Principal
FRSD schools will remain open on Wednesday, May 8th.
Dear Fern Ridge families,
Many of you may have heard reports regarding some Lane County School Districts being closed on May 8th. In Fern Ridge, schools will remain open.
The Oregon Education Association has called upon its members to make May 8th a “Day of Action” to advocate for legislative action to significantly invest in K-12 education so that Oregon schools have adequate resources to serve all students. Union’s planned activities include many districts participating in one-day teacher strikes (“walkouts”). In Fern Ridge our teachers and union leadership have elected to participate in this Day of Action in a way that is least disruptive to families and student learning time.
Our teacher union leadership has been transparent and communicating with me the last few weeks regarding their planning, and I recently have been informed that teachers that participate will be “walking out” after students are released on Wednesday, May 8th. This type of action shows their support for the larger “Day of Action”, while being least disruptive to our students and families.
The missed hours of work/professional development time will be unpaid strike time for teachers, or they must take a ½ day of their personal leave. The Fern Ridge School District and I share our teacher’s goal of convincing the Oregon Legislature to make a significant investment in education to provide smaller class sizes, more learning time, increased health and safety services and a well-rounded education. However, the district does not endorse or condone walkouts that disrupt the work day.
I have been informed that during this walkout many of our licensed staff will be at the corner of Territorial Highway and 126 sharing positive signs regarding supporting students and increased K-12 funding to serve all students.
If additional information becomes available, or something changes, we will communicate immediately with our families.
Due to poor field conditions our varsity baseball game at Cottage Grove has been moved to Elmira. We will play one game today at 5:00 PM and attempt to play a second game tomorrow at Cottage Grove at 12:00 PM. Varsity softball will still play a doubleheader at Cottage Grove today beginning at 3:00 PM. In addition, both JV baseball and softball are cancelled for today.
Due to unplayable field conditions at Elmira, the varsity softball game scheduled for today has been moved to Junction City. The new start time is 4:00 PM. The JV softball game will also be at Junction City and will also start at 4:00 PM.
Congratulations to our winners of Student of the Month for March:
9th – Joey Meyer
10th – Nathan Sweet
11th – Miriam Garland
12th – Kelby Alloway
Falcon of the Month – Guillermo Farje
Elmira High School will not be in session on Friday, April 5th for a teacher workday. Classes will resume and the 4th quarter will begin on Monday, April 8th.
Please join us Friday, April 5th at 7:00 PM for our annual Ultimate Falcon Competition. Please see the attached flyer for additional details.
Elmira High School will not be in session from March 23rd-31st for Spring Break. Classes will resume on Monday, April 1st.
Now that the snow and ice have melted, our district is focusing on the impact the four snow days had on student learning.
The school calendar was revised to restore two school days in June. School will be in session on June 17 and the final day for students will be June 18. At this time, the calendar for Seniors remains the same and graduation will take place on June 7.
The Fern Ridge School Board unanimously approved the calendar revisions during their March 18 meeting. These changes will be updated to the district website calendar later today.
Thank you to our families for your flexibility as we work to ensure that we are providing as much learning time as we can for our students.
Elmira High School will hold it’s annual Career Fair on Wednesday, March 20 from 8:30 AM-1:00 PM. This is a great opportunity for our juniors and seniors to meet with employers, practice their interview skills and learn about the types of skills and personal qualities that employers are looking for in their future employees.
