Park Ridge ES: Parent Newsletter

February 9th- Spirit Night at Five Guys (proceeds will help support 5th Grade Celebrations)

February 9th-13th- Kindness Week

February 12th- Kindergarten 100 Days of School

February 13th- Professional Learning Day (No School)

February 16th- President's Day (No School)

February 20th- PTO Valentine's Kindness Dance

February 24th- K-2 Spring Pictures

February 25th- 3-5 Spring Pictures

There is no school for students on Friday, February 13th, as staff will be engaged in Professional Learning.

There will also be no school on Monday, February 16th in observance of President’s Day.

With so many new technologies and learning methods introduced every day, parental involvement in their child’s learning is more important than ever. To support this, our school division has partnered with Lightspeed Systems® to give parents visibility of their child’s internet usage while on school-issued devices, at home and after-school hours.

Lightspeed Parent Portal gives parents access to:

• A Weekly Student Online Activity Report. This report summarizes the student’s web browsing activity for the week. A copy of this report is sent to the parents’ email weekly.
  

• A full web-based Lightspeed Parent Portal, which delivers more detailed visibility of the student’s online activity at home.

Next week on February 9th-13th, we will focus on spreading kindness through our words, actions, and choices. Students will participate in activities that encourage empathy, respect, and helping others, reminding us that even small acts of kindness can make a big difference. What better way to do that than with a Spirit Week? Please see the flyer below for our Kindness Spirit Week themes and details.

The Park Ridge PTO presents the

💖🩷 Valentine's Kindness Dance! 💖🩷

Friday, February 20th, 6:00 - 7:30 PM

at Rodney Thompson Middle School:

75 Wapole Street

$4 per person, (ages 3 & under free)

Enter at Main Entrance

Doors open at 5:45 PM

💗 All Park Ridge students must be with a parent or guardian

💗 Everyone in your group must pay the entry fee

💗 Stay in dance area at all times, do not enter closed areas

Sign Up Today!

Our school is getting ready to kick off our Kids Heart Challenge (KHC)! Get a Jump Start and Join TODAY to earn your colorful wristband – Complete Finn’s Mission to Learn how to help save a life!

Join our school team on the FREE & fun “AHA Schools” App or at www.heart.org/Schools and complete Finn’s Mission to learn Hands-Only CPR. We're going to make a huge impact together, Heart Heroes!

Over the next couple of weeks, all fifth grade students will learn about middle school electives, will complete a Course Selection sheet and will select their course requests in StudentVue. Counselors will be coming into classrooms to complete this task. After your student has had their class session with the counselor, please go into ParentVue to take a look at your student's electives for next year. Here is the link to ParentVue: ParentVue

Linked to this email is the Middle School Program of Studies to review the electives and instructions for how to use on ParentVue and StudentVue.

All students must be registered by March 13th. If you have any questions about middle school registration, please reach out to any of the counselors below. Thanks!

kerneg@staffordschools.net

donovanrl@staffordschools.net

koduag@staffordschools.net

Important Dates to Remember

• March 13: Registration window closes

• March 25: Parent Night at your middle school

• April 9: Student field trip to your middle school

More information will be shared soon about Parent Night and the student field trip.

Our annual DARE Basketball Game (Educators vs. Law Enforcement) will take place on March 19, 2026, at Brooke Point High School. Students will not be playing this year, but we’re excited to share that Mr. Roble, 4th Grade Teacher is the chosen one and will be representing Park Ridge in the game! Thank you, Mr. Roble! We’ll have the banners ready and the cheers loud....get ready to be supported by our kiddos and staff! We hope that families will be able to come out and help cheer on Mr. Roble!

Our basket theme this year is Family Game Night! We will be collecting board games, card games, or any items that help make a fun game night over the next few weeks. If you’re able, please feel free to drop off a game to add to our basket. All donations are needed by March 12th. Thank you so much for your support.

Park Ridge Elementary School will be hosting Career Day on Thursday, March 26, 2026, and we are looking for volunteers to help make this event a success! Whether you are a nurse, business owner, mechanic, member of the military, or work in any other field, we would love for you to join us for the morning and talk with our students about your career. We believe it is never too early to introduce students to the wide variety of career paths available to them, and firsthand experiences can make a lasting impact.

Presentations will be approximately 25 minutes long, and you will present to students ranging from kindergarten through 5th grade. Presenters are encouraged to include (but are not limited to):

• Related school subjects

• Education or training required

• Personal skills needed in your field

• A typical day on the job

• Child-friendly games, visuals, or hands-on activities

This is a wonderful opportunity to get involved at PRES and inspire our students as they begin to dream about their futures. If you are not interested but know someone who might be, please feel free to share this information or provide us with their contact details.

Thank you in advance for your time and support. We truly appreciate your willingness to participate in this rewarding experience. To sign up to participate in the event, please complete the form, Park Ridge Elementary School Career Day 2026.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact the counseling team at 540-658-6320 or email donovanrl@staffordschools.net.

Join the PRES Spirit Council in collecting pop tabs to help support the Ronald McDonald House - Greater Washington, DC.

Their Mission:

Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Greater Washington, DC (RMHCDC) provides essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare. Collection jars will be in classrooms beginning next week!