a grade of NP.

If a student would like to request to take a class Pass/Np Pass, instead of a letter grade, their parent/guardian can simply request that by sending an email to the OPTIONS Program Director Mr. Cooper, at fcooper@fernridge.k12.or.us.  This option will continue to be available up to one week following the grading period that ends on November 20th.

Options high school students who have incomplete classes by November 20th may arrange to continue a course, finishing by February 5th.

Students will receive some new classes in November, to fill out a standard six half-credit semester. Students may still add or drop a class, but at a minimum will receive a final grade in at least five classes by February.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to your building administrator or front office staff.