RPS Update

As October draws to a close, autumn is in full swing across Ridgefield, and with Halloween tomorrow, there was a tangible sense of excitement in our hallways and classrooms!

This past Monday, October 26, the Board of Education met for their regular meeting. We kicked off foundational conversations that will guide our FY28 budget development and capital planning. We also marked an important milestone in our Strategic Planning Process-our Initial Design Team concluded its initial phase and our Steering Committee officially convened this week to continue on to next steps. As always, transparency and community input remain at the heart of this work, and you can count on regular updates, surveys, and focus group opportunities as we move forward together.

Behind the scenes, our Leadership Team has had a busy and collaborative week. Yesterday and today, we spent dedicated time reviewing our District Capital Plan with Director of Educational Technology, Dr. Taylor Wrye and Retired Facilities Director, Joe Morits, ensuring that both our digital tools and school facilities continue to support high-quality teaching and learning.

Looking ahead to the weekend, Friday night lights are back on at Tiger Hollow as we cheer on our Ridgefield Tigers, including celebrating our student-athletes during tonight’s Senior Game! I will be doing the same with my son, Andre! Tomorrow, as Main Street and neighborhoods fill with little ghosts, goblins, and trick-or-treaters, I kindly ask all drivers, especially our young drivers, to use extra caution, drive slowly, and keep our streets safe for everyone.

Happy Halloween, and don’t forget you get an extra hour of sleep this weekend, and no school on Tuesday, Election Day!

Warmly,

Susie

Susie Da Silva, Ed.D

Please help RPS go green by checking your students' e-Backpack weekly for important information and events from our community. Community organizations and groups can submit flyers for inclusion by emailing Christine Melagrano.

Clocks fall back an hour on Sunday morning. Fire officials and the American Red Cross recommend using the time change as a reminder to test smoke alarms, check alarm batteries and expiration dates, and review emergency escape plans.

Please review your school calendar regularly for important dates. The Board of Education committee meeting calendar is ongoing so please check the District calendar periodically for additions. RHS Robotics competition is next Saturday at RHS!

Last week, Level 1, Level 5Honors, and AP Spanish classes had a great trip to the Playhouse for the Ballet Hispánico BH2 performance, reports RHS World Language Department Chair Allyson Powers. Ballet Hispánico is a world-renowned dance group that fuses traditional and modern music and dance styles. Through excerpts from the Ballet Hispánico repertoire, students learned about how the arts can communicate cultural identity, history, and shared experiences.

High school classroom concepts met real-world industry action recently, as Ridgefield High School (RHS) business students traveled to MetLife Stadium for New York Jets Sports Business Day. Designed to offer young aspiring professionals an insider look into the high-stakes world of sports management, the immersive field trip exposed students to top NFL front-office executives, dynamic business operations, and exclusive stadium access.

Throughout the day, students participated in behind-the-scenes panel discussions and educational stops across key stadium zones, including the luxury boxes and the Commissioners Club. Executives from Group Sales, Human Resources & Talent Management, Sports & Business Analytics, International Markets, Community Relations & Charitable Initiatives, and Social Media & Digital Marketing—shared their career journeys, personal triumphs, and daily strategies. The speakers delivered engaging, actionable lessons focused on networking techniques, personal brand building, and navigating the coveted first internships in sports business.

The unforgettable day culminated in a signature moment as students walked out through the tunnel and directly onto the field, experiencing the excitement of gameday.

Dice are rolling, hotels are going up, and students are diving deep into hands-on project-based learning at the Alternative High School (AHS). On Wednesday, juniors in Nicholas Cecere’s U.S. History class played the first game of Gilded Age Monopoly—AHS style. This student-created version of the classic boardgame was a Project-Based Learning (PBL) unit that showcased the power of interactive learning.

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As students took turns moving their game pieces around the board they had adapted, they showed how weeks of targeted research informed the project. Brianna researched tenements, discovering a font of information about urban life, including that there were three different types of tenements. Khloe considered Westward Expansion, including the Oregon Trail and the rise of railroads. Harry’s research on immigration highlighted Ellis Island as a gateway from Europe and Angel Island as an important Pacific immigration station. Noah became an expert in big business and Gilded Age names like Rockefeller, Standard Oil, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie.

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Students bought and sold properties that they had selected for inclusion and illustrated with images. Instead of standard game spaces, they passed “Go to America” to collect $200, and “Go on Strike” as a bow to a strike’s disruption for workers and big business. For the cards known in traditional Monopoly as Chance and Community Chest, students wrote future historical consequences and adaptations that changed outcomes for workers and immigrants, each contributing two cards. For example, “F.D.R. signs the Fair Labor Standards Act, establishing a minimum wage, collect $50.” “Rise of Nativism spreads anti-immigrant sentiment, pay $25.” For Chance, they looked at political cartoons and had to provide the correct interpretation to move forward.

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Creating Gilded Age Monopoly encouraged collaboration, autonomy, creativity, self-direction, hands-on learning, and positive interactions between teacher and AHS students. Mr. Cecere credits student Noah with coming up with the Gilded Age theme when they were discussing creating a game. Students are making game pieces in their CAD elective with Dr. Kara Mia Colon for a true interdisciplinary lesson. Read more about the CAD elective and ways the new campus supports STEM lessons in the October 16 issue of RPS Update.

Christen Riegel's Scotts Ridge eighth graders immersed themselves in a Mixed Media Canvas project based on a theme of their choice.

Last Friday, Branchville Elementary School PTA members gathered for a general meeting led by school psychologist Dr. Matt Annunziata and district evaluator, lead facilitator, and psychologist Katie Greges. Their presentation, titled “Navigating Big Feelings: Practical Tools for Growing Emotionally Strong Kids,” offered families resources, support, and a comprehensive look at fostering healthy emotional growth in students at school and home.

BES PTA Co-President Julia Romeo wrote, “We could not have been happier with Dr. Annunziata and Ms. Greges' presentation. Parents are already asking me if we will have another, and if we will turn it into a speaker series! I had one parent who said that these tips will be a "lifesaver" for her family, and another who said that it made them feel less alone hearing other parents sharing their struggles with their children's big feelings.”

Dr. Annunziata and Ms. Greges discussed a variety of skills RPS staff use to support students. They highlighted CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, an overarching framework for teaching these core SEL competencies. They also explained four tools for RULER, an evidence-based approach designed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence that helps children Recognize, Understand, Label, Express, and Regulate their emotions. To show how these concepts shape the daily school environment, they discussed Responsive Classroom, a framework that integrates academic and social-emotional learning to create a safe, supportive classroom culture where every child feels included.

A particular focus of the morning was DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) and lessons for students to practice self regulation. Ms. Romeo shared that the “Real strategies based in DBT were so applicable to us as parents, and it was an incredibly healing environment for a lot of our parent community. I personally am so grateful that we have such talented faculty in RPS, who are not only working with our students but willing to take time to educate the parent population through presentations like today's.”

The morning was a wonderful reminder of the strong partnership between RPS faculty and our PTA community. More about Social and Emotional Learning at RPS can be found on the You BELONG at RPS webpage.

On Wednesday, Farmingville Elementary Library and Media Specialist Marissa Sallati helped coordinate FES Wears Pink Day to spread breast cancer awareness. FES hosted a breakfast for staff with pink decorations and raised funds to donate to the Cancer Couch Foundation.

This foundation, based in Southport, CT, was introduced to Ms. Sallati by a dear friend and colleague who is courageously battling breast cancer herself. The foundation exclusively funds metastatic breast cancer research, making this cause especially meaningful. Thank you to Ms. Sallati (and other FES sources) for sharing this day with us.

Ms. Sallati writes, “As we gathered this morning, it quickly became clear just how many lives have been touched by breast cancer. Everyone seemed to know someone with a story to share, and we spent time sharing our own experiences and honoring loved ones. It was a powerful reminder that, even though our experiences may be different, this cause connects so many of us. The statistics are a sobering reminder of why this work matters.

“Approximately 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, and metastatic breast cancer research continues to face significant funding challenges, with estimates suggesting that only 13–30% of breast cancer research funding goes toward metastatic disease. There is still so much work to do to raise awareness and support research for those living with metastatic breast cancer.

“Although our event was just one school staff coming together, we felt incredibly proud of what we accomplished. More than anything, it was a meaningful moment of connection, compassion, and togetherness within our FES community. We hope to build on this year's efforts and extend our awareness and impact even further next year!”

On Wednesday after school, the Best Buddies Club put on costumes for the annual RISE Trick-or-Treating extravaganza. 26 staff members stayed after school to greet the spooky friends as they traveled from classroom to classroom for candy and camaraderie. One paraeducator was overheard over the Halloween hallway soundtrack saying, "I love this school."

A stop at Christopher Antal's fully decorated science classroom (a collaboration between students and Mr. Antal), complete with glowing blow-up ghosts, cobwebs, and plenty of bats and spiders, was a highlight for some. SRMS Library Media Specialist Rachel Durand treated the friends with library books wrapped up as presents.

After they combed each hallway, even stopping at the office for treats from Principal Tim Salem, Assistant Principal Lisa Frese, and the gang, students gathered in the RISE classroom to share their choice for favorite candy—many bonded over a love for Twix, KitKat, and anything chocolate; not one student said candy corn but all differences were celebrated. Then, club faculty advisors Holly Rivers and Taylor Leach put on a Halloween dance video, and students danced the sugar out. Yay for inclusivity! 1RPS

It’s 8:00 on a Saturday Morning. Do You Know Where Your Child Is? If your child is a member of the RHS Debate Club, there’s a good chance they’ve already arrived at another high school somewhere in Connecticut, dressed for business and preparing to argue about the future of the world.

Welcome to debate.

On tournament days, RHS students trade their usual classroom routines for timed speeches, rapid-fire questions, careful note-taking, and arguments about issues that matter far beyond high school. One round might require students to defend a position they personally disagree with; the next might challenge them to respond to an argument they’ve never encountered before. The goal is, in part, to speak confidently—but it’s also to think critically, listen carefully, and build a convincing case, often with very little time to prepare.

And yes, sometimes that means arguing both sides of the same issue. For Senior Captain Will Knispel, debate has significantly improved public-speaking skills and confidence. Meetings balance rigorous practice debates on current political issues with games that challenge students to think quickly, communicate clearly, and even speak without using filler words. One favorite, the “filler word challenge,” asks students to debate topics as delightfully absurd as, “Is water wet?”

Senior Captain Gabriel Fincham points to another benefit: learning to see issues from multiple perspectives and think more analytically. At monthly tournaments, students receive a packet of articles on a current issue, have one hour to prepare, and then compete in four rounds, arguing both sides of the resolution. Topics have ranged from U.S. defense of Taiwan, to the use of CRISPR technology to revive extinct species.

For Junior Captain Nidhi Bharadwaj debate offers something that extends well beyond high school: the ability to pursue personal interests while developing public-speaking skills that carry into any future profession.

The club meets Wednesdays from 2:20 to 3:30 p.m. to discuss current events, practice arguments, and explore ways to engage thoughtfully with challenging ideas. In an increasingly polarized world, debate offers students a powerful lesson: understanding an argument isn’t the same as agreeing with it. Sometimes, the best way to strengthen your own thinking is to learn how to argue the other side. And on Saturday mornings? They’re already on their way to prove it.

Visit the RHS Athletics webpage for full schedules and team results.

Congratulations to our RHS Fall FCIAC Exemplary Scholar Athletes, Alia D’Amico and Samuel Feliciano. Read more about the Exemplary Scholar Athlete Program on the FCIAC website.

Alia has been accepted to the National Honor Society and has achieved a 4.3 GPA and is a High Honor Roll student while taking mostly AP and Honors classes. She is a captain of the field hockey team, and she runs for the indoor and outdoor track and field teams. Alia was a recipient of the NFHCA National Academic Squad recognition. She has volunteered for Special Olympics, Ridgefield Thrift Shop, Girl Scouts, and Ridgefield youth field hockey. Alia also runs a non-profit art business that donates its funds to Experience Camps.

During these last couple of days of October, aka National Principal Month, shout-out to these three amigos, Barlow Mountain, Scotland, and Farmington principals, who brought purpose, school spirit, and coordinated brown sneakers to the final meeting of the Strategic Planning Initial Design Team. Style and substance! Can we get a sponsor? #rothys Just kidding, of course!

Halloween falling on a Saturday is ideal for extended fun and lots of treats. Here's a selection of the fun, creative costumes we saw in the District this morning. Scotland Elementary announced their Spring musical, Nemo JR; Branchville and Veterans Park teams are on theme for Peter Pan. We spy beavers, an all-star essentials team, many minions, birds that might not typically flock together, pre-k piggies, and field trip survivors. Maybe nobody does the 80s like East Ridge, and SRMS dogs are sure to win some costume contests. View the heartwarming story above about Scotts Ridge Middle School's Best Buddies Trick-or-Treating. 1RPS

Every bunny loves this team of adorable Ridgebury carrots.

Editor's reminder: We love sharing photos and stories from the RPS Community every week, so please continue to reach out! At times, we make errors, which we correct in the next newsletter; to avoid confusion and cluttering inboxes, we resend a corrected newsletter only when necessary. You can reach out to Alison Pratt to submit stories, corrections, and feedback.

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