March 27, 2020
Dear Ridgewood School Community,
Thank you for all that you have done to make week two of this historic situation in U.S. public education so successful. You may have heard that yesterday, Governor Murphy tweeted:
“Let me be clear: The decision to reopen school districts rests with me. We will not be prepared to revisit the closure until at least April 17th, at the very earliest. The decision to reopen will be based on careful discussion with our public health and safety experts, and with our educators and districts. We will be guided by facts on the ground. “
That does definitively provide us the start of a time frame. I do believe the number of illnesses will be what drives the decision to open schools. Over the next several weeks, we need to hunker down, practice proper social distancing, and be there for each other.
MENTAL HEALTH: We want your children, our students, to learn and progress academically through the rest of this school year. At the same time, we are cognizant of the many factors impacting mental health. I know I share the sentiment of all educators that we do not want our students and their families to be overstressed from remote learning and fears related to the virus. If you feel anxiety escalating in your child or family, please reach out to your child’s teacher or principal. They will help. These are extremely difficult times even without the addition of home instruction. I have noticed a significant increase in my own stress level. Having most of my own children home with us has been an adjustment, but we are not managing a daily school routine in addition to our work responsibilities. Please reach out if you need assistance.
FEEL YOU MAY HAVE SYMPTOMS: If you feel sick with COVID-19 symptoms, you should contact your physician. The physician will be able to assist you and provide the next steps. Additionally, the NJ Department of Health (NJDOH) has set up the following to answer your questions:
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Call: 2-1-1
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Call (24/7): 1-800-962-1253
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Text: NJCOVID to 898-211
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Visit https://covid19.nj.gov/ or nj.gov/health for additional information
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Valley Hospital: 201-447-8000 If you feel you have symptoms, Valley Hospital has set up a system to answer your questions.
SOCIAL DISTANCING: Please start thinking about how you will handle social distancing during the spring break, which is the week of April 6-10.
REMINDER: Use the links below for important information from the Village and the district. If you have not received a phone call from Mayor Hache, you have not signed up for the Village alerts. Please do so.
- Sign up for Village E-Notice System – https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/village-info/enotices-and-alerts-registration.
- Twitter Accounts – @RwdPub Schools and @RWDSupt
- District Facebook Page – @RidgewoodPublicSchools.
ANNUAL SCHOOL ELECTION: The Annual School and Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, May 12. All registered voters will be receiving vote-by-mail ballots, and there will be no polling places in the May 12, 2020 elections. For more information, click here to visit the website of the Bergen County Clerk’s Office. You can still register to vote if you have not already done so. Information can be found here.
CENSUS 2020: It’s time for a friendly competition. Once you complete the census, send your redacted “receipt” to your principal or just let your principal know it is complete. Let’s see which school has the highest percentage of completed questionnaires. If you have multiple children in a school, each one counts. If you have children in multiple schools, send the receipt to each principal.
- Fill out the Census online at https://my2020census.gov/
- Or you can respond by phone at 844-330-2020.
Contest results as of 3.27.2020 (The contest is open until the Census 2020 closes.)
- 1st – BF
- 2nd – GW
- 3rd – RHS
- 4th – Willard
- 5th – Hawes; Orchard; Ridge; Somerville
- 6th – Travell
TODAY’S GAME SUGGESTIONS:
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Opening Day in baseball has passed. Time to take out the Wiffle ball and teach your kids about your glory days. Don’t worry about your arms…you are going to be home for a while…you have time to heal.
Other things you can do:
- Keep moving! This weekend, get out and hike. Just remember, if you travel to a trail, there may not be bathrooms or places to get food, but you are out in nature. https://tinyurl.com/t35u6sp
- Here are some really cool NEW Twitter feeds. @Physics-astronomy.org and @NASA. Let me know the coolest tweet you have seen!
- Movie/TV – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- Baked goods: Energy Balls (No baking) https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/245429/no-bake-energy-balls/ I know it looks like something you would hang in a tree for a bird or put in a mousetrap, but they are good. Not a Rolo, but good.
- Home Project: Recycling – When was the last time you re-thought your efforts to recycle. Now is the time. See the link to the Village website on recycling. https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/menu-dpw/recycling
- Remember the Ridgewood Public Library has online resources. https://www.ridgewoodlibrary.org
- Call someone. They will appreciate it. If you can make a video call, that’s even better for face-to-face connection.
- REMINDER: This is for dads and students only. Moms, look away! Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10th. If you are like me, you purchase gifts for your wife at the last minute because she sees every credit card transaction. Online banking! So, strategize now about how to pull Mother’s Day off without a florist, restaurant, or last-minute shopping trip. You do not want to mess this up when you have no place to escape!
