Sarah White, Principal
December 11, 2018
24-Hour Attendance Line: 425.408.4410
erattendance@nsd.org
Save the Dates!
Calendar Link: https://eastridge.nsd.org/our-school-clone/calendar
No School - Winter Break
December 19th - January 1st
A Message from Mrs. White
Dear Families,
What a joy it is to be surrounded by children at this time of year! Truly, every day of the year it is a joy to serve this community of amazing students, families, and staff.
Speaking of joy, recently our staff engaged in some reading and activities to highlight joy in our jobs. I shared with staff some excerpts from a professional book I have been reading, Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators, by Elena Aguilar. Here are some excerpts that I shared:
“Know that research says that experiencing joy will help you be better at your job. In Your Brain at Work, David Rock (2009) explains that stress decreases our cognitive resources and that happy people have more new ideas…
You most likely have many micro-moments of joy every day, tiny fleeting moments of connection, satisfaction, fulfillment, and contentment at school, but you probably don’t notice many of them. And so, they’re missed. Because the brain has a negativity bias (we notice and recall the hard moments very well), we’re simply missing the joyful moments.”
As a staff, we are working on noticing and appreciating moments of joy with our students and colleagues! Also, we have done some professional work to build on the idea of “moments.” At a recent conference our PBIS team attended, we were challenged to think about how many moments we have with students in a day and year. Did you know that there are over 3 million “moments” (seconds) with students in a school year? What an opportunity for influence we have! We focused our professional development time recently on how we can make the most of each moment with students, and how we can improve how students feel about school in each moment. Here are just a few of the strategies we have been studying and implementing in order to make each moment with students positive and productive:
- Creating inviting, organized classrooms
- Positive greetings at the door - When students arrive in the morning, and when they return to class after recess, teachers take the time to greet each student with a smile and kind words.
- Providing students with lots of opportunities to respond - This means instead of calling on one student to share his/her thinking, we give all students the opportunity to respond to and engage in instruction by talking with partners, showing their work on individual white boards, using hand signals, chorally responding, and more!
- Providing students with specific, effective formative feedback - This means telling students explicitly what they are doing well, why it matters, and teaching them directly how to improve their work (and behavior).
We care so much about giving our students many moments of joyful learning each day, and so we continue to learn together in order to do our best.
During the upcoming holidays and beyond, I encourage you to be reflective on the little joyful moments that occur each day. I wish you many special times with family and friends, and abundant joy this holiday season.
Fondly,
Sarah
From the East Ridge Staff
To Our East Ridge Community,
We wish you all the love and happiness this season can bring, may it follow you throughout the coming new year. Happy Holidays!
With Gratitude,
The East Ridge Staff
Holiday Travel Plans
If you have travel plans that will take your student out of school beyond the designated break, be sure to complete and submit a Pre-Approved Absence Request form. This form can be found on the front page of our website or by following this link.
Are You Moving?
If moving is in your future, please contact the office to let us know. 425.408.4400
2019-2020 Kindergarten Registration
District orientation for Kindergarten families entering the 2019-20 school year is Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at the Northshore Performing Arts Center at 7:00 pm. Teachers, administrators, and curriculum specialists present parents with information about the Northshore School District's kindergarten program. The orientation is intended for parents only and does not require registration to attend. More information is available online: https://www1.nsd.org/schools/get-started/kindergarten
Kindergarten registration begins at East Ridge on January 23rd. Packets will be available in the office on this day. Later this spring, we will hold a kindergarten event for parents and their children that will include a presentation by Mrs. White, East Ridge Principal, a school tour, and an opportunity to meet our kindergarten teachers.
To enter kindergarten, your student must be five years old on or before August 31, 2018.
East Ridge Musical Celebrations
Choir Concert - December 11th, at 7pm
Everyone is invited to our fourth and fifth grade Choir Concert on Tuesday, December 11th, at 7:00 pm. Refreshments will be served following the performance.
Choir members: Please wear something nice and report to the music room at 6:30pm.
Musical Celebration Assembly - December 18th, at 2:55pm
On Tuesday, December 18th, at 2:55 pm, we will have our annual Musical Celebration Assembly. The fourth and fifth grade Choir will share some festive music followed by a sing-along of seasonal songs. Students are encouraged to wear festive hats that day and parents are welcome to join us for the assembly.
PE Info Corner
All PE classes will be participating in gymnastics after winter break. From January 2nd- 25th, the students will need to be wearing socks and clothes that they can tumble in. If a student has a skirt or dress on, please help her to remember to wear shorts underneath. We will be doing handstands and cartwheels, and I do not want anyone to feel embarrassed performing gymnastics stunts.Thank you for your support in helping them to be prepared to learn and participate in new skills and stunts that will improve their muscle strength, flexibility, and balance.
Lost & Found
Be sure to check the lost and found for missing articles. Our lost and found rack is located in front of the school. Any items not claimed before winter break will be donated to Threads & Treads at Canyon Park Middle School.
Hour of Code
East Ridge students participated in an Hour of Code last week as part of the celebration of Computer Science Education Week. What an amazing time! Thank you to the fabulous volunteers who came in to make it happen: Nick Curry, Chris Schrom, Graham Wood, Duane Carson, Patrick Mccana, Gladhyst Chia, Heather Sun, Kate Liao, Cassie Curry, Shannon Acis, Sam Burkman, Jeff Marshall, Sally Wolfe, Zhengrong Li from Amazon, Aman Ahmed, Mike Maas, Kyle Willett, Phillip Murphy and Ryan Elliott.
We encourage all families to try a coding activity at home. To learn more and access great tutorials visit the Hour of Code website. https://hourofcode.com/us/learn
For more information about Computer Science Education Week visit their website.
Meet and Greet with Dr. Reid
Families with students receiving special education services please join Dr. Michelle Reid for a Meet and Greet on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 from 5 - 6:30 p.m. at the Northshore School District Administrative Center Board Room.
ERPTA News
Helping Those in Need
Tis the season of giving and we invite you to help us spread some holiday cheer to our students in need! We will have a Giving Tree in the front office with tags that list the needs/wants of each child,. This will be up until Monday, morning, Dec. 17th.
We are also introducing a Mitten Tree!! Donations of gently used and new hats, scarves, gloves and mittens will be hung from the tree in the front lobby and will then be donated to a deserving, local organization. Unwrapped gifts/gift cards for the students and winter accessories for the Mitten Tree will be accepted until the end of the school day on Friday, December 14th. Questions, contact: vpevents@erpta.org.
PTA Spelling Bee
The 5th Grade Spelling Bee will be January 14th in the library at 4:00 pm. The deadline for the Bee is January 11th. Look for a flyer coming home shortly.
ERPTA Enrichment Programs
Create with Code! (Grade 3-5)- Practicing the core concepts of computer science, kids design and create popular games and animations. New projects for each level at every class. This 8 week class goes from Feb 4th- April 1st from 3:45-5pm in room 10. Register online Now at ERPTA.org!!
Coding with Kids (K-2) - Give your child an opportunity to learn how to create fun programs and games! Coding with Kids classes are updated with NEW PROJECTS EACH SESSION so that your student can continue to advance their coding skills. This 10 week class goes from Jan 16- Mar 27th from 2:15-3:15 in Room 2. Register online at ERPTA.org.
Remember to Match!
Have you given to East Ridge PTA this calendar year, or maybe donated money through the BECommunity Auction last spring? Or even volunteered hours here at East Ridge? Please remember to match those dollars and hours with your employer if they match. Questions? - Email Terri Kashi at vpfundraising@erpta.org.
We Need Game Room Help!
Sign up to support our students during recess time in our amazing Game Room. Located in the Art room, Game Room runs on Thursdays from 11-1:15 and includes all three recesses. This is a supportive role for volunteers, Game Masters (3rd -5th graders) that have been trained in peer leadership and conflict resolution and need your positive encouragement and, at times, hands on help. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c48aea729abfd0-east1
Yearbook Support
Get your pictures in the yearbook! Here is how you can submit photos online:
Go to: https://images.schoolannualonline.com/upload.jsp
If it does not automatically log you into the site, enter username: 410903677.
Submit your photos today! The last day to submit photos is April 5, 2019.
Thank you and enjoy the rest of the school year!
~Yearbook Adviser and the 2019 Yearbook Staff
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