A Few Bits from Ridgefield Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Susie Da Silva
Board of Education Meeting
Our next Board of Education meeting is Monday, September 27. In an effort to provide the most accessible experience for community members, we have shifted our Board of Education meeting format to allow for video public comment, rather than written comment only. The directions on how to access the Board of Education meeting to watch only or to make your public comment are below.
YouTube link here
If you would like to participate in Public Comment, use the link below to register here.
Once registered you will receive an email to join the BOE meeting as an audience member. When it is your time to speak you will be promoted to address the board for three minutes.
*Be sure to have a working microphone/WebCam on your computer or device.
*You may register as early as today, however, be sure to access the link from your email on the day of the meeting
If you are making a Public Comment, do not select both options above. Doing so will add an echo when you speak.
Health and Safety
Per Governor Lamont’s executive order 13G, beginning on Monday, September 27, all RPS staff and contractors who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are required to submit proof of a negative COVID-19 test every 7 days that was taken within 72 hours.
We are getting closer to offering federally funded weekly PCR screening testing for K-6 grade students at RPS. We have met with Quest diagnostics and are very excited to begin this program which is an important and effective mitigation strategy for preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our schools and community. This program is optional. Parents must opt in to have their children participate. The more families chose to participate the more effective the program will be as a mitigation strategy against the virus. Students will be tested on site at school by a self-administered anterior shallow nasal swab (or as Dr. Da Silva likes to say ‘the tickle-your-nose kind’). Results will be reported to parents via text message at the number they indicate. Results will also be shared with Aaron Crook RN, Director of Nursing and COVID-19 Health and Safety Compliance Liaison, school nurses and building administrators for the purpose of contact tracing in the event a student does test positive. This program is HIPAA and FERPA compliant, student privacy will be maintained according to the law.
We will communicate with parents about how to opt into testing via PowerSchool in the coming days.
On Thursday this week, teachers across the district engaged in professional learning provided by teacher leaders, administrators and Curriculum Supervisors. We continued to ‘huddle’ together by department across grade levels and spend time working on department goals. In addition, the majority of the departments spent time engaged in study and conversation around building student agency. Student agency is defined by eight dimensions: self-efficacy (the belief that you can achieve goals), pursuit of interest, perseverance of effort, locus of control (believing that your efforts will succeed), mastery orientation, metacognition, future orientation and self-regulation. Agency is central to a positive relationship to learning and key for the transfer of that learning.
Food Service
In response to many emails and concerns from Parents as to product availability in the cafeterias, Chartwells, our food service provider hopes the attached communications will help Parents understand the challenges with the supply chain and the steps they are taking to resolve some of these issues. Chartwells letter can be found here.
Reminder: Weather Events
Our procedures can be found here.
RPS News!
You can find it here.
Don’t forget to follow us on social media- plenty of fun to see! This week, we highlighted RPS Professional Learning and our favorite Doppelgangers!
Social: Twitter: @RPS_DaSilva and Instagram: rpssuper
