RPS Update

It looks as if we will have some tricky weather this weekend, as well as on Monday. We do have a Board of Education meeting scheduled for Monday evening with three possible formats based on what we are hearing about the weather-the meeting would be held in person, via zoom, or canceled. I will be sure to keep you posted and communicate when I have enough information to do so. March is certainly coming in like a lion!

This past Monday I had the pleasure of partnering with the Boys and Girls Club, and meeting the Youth of the Year Candidates for brief interviews. I was joined by First Selectman Marconi, RPD Chief Kreitz, and a member of the Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors, Kelly Molony- what a caring group of adults who are truly dedicated to Ridgefield's youth. The candidates were absolutely exceptional!

Performances Everywhere! I am sure you have seen some of the social media posts of the FES’ musical from this past week- what an amazing, talented group of students, teachers, and parent volunteers. As shared last week, social media is a great way to elevate and amplify each other, but truly, there is no duplicate for what we had the benefit of seeing in-person. Take a look at all the live performances happening across RPS.

We are in the final phase of hiring the District's Director of Security and have been incredibly impressed with the caliber of candidates we have had the opportunity to interview. We look forward to introducing our new Director of Security soon.

Susie

Susie Da Silva, Ed.D.

The RHS Play "Into the Woods" opens on tonight, Friday, March 10! Tickets for this family-friendly showcase of RPS talent are available here. For those unfamiliar with the musical, it's Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's modern take on classic storybook characters like Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and more.

March 10, 11, 17, and 18 at 7:30 pm in the RHS Auditorium.

Snow Date: March 19 at 2 pm

Please note that the second BOE meeting is on March 28 because the Board of Finance Public Hearing is on March 27. Thank you!

This is a reminder that the time will change this weekend.

Visit the RHS Athletics Site for schedule and tickets information. NOTE: Parking at RHS for tonight's Basketball Game could be tight. Please leave plenty of time.

RHS Principal Dr. Jacob Greenwood announced today that Ryan Williams is the RHS Class of 2023 Valedictorian. Ryan has attended RPS since second grade—Ridgebury Elementary and then Scotts Ridge Middle School. A passionate science student, Ryan plans to study computer science and possibly physics in college. His current favorite class at RHS is BC Calculus with Mr. Finlayson. Ryan received a perfect score on the AP Computer Science exam and loved the class with Dr. Anton. His advice to underclassmen is to not throw away your freshman and sophomore years. "Put effort in because they matter," he recommends. The hardest class at RHS for Ryan might have been AP Physics 1. "The thinking and math is a lot different, and you feel like you're jumping off into the deep end in the beginning," Ryan explains. Congratulations, Ryan!

In December, RPS revised their policy on the distribution of paper flyers for outside groups. Organizations that meet the RPS policy may submit their request for inclusion in the digital backpack. Please help us in our effort to go green by checking students' Digital Backpacks in our newsletter- this week you will find Youth Lacrosse. Organizations that meet the RPS policy may submit their request for inclusion to cmelagrano@ridgefieldps.net. Thank you!

Registration for the RPS Summer Bridge program has been brisk. Already hundreds of families have taken the opportunity to sign up for these enriching PK-Grade 11 programs. This is the third summer RPS is offering students an out-of-the box, project-based experience that includes unique opportunities to create connections with students and staff at no cost to RPS families. Please visit ridgefield.org for more information, dates, and registration. Elementary and Middle School registration closes today, March 10 at 10 pm, and families will get confirmation by March 17. High School registration will remain open until courses fill up.

This week’s show rocks!!! Pun intended….Dr. DeSantis welcomes JR Condosta a Science teacher at RHS who teaches UCONN GeoScience. He is joined by three seniors Keelan McQuilkin, Evan Ralph, and Jay Caterina. They tell us about what Geo Science is, careers in that field, the unique geology of Ridgefield, and how our students are planning on using their knowledge beyond school. Thanks for listening!

Annually each of the nine Ridgefield Public Schools nominates and selects a member of its faculty to be its Teacher of the Year. This teacher then represents his/her school in the selection process for the district's Teacher of the Year. This year, RPS invites parents to submit nominations for School Teacher of the Year. A committee at each school will make the selection. The required components are as follows:

• Nominee should be a certified teacher employed by the Ridgefield Public Schools.
• Nominee should be an exceptionally skilled and dedicated teacher who plans to continue active teaching status for the 2023-24 school year.
• Nominee should be poised and articulate.
• Most importantly, the nominee should possess superior ability to inspire learning in students.

To submit a nomination, click the link below. Nominations can be submitted until March 15, 2023.

We are so pleased to include parents' voice in this important celebration of the dedicated educators in our school system.

Click here to submit a nomination for Teacher of the Year

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Last week, the RHS PTSA and Ridgefield Council of PTAs presented, "Do You Have the Tools to Talk?" a workshop for parents about how to talk about differences in race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability in our modern world. Thank you to the PTSA and Council for making a video recording of the panel available here. This document has key subjects time-stamped for those who want to revisit topics of interest.

The Alice Enrichment Fund can help families who qualify with funds for extracurricular activities. Learn more at the local United Way website or by contacting Mike Flynn at the Boys and Girls Club of Ridgefield.

On Thursday, RPS Grade 6-12 Science educators had the opportunity to visit The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum which is currently exhibiting, Prima Materia: The Periodic Table in Contemporary Art. Upon hearing about Prima Materia, Michael Yagid RHS Assistant Principal, collaborated with Maria Damato, Aldrich Education Manager, to create an experience for our educators. The focus was on creating methods to connect with abstract concepts. “Sometimes, sitting in a Science classroom and being presented with new ideas can feel very much like looking at contemporary art. You ask yourself, what am I looking at? What am I supposed to get from this?” Yagid said. The Aldrich educators led the teachers through an inquiry-based approach, modeling strategies that could easily be transferred into their classrooms. "Start by looking at the art and asking questions, just like the scientific method," Damato said. RHS teacher Patrick Hughes jumped when a portion of the exhibit leapt into motion. "I asked if it was going to move, and it did," he exclaimed. Teachers engaged with various artworks in the exhibit, considering work about the elements neon, cadmium, sodium, and more than 20 other elements. RPS teachers were excellent students, asking interesting, speculative, and incisive questions about the art. The Aldrich welcomed the teachers to return with their students to visit this rich exhibit on view through August.

See more photos below!

During Thursday's early dismissal, some RPS fifth graders got to work. They interviewed Bailey's Backyard owner and RPS parent Sal Bagliavio and chef Forrest Pasternack about running a Farm-to-Table restaurant. Students asked questions that their classmates had generated, including, where do you get the food you serve? how do you know how to price your menu? what's your most popular item? Integrated studies teachers filmed the conversation in preparation for a Project-Based Learning Task. An important component of the task is that students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and make connections with the community. This spring, RPS fifth graders will create a new gourmet menu for a Food Network star's newest restaurant. They will explore creating meals with locally sourced foods, making a profit, and agriculture. Culinary teams will learn about local food pricing from the Hickories farm in this engaging lesson in economics, math, nutrition, and communications. Teachers will edit today's videos so the students understand the thought that goes into running a farm-to-table restaurant like Bailey's Backyard. Thank you for the help and the delicious drinks!

During February break, Farmingville Library and Media Specialist Laura Kovsky contacted RPS Update to call attention to a Readers Theatre program she saw in Sarah Kehoe's first-grade class. Students completed the Reading Unit: Readers Get to Know Their Characters by Performing Their Books. Students had been working on identifying the feelings of characters and tracking how those feelings change throughout a story. The Reader's Theatre had students not only track the feelings but add gestures and voice intonation to match. Read a short experimental play inspired by Kehoe's lesson and Kovsky's enthusiasm here.

East Ridge Middle School math teachers report that 66 students at ERMS qualified for round 2 of the Scholastic Math Contest this year! Round 2 entries are due March 20 and students have been working hard on the question. In the second round, judging is based on the answer and the quality of the explanation given. Past challenges can be found on the Scholastic Math Contest website. Please see more photos and the names of the ERMS students who qualified here.

As of the RPS Update publication deadline, tickets for the opening night of "Into the Woods" are available here. Don't miss this awesome show!

March 10, 11, 17, and 18 at 7:30 pm in the RHS Auditorium.

Snow Date: March 19 at 2 pm

Please find the Playbill for Into the Woods here.

Caption photo below: Class of 2023 involved in this production. These students were freshmen when the pandemic shut down the RHS show "Legally Blonde" after one performance. Read about their RHS theater moments, see great video, and photos on instagram @ridgefieldtheatreboosters

Over 80 Scotts Ridge students are involved in the production of High School Musical, JR, opeing on March 31.

Thanks to parents Rachel Langberg and Tiffany Lenz for directing the Farmingville Elementary play, "Musicville." These devoted parents answered some questions about their five-year involvement with FES theater, what made this production special, their staff and student collaborators, and more. RPS appreciates them and all the parents involved in supporting our students.

How long have you been involved in FES play productions?

We started directing five years ago when our youngest kids were in first grade and Tiffany's middle child was in fifth. (We even continued straight through COVID with virtual auditions, outdoor rehearsals, and a very small audience of teachers and staff.) The play is only for 4th and 5th graders, so we dragged our youngest kids to rehearsals every morning, even though they weren’t in the show until last year. Musicville is our last FES musical since they are moving up to ERMS.

Do you have a background in theater?

We both participated in our respective middle school and high school theater productions. Rachel always worked backstage, starting with lighting until she discovered her passion for stage managing and directing. Tiffany spent all of her time on stage performing.

What has been your favorite part of being involved in Musicville?

That’s impossible to answer—it’s like asking who our favorite child is! We loved (almost!) every aspect of this production, including the opportunity to work with the 60 fabulous cast and crew members. Something special that stands out to us is that, by showtime, the kids took over all aspects of the musical behind the scenes: stage management, props, lighting, curtain, scene transitions, and sound. They even helped create the set and props!

What were some of the challenges? Funny things that happened?

We are very proud to have had two RISE (Ridgefield Intensive Special Education) students participate in this year’s show! That created some logistical challenges. Watching the other students treat their RISE peers like everyone else and put in extra effort to make it look seamless brought us so much joy! There aren’t any specific funny incidents that stand out to us, although the kids made us laugh every morning. It was such a delightful way to start our days!

Anything else RPS Update readers should know?

Every year, this was an enormous labor of love that required countless volunteer hours. Over the course of about six months, we selected a show, held auditions, cast all interested students, assigned crew positions, worked with our incredibly talented set designers and choreographer, chose costumes, designed props, blocked every move the children made on and off stage, set rehearsal schedules and coordinated logistics with our school principal, Mrs. Caron, communicated with parents, and created the program (FESBILL). Of course, this collaboration would not be possible without our talented and gracious musical director, Dr. Nora Marrinan, who volunteered hundreds of hours over the years to work with us and the students to create magical musicals year after year. FES is lucky to have her and so are we!

RHS Orchestra Director Michael McNamara reports that last Friday, the RHS Chamber Orchestra partnered with Ridgefield Suzuki School to put on a performance at Ridgefield Academy. Ten young musicians, between 5-10 years old auditioned at the Ridgefield Suzuki School to perform a solo with orchestral accompaniment, provided by the RHS Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Mac. The photo above shows Veterans Park Elementary student Nora Carcelen Cole. After the solo performances, the Chamber Orchestra treated the kids and their families to some repertoire from their winter concert. The young musicians and their families were so grateful and appreciative of the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments, and the "big kids" in Chamber showed them what was in store in just a few short years. The evening served as a paragon for the spirit of collaboration and was inspiring for all. Congratulations to all the performers!

RHS art teacher Jane Grassi announced the following students' work has been accepted in a juried show at the Brookfield Craft Center.

Nate Davi – Butterfly on the Balcony- Digital Art

Abigail Freeman – Tree of Life Necklace- Jewelry

- Flower & Bird Copper Cuff- Jewelry & Metalsmithing

Isabella Pereira – Untitled (digital piece)

Hannah Rosenfeld - From the Depths- Digital Art

The show runs from March 4-26.

There will be a reception and awards ceremony on Saturday, March 11 from 5:00-8:00 p.m.

https://www.brookfieldcraft.org/artists-on-the-rise-2023/

Jewelry by Abigail Freeman

Congratulations to the math team for completing the regular season in the Fairfield County Math League. They finished with their highest match score of the season. This has allowed them to qualify for States and they will be competing on April 4. Go Tigers!

Last Saturday, RHS Debate participated in a Connecticut Debate Association (CDA) Online Tournament. During this tournament, students representing RHS competed in four (40-minute) rounds of debate with teams from other Connecticut schools as they argued whether or not the United States should release all frozen assets to Afghanistan's central government. In the end, RHS won seven rounds of debate, and one of our members, Natalie Shartouni (photo right), earned a trophy for being the second-best speaker at the tournament out of 94 participating novice debaters. Each win was earned by these students as a result of their efforts to enhance their critical thinking skills and master the art of public speaking.

Varsity Teams

James Cox-Donovan & Gabriel Uceda-Sosa (3 Wins)

Sophie Shen (1 Win)

Novice Teams

Natalie Shartouni & Peter Iwasiutyn (2 Wins)

Catherine Thompson & Arnav Bose (1 Win)

Individual Novice Speakers

Natalie Shartouni - 2nd Place Novice Speaker Trophy

Congratulations to the RHS Fencing team of Ryan Kim-Cogan, Elena Avalani, Levi Groth, Hannah Yu, and Josephine Caron! Ryan took gold in Men’s Sabre and Elena placed sixth representing at last weekend’s state championships!

Joey Logano, professional race car driver and two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion, recently announced that the Joey Logano Foundation will be partnering with the Christian McCaffrey Foundation’s ‘The Logan Project’. Logan Hale, a former ERMS student who passed away after a courageous fight against leukemia in late 2021 inspired The Logan Project. The Logan Project raises funds for specialized gaming consoles to be provided to children’s hospitals across the country while connecting kids with friends and restoring a sense of normalcy. Logan’s dream was to create his own foundation to connect sick children through gaming. While Logan was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment, he found that gaming allowed him to stay connected with his friends and made treatments a bit less difficult.

Logano’s Foundation launched the partnership with a $22,000 donation!

Scotts Ridge student Conner Curran headed to Washington, D.C. to advocate for funding and support for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. His mother reports that Conner asked CT state representatives including Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal and House representative Jim Himes to co-sponsor the Benefit Act. She writes, "the Act would ensure that the patient's voice is considered when the FDA is reviewing drugs for approval. This will help all rare diseases, not just muscular dystrophy. We don't go to DC as any one political party, we go as only the Duchenne Party. Conner's presence and voice were seen and heard. He was a great advocate and we couldn't be more proud of him!"

Ridgefield Amateur Hockey Association Squirt (U10) AA team won the state championship this past weekend, sending them to Regionals in Vermont the weekend of March 17. Nine of the players are Ridgefield Elementary students representing Barlow Mountain, Branchville, Farmingville, Scotland, and Veterans Park elementary schools. This team won silver at the CANAM games in November, won the EJEPL in Feb (beating ten other teams from Maine down to North Carolina), and finished their season by becoming Connecticut State Champs! Congratulations, and good luck in Regionals!

More photos from the Grades 6-12 science teachers' professional development at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

The East Ridge LLC provided a cozy backdrop for cuddling up with good book during Read Across America week.

RHS Student Body President Lizzy Garson and Vice President Sam Verdejo visited the Scotland Student Council to discuss the happenings at Scotland.

We would love to hear from you! Families and staff can submit stories, comments, or corrections to RPS Communications. Please follow us on Social Media with links below.