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Election Day Schedule - November 3, 2020
Tuesday, 11/3/20 will be a PK-5 only Minimum Day. Gold Remote Minimum Day for PK-5 (Buildings are closed to students due to election day). PK-5 Gold students will have live virtual classes and PK-5 Blue students will have an asynchronous day in the morning only. There are no afternoon sessions. Grades 6-12: Morning classes are held either virtual (Gold cohort) or asychronous (Blue cohort). Afternoon live virtual session proceed as usual. Click headline for more information.
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Phase 2 Survey
Right now we are gathering information from various stakeholders to help us with this assessment of Phase 1 and planning for Phase 2. Over the last two weeks, Dr. Murphy and I met with the staff at all five schools to thank them for their herculean efforts to date and ask them directly about the current model and what improvements can be made. Of course, we are trying to look at the situation from all perspectives and would like to get your feedback to help us move forward. To accomplish this, we have created surveys linked below. Please read carefully before answering. The questions ask your opinions on an AM/PM model, virtual Wednesdays, full days, and asynchronous learning. There is an open-ended question at the end for you to provide further feedback about any of these topics or any other issues related to hybrid/remote learning. Click headline for more information and survey links.
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Crucial Dates to Notify School of Request to Change your Child's Learning Instruction
16 days with the students are in the books, Back to School Nights are complete, picture days are happening, and soon Fall sports will start up. While at least 32 Bergen County school districts didn’t open with live instruction, and many aren’t scheduled to begin until October/November, Ramsey opened! While we had some bumps in the road, overall it has been a smooth opening. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen. There is no doubt that we will continually adjust and improve our practices and schedules as we are able. We have already made tweaks in the lower grades, where virtual learning is especially challenging. Before rushing into a schedule change (remember only 16 days of school have passed), it is important that we learn from these experiences and get input from surrounding districts and our stakeholders. What is working well? What is not? This assessment will better inform our decision-making. Click headline for more information.
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Schoology Parent Accounts Are Coming!
As you probably know by now, our entire district uses a common Learning Management System (LMS) called Schoology. Having a common LMS enables our students, parents, and teachers to engage with learning materials and their school community from the classroom and beyond. We use Schoology in our classrooms during hybrid and remote learning to enhance connectivity and communication across our district as students can digitally submit assignments, participate in interactive discussions, receive announcements and feedback, take assessments, and more. Student progress and activity is monitored by faculty to ensure a safe, secure, and controlled environment. As we announced over the summer, parent Schoology accounts are coming. We put in the request with the company to have these accounts enabled back in spring and we are excited to announce that the anticipated release date for Ramsey is Friday, October 9. The Technology Department will be in communication with you over the next few weeks on how to access and use your account. For now, please view the short video below that explains the difference between student and parent accounts. Click headline for more information.
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Equity is Not a New Goal for Ramsey School District
I’m glad to hear the community discussions that have sprung up since we made a semantics change to our district goals and backed that up with some action steps. Conversations are great first steps. The goal changed with the addition of key words: Achieving Excellence through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. As conversations develop into the exchange of ideas, it is helpful to use common language so everyone works from the same definitions. Diversity, equity, and inclusion may seem like reactionary “buzzwords” that can be easily politicized in the current climate, but they are not new in education. This isn’t a left issue or a right issue or any kind of political issue for the school district. Click headline for more information.
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A Consistent PreK-12 Platform
Our entire district, PreK-12, is now using Schoology , an integrated learning management solution (LMS) that provides course management, mobile learning, and support for system-wide communication. Schoology enables our students, parents and teachers to engage with learning materials and their school community from the classroom and beyond. We look forward to using Schoology in our classrooms during hybrid and remote learning to enhance connectivity and communication across our district. With Schoology, students can digitally submit assignments, participate in interactive discussions, receive announcements and feedback, take assessments, and more. Student progress and activity will be monitored by faculty to ensure a safe, secure, and controlled environment. We value your participation in your child’s education, and we encourage you to read Schoology’s Privacy Policy & Terms of Use. More information about Schoology Parent Accounts will be coming shortly.
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Building Empathy
For the third year in a row Mykee Fowlin performed at the Ramsey High School student orientation with the goal of creating an inclusive and welcoming school community. According to his website, Fowlin's "mission is to create an atmosphere of worldwide inclusion, not just tolerance, towards all people." Discussion questions included: 1)Using the concepts of mirrors and windows, what character(s) provided you with a mirror reflection of feelings you've experienced? What character(s) provided you with a window to see into someone else's feelings and experiences that are difference from your own? 2)Reflecting upon the performance, what is one small thing that you can do to improve the way you treat those who are different from you?
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Always Getting Better
To prepare for the 2020-2021 school year we focused our summer professional development on curriculum revisions and building our technology toolkits. This included: 1)Revising the opening unit of every course K-12 to include instructional technology components that can be implemented during either blended or remote learning. These components include, but are not limited to: Digital assessments, Screencast videos, and Hyperdoc Assignments. 2) 150 teachers participating in 36 sessions on blended and remote teaching across two weeks at the end of July. The first week was led by Ramsey staff and the second week was led by Greg Kulowiec of Edtech Teacher, our longtime technology consultant. 3) 100 staff members, including all of the newly hired teachers, completed the Catlin Tucker online course to prepare for online and blended learning.
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Summer Virtual Academic Courses now offered for Grades K - 6
The Ramsey Community School, along with teachers from the Ramsey School District, is offering "Stepping Stones" - virtual academic classes in Literacy and Mathematics for Grades Kindergarten through 6th. Click headline for registration form and additional information.
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Referendum Project
With phase one complete, we have now started construction on phase two. Work has begun at RHS (Electrical and Fire Alarm Upgrades), Smith (Performing Arts Addition and Science Lab Renovations) and the kindergarten additions at both Hubbard and Tisdale. The Fitness Center, Cadlab and Woodshop renovations at RHS will start later this Fall. Click on the Headline to see the latest pictures of the current projects.
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RHS Preschool On-line Applications Available
As part of the experiences for Ramsey High School students enrolled in the Child Development Class, Ramsey and Saddle River preschool age children are invited to participate in a preschool program that is supervised by Ramsey High School students and the Child Development teaching staff. Registration forms for the October 2020 preschool class are available on-line in both English and Spanish versions. Click headline for more information.
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Dater PTO - Ramsey Strong, Supporting True Heros
Ramsey is joining other communities that are coming together to support both local restaurants and also feed front line health care workers. We are asking for donations that will allow us to order meals from the local restaurants and deliver them to the staff working the front lines in the area hospitals. We are currently working with Valley Hospital and Hackensack University Medical Center. In addition, we will also support the foundations that support the hospitals. Click headline for more information:
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Bond Referendum Update
Our first phase of the referendum construction project is complete! The facilities upgrades look great and are already having a positive impact on our educational programs, security, and efficiency. We have been busy planning the next phase which will start this Spring, including the new full-day kindergarten additions. Each school will communicate on an individual basis any information concerning the impact of construction at each site. Please click the headline to view completed and upcoming referendum projects.
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RHS Child Development Program Seeking Preschool Aged Children - registration begins March 6th!
As part of the experiences for Ramsey High School students enrolled in the Child Development Class, Ramsey and Saddle River preschool age children are invited to participate in a preschool program that is supervised by the Child Development teaching staff and the RHS students. This experience allows the high school students to gain hands on experience working with young children. Registration forms for the October 2020 preschool class will be available at the High School General Office and will also be available on the preschool website, https://sites.google.com/ramsey.k12.nj.us/rhspreschool starting March 6th . The class for preschoolers meets three mornings a week, usually Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for approximately 2½ hours each day. Click headline for more information.
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Board of Education Recognition Month
The Ramsey Board of Education called on citizens to continue working together to advance the education of all students, as it recognized the contributions of colleagues throughout the state during School Board Recognition Month in New Jersey. “The Ramsey Board of Education embraces the goal of high-quality education for all New Jersey public school students,” read a resolution adopted by the board. “New Jersey and especially the Ramsey School District can take pride in its schools, which ranks among the nation’s best.” In Ramsey, we are particularly proud of our Profile of a Ramsey Graduate initiative, which aims to prepare all students for success in the 21st century by focusing on key competencies. Click headline for more information.
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Seal of Biliteracy Results by Andrew Matteo & Karen Vander Leest
We are proud to share that 34 Ramsey High School students have satisfied the requirement to earn the New Jersey Seal of Biliteracy. The New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy recognizes graduating high school seniors who have attained a high level of proficiency in one or more world languages in addition to English. In addition to honoring the multiple cultures and languages of our community, the Seal provides evidence of linguistic skills that are attractive to future employers and college admissions offices. Click headline for more information.
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Ramsey Parent Academy - 2/5/20 - Supporting Our LGBTQ Community
We hope you can attend our #RamseyParentAcademy on Wednesday, Feb. 5, which will focus on talking about LGBTQ+ issues and ways to support that community. ALL parents and friends are welcome: those who are involved in the LGBTQ+ community, those who want to show support, and those who want to be better informed as these issues become part of their social or professional spheres. Click headline for more information.
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Rams S.T.E.P. for Success: Student Transition Education Program
On Tuesday, December 17th, 2019, Miss Diakos and her students made a presentation to the Ramsey Board of Education regarding the Student Transition Education Program (S.T.E.P) at Ramsey High School. As part of their presentation they showed a video that gave everyone insight into their daily experience at Ramsey High School. As a district, we are beyond proud of these students and this program. I encourage you to take the 10 minutes to watch the video. It will be sure to put a smile on your face! Click headline for video.
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Happy Holidays from BOE President Laura Behrmann
There is a lot to be proud of this past year – our students and staff have achieved noteworthy milestones in academics, athletics and community building. For example, the community overwhelmingly supported both the facilities referendum AND the kindergarten budget question; a faculty member garnered a national accolade with the Milken Educator Award; our middle and high school band and chorus earned unparalleled success in regional and state competitions; over 80% of high school students participated in sports - we captured 5 league, 2 county, and 1 state sectional championships; over 100 RHS students participated in the World Challenge; our Stigma-Free and focus on mental health continues to make a positive difference in the community. Click headline for more.
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One Book One Community: Enough as She Is
The next Parent Academy will be held on Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at Smith School Cafeteria at 7:30 PM. From the New York Times bestselling author of Odd Girl Out, a deeply urgent book that gives adults the tools to help girls in high school and college reject "supergirl" pressure, overcome a toxic stress culture, and become resilient adults with healthy, happy, and fulfilling lives.
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