Dear Ridgewood Families:
We hope this message finds you and your family well during these unusual and uncertain times. In our continued effort to communicate with families, we have a number of updates to share.
First, we would like to congratulate Mrs. Gina Castellano on being approved by the Board of Education as the next Principal of Ridgewood High School! She officially started the role on July 1. Mrs. Castellano has been in the District for 15 years and has served as a School Counselor, Dean of Students and Assistant Principal. We are excited to have her as our new Principal!
New State Guidance for Fall 2020
The school year is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 24th. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released guidelines for K-12 schools to resume in-person instruction for the upcoming 2020-21 school year.
This 60-page document will help us in answering the critical questions all of us share about what the upcoming school year will look like in terms of in-person learning, scheduling, wearing masks, social distancing and other measures intended to keep everyone safe, while also re-engaging students in the learning process. What we do know for certain is that we must follow these Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Requirements:
- Require the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including face coverings;
- Prohibit more than 50 individuals from gathering in one space;
- Require social distancing be observed, as much as possible;
- Conduct symptom screenings and temperature checks or require self-certification that individuals entering school buildings are symptom free; and,
- Increase schoolwide cleaning and disinfection.
Our school district has already formed a transition team that is discussing options for the fall. We are kindly asking for your patience as our team thoroughly reviews the ISBE guidance and implements the suggestions into our own transition plan. We hope to share our plan with families in late July or early August.
We are also gathering important feedback on the opening of school from our families and need your participation in an online survey that will be sent to your email address. Your responses to this survey will be a critical part of our planning and will only take a few minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for completing this survey no later than July 8, 2020. Please complete a separate survey for each child.
Return to School Family Survey (English)
Regresar a la Escuela: La Encuesta
Повернення до школи
Ankieta powrotu do szkoły
Registration/ Enrollment:
All families must complete our online enrollment/ residency verification process in order to register your student for the 2020-21 school year. You will enroll your student using Skyward “Family Access” by clicking on the Skyward link at www.d234.org and log in with your Family Access credentials. Please call (708) 697- 5548 or email jtan@ridgenet.org if you need help logging into your account. EVERY family will need to complete the “Enrollment/Residency Verification Process” for each Ridgewood student before the student can be registered for school.
Residency Verification
There has been a change to our residency procedures for the 2020-21 school year. District 234 has contracted with an outside vendor to automatically verify the residency of all students. If a family's residency is verified through this process, no other steps need to be taken. If we have further questions about residency, families will be contacted to provide further information (mortgage, lease, etc.). A list of documents is listed on our website and can be found at https://www.d234.org/student-life/residency/. Any questions, please contact Lori Freese at lfreese@ridgenet.org.
Registration and Fee Payment
Any remaining fees for the current 2019-20 school year should be paid in full. Any remaining balance owed to the school will be added to the 2020-2021 fees. Once your child is enrolled and residency verified, 2020-2021 school fees can be paid beginning JULY 2, 2020.
Student Schedules
Student schedules will be released only when all enrollment steps have been completed (online registration, residency verification, and fee payment). Student schedules will be released in batches on the following dates: 8/6, 8/13, and 8/20. If a family completes the registration process after 3 p.m. on Thursday, August 20th, the student’s enrollment will be processed in 3 business days. This means that the student’s start date will be deferred three business days from the date of enrollment completion.
Schedule Changes
To request a schedule change, students should fill out the google form located on our website https://www.d234.org/student-life/schedule-change/
Schedule changes will be completed starting August 3rd. Counselors will contact students via email regarding any schedule change request. Students should attend their scheduled class until hearing from the Student Services Department. We do our best to honor all requests; however, if a class is already full or conflicts with another course, we will not be able to change a student’s schedule.
Fall SAT (Seniors)
Ridgewood High School will offer the SAT with Essay on Wednesday, October 14, 2020. Any Senior student may choose to participate in the ISBE-provided fall 2020 SAT with Essay to meet the diploma requirement and have the opportunity to receive a timely college- and scholarship- reportable score. Any grade 12 students who choose to participate in the ISBE-provided fall 2020 SAT with Essay will not be required or allowed to participate in the SAT spring testing date in 2021. The October testing date is for senior students only. Any Senior that does not participate in the Fall SAT will be required to participate in the spring 2021 administration of SAT with Essay to meet the graduation requirement. Specific information regarding the October testing date will be communicated in early fall.
Parking Permits
Seniors will be offered the first opportunity to obtain a parking permit for the 2020-21 school year. The fee for a parking pass is $100 for the school year. Students must have a valid driver’s license in order to apply. Any interested student must complete THIS FORM by Wednesday, August 1 at 12:00AM. Completing this form does not guarantee a parking spot. If we have more interest than spots available, The Dean of Students will use a lottery style drawing to determine who receives a final application from the Dean’s Office. At that point, the official application with payment will be due.
Yearbooks
The 2019-2020 school yearbook delivery date has been delayed. The yearbooks are on their way to the school but we do not have a specific delivery date. We will notify you when they arrive.
Summer School
Students who received an NM (Not Met) in any course have been enrolled in our extended school year. The second session begins on July 6th and runs through July 25th. Extended school year is staffed with certified teachers to assist students in meeting their course essentials. Each student has been assigned a summer advisor who is assisting each student in navigating their remaining course work using our Remote/E-Learning structure. Students who do not complete course essentials by July 25th will be enrolled in an intervention period in lieu of their early release/ late start in the fall to continue completing their course essentials.
As the summer progresses, we will keep you updated as decisions are made. We thank you for your continued support, understanding, and flexibility as we navigate through this unprecedented time.
Have a safe and enjoyable summer.
Sincerely,
The RHS Admin Team