Olivia Johnson
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.
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FRMS 6th grade students will attend Outdoor School Tuesday May 4th thru Friday May 7th at Camp Wilani. There will be no overnight stays. Instead, students will leave for Camp after the bell rings each morning and return before the end of the school day.
All students will attend all days. FRMS Options and Online students have been invited to participate as well.
There are specific rules and procedures that have to be followed while they are at Outdoor School. Below is the link to the document that explains what students need to do, need to bring, etc. as well as a Permission Slip, Health and Medical Information, and the Camp Rules.
Permission Slips, Health and Medical Information, and the Camp Rules have to be completed, signed, and returned to school by April 2oth or 21st. Students should give their paperwork to their first period teachers. FRSD Options and Online students can return their completed paperwork to the district office.
FRMS Hybrid 6th grade students will be given hardcopies of these forms to take home on Tuesday the 6th or Wednesday the 7th.
With the end of third quarter just three weeks away and progress reports having coming out before the break, we know that many families are concerned about their child’s academic progress and grades. This post is to remind families that we will not be having “formal” spring conferences this year. Instead teachers will be available on Mondays, from now till June, to conference with families by phone, email, or Zoom link. We can even facilitate a Zoom meeting with all of your child’s teachers together for you.
Don’t forget when checking Home Access that the RC box needs to be set to 3 for the 3rd quarter. Also, depending upon the teacher, Home Access may not be as updated as Google Classroom, so if you don’t see assignments in Home Access please check your child’s Google Classroom for that subject.
Click here for a list of teacher names, emails, and extensions
FRMS will have
school pictures on April 8th for “A” block students and April 9th for “B” block students. There will be no retakes. Families that don’t like their pictures will be able to return them to Life Touch.
Students in FRSD Options or students still in CDL/Plan Z are welcome to have their pictures taken on those two days as well. Their time slot will be 1:00 to 2:00 on either day.
We will be using the Band Room (Rm 20) for pictures. Families bringing their students to get their picture taken can park in the front parking lot and walk directly to the Band Room Door on the side of the building. If you aren’t sure where that is, just come to the office and we will point you in the right direction.
To order pictures online, please use the links below.
Picture Day ID: EVTSQZFJQ
Fern Ridge Middle School is excited to announce that country music star Drake White will be performing via Zoom for FRMS Hybrid students as well as students in Options and Distance Learning.
The concert will be Wednesday, March 31st beginning at 2:00 PM. Drake will sing songs from his albums and talk to students about setting goals, perseverance, and overcoming adversity. Drake has an especially impactful story to tell as in August 2019 he experienced bleeding in the brain and was hospitalized. As a result, he was temporarily paralyzed and went through extensive hospitalization, treatments, and rehab over the next year on his road to recovery.
The link for the concert will be posted in Google Classrooms including the FRSD Options classroom and the Plan Z classrooms on Wednesday. FRMS Hybrid A Block students who will be on their “At Home Learning” day on Wednesday can also join the live event via Zoom from their home using the links that will be posted in Google Classroom on Wednesday.
We want to thank Ms. Davis and Ms. Hohnstein who worked to make this special event for our students happen.
Save The Date:
School Pictures: April 8th and April 9th. Lifetouch will be here on April 8th and April 9th to take pictures of FRMS students. All students will get their pictures taken. Families will have the opportunity to purchase packets ranging in cost from $14.99 to $74.99. Packets and information went home today (3-16) for A students and tomorrow (3-17) for B students. Schedules will be posted on our website and will include a time for students in our Options program. Options’ families and others who want more information can go to the link below.
Picture Day ID: EVTSQZFJQ
Outdoor School Day Camp for 6th Grade Students: May 4th thru May 7th. 6th grade students, who missed out on their Outdoor School experience last spring, will get the chance to go to four days of Outdoor School Day Camp at Camp Wilani. There will be no overnight stays. Students will take the bus from school each morning and return to school in the afternoon. Students must wear masks at Camp Wilani and on the bus. More details as well as permission slips will go home with 6th graders after Spring Break. Both A and B students will attend all four days.
Spring Break Reminder: Just a reminder that Spring Break is March 22nd thru March 26th. School will start again onsite for A students on March 30th and for B students on March 31st. Don’t forget that on the days your student is not in the building, they do have “At Home Learning” assignments waiting for them to complete in their Google Classrooms.
Just a few reminders:
- All students attend this week on their scheduled days. A Block students come on Tuesdays and Thursdays and B Block students on Wednesdays and Fridays.
- On their “At Home Learning Day” please make sure your student checks their attendance in each Google Classroom and completes any posted work.
- During their “At Home Learning Day” if they need help, encourage them to attend the drop in tutoring for math/science or language arts/social studies. Link posted in each Google Classroom.
- FRMS starts at 8:25. Ends at 3:05. Doors Open at 8:00 AM.
- Parents please use the drop off lane in the morning.
Thank you. We had a great start to school last week and look forward to an even better week this week. All of our teachers and our support staff are excited to have students back in the building.
We’ve had a lot of questions about what students need to do on their “At Home” days and whether they would still be attending classes. There will be no Zoom classes during their “At Home” days. Instead students need to log in to Google Classroom and complete the posted work. Below is a link to a table we put together to help families visualize how Hybrid works:
Starting Monday, March 8th, FRSD’s food service will begin offering an additional weekly meal pick-up option.
Families with students who have returned to in-person learning are able to order an Add-On Meal Kit which will supplement the hot lunches our students are able to receive during their in-school days.
Each meal kits include 5 breakfasts & 3 cold lunches. We hope this will help to alleviate some of the logistical concerns for families’ meal options on their student’s non-school days.
If you’re interested in an Add-On Meal Kit for your family, please email Food Service Director, Alan Fullerton at afullerton@fernridge.k12.or.us and include your last name, how many kits you would like to order and if your student(s) are on an A or B day schedule.
These Add-On Meal Kits will be available for pick up during our normal weekly pick-up time in the back EHS parking lot on Monday evenings from 5-6pm.
To minimize waste, we will only be producing as many of these kits as are pre-ordered so please be sure to reach out if you would like to participate!