There is no school for students tomorrow, May 27th (teacher work sample day) and in observance of Memorial Day there is no school for students or staff on Monday, May 30th.
Hope everyone has a great (and safe!) holiday weekend.
A quick update on our current COVID situation — we continue to deal with many staff and students testing positive for COVID-19. We currently have over 30 folks out district-wide including 10 staff members who are sick.
One of the most impactful ways you can help us maintain in-person instruction is by keeping your student(s) home when they are are not feeling well. We all need to come together and work to keep school open for these final three weeks.
Thank you for your continued assistance and partnership!
We are deeply saddened by the tragic news regarding a school shooting earlier today at an elementary school in a small town in Texas. Our thoughts are with the Uvalde community and the families of those who lost their lives or were injured.
We recognize that news such as this can be shocking and can have a deep impact on school communities. We also know that such a tragic occurrence may bring school safety and security to the forefront of your mind. We want to reassure our community that schools are safe places, and we are always looking for ways to reinforce and improve the effectiveness of our district safety measures. These include securing our campus entrances and entrance securing systems, practice and regular review of physical security and emergency procedures, along with a close partnership with our local police.
As always, we ask families to be our partners in safety. Students are urged to speak up about any threat or other information that is concerning to them. They can tell a trusted adult at school or report information anonymously to Safe Oregon via text, call or email. Always notify the school if you know of an unsafe situation, and call 911 first if it is an emergency. Check in at the front office if you will be at the school, and if you see anyone unauthorized on campus tell school staff right away. Please also talk with your students about how to be safe at home, in your neighborhood, and on the way to and from school. Be alert to potential dangers. Provide the school office with your complete current contact information—if there is ever an emergency we will use email, mobile phones, home phones, websites or other communication to notify you with accurate information as quickly as we can.
If staff find themselves troubled by this tragic event or by any other concerns, free, confidential counseling and support is available through the district’s employee assistance program (EAP) provider.
Events like these also raise questions and fears in children. Families and staff can help children feel safe by talking with them openly if they have fears, establishing a sense of normalcy and security, and reassuring them that schools are safe places and dangerous events are rare. If families need support to help guide their discussion of these events with their children, they may find these resources of help:
- Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers – National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
- Helping Children With Tragic Events in the News – PBS for Parents
I know you join us in sending our deepest sympathy to the community of Uvalde, Texas, that is grieving this terrible event. Thank you for caring for yourselves and each other, as well as for our students.
Based on a request from building staff, the FRSD school board has altered the District calendar for the last week of school.
On the final week of school only – EARLY RELEASE day will be moved from Wednesday, June 15th to Friday, June 17th.
Wednesday, June 15th will be a full-school day.
This will be the only week that the early release day will change. If you have any questions, please reach out to your student’s school office.
The Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) has put together this Community Threat Bulletin to help parents and schools educate students about accidental overdose risks from fentanyl-laced pills.
Fentanyl Community Threat Bulletin
El fentanilo boletin de amenazas comunitarias
For more information, contact Nurse Elliott at selliott@fernridge.k12.or.us
The maintenance department will be applying an approved, low impact herbicide to the fence lines at each school on Sunday, May 15, 2022. The application is intended to discourage new weed growth in those areas.
In accordance with state law, signage will be posted at each site with contact information and re-entry times.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Jeff Thiessen: jthiessen@fernridge.k12.or.us
Congratulations Shelby Humphrey!! 🎉 Our May employee of the month! 🎉
Shelby has been the glue helping to hold the office at Fern Ridge Middle School together. Seriously, what doesn’t Shelby do?!? She not only serves as head secretary handling phone calls, updating attendance, student registration, immunization information, school purchase orders, petty cash, schedules and hundreds of other things that would take up this entire post!
These past few years have been especially challenging with all of the additional COVID related work which meant reaching out to families, rounding up the take home work for students, not to mention monitoring and updating all of the tracking spreadsheets! This year, she has done all this and more with less help in the office since our Instructional Assistant shortage meant that our other secretary, Casey, had to be assigned to more student supervision duties.
When she is not busy being the rockstar of the FRMS office, Shelby likes to spend time with her husband of 18 years, Nate Humphrey and their daughters, EHS 9th grader, Hannah and FRMS 6th grader, Olivia.
Shelby loves to be outdoors at the beach, camping, swimming, rafting, hiking, traveling and she still finds time to read, bake and volunteer.
Her favorite part about being in the office at FRMS is being able to help students and assist parents with whatever they might need. Supporting teachers, administrators and staff in any way that she can. “I like making people feel appreciated and truly enjoy being helpful. I love to see the smiling faces and making a difference in someone’s day.”
Join us as we celebrate our amazing Educational Rockstars during Teacher Appreciation Week 2022.
Thank you Fern Ridge educators for continuing to show up in your classrooms for our students. You are appreciated!
Hello FRSD families
This week we have had a significant increase in the number of known positive COVID cases in the District, in particular among staff at VES. We are working on trying to stop the spread of COVID within the school community so that we can continue to offer in-person learning to all of our students.
Your assistance in the effort to slow the spread in our classrooms is needed:
- Please do not send your child to school if they are sick.
- Masking in schools can also be helpful in slowing the spread of illness.
- Please talk with your child to decide if masking is an option for your family.
With upcoming events in all of our buildings (talent shows, book fairs, and more…) there will be a great opportunity to show your effort by practicing social distancing and mask-wearing. A little extra effort today may mean the difference between in-person learning or online learning in the coming few weeks.
We have made it this far without losing a single day of in-person instruction in the 21-22 school year. Your help and support is needed.
Thank you for your ongoing effort and support of our school community.
Recently the District removed some large fir trees. We have them stacked on some property immediately South of Elmira Elementary School. The district will be accepting sealed bids for them. All of the information can be found at the link below.
Over the course of the last several weeks, in conjunction with our administrators, certified and classified leadership teams, the district has been working on an updated visitor/volunteer plan. It is a challenge to incorporate a plan that meets the needs of everyone, while staying in compliance with OAR 333-019-1030 .
The plan was presented to the school board last night for feedback and we are now ready to share with the community. The new plan, with some requirements, allows a path for both visitors and volunteers in the schools, vaccinated and unvaccinated.
The plan is posted under the 2021-22 School year tab. We will begin this on Monday the 25th! The direct link can be accessed by clicking here. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to the District Office, or your building administrator.