Scotty Updates

Scotty Updates has been created to provide families and staff with information regarding upcoming events, happenings, and programs at Scotland Elementary School. Our newsletter will be sent several times monthly to share news and happenings at Scotland!

Dear Scotland Families,

We are so excited for the start of the 2026–2027 school year! It was wonderful to see so many of you at Open School this week, and we've had a wonderful first 2 days back to school! It was amazing to have our students and staff back in the building! Tim and I are excited to be working closely with our community to ensure a year filled with engaging learning opportunities for all.

The Scotland staff is committed to supporting our students each day and working together to provide a safe, positive, and enriching school experience. Please take a moment to review the important information below:

School Breakfast 🧇:

As you've learned, the district is now offering universal free breakfast for all students, beginning from the first day of school.

• All students will have an opportunity to grab a “breakfast to-go bag” as they enter the building.

• As all students enter through the main entrance, breakfast bags will be available in the cafeteria and then students will walk to their classrooms.

• All students will bring the breakfast bag to their classroom and will have time to eat in the classroom until school announcements begin at 8:45 am.

• Classroom teachers will teach students the routines of the breakfast process, including cleaning up and throwing away trash, during the first few days of school.

• Students are permitted to take a breakfast bag and save it for snack, if they choose. Teachers will instruct students where to keep the bag if it will be saved for later in the day.

• If a student arrives late to school, they may take a breakfast bag from the main office when they check in.

Please review these logistics with your child(ren) to help us with this new process. We anticipate that the “newness” of this opportunity will have many students choosing to take the breakfast bag, especially as they see others doing so. If your child has an allergy and you would like to discuss this process with our school nurse, Mrs. Fry, please reach out. Thank you in advance for your partnership as we introduce this at SES.

Security:
To ensure the safety of everyone, any adult entering the building during school hours—whether for a meeting, classroom event, library helper shift, or other visit—must complete our visitor form (found above) for the 2026–2027 school year before arriving. An appointment is also required for all visits. When you arrive, please remember to bring a valid photo ID.

Classroom Volunteer Coordinators:

Kate Henry is our CVC Coordinator this year, thank you Kate! Please let her know if you’d like to be a CVC this year. Email scotlandelementarypta.com with the subject CVC Request!

We are so excited for this incredible year!

Kind regards,

Jill

• Each class will have one 45 minute essential per day (Art, Library, Music, or P.E.)
• We will continue to follow the six day A-F day schedule
• Please find the essentials rotation below

Monday, August 31st:

• Shortened Day (11:40am dismissal) - (Kindergarten only)

Tuesday, September 1st:

• Shortened Day (11:40am dismissal) - (Kindergarten only)

Wednesday, September 2nd:

• 1st full day of kindergarten

*******************************************************

Monday, September 7th:

• Labor Day – No School

Thursday, September 10th:

• Open House - 5:30pm

School Lunch 🥪

School lunch will be available from the first day of school. Aramark is the District-wide food service provider. The school lunch menu is available online on the RPS website; click Departments and click on Food Service. For all students, utilize MySchoolBucks for families to fund student lunches.

MySchoolBucks is available via the PowerSchool Parent Portal, and communication was sent to families in early August regarding adding funds for lunch. Any balances have been rolled over from LunchTime to MySchoolBucks. Additionally, the district sent a communication in early August regarding Reduced Lunch for eligible students.

Snacks for Purchase in the Cafeteria:

Students in grades 2-5 are permitted to purchase snacks during lunch (last 10 minutes). Please be sure you have set up MySchoolBucks if you would like your student to be able to purchase a snack.

• In short, students eligible for reduced lunch will be provided free lunches in grades K-8 for the 2025-26 school year.
• Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the Free School Meals for Children grant, please do not hesitate to contact the District Business Office.
• Questions in regard to school MySchoolBucks can be directed to Andrea McCurry, RPS Food Service Director at 203-894-5550 x2143 or amccurry@ridgefieldps.net

Website to set up an account.

MySchoolBucks

Some Support Links for Troubleshooting:

Updating Your Payment Method | MySchoolBucks

Setting up Automatic Payments | MySchoolBucks

Adding a New Student | MySchoolBucks

Setting Up Low Balance Alerts | MySchoolBucks

Reset Your Password Using Your Mobile Phone Number

Reset Your Password Using Your Email Address/Username

We will follow a similar drop off / pick up procedure that we did last year.

Arrival

• Drop off begins at 8:20am. Please do not drop off your child prior to 8:20am as there will be no supervision at this time.
• After 8:45am, you will need to walk your child into school, as they are late. The security officer will ensure they check-in at the Main Office. Please do not drop your child off without adult supervision.

Dismissal

• Pick up will begin at 3:15pm.
• As you arrive at SES, make sure you are logged into the School Dismissal Manager app on your phone in order to scan the QR code posted along the driveway.
• In your SDM app, click the blue button that says “Click to check in via QR Code” and we will be notified that you have arrived.
• Proceed forward and stay in the line of cars for parent pickup.

• For the safety of both students and staff, proceed carefully and slowly through the lot.
• Please have your child exit/enter the vehicle when your gear is in the park position and is one of the cars at the front of the line designated for drop off.
• Students must exit the vehicle on the passenger side (building side) of the vehicle. Multiple children must exit on the passenger side. It is dangerous to exit/enter on the driver's side of the vehicle!

• Students need to have all of their items ready in hand and will then exit the car immediately.
• Parents, please stay in your vehicle at all times so that the process will prevent backups on Barlow Mountain Road.
• If you miss the drop off time (after 8:45 a.m.), please park in the front lot and walk your child across the designated crosswalk to the main entrance of the building. If you arrive after the drop off window and must park in the parking lot, we kindly ask that you use the crosswalk.

We will continue to use School Dismissal Manager this year at Scotland. Please click below for information regarding this system. This system will be available to families in late August. A welcome letter will be emailed to families when the system is available. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us!

• For information on RPS chromebooks and policies click here.

• If you have further questions or concerns email: helpdesk@ridgefieldps.net

Under Board Policy 5131.8, students in grades Pre-K through 5 may not bring privately owned technological devices to school, to district facilities, or on district transportation. This includes cell phones, smart watches, fitness trackers, tablets, e-readers, personal gaming devices, Bluetooth speakers, and similar electronic devices. Personal devices should be left at home.

This restriction keeps the elementary school day focused on in-person learning, social interaction, and the development of foundational academic and interpersonal skills. If a staff member finds that a student has a personal device at school, the device will be stored in the main office and returned at the end of the day. The teacher or principal will contact the family.

Assistive technology. When a device or technology is identified as necessary for a student to access their education through an IEP, Section 504 plan, or other documented accommodation, the student will be permitted to use that technology as specified in the plan, whether the device is personally owned or provided by the district. Families with questions should contact their building principal or the Special Services office.

Reaching your child during the school day. Please call the main office. Office staff will get a message to your child.

Supporting your child's technology use at home Families often ask for guidance on smartphones, screen time, and parental controls. The district maintains current resources for families, including guidance on device options and setting up parental controls. See the Technology page on the district website.

E-readers, Nooks, and Kindles are only permitted to support reading in school or on the bus if a teacher determines it is helpful and has told a parent it is allowed.

Playdates and Riding the Bus:

We know how fun it is for our students to get together after school and enjoy time together! Due to safety and limited space on the buses, we are asking that students have no more than 2 guest riders with them at a time. Anytime there is a need for more than 2 additional students to ride, families will need to make arrangements for parent pick up that day. Thank you for understanding!

Hats & Hoodies:

Over the last several years there was no standard hat/hood procedure in the elementary schools, likely related to Covid, when classroom windows were kept open for air circulation and there was the potential for it to be cold in classrooms.

We will continue to only permitting hats to be worn outside the school building. Students may choose to wear a hat, but will be reminded to remove it upon entering the school building. Students will be permitted to wear hats for outdoor recess. Teachers have discussed this with students and I will remind our school community during the morning announcements on Tuesday.

On special occasions/spirit days, hats may be permitted and this will be communicated to students and families.

The Scotland PTA is an amazing support to our school community - students, staff, and families! Joining the PTA helps you stay connected with the school community. You will receive information about family events, before & after school programs, school events, parties and much more! Get to know teachers & staff better with informational sessions throughout the year!

Stay up to date on all of the PTA happenings on the PTA website!

Please let the PTA know if you’d like to be a CVC (Classroom Volunteer Coordinator) this year.

Email scotlandelementarypta@gmail.com with the subject CVC Request!

RPS distribution flyers for outside groups via a Digital Backpack.

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 Organizations that meet the RPS policy may submit their request for inclusion to cmelagrano@ridgefieldps.net. Thank you!

Email: jkatkocin@ridgefieldps.net
Website: https://ses.ridgefield.org/
Location: 111 Barlow Mountain Road, Ridgefield, CT, USA
Phone: 203-894-5825