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)

FRSD Return to Learn Update 

Good afternoon FRSD K-3 families,

As you know, Lane County school districts have been closely following the weekly Oregon Health Authority School Metrics: Case and Testing Rates. The last update indicates that Lane County reported 64.9 cases per 100,000 residents. This is the second week in a row that our county has seen an excess of 30 cases per 100,000. While many of us are eager to be back in the classroom like “normal”, the safety of our students, families, and staff remains our top priority.

Despite having our limited summer staff working on purchasing devices, adding software, and preparing professional development it has been a challenge. Teachers and IAs, who returned in late August, worked steadily to prepare for students. While this planning and preparing has helped close the gap, it is nowhere near perfect. 

Over the next few weeks, we will take full advantage of the time that we have with our youngest students. We will continue to teach routines and build relationships but our primary focus will be to prepare them for our transition to Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL). Time will be spent teaching them about usernames and passwords, while also training them on how to navigate a digital environment. 

Like many in our local area, we are disappointed that we must prepare to change plans during this spike in COVID-19 cases, however, we hope that families know that when it allows, we are prepared to open our buildings for all students in a safe way. Safety procedures and protocols will remain in place even as rates begin to decline and students are able to return to buildings. 

This is a challenging time for all of us. We will work together to make sure that you and your child have what they need to be successful in this ever-changing academic climate.

A few dates to be aware of:

• Week of 10-5: Get Chromebooks into the 2nd -3rd classrooms to start practicing and plan for device checkout. 
• Week of 10-5: Families need to sign and return Chromebook user agreement sent home by teacher.
• Week of 10-12: Continue K-3 A/B Limited In Person Instruction in the AM  
• Week of 10-12: Chromebooks sent home, 2nd-3rd begin afternoon CDL schedule, practice logging in, work out the kinks, set online learning expectations. 
• Week of 10-19: Limited In Person Instruction and CDL schedule to be determined based on metrics and on-going cohorting numbers.

Last night at 5:30 we held a virtual meeting for our K-3 Parents to inform them of our work today, and our plans going forward.  Thank you to the families that were able to participate in this informational opportunity.  We can feel the frustration that families students and staff are experiencing.  Our goal is to move towards a model that allows our youngest students to have in-person instruction as much as possible given the new county metrics and ODE guidelines.

You may be aware that the exception we were hoping to open under is no longer an option due to the 30.6 per 100,000 case rate in Lane County.  However, we ARE able to reopen for Limited in Person Instruction (LIPI) if we can meet very specific guidelines.  This includes no more than 10 students per cohort and students can be in no more than 2 cohorts including transportation.  The transportation piece is one of the most complex issues of our plan moving forward.  For any family that can transport their student, or carpool with another,  please know THIS IS A TREMENDOUS HELP!

While the parameters are restrictive, we feel that it is critical to offer in person instruction for our youngest learners.  Our teachers, instructional assistants and administrators are committed to this.  We are working with parents, teachers and transportation to ensure that this is possible.  Below is our plan:

• Beginning Thursday, September 24th, and continuing through Friday, October 9th:
  • Students will start on their A / B Day.
    • A Days = Tues/Thur & B Days = Wed/Fri
  • Students will be on site from 8:00-10:00 AM
    • 2 hours for LIPI
      • The 2 hours will focus primarily on Math and Reading
        • On days that students are in school:
          • Teachers will spend some time introducing instructing on other subjects (Social Studies, Science, Art, PE, etc.) that students will work on when they go home in the afternoon.
          • On days that students are NOT in school:
            • Students will bring home Applied Learning Packets for their off-days (will not exceed 2 hours, and be appropriate to each grade level-will focus on Math and Reading)
        • Teachers will have a system for daily communication
• TRANSPORTATION:  New pickup and drop off times will be communicated with families by tomorrow afternoon.

Over the next 2 1/2 weeks we will be looking into 3 different options of expansion, they are:

1. Continuing with how we are going.
2. Adding CDL in the afternoons and checking out chromebooks to our K-3 students for PM instruction with their teachers
3. Going to an AM/PM model that would have A day kids attending EVERY day from 8-10, and B Day kids attending every day from 12:30-2:30

Where we fall will depend on the following factors:

1. How well our model is working
2. County health/metric data
3. Information and availability of another 200-300 chromebooks
4. Family feedback and input!

All the staff are excited to see our K-3 students beginning this Thursday.

Meals are still available, and students will have an opportunity to eat breakfast when they arrive, and be sent home with a lunch if they would like one!

We will have another K-3 check-in virtual meeting, next Thursday at 5:30.

Thank you so much for your continued flexibility as we all navigate these challenges!  It is appreciated very much.

1.  Chromebook checkout for students continues today.  We will be set up at the District office, and operating 1-4.  If those times do not work for your family, please contact your building principal to help coordinate.
2. Meals DO START TODAY.  Meals are served out of the High School Cafeteria (North lot).  You do not need to get out of your car, just circle the parking lot loop in a counterclockwise direction, stop at the cafeteria, and you will be helped.  Meals are free for all students 0-18.  All you have to do is provide your last name.
3. Limited In-Person Instruction students (grades 4-8) that were scheduled to attend today from 9 AM-11AM IS CONTINUING! The OPTIONS program activities still begin today, and 4th-12th grade students that were to begin CDL today are STILL doing so!
4. The rise in COVID cases in Lane County (released late yesterday), combined with the fact that we had not yet started in-person instruction, prevented us from starting school today and the staff is crushed at these turn of events!  We are already working on a plan to get our K-3 students in school this week!  We will share information during a 5:30 ZOOM parent meeting tonight.  We need some time to confirm our plan follows ODE guidelines, and can work with our facilities, food service and transportation  If you cannot make that meeting, we will post all of the information immediately following.  Stay Tuned!  The login information for the meeting is below.

Gary Carpenter is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Parent Meeting for K-3 In-person instruction Options
Time: Sep 22, 2020 05:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://fernridge-k12-or-us.zoom.us/j/95408108332?pwd=WXgvTHVGb0NvTms4MUh5ZnA4V2Zadz09

Meeting ID: 954 0810 8332
Passcode: 587979
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