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PEEK AT THE WEEK
MISSED AN ISSUE?
If you are not receiving an issue every Friday please email
constantcontactriv@gmail.com
SUBMISSIONS
Deadline for submissions is 3pm
on Wednesday of the school week
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COMMUNITY NEWS
This fall, the YMCA has developed new programs and services to keep our community engaged and active as we navigate through this ever-changing climate. Many of the YMCA's programs are offered on various days of the week and weekend, and classes are limited in size allowing our instructors to focus on each participant and maintain social distancing guidelines. You can find more information in the
Neighbor to Neighbor Food Donation Drive Every Thursday at St. Paul's. Food donations for Neighbor to Neighbor are being accepted at St. Paul's Riverside every Thursday from 10-11:30am. The need right now is particularly high. Items of greatest need are proteins such as beans, peanut butter and canned tuna, but all non-perishables are gladly accepted and appreciated. Just drive up, pop open your trunk and St. Paul's will get your donations to N2N.
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Dear Riverside Parents,
Congrats on getting through another week of school and we hope you're able to rest today. For our in-person families, we made it through the first seven school days. Hooray! This is undoubtedly a testament to the great planning, preparation, and hard work of our school's administration and faculty, whom we thank wholeheartedly. Whether in-person or remote, we hope all your kids have been enjoying their first few days of getting to know their teachers, being reacquainted with friends, and meeting new ones. As the year kicks off we want to send a few important reminders to check off your to-do list.
Have you...
We encourage all families to join the PTA if you haven't already. PTA membership will provide access to our online directory, as well as many other benefits of being part of the Riverside PTA community. We count on the membership drive to support the many programs and experiences we provide throughout the year. Please help us reach our goal of 100% participation!
Don't forget that Monday is Photo Day (rain date is Tuesday)! The whole photo day process has been modified to ensure our students are safe (see below). Remote students will be sent an online sign up sheet this weekend to pick a time slot between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. to be photographed in an outdoor location at Riverside School, so keep an eye on your inboxes and please make sure you place your order for photos ahead of time, as well!
This Friday, September 25 will be our first School Spirit Day - Red Hawk Day! Whether from home or in-school, show your Riverside pride by wearing a Riverside Ropes Shirt, the color red, and/or any Riverside School spirit wear. Go, Red Hawks! Send photos of your children showing their Riverside School pride to RiversideReel@gmail.com.
Finally, the district has identified September 29 as our virtual Back to School Night. Save the date!
Enjoy your weekend!
Heeyoon Slater & Carey Bisbee
PTA Co- Presidents
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PHOTO DAY - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Coffee Pond Photography will be on site on Monday, September 21 to take individual photos of each student. Rain date is Tuesday, September 22.
If you haven't done so already, please order your pictures online at Coffeepond.com or send in your order form with your child on Monday. If you order online there is no need to print your order or send in anything with your child.
This is an excellent opportunity to capture treasured memories of your child. A gentle reminder to the 5th grade parents that Monday's picture will be their yearbook picture!
**Coffee Pond has implemented a safe way to take students' individual portraits. This year, we will not be to taking any group pictures of classes. Only individual pictures will be taken.**
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UPDATE YOUR DIRECTORY INFORMATION AND JOIN THE PTA
Please go RIVPTA.ORG and follow the steps provided to update your information, including your child(ren)'s new teacher, for the Online Family Directory. Once your info is up-to-date, be sure to join the PTA to gain unlimited access to the directory. The PTA relies on the generosity of our families via our annual Membership Drive. Funds raised go towards student enrichment programs, classroom and building needs, as well as teacher support. If you have moved or have new phone or email information, please let the school office know as well!
And thank you to everyone who has contributed a donation to join the PTA so far - this is an important fundraiser to help us get up and running for the year.
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2020 VOLUNTEER FAIR - LAST CHANCE
The PTA is looking forward to another year of supporting Riverside School students (face-to-face and remote learners alike) and staff - all of which can't be done without the help of our parent volunteers.
We encourage you to visit our Virtual Volunteer Fair to learn about many of the PTA's events and programs, and indicate an interest in any volunteer opportunities that appeal to you. Though you can always volunteer and join a committee at any time, we will be closing the form on Sunday, September 20.
Please note: To submit your areas of interest, you must have an updated profile on rivpta.org.
Whether your family is learning face-to-face or remotely, there are many different ways for you to get involved. Here's to a successful year ahead, and thanks in advance for volunteering!
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EARLY MORNING PROGRAM IS UP AND RUNNING!
The Early Morning Program at Riverside School provides a fun, familiar place for kids to go before school starts from 7:15-8:30. You may enroll your child for a semester or pay by the day on an as-needed basis. Visit the Early Morning Program Page on rivpta.org for more information and to enroll your child. We are only accepting online registrations and payments this year.
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FALL FOOD DRIVE 
Riverside School is excited to hold a Fall Food Drive Tuesday, September 29 - Friday, October 2. All unopened and unexpired donations will be allocated to local food pantries in desperate need during these unprecedented times. Baby food and formula are also requested. The drive will be as contactless as possible and will be orchestrated in a drive-thru manner at pick up and drop off. Trunks of vehicles can be loaded with the donations and volunteers will easily unload without having to be in close proximity to passengers. What a great way to start off the school year by giving back to our community!
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DOWNLOAD THE SCHOOL DISMISSAL MANAGER APP
We are using School Dismissal Manager again this year. It is
an excellent online tool that will notify the school when anything needs to be changed in your child's dismissal plan for a particular day. Please create a login to manage your child(ren)'s attendance and dismissal information (please refer to the email sent from the school on Wednesday, Sept 9th with more details). If you used School Dismissal Manager last year, you can log in with your existing credentials.
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EMAIL DISTRIBUTION LIST
The PTA email distribution list is based on the contact information given to us by the school. If you would like any additional members of your household to receive our weekly Peek at the Week and emails sent from the Constant Contact platform, please email constantcontactriv@gmail.com with the address you wish to be added.
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 PACKING A WASTE FREE LUNCH
Back to school means back to packing lunches! Waste Free Greenwich has some tips and info for a "Back to School: Packing a Waste Free Lunch"
Packing a waste free lunch with reusable containers has many surprising benefits over single-use disposables:
- Safe! Based on the best available science and guidelines from health experts, reusable wares can be used safely by employing basic hygiene and sanitation.
- Healthier! Choosing reusables reduces exposure to chemicals of concern found in disposable products, like PFAS and styrene, that have negative health effects.
- Saves Money! Packing a reusable lunch and snack instead of disposables can save families over $400 per student annually.
- Better for the Earth! Life cycle analyses show that reusables have significantly less environmental impacts than single-use disposables, including energy use and air pollution.
- Cuts Waste! Every year the average student tosses 67 pounds of packaging and 39 pounds of uneaten food. Lunch in reusable containers could save over 58 million pounds of trash in Connecticut that we pay to haul and burn.
Some tips to turn a wasteful packed lunch into a zero waste meal:
- Buy snacks in bulk and sort them into reusable bags and containers for less waste and expense than individually prepackaged snacks
- Choose reusable lunch boxes, sacks or containers over single-use bags, foil or plastic baggies
- Drink water and other nutritious beverages from a BPA-free reusable bottle instead of single-use plastic bottles, cans, juice boxes and pouches
- Pack a reusable napkin and utensils
Ask your children to bring home uneaten food, so quantities and selections can be adjusted as needed.
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COME ENJOY THE GARDEN AT RIVERSIDE
The native plant gardens behind the school are full of flowers and pollinators. See if you can find a monarch caterpillar on the milkweed. There were two on Tuesday! Our vegetable garden is absolutely overflowing with tomatoes. And If you look closely, you may be able to spot some wacky yellow cucumbers and some carrots. We will be following up with families who signed up at the virtual volunteer fair to share details about fall garden care.
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PARENT REMINDERS
- When dropping off anything in the bin outside please LABEL everything with your child's name and teacher.
- Parents must use School Dismissal Manager when their child will be absent or late for any reason and also if their child will be leaving early. Since parents are not allowed in the building at this time, entering an early dismissal in SDM will take the place of signing them out.
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Remote Learning School News
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PTAC REMOTE SCHOOL & STUDENT ACTIVITIES - RIVERSIDE REPRESENTATIVE NEEDED
Greenwich PTA Council is the umbrella organization formed by the fifteen PTAs of the Greenwich Public Schools. To represent and advocate for the unique needs and concerns of the remote learners and their parents/guardians, PTAC plans to establish the Remote School & Student Activities Special Committee. Riverside School needs a representative on the Committee. Responsibilities include:
- Providing input into plan of work/goals
- Working with co-chairs and PTAs, to achieve the goals of the committee
- Serving as one conduit for communication in both directions between Remote School parents in general, and Remote School parents assigned to the representatives' Neighborhood Schools in particular, with the Neighborhood Schools' PTA and administration
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JOIN THE GREENWICH REMOTE SCHOOL FACEBOOK GROUP
If your family has opted for remote learning, please consider joining the Greenwich Remote School informal Facebook group (created by parent volunteers) for conversation, collaboration, connection and communication at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/gpsremote.
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BOE MEETINGS NOW VIRTUAL
Board of Education meetings are easier to attend now that they take place over Zoom--stay informed! Here is a list of 2020-2021 academic year Greenwich Board of Education meetings. Information on how to access the meetings can be found on the GPS Accessing Virtual BOE Meetings page. All meetings start at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
- Saturday, October 3, 2020 (Retreat, no public comment)
- Thursday, October 22, 2020
- Thursday, November 5, 2020 (Budget)
- Wednesday, November 18, 2020
- Thursday, December 3, 2020 (Budget)
- Thursday, December 17, 2020
- Thursday, January 21, 2021
- Thursday, February 18, 2021
- Thursday, March 25, 2021
- Thursday, April 8, 2021 (Retreat, no public comment)
- Thursday, April, 22, 2021
- Thursday, May 13, 2021(Retreat, no public comment)
- Thursday, May 20, 2021
- Thursday, June 3, 2021
- Thursday, June 17, 2021
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GPS WEEKLY DISTRICT DIGEST
Subscribe to receive the Greenwich Public School weekly "District Digest" e-newsletter directly to your email inbox.
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