Hello Students and Families, 

We recognize that creating a safe learning environment is a critical part of helping each child achieve academic success. Fern Ridge School District continues to encourage the Safe Oregon Tip Line, a system that students can use to report school safety threats. Safe Oregon will give your child another medium for communicating with our school administration when school safety incidents occur.

How does the Safe Oregon Tip Line Work?

Students can access the Safe Oregon system through the line below or they may go directly to the safeoregon.com web site. Tips can be submitted through the web form on the Safe Oregon web site, or by text, email, live call, and mobile app.

Why is there a need for a tip line system?

The number one reason why children do not report is the fear of retaliation from their peers. The Safe Oregon Tip Line can be access from the privacy of a phone, home computer, or other Internet equipped device, eliminating the possibility of being identified by another student and thus, increasing the likelihood that a school safety threat would go unreported.

I encourage you to learn more about the Tip Line by visiting the Safe Oregon website at www.safeoregon.com

You can also email at tip@safeoregon.com or call/text  844-472-3367.

Thank you,

Michelle Marshall

EES Principal

Monday, October 26th

5:15-6:45 pm

Please join us for our first VIRTUAL Open House! As a rule, Open House has been an opportunity for families to tour the building, see friends, and past teachers. While we can not invite our families into the school physically, we do hope that you will join us virtually!

Mrs. Marshall WELCOME: 5:15-5:30 pm https://fernridge-k12-or-us.zoom.us/j/83835060509

Open House Session 1: 5:30-6:00 pm

Open House Session 2: 6:00-6:30 pm

Mrs. Marshall Wrap-Up: 6:30-6:45 pm https://fernridge-k12-or-us.zoom.us/j/83835060509

Both sessions will be the same, so feel free to join at your convenience!

Fall 2020 continues to bring challenges. Whether it is schedules, school work, or something else…please know that EES staff is here to help!

Our office is open from 7:30am – 3:30pm. Feel free to call Dawn if you need general school information.

• K-3 Teachers are available 1:45pm – 3:00pm.
• 4th -5th Grades are available from 8:00am – 8:30am & 1:45pm – 3:00pm.
• Give us a call: 541-935-8214.

Email is another easy way to communicate with your child’s teacher. Please find them using the FRSD Staff Directory.

Are you receiving the Elmira Elementary Text Messages? If not, call us and we can add you easily!

Looking for even more ways to communicate with EES? Check this out: Parent Communication!

Please know that we will do whatever we can to help your and your students succeed during this tricky time!

 Every Monday evening, from 5-6 PM in the North (back) lot at Elmira High School.

At this time you can/will receive a breakfast and a lunch for the entire week, for each child/student 0-18.

We will still use the drive through model, and you still just need to give your last name.  The students do not need to be present.

All of the meal “kits” will be made fresh that morning! The bags will include:

• One containing milk for breakfast and lunch for five days
• One containing a selection of fruits and vegetables for both lunch and breakfast
• One containing five sandwiches and five breakfast items (such as muffins, breakfast bars, etc..)

Interested?

• Please email the food service director Alan Fullerton at afullerton@fernridge.k12.or.us with the subject of “Monday Night Meals” and include the number of students/children in the line as well….OR
• Call a school secretary and give them the information and they will pass it on.  The sooner you “sign up” the better.  You won’t need to do this each week, just the first week to give us an idea of how much product to order, and how many meals to prep.

Please help spread the word!

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

Supporting Students at Home

In partnership with Chartwells and our food service staff, the district is preparing to start a new opportunity to deliver meals to meet the needs of some of our families who are not available to visit either EHS, or one of the drop sites during the school day.  This opportunity will occur every Monday evening, from 5-6 PM in the North (back) lot at Elmira High School.

Come to the High School at this time, and you can/will receive a breakfast and a lunch for the entire week, for each child/student 0-18.  We will still use the drive through model, and you still just need to give your last name.  The students do not need to be present.

All of the meal “kits” will be made fresh that morning, and include the following three bags:

• One containing milk for breakfast and lunch for five days
• One containing a selection of fruits and vegetables for both lunch and breakfast
• One containing five sandwiches and five breakfast items (such as muffins, breakfast bars, etc..)

Something that would be tremendously helpful with planning and preparing the meals would be to get an idea of how many folks will be accessing this resource.  You can do that by one of two ways.  Either emailing the food service director Alan Fullerton at afullerton@fernridge.k12.or.us with the subject of “Monday Night Meals” and include the number of students/children in the line as well.  For example:  Monday Night Meals – 3.  Or you may call your school secretary and give them the information and they will pass it on.  The sooner you “sign up” the better.  You won’t need to do this each week, just the first week to give us an idea of how much product to order, and how many meals to prep.

Please help spread the word!

This year more than ever before, we see the need for our schools and families to work closely together to support our students. As an essential part of this support, we will continue to take attendance in order to identify students experiencing difficulty with engaging in their learning.  Please expect communication when we notice that your student’s attendance levels indicate possible disengagement with their Comprehensive Distance Learning.  It is our desire to partner with you to help provide the support your student needs to be successful and satisfied with their educational experience.  

Your student is counted present when they participate in class activities or when they interact with their teacher or an educational assistant. In elementary, attendance will be taken once per day.  In middle and high school, attendance will be taken in each scheduled class that day.  

Some interactions that count positively for attendance include: 

• Participating in a live class.
• Posting completed coursework to Google Classroom or through email or similar.
• Communication from the student to the teacher/educational assistant through text message, email, message board, or communication app.
• A phone call between the teacher/educational assistant and the student, or, for younger students, with the parent or guardian.
• Turning in completed assignments on a given day.

When there is no evidence of student interaction during a 24-hour period surrounding a scheduled school day as described above, students are reported as absent.  

If family events, work schedule, or related reason prevent your student from attending for a 24-hour period or longer, please contact your child’s school:

• EES 541-935-8214
• VES 541-935-8225
• FRMS 541-935-8214
• EHS 541-935-8200

Our highest priority at this time is to do what we can to support active engagement with your student, and to partner with you to ensure that together, we can overcome the challenges we face in our current learning environment.

FRSD Parents and Students,

The district is looking for ways to provide additional support to our families.  To this end, we have begun a new section on the top of the “2020 school year” tab from the District’s main page.  The direct link is here:  https://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/2020-school-year/

You will notice the first item at the top of that page is titled “Training for parents and students on different topics.”  The first training we have included, is a Zoom training from the parent/student perspective (Thank you Mr. Lee).  We will add more trainings, a Q and A, and other supportive materials as time allows, and as we hear from families around the specific areas they need support.  To help in that regard, please take the very short 4 question survey to help of focus our trainings on what is needed most.  The survey can be taken at:  (click here)

October Newsletter PE 2020 (download here) 

2020 CATCH T Shirt – Order form (download here)