Ridgecrest Roar – March 12, 2023

Good evening Ridgecrest families,

St. Patrick’s Day is coming quickly and with it signs of Spring, I hope. I know we need the snow in the mountains, but I am ready for warmer weather and all the fun that comes with springtime.

Thank you for your continued focus on creating and maintaining the habit of your children attending school each day so that we can make the very most of the last few months of this school year!

School Information

Kindergarten changes in our district – There has been a lot of information coming out about changes to kindergarten because of legislation that passed during the most recent legislative session. Our district is making free full day kindergarten available for all students at all elementary schools starting next year. As a reminder, Ridgecrest made this shift last year because of a grant that we were awarded for our current school year. The changes that most Canyons elementary schools are navigating is not a new one for Ridgecrest. We will continue in much the same way as we did this year with full day Kindergarten available for all students at our school. More information will be coming during our Kindergarten Orientation or can be found at canyonsdistrict.org

Kindergarten Orientation – We are getting excited to welcome our newest Tigers! If you have a child who will be joining us for kindergarten next year, or if you know someone who does, please spread the message. We will be holding our Kindergarten Orientation at 2 PM on March 24th in our school gym. A flier is attached here as a reminder.

5th Grade Maturation – Each year, CSD sponsors an informational program for fifth-grade students and their parents with the aim of providing consistent, sensitive, and approved health and maturation instruction districtwide. All girls and boys presentations are conducted by Carrie Ann Kemp, a professional speaker who has been educating and entertaining young audiences, and their parents, for nearly 25 years.

Eight presentations have been scheduled from March 7-28, 2023. Families may attend the presentation that best fits their schedule. Parents are advised to leave younger siblings at home. For more information please visit canyonsdistrict.org.

Morning Line Up – Just a reminder, as weather shifts with the seasons, that students will line up outside in the mornings unless the weather is very wet, or it is less than 23 degrees outside. Please help your child come prepared with appropriate layers so they aren’t caught unprepared in our unpredictable Spring weather.

Canyons Film Festival – The 13th Annual Canyons Film Festival is happening on April 27th, 2023. Our students have been learning filmmaking, particularly stop motion animation, in our STEM booster groups. They are excited and many want to participate but may need adult help submitting their entries. Entries are due April 11th, 2023.

Here is a link for information on how to submit, and other information regarding rules and categories. https://www.canyonsdistrict.org/filmfestival/submitting-entries/

In STEM we are currently using the app “Koma Koma” for simple filmmaking. Grades 3-5 also use “Stop Motion Studio”. Here is a list of a few other filmmaking apps they can use at home:

• Stop Motion Studio Pro
• iMovie
• Movie Mates
• Cap Cut

The following is a link to a previous Film Festival for video ideas and category examples:  https://www.youtube.com/live/5_QDqR6hMZs?feature=share

Please email our STEM teacher, Mrs. Freeman, for help or questions:

Alicia.freeman@canyonsdistrict.org

PTA News:

Hi Ridgecrest Families!

Don’t forget, our next PTA meeting is tomorrow, Monday, March 13th, at noon. We need your attendance. We will be voting in our new PTA Board for next school year, and we need your vote. The nominees were sent out to the PTA membership and are also posted on our social media platforms. We are unable to vote unless we have enough PTA members in attendance. Lease come and show your support to our PTA.

Our Talent Show is this Friday, March 17th, at 6:30pm at Butler Middle School. If your child has an art submission for the Talent Show, please drop that off to the front office as soon as possible.

It’s not too late to become a PTA member for this school year. Your PTA membership benefits us in many ways. Whether you would like to become more involved in volunteering, or if you don’t have the time or want to volunteer but just want to support our school, your PTA membership is beneficial to our school and students. https://ridgecrest.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true

Have a great week,

Your Ridgecrest Elementary PTA 2022-23 Board

Information previously shared that still might be helpful:

Sweepers – Ridgecrest is looking to hire some sweepers to help clean our building for 2 hours in the afternoons each day. We have several open positions with a starting wage of $10.73 / hr. Applications are available in our front office. 

DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR:

March

13            PTA Meeting

17            Talent Show – Butler Middle 6:30 PM

23, 24    5th grade Maturation Program at Butler Middle

24           Kindergarten Orientation

31            Day of Play

April

3-7           Spring Break – No School

-Sara