Our November employee of the month has been a teacher in our district for a little over a year, but the impact she has made in that time has been substantial.
Heather Hohnstein is a Language Arts teacher at Fern Ridge Middle School. She and her husband of 21 years, Phil, have a 2.5-year-old white German Shepard named Rylee. Her parents live in Roseburg, and she is an only child. When not at school, Mrs. Hohnstein enjoys reading, gardening, baking, cooking, and bike rides.
At the middle school, Mrs. Hohnstein teaches sixth grade Language Arts and works with the structured Options students to help facilitate their Language Arts classes. In addition to her teaching duties, she also leads the school Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports team.
When asked what her favorite thing about her job is, she said, “that’s a tough one; it’s a tie between the amazing people I work with and our students. The people I work with help me become a better teacher, a better colleague, a better employee, and a better person. It’s hard to explain, but I’ve never been in a district where everyone genuinely cares about one another and has a vested interest in doing what’s best for every student.”
Mrs. Hohnstein has proven herself to be a talented educator and invaluable resource in her time here in our district. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition.
As we start into the cold and flu season I would like to remind everyone that it is important to keep students and staff home if they show any symptoms of being ill. This is a good time to rethink being sick. “It is just a cold,” “I don’t feel well but I am going to work anyway.” Do these sound familiar? Ever notice that when one person goes to work or school when they do not feel well, everyone around that person then gets sick also?
The following are symptoms of a viral illness:
🌡️Fever
🥶Chills
😔Fatigue (extreme tiredness)
😟Muscle or body aches (not related to exercise)
🤕Headache
😝Sore throat
🤧 Congestion or runny nose
🤭Cough
🤢Nausea or vomiting
😳Diarrhea
It is important to stay home if there are any symptoms of any illness. Remember the basics of preventing disease:
~Practice healthy habits which includes getting enough sleep 😴, drinking water 🥛 and eating healthy foods 🍎
~Get the flu vaccination 💉
~Cough into your sleeve or elbow 👍
~And most important; wash your hands or use hand sanitizer frequently 🧼
~Help the school community reduce the spread of illness this school year. 😷
Nurse Teresa
FRSD Students and families,
Earlier today, Governor Kate Brown announced new metrics that specify when schools can return for in-person learning. The new metrics reflect updated research and CDC recommendations and are consistent with those being used by many other states which are successfully holding school in-person. These metrics are more relaxed and will allow for in-person learning to resume sooner and for more students than was previously allowed.
Although Lane County’s COVID-19 case rate is still too high for us to welcome students back to school, because the standards have been eased, we are closer to reopening our schools. As you will see in the metrics, the elementary grades (with a focus on the primary grades) are prioritized. However, the county metrics have been relaxed for all grades, and the state positivity rate requirement has been eliminated. We will continue to monitor the local metrics and share information with our students and families as those metrics indicate the ability to resume in-person learning. Once metrics allow, the transition will not happen overnight. We will prepare and communicate with all of our families before beginning any transition to an in-person learning option for our students and families.
If you have questions, do not hesitate to reach out to the district office, or your building administrator.
Gary E. Carpenter, Jr., Superintendent FRSD 28J
This fall brought some changes to the FRSD school board. Director Jeb Flowers, made the difficult decision to resign from his role on the Board due to changes with his work. Mr. Flowers began serving on the board in August of 2018. He brought a unique perspective to our meetings and is passionate about supporting the career and technical education opportunities for students in this district.
We would like to thank Mr. Flowers for the time and effort he dedicated to our school community and his family for supporting him in his position. Thank you!
The school board received three excellent applications for the open position and after consideration, appointed Jackie Turle as Mr. Flower’s replacement.
Ms. Turle has been a member of this community for over twenty years and has served as an assistant principal of the high school and middle school and was the principal of Elmira Elementary School. She has also worked with higher education as a Department Chair at Linn-Benton Community College, a Director of Community Education, and the Director of the Business and Training Center.
Ms. Turle is a skilled educator who will bring a depth of experience and knowledge to our FRSD Board of Directors. We look forward to working with our school board as we all continue to navigate one of the biggest challenges we have faced in public education.
Greetings students and parents of 6th-8th grade students (both FRMS and OPTIONS)
To improve the usability and security of our student’s computer accounts, students will be prompted to set new passwords on their district account. That prompt will go out first thing Thursday morning (Oct 29th). Beginning Thursday morning, when students log into their chromebook or google account with their current password they will be asked to create a new password to continue.
Students should choose a password they can remember, write it down and store it somewhere safe. They will need that new password to log in, and are responsible for remembering it and keeping it secure.
Students who do lock themselves out of their accounts can get their passwords reset by calling the school directly or by calling the student tech support line at 541-952-7030.
NOTICE: We have completed this process for H.S. students already, and will be moving to a similar process for elementary students at some point next week.
Greetings students and parents of 9th-12th grade students (both EHS and OPTIONS)
To improve the usability and security of our student’s computer accounts, students will be prompted to set new passwords on their district account. That prompt will go out first thing Monday morning. Beginning Monday morning, when students log into their chromebook or google account with their current password they will be asked to create a new password to continue.
Students should choose a password they can remember, write it down and store it somewhere safe. They will need that new password to log in, and are responsible for remembering it and keeping it secure.
Students who do lock themselves out of their accounts can get their passwords reset by calling the school directly or by calling the student tech support line at 541-952-7030.
NOTICE: We will be doing the same thing for both 6th-8th and elementary students at some point next week.
Dear Options Elementary Parents,
Recently the Fern Ridge District became aware that our elementary
students have been receiving emails from outside our system. This is a
safety issue and the feature will be turned off by the end of today.
Turning off this feature may impact some students who rely on a parent
cellphone taking a picture of an assignment and emailing it to the
student. In order to continue doing that, a parent will have to log
into the cellphone browser using the student email, and then email the
picture to the student (from the student account). Alternatively, a
student can always take a picture directly from their chromebook or
laptop camera, and upload.
We anticipate this will not inconvenience most parents. If a technical
problem arises, please feel free to contact the Options staff for
assistance. The wellness and safety of our students is a paramount
concern.
—
Forrest Cooper
FRSD Options Director
541-952-7025
This past Monday, was our first night of a 5-6 PM Meal Service in the EHS Backlot. This service, where you can pick up meals for a week, will continue to operate on Mondays. Overall, our first service went well. We served 57 students for a total of 285 meals. We hope this option continues to grow and be accessed by many. There are a couple of items worth mentioning that would help us tremendously in the weeks to come:
- About 40% of the families that participated this week had not phoned or emailed ahead. We placed a larger order, anticipating that might happen, but it was still too close for comfort! You can send an email to afullerton@fernridge.k12.or.us, or call your resident school and ask them to pass along the information to Mr. Fullerton.
- We also had several families that emailed to participate and not show up. Please reach out if your plans change, or would like to be taken off the list.
- A reminder that if you participate in the Monday evening meal distribution, then a family is not eligible to access meals at the schools, or any of the pick-up sites. It is one or the other.
Finally, for a reminder about what these meals contain and other specifics, you can revisit this post: https://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/?p=10388
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.
Good afternoon VES students and families,
This morning district staff have spoken Lane County Public Health and worked with them to review the circumstances of the positive COVID-19 test, examine our cohort logs, and to identify and inform any individuals who may have been exposed. All students and families that MAY have been exposed have been notified. Below is the most current information regarding what we have done, what we will be doing, and what changes, if any, will occur at Veneta in the coming days.
- The positive case has not been in the building since Friday morning.
- The person began having minor symptoms over the weekend, and tested positive on Monday evening.
- Despite the fact that the individual hasn’t been in the space for nearly 100 hours, we are currently sanitizing and disinfecting the spaces they were in (which were very few).
- Our cohort groups and logs worked well, resulting in the need for only one teacher, one instructional aide, and one classroom of students to isolate. Those families have been notified.
- School will resume for all other students K-5 at Veneta Elementary beginning tomorrow. Virtual for 4th-5th, and “B” day for our K-3 students. In consultation with the local public health authority, we are immediately closing one cohort (again they have been notified) who will remain at home for 14 days under Comprehensive Distance Learning, with a tentative plan to return to Limited In-Person Instruction on Tuesday, November 3rd.
- For the one classroom of students, stay tuned for direct communication from the school staff/teacher around next steps. We will be coming up with a 2 week plan to provide learning opportunities over the next two weeks. This will include CDL (virtual instruction) with your teacher on a chromebook. The plan to get these out to you will start immediately.
Thank you for your patience during this process. It will not be the last time we go through this at one of our schools.