Dear FRSD Elementary Families-

As we move forward with Distance Learning, students in grades 1-5 will need access to their reading textbooks in order to complete classwork. Kindergarten students do not have a reading textbook, but will be receiving a weekly reading booklet. Both EES and VES will have books and their first week’s Distance Learning packets available for pickup on Monday, April 13. Student’s school supplies (from student desks) are being bagged and will also be available at the pickup times below. There will also be a box for collecting library books that you are ready to return.

EES students will pick up at the EES bus loop from 10:00-12:30 and 1:00-3:00

VES students will pick up at the VES bus loop from 10:00-12:30 and 1:00-3:00

If you are unable to come during this time, please call the school to arrange a time. If you have internet access, your child can log into their Think Central account and access the textbook materials online. More information about logins will be available soon. See you on Monday!

SCHOOLS CLOSED: At a 1:00 PM news conference, the Governor of Oregon closed our “physical schools” for the remainder of the school year.  Schools are now fully charged to provide “Distance Learning” through the rest of the 2020 school  year.

PATHWAY TO GRADUATION FOR OUR SENIORS: The state just released this 25-page document, that outlines the pathway to a diploma for our senior students.  If you would like to review the document, I have attached it here (click here).  Over the next 24 hours, I will be working on a 1-page summary of this document, along with EHS staff.  I will post that summary tomorrow and will share our plan here in Fern Ridge, which is aligned with the requirements of this document.

9TH-11TH GRADE GUIDANCE:  ODE has not released this specific guidance yet.  As soon as they do, we will share this information.

DISTANCE LEARNING: This will begin next week, Monday the 13th.  Teachers and administrators are working hard to roll this out.  Having said that, now that we know we will be using this model through the end of the school  year, we will be starting slow.  It will look different at the various grade levels. We will get better at this with each passing day.  Our staff is committed to serving our families and students for the next eight weeks or so with this model.  We also understand that not only is this a challenge and heavy lift for our staff, but it is a heavy lift for our parents and families as well.  We will work alongside our students and families in the days and weeks to come to meet your needs.

Gary E. Carpenter, Jr. Superintendent, FRSD 28J

Dear FRSD Elementary Families-

As we move forward with Distance Learning, students in grades 1-5 will need access to their reading textbooks in order to complete classwork. Kindergarten students do not have a reading textbook, but will be receiving a weekly reading booklet. Both EES and VES will have books and packets available for pickup on Monday, April 13. 

EES students will pick up at the EES bus loop from 10:00-12:30 and 1:00-3:00

VES students will pick up at the VES bus loop from 10:00-12:30 and 1:00-3:00

If you are unable to come during this time, please call the school to arrange a time. If you have internet access, your child can log into their Think Central account and access the textbook materials online. More information about logins will be available soon. See you on Monday!

DISTANCE LEARNING: FRSD Students and Families,  in accordance with the Governor’s order on Monday night, the district is diving deep into looking at moving from supplemental learning opportunities, to distance learning.  Our goal is to have the framework of this in place and ready to go by Monday, April 13th.  Until then, please continue to utilize the supplemental resources.  For the families of our Seniors, I continue to wait on guidance from ODE on this.  They continue to say it is on the way, and it continues to get delayed.  As soon as this information is released, we will pass along to our families, along with what the recommendations will look like in Fern Ridge.

MEAL SERVICE:  Today was our first attempt at expanding meal service with 13 different bus routes (2-3 stops per route).  Despite some minor logistical issues we will refine tomorrow, it was a tremendous success.  We were able to serve 886 meals.  Last week in Fern Ridge, we served just under 3000 breakfasts and lunches combined. Thank you to our staff that handed out meals at the service locations, as well as all of the drivers.  For more details on this service, where the buses will stop (and times), please visit the meal section of the  COVID-19 CLOSURE PAGE at this link: (click here).

We have had to make adjustments to our new meal delivery plan, set to begin tomorrow, Wednesday April 1st.  As we began to problem solve the issue of having buses stop and hold up traffic at different locations, combined with maintaining social distancing with staff on the bus, and folks coming to pick up meals, there have been several challenges.

Here is our current plan, I probably sound like a broken record, but this plan will undoubtedly change and evolve in the days to come:

1.  The VES “drive-through” location will continue to operate.
2. We have 13 routes occurring, however there are only a couple stops on each route.  They are at locations where the bus can stop safely, and turn the engine off.
   1. At these sites the meals will be served out of the back of the bus.
   2. The drivers will place cones on the ground at the back of the bus to maintain social distancing when we have large groups at a stop.
   3. We hope that the vast majority of folks will be able to either make it to VES, or one of these stops.
   4. The stops/routes are listed here.
3. If you CANNOT make it to one of these locations, and would like meals delivered to your house, and left on the front porch, we will do our best to accommodate this.  We will be using our activity bus to deliver to individual locations.  To get us this information, to request a drop off at a house, please leave a message on the school phone of one of your students front offices.
   1. Phone numbers are:
      1. VES:  541-935-8225
      2. EES:  541-935-8214
      3. EHS:  541-935-8200
      4. FRMS:  541-935-8230
   2. The information you need to leave in the message includes:  Number of kids that need a meal, the address, and a phone number to call you in case there is a problem or we need more information.
   3. To have meals delivered that day, we need these messages left by 8:00 AM.
   4. You only have to leave the message once, and you will be added to the delivery list for every day going forward.  To cancel delivery, call and leave a message with your address and let us know you are cancelling.

Again, the more folks that can make it to one of the MANY stops we have, the better.  However, we understand not everyone has this ability. Thank you for your patience as we make this transition.

Families and Students:

Over the past few days the district staff have made significant progress.  In the main menu above, you should now see a tab that says “COVID-19 CLOSURE.”  This page will contain information and links on most topics around school closures going forward, including all supplemental learning resources.  We will update these supplemental learning resources each Wednesday.  The first update from the initial information available now, will be April 8th. The only thing not currently included in these links are “printable packets.”  We hope to have those available by Wednesday, April 1st.

As I mentioned in the last update, all families should expect a call tomorrow or Tuesday.  If you do not receive a call by the end of the day Tuesday, please contact your respective school between the hours of 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM beginning Wednesday, April 1st.  If you have multiple students in the District, you will probably receive multiple calls.

Thanks for your continued patience as we navigate this new way of doing things.

Families, please share the information below regarding information that will be coming out over the next few days on a wide range of topics related to our closure. Thanks for your patience as we navigate these challenges.

1. MEAL SERVICE: Meal service continues tomorrow and Monday at our 4 locations that we have previously shared. We are looking into possibly increasing this late next week and could implement bringing lunches around on school bus routes, stopping at respective bus stops. We will keep you posted if we get this place, and share the information immediately. The only change in regards to serving meals that we have recently received from ODE and our Federal Partners is that we no longer have to physically see the children. Parents can pick up meals for their children without them being physically present.
2. SUPPLEMENTAL LEARNING: This weekend, I will be publishing a new page on our website that will share a wide range of topics related to school closure issues. One of them will be supplemental learning resources for all grades K-12 in for most subject areas.
3. PHONE CALL: Expect a phone call from your child’s homeroom teacher (or some other staff member) on Monday. In this call, we will be touching base, answering any questions that we can, and most importantly, asking if you can access the online resources we have posted. If not, would you like resources mailed home once a week. Please understand these are simply resources to keep your student(s) engaged and make things easier for parents. They are not required, they will not be graded, and they will not be turned in (although students can certainly share with their teachers some of the things they did during this closure when they return).
4. 12TH GRADERS:  State leaders are prioritizing creating a pathway to graduation for High School seniors. As soon as that information is released from ODE, we will share it and begin to have one on one phone calls with our senior students and families to discuss their path.

Finally, in speaking with several teachers today, they are eager to find new ways to support and engage with their students in the days and weeks to come. We will be publishing an updated list of contact information for all our staff. All teachers will begin maintaining virtual/remote “office hours” from 10 AM – 2 PM daily where they will be available to communicate via email or phone with students and parents.

Gary Carpenter, Superintendent, FRSD 28J

From Gary Carpenter, FRSD Superintendent:

Families, I wanted to share a quick post to folks regarding a few topics. Please don’t take the lack of recent updates to mean not much is happening in the district. Key staff are working long hours to prepare to roll out information to our seniors (within the next 24-48 hours) and supplemental learning (over the weekend).

On Monday, every student/family should get a phone call from a staff member. In addition, there will be new info regarding possibly expanding meal service.

All of the district partners, and there are many, have been problem solving and working on plans that we will be able to share in the coming days. Thank you for your patience, we will meet these challenges together!

School offices will be open this afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00 today for parents or students who need to come pick up a personal item from a classroom or locker.

Feel free to email your building administrator if you need to make other arrangements to pick up an item.  Please do not come to the school if you are not feeling well or have any symptoms of an illness.

Lisa Leatham – Veneta Elementary – lleatham@fernridge.k12.or.us

Michelle Marshall – Elmira Elementary – mmarshall@fernridge.k12.or.us

Olivia Johnson – Fern Ridge Middle School – ojohnson@fernridge.k12.or.us

Rick Gardner – Elmira High School – rgardner@fernridge.k12.or.us

FRSD Families:  Some general information and updates:

1.  Meal service begins TODAY (March 16th) at VES– Drive through and pick up only.  Kids must be in car.  Ages 1-18 are served! 11:00-12:30
2. Virtual or remote learning:  At this time, the district is not pursuing this option.  That may change if the mandated school closure extends.  One important perspective I would share with parents around the topic of continuing academics during the closure is this.  It is OK if parents want to engage in this, and try to support their students academically.  It is ALSO just fine to allow your kids to be kids during this closure.  The way adults respond and act around this pandemic can cause significant stress and anxiety.  There is absolutely no reason to add to that stress and create conflict between parents and students by forcing academic time.  Every child is different, so some may welcome this, however for most, simply having a 30 to 60 minute reading time (especially at the elementary and middle school level) of some fun book that they would enjoy is plenty. Your child is going to get far more during these two weeks off during this stressful time, by just being allowed to be a kid.  Bottom line, keep the academic stress low.
3. The district office will remain open through the closure, schools will not.  Staff will return to the buildings on Monday, March 30th.  If something changes around the mandated closure, we will notify folks immediately.
4. Assuming students return on Wednesday, April 1st, expect that Friday “non-school” day to be changed to a school day.  More information to come as decisions are made.
5. Continue to practice social distancing and appropriate hand washing and other measures during this break.
6. Feel free to contact the district office if you have specific questions at 541-935-2253, or email me at gcarpenter@fernridge.k12.or.us

Gary Carpenter, Superintendent-FRSD 28J