PRM School Rocker

Greetings PRM Families,

February is a meaningful month at Pleasant Ridge Montessori as we celebrate African American History Month and honor the lasting contributions of African Americans to our history, culture, and daily lives. Throughout the month, students will engage in learning experiences that highlight leadership, resilience, creativity, and community. We encourage families to continue these conversations at home by discussing themes of equity, belonging, and respect, fostering ongoing engagement and shared understanding.

As we move through the third quarter, our focus remains steady: strong instruction, meaningful relationships, and growth for every child. Even during recent challenges, including winter weather and a brief facilities issue, our PRM community demonstrated resilience, showing incredible patience, flexibility, and perseverance. Seeing our students adapt and grow through these moments should make families feel proud and hopeful.

📘 Midterm Progress Updates

Third Quarter Midterm grades and comments will be live in Focus on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. For detailed updates on school events and your child's progress, please log into our school platform or contact your child's teacher. These updates provide a helpful snapshot of your child’s progress and an opportunity to celebrate growth and set goals for the weeks ahead. We will host conferences on Thursday, February 12, 2026. Please reach out to your child’s teacher to schedule a conference or for additional support.

📊 Instructional Focus & WIN Block

Our teachers are carefully reviewing i-Ready Winter Diagnostic results to guide instruction and support student growth. This data helps inform our WIN (What I Need) Block, where students receive targeted intervention or enrichment aligned to their individual needs. You may hear from teachers about intervention groups, tutoring, or instructional supports as part of this work.

⏰ Attendance & On-Time Arrival Matter Consistent attendance and on-time arrival at school help students start their day calm, connected, and confident. Supporting punctuality reassures families that their children are set up for success and fully benefiting from classroom instruction and WIN Block learning.

Consistent attendance and on-time arrival at school help students start their day calm, connected, and confident. Please continue to support on-time arrival so students can fully benefit from classroom instruction and WIN Block learning.

PRM is a special place because of the strength of our community, our students, families, and staff working together with a shared commitment to learning and care. Your ongoing partnership, encouragement, and trust help us create a welcoming environment. Thank you for being an essential part of our community, and we look forward to a safe, healthy, and meaningful February together.

With gratitude,

Principal Simpson

Email: simpsoa@cpsboe.k12.oh.us

Event updates throughout the month are available on www.prmrocks.org/calendar

*You can subscribe to this calendar on your personal device by finding the green “subscribe” button on the top right side of the calendar page and following the directions.

Saturday, February 7 – PRoM Fundraiser from 7:00-10:00pm in the PRM Gym (adults only)

Wednesday-Monday, February 4-9 – Candy Gram Sales @ lunch for $2 each

Monday, February 9 – No School – Staff Conference Make-Up Day

Wednesday, February 11– LSDMC Meeting @ 3:00pm (virtual)

Wednesday, February 11 – PTO Meeting @ 6:00pm at PRM (Library)

Wednesday, February 11 – Foundation Meeting @ 7:15pm at PRM (Library)

Thursday, February 12 – Staff Appreciation Lunch

Thursday, February 12 – Parent Teacher Conferences from 3:00-6:00pm at PRM

Thursday, February 12 – 3-6 Information Night @ 5:30pm at the PR Presbyterian Church

Monday, February 16 – No School – Presidents’ Day

Wednesday-Friday, February 25-27 – 6th Grade Field Trip to Camp Kern

Monday, March 2 – No School – Staff Professional Development Day

Wednesday, March 11– LSDMC Meeting @ 3:00pm (Library)

Wednesday, March 11 – PTO Meeting @ 6:00pm at PRM (Library)

Wednesday, March 11 – Foundation Meeting @ 7:15pm at PRM (Library)

Friday, March 13 – End of Third Quarter

Happy February! The 3-6 team will celebrate African American History Month with the rest of the school. We have a couple of days off and third-quarter conferences coming up – check for specific dates. Kindergarten families, please watch for communication from your student’s teacher regarding an upcoming kindergarten field trip. Also, look for communication from teachers about Valentine's Day exchanges or celebrations (these are done on a class-by-class basis). In Kindergarten ELA, we have finished teaching students the 26 letters of the alphabet, their sounds, and how to write them. This month and next, we will be reviewing short vowels, reading words with consonant blends, and irregular words. We will also be restarting our WIN block with new groups and new teachers. WIN runs Monday-Thursday, alternating between our ELA and Math groups each week.

The 6-9 Community, along with all of PRM, has had a few strange weeks. However, once our learners are back in our building, the 6-9 Teachers are ready to dive into learning. All of our middle of the year testing for iReady and Acadience has been completed! Therefore, academic groupings have been made for our weekly WIN (What I Need) lessons. Reading specialists, classroom teachers, and administrators collaborated on this process to ensure each child receives instruction at their appropriate level. Ms. Jackie has also reached out to teachers to organize and finalize her schedule. Any new data will be shared with you during our Quarter 3 Parent Teacher Conference Night on February 12, from 3:00-6:00pm.

Your student is traveling to Green Acres and The Aronoff this month for field trips, and while some have needed to be rescheduled due to weather and school closures, all of our students will still experience the joy!

The 6-9 teachers will continue our academic lessons and community-building activities here at school.

At the same time, we ask you at home to continue to be our partners on this educational journey!

The 9-12 team has been busy keeping warm by preparing for our new Reading and Math WIN (“What I Need”) blocks! We will use our Winter Assessment Data to target instruction to meet the academic skill needs of our small groups.

Our floor has also been busy planning and preparing our 6th-grade students for their final months at PRM. Abram Owens created a clever T-shirt design that was voted on by his peers as the official 6th-grade T-shirt. Congratulations, Abram!

At the end of this month, we will also be wishing our 6th graders luck as they embark on a PRM rite of passage…a trip to Camp Kern (Feb. 25-27)! Don’t worry, many of our 4th and 5th-graders will get their fair share of adventure, too. Our 5th graders will be taking a trip to Music Hall with Ms. Wahl in the coming weeks. We also have some rotations that are visiting Green Acres Farm.

We look forward to hosting families and caregivers for conferences on Thursday, February 12th, from 3:00-6:00pm. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your student’s homeroom teacher.

Coming Soon...

Coming Soon...

Coming Soon...

9-12: We are learning to code our own video game using our coding curriculum, Kodable!

6-9: We are working on coding basics using Kodable, and starting our Black History Month research project!

Kindergarten: We are ROCKING our mouse skills! We will alternate between mouse skills and learning about African American STEM pioneers!

Coming Soon...

Imago educators are excited to start the Winter Seed Starting Lesson with classes next week! Students will learn about plant life cycles and will even get to start some seeds of their own. In other news, the weekly Outdoor Education special and Outdoor Explorers Club starts back up on the third of March. Looking forward to a spring of learning outdoors! Don't forget to check out how you can support PRM's Outdoors Reimaged project. For any questions regarding the Outdoor Education program at PRM, please reach out to Zoe, Program Director for Imago, at zvanasse@imagoearth.org.

Even though this winter has us bundling up against the cold, the Pleasant Ridge Montessori community is still staying warm with gratitude and excitement! Our incredible staff shows up every day with care, patience, and dedication for our children, and we’re thrilled to celebrate them with a Staff Appreciation Lunch on February 12, catered by Piada. This is just one small way we can say a big thank you for all they do, especially during these chilly months when their warmth matters most.

We’d love your help making this staff lunch extra special!

Ready to bring items in? Sign up to donate food or volunteer your time.

Can’t make it in to drop off items? No problem – you can still contribute directly toward the lunch.
Every contribution helps, and we’re so grateful for this supportive community!

Please plan to join us at our next PTO Meeting on Wednesday, February 11, at 6:00pm in the library.

February is a busy month for Foundation! We are so excited about the upcoming PRoM Fundraising event, coming up this Saturday, February 7, from 7-10 PM. It's not too late to join us - tickets are available online at https://givebutter.com/c/72RIYR and can be purchased at the door as well. There are also some really great raffle prizes available - and you do not need to be present at PRoM to win.

All proceeds from PRoM will go towards the new PRM Outdoor Initiative. Momentum is building, and our goal is to secure enough funding to start Phase1 construction (new garden + turf field/mini pitch) this coming summer. But we need your support! If you're interested in setting up a conversation about how you can be a part of this - please reach out to our fundraising leads Andy and Beth Freeze (atfreeze@gmail.com, bethfreeze@gmail.com). They've been meeting people all over town to talk about the possibilities and would love to talk to you, too!

The Candy Gram fundraiser is also returning this month - just in time for your student to share the love with all their friends and community members! Candy Grams will be sold at school and online from February 4-February 6, and passed out the following week, closer to Valentine's Day. If you're interested in helping make this fun happen, you can sign up to volunteer. Proceeds raised will go towards Foundation's annual fundraising needs.

The Clothes Bin (green textile recycling box) remains an easy way to support the Foundation's annual fund. We received a total of $610 for just 4 months of use in 2025. Let's keep that going into 2026!

Our next Foundation meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, at 7:15 PM in the PRM Library, directly following the PTO meeting. Come join us!

ILT meetings are held on most first and third Mondays at 2:30pm at PRM and are open to anyone who wishes to attend. We have received funding from the school district to keep the same number of teaching positions next year.

We are currently working through our Title I funding. This funds two current reading specialists and a data coach for the school, as well as several field trips and extracurricular activities. We do not have sufficient funds to hire an additional math specialist.

Our next LSDMC meeting will be our last virtual meeting of the winter – please join us on Google Meet on Wednesday, February 11, from 3:00-4:30pm. The PRM community is invited to ask questions and learn more about both district and state policies and plans that influence the upcoming year at PRM.

We're in the process of approving budgets and supporting the spring semester goals for our ONE Plan.

Basketball teams will continue playing throughout February. At the conclusion of the season, all 3rd-6th-grade teams will participate in a postseason tournament from February 27 – March 1. Full schedules remain available on the league website by home games or by team.

Spring sports registration is now available, through 11:59pm on Sunday, February 8th (Baseball, Track, and Little Roadrunners will continue registering players through March). You can find the links for registration at www.prmrocks.org/athletics. If a team you are interested in is sold out, please email prmathletics@gmail.com to be added to the waitlist. Boosters can only form more teams if we have enough interested players and additional volunteers willing to coach.

Please keep the electronic link to the Code of Conduct handy for your records. There will not be paper copies printed this school year.

All parents/guardians are asked to submit this form to acknowledge receipt and review of the Code of Conduct.

We must be consistent in acknowledging and enforcing our school uniform policy. Our uniform policy is liberal enough to include several options for families. All PRM Spirit Wear is considered part of the school uniform.

While we don't like to take time away from instruction to deal with uniforms. We must all be consistent to ensure this doesn't become a major issue during the school year.

Please see the policy below and in the PRM Student Handbook.

Cincinnati Public Schools:

513-363-0123

Cincinnati Children's Hospital PIRC intake line:

513-636-4124

Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect:

513-241-KIDS

Suicide Prevention Hotline:

1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Crisis Textline:

Text 4HOPE to 741741

Disaster Distress Helpline:

1-800-985-5990

Domestic Violence Hotline via Women Helping Women:

513-381-5610

Our Character Program centers around:

Respect, Ownership, Compassion, Kindness and Safety, Safety, Safety!

Below are the three school-wide expectations that we expect students to follow throughout all parts of our learning community. Please support us by reinforcing these at home.

• Be Respectful
• Be Responsible
• Be a Problem Solver

Email: simpsoa@cpsboe.k12.oh.us
Website: www.prmrocks.org
Location: 5945 Montgomery Road
Phone: 513-363-4400