Alston Ridge Families:

 

This past month has continued to be an exceptional time at Alston Ridge has celebrated Science Fair winners, community chess champions, the accomplishments of Band members, and countless academic achievements. We are grateful for the many ways that family support has made these milestones possible. Our school is proud to serve our community, and we thank you for your support.

 

The following are community announcements, updates and parent information:

 

Assistant Principal

Mrs. Purvi Shah has been an outstanding assistant principal at our school since joining the Alston Ridge community in 2021. As of March 31, Mrs. Shah will step away from school administration to spend more time with family. We miss her already, and we are grateful for her service!

 

Mrs. Shah has been preparing for her transition and our faculty has been actively engaging local and national candidates for our search. This coming Tuesday the WCPSS Board of Education will name a new assistant principal for Alston Ridge Elementary School to join Mrs. Oliver and me in guiding our school. We look forward to the chance to grow our leadership and continue a tradition of excellence at Alston Ridge.

 

SSA Testing

Single-Subject Acceleration (SSA) nominations are being accepted for 2023 - 2024. 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 2023 SSA Test Request form during their request window. For more information, please review this slide show: ARES 2023 SSA Parent Information and WCPSS AIG SSA Page. 

 

Parent Test Request Window—Track 2, 3, & 4: 3/20 – 3/24. The Track 1 request window is now closed.

 

Track Changes

In the month of February families submitted their Track Change requests for 2023 – 2024. Continued enrollment pressures will limit the number of Track Changes that are able to be accommodated. Balanced assignment across our tracks is a priority to maintain consistent class sizes and vertical staffing alignment across grades. The results of the Track Change requests will be communicated by May 1. The annual Track Change request window will re-open in February 2024 for the following school year.

 

Kindergarten Registration

Registration is ongoing for kindergarten for 2023 – 2024. Due to the enrollment cap, all families are initially added to the capping list; however, initial assignments will be made by May 1. At that time, as many rising kindergarten families as possible will be assigned to the available seats. Any families with rising kindergarten siblings are encouraged to register immediately. After April 1 the school will no longer be able to guarantee matching track assignments for siblings.

 

Intent to Return

At the end of March all families will be asked to communicate their plans for the 2023 – 2024 school year. Communicating to the school whether or not your child will return to begin the new school year, and if your family has any plans to transition away from Alston Ridge during the summer is important for planning hiring decisions and calling back students who are capped out and currently attending an overflow school.

 

PTA Meeting

Monday evening at 6 p.m. the Alston Ridge PTA will hold its first in-person General Meeting since 2020. Held only 3 times per year, General Meetings are a great opportunity to learn about how families are supporting the school and faculty with investment and programming. Plan to join in-person in the Media Center or participate virtually via Google Meet (link will be posted on the ARES PTA website and will be sent through PTA e-mail)

 

Andia’s Ice Cream

Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather, families will join the Alston Ridge PTA for a “spirit night” fundraiser at Andia’s Ice Cream on Monday, March 13. The locally owned shop has non-dairy options, a wide variety of ice cream flavors, and will contribute 10% of all sales to the school. Andia’s will open from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. This will also be a first chance to meet our newly appointed assistant principal competing in an ice cream eating challenge, and to connect with other ARES students and parents.

 

Chess

Triangle Chess will begin leading 12-week chess programs at Alston Ridge for interested students on Mondays (the first 12-week session begins on March 20). Each class begins at the end to the school day and ends at 5 p.m. This fee-based community program is a partnership to continue to increase access to a wide range of enrichment on the school’s campus. The chess program is the culmination of a lengthy effort to bring professional coaching to the school. Register for the upcoming session via the Triangle Chess homepage. Other on-site community programs include the Silicon Andhra Telugu language school, TGA Golf and Tennis coaching programs, local NCFC youth soccer, i9 volleyball and soccer programs. We look forward to the start of this new partnership for the convenience of our families.

 

NC Children’s Book Award

If you are looking for some good books, consider joining our Media Coordinator Mrs. Estes and our students who are participating in the NC Children’s Book Award. Students who read at least 3 of the nominated books can submit votes to the library by March 30^th. Digital copies of the nominated books are available through the Wake County Public Library’s online book collection for students/families with a Wake County library card. Thank you to the ARES PTA for providing additional copies of these titles for our library, and to Ms. Estes for sponsoring our school’s inaugural participation in this program.

 

Thank you for your continued support!

 

Sincerely,

 

Niko Schutte