Alston Ridge Families:

 

I wish each of you a happy start to the week following a beautiful weekend across our community! In school, our students are well-established in their classroom communities and making terrific growth schoolwide. As we work our way through the third quarter of the school year, we continue to monitor and assess each student’s progress so that we can adjust the ways that we individualize instruction to meet every child’s need. Thank you for your support for our teachers and the ways that you are encouraging and empowering learning at home.

 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher(s) with any questions and concerns regarding your child’s progress and success. If you have not already been able to meet with your child’s teacher in the second semester to discuss their progress, there is still time! We care about your child’s academic, emotional, and social development and hope that you will discuss with us how we can continue to better support your child.

 

The following are a few reminders about upcoming deadlines and new health guidance—

 

Virtual Academy 2022-2023

We are preparing for the return to in-person learning for all our Alston Ridge students for 2022-2023. All current Virtual Academy families with students in grades K-4 should report their Track Preference to be returned to a track assignment (families who elected Virtual Academy do not have a current track assignment according to the district’s learning agreement and must be newly assigned to a track for the new year).

 

Track Change Request Period 2022-2023

The results of Track Change Requests that were submitted during the month of February will be communicated by May 1. Virtual Academy families should provide their Track Preference for reassignment to in-person learning for the new school year: Track Preference (current VA families).

 

Single Subject Acceleration: Deadlines for Nomination

The nomination window for SSA for the 2022-2023 school year in WCPSS will be at the end of March for Tracks 2-4. Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) is a practice through which students meeting qualifying criteria in grades K‐7 can take advanced academic content in mathematics or English/Language Arts. Requests come from parents via this ARES 2022 SSA Test Request form during their request window. For more information, please review this slide show: ARES 2022 SSA Parent Information and WCPSS AIG SSA Page.

 

Parent Test Request Windows: Track 1: 2/21—2/25, Tracks 2,3,4: 3/21—3/25 Parent test requests must be sent before the window closes for their track. Testing will be administered during the following weeks: Tracks 1,2,3: 4/4—4/19 and Track 4: 4/18—5/3

 

Face Covering Requirements and Health Guidance

Following recommendations from the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the Governor of North Carolina, Wake County Schools Board of Education has approved new face covering guidance that strongly recommends, but does not require, face coverings to be worn in school buildings across the district beginning on March 7. In accordance with state health guidance and district policies, our school and faculty will continue to layer mitigation strategies by maintaining rigorous cleaning protocols, hand washing, social distancing during eating and drinking, and learning pods that have helped to maintain a healthy learning environment at Alston Ridge Elementary throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

State and national public health officials maintain that the most significant protection against serious illness and spread for COVID-19 is vaccination for children and adults. As district policy adapts to improving health conditions locally, we look forward to the continued reopening for our school in ways that sustain community health. If you have any questions regarding new health and safety guidance, please feel free to contact our school’s administration or your child’s teacher. The most up-to-date health guidance for the school district will continue to be available at https://www.wcpss.net/covid19.

 

Please let us know if we can be of any assistance in the days and weeks ahead. We are grateful for our community’s support for the health and safety of our school, the dedication to our students’ learning, and for the support for our faculty and administration. If you have a question or need anything, call 919-544-2474, or e-mail your child’s teacher or one of the members of our administration: Assistant Principals, Mrs. Melissa Oliver (moliver2@wcpss.net) and Mrs. Purvi Shah (pshah@wcpss.net) or your school’s principal, me, Mr. Niko Schutte (nschutte@wcpss.net).

 

Thank you,

 

Niko

 

BRIXX SPIRIT EVENT – March 16, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Brixx at Parkside Commons is donating $4 for every adult entree/pizza purchased and $1 for every kids meal to ARES from 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.! Just show them this flyer when placing your order (or mention it if placing by phone, online or by app): flyer.