Riverside School PTA Newsletter


Friday, September 13th , 2019
CALENDAR


WEEK OF 9/16 - 9/20

Monday, September 16
AFTERS BEGIN
2:00p Play in a Day - Gr 3

Tuesday, September 17
2:00p Play in a Day - Gr 3

Wednesday,September 18
Middle School Open House Gr 7 & 8
8:45a ROPES Photos


WEEK OF 9/23 - 9/27

Tuesday, September 24
GHS Open House Gr 9 & 12
Picture Day

Wednesday, September 25
EARLY RELEASE
8:45a Parent Fluoride Volunteer Meeting

Thursday, September 26
Middle School Open House - Gr 6

Friday, September 27
9:00a PTA Gr 5 Class Coffee


WEEK OF 9/30 - 10/4

Monday, September 30
SCHOOL CLOSED - Rosh Hashanah

Wednesday, October 2
8:30a Fluoride Rinse - Gr 1 Only

Thursday, October 3
GHS Open House - Gr 10 & 11



QUICK LINKS











PEEK AT THE WEEK

MISSED AN ISSUE?
Access our Peek Archive for past issues

If you are not receiving an issue every Friday please email
constantcontactriv@gmail.com 

SUBMISSIONS
Have something to add? Email us at:  peekweekriv@gmail.com

Deadline for submissions is 3pm
on Wednesday of the school week

COMMUNITY NEWS

Review th e RTM News and  BOE News


Sept 24,  National Voter Registration Day. T he League of Women Voters Greenwich will host a voter registration drive at Greenwich High School,  Boys & Girls Club Greenwich,  Neighbor-to-Neighbor,  YWCA.


Check out the Community Calendar  
PTA Highlights
Dear Riverside Parents,

We hope everyone enjoyed Open House last night visiting classrooms, meeting teachers and learning about all the various specials.

The PTA has an incredible enrichment curriculum planned for the year and next week it will kick-off with our annual Arts in Education program for 3rd grade called "Play in a Day."  3rd grade parents will be hearing from their teachers about times to attend the play performance. 

In order to fund all our outstanding programs, we rely on 100% participation in our annual membership drive to join the PTA.  We hope you will consider joining and helping us reach our goal!  And, please don't forget to check and update your directory information for the PTA sponsored Riverside School Directory.  You can access this from our PTA website -  RIVPTA.org.  

For those interested in  learning more about what's happening in our school district, please consider attending the Greenwich Board of Education business meeting next Thursday, September 19th at 7pm at the New Lebanon School.
We also would like to highlight that our new Superintendent, Dr. Toni Jones, has launched a Greenwich Public School Newsletter called the "District Digest" - please check out more information below and subscribe if you want to stay up-to-date.   

Lastly, looking for weekend plans? ...The Greenwich High School Varsity football home opener is this Saturday at 4pm at Cardinal Stadium - come cheer them on!

Have a great weekend,

Kristin Duda & Heeyoon Slater
PTA Co-Presidents
 PTA News
FALL AFTERS
kids exercise
Classes start Monday, September 16th. We are looking forward to an exciting Fall Afters session with lots of new and returning programs that your child(ren) will love!
Help Us Fuel The School! 
* We've reached 65% participation to date - we need your help to get to 100%!!*

Joining the PTA is essential to funding and supporting the many programs we bring to Riverside School each year and also provides you with access to the Online Family Directory! We hope for 100% participation by families in the PTA membership and directory and hope for everyone to join and help us power up and fuel our school together! Membership not only supports all the amazing programs our PTA brings into the school, but also gives you unlimited access to the online and app directory. Visit the website for more information.

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.

GREEN COMMITTEE
Members of the Green Committee were in the cafeteria this week during lunch to review with students what can be recycled, what cannot be recycled and how to best navigate the sorting station.

They reviewed what goes into each of the following bins: Recycling (clean and separate items), Trash (food, wrappers and dirty items), Compost (raw fruits and vegetables) and Liquid (slowly empty without straws). Take a look at the  Town of Greenwich - List of Recyclables  for a comprehensive list of acceptable Single Stream items. Please consider packing lunch and snack in reusable containers and water bottles. This is a simple way to help reduce waste as well as cost! 

It is a great time of year to walk or bike to school. Save the date for National Walk to School Day - Wednesday October 2nd! 

Check out other Green Committee initiative on our webpage!
RAIN GARDEN
The rain garden is full of beautiful, native plants.  It is currently hosting at l east   one monarch caterpillar (see photo, inset) and is being visited by many other pollinators!
SIGN UP FOR SAFETY DUTY
We encourage you to sign up for Safety Duty, which is the coverage to help kids get out of cars safely in the drop-off lane in front of school from 8:30-8:45am (only 15 minutes).  You can sign-up through this safety duty link on the Riverside School PTA Volunteer Homepage.
RIVERSIDE EARLY MORNING PROGRAM  elbow-children-line.jpg
The Early Morning Program at Riverside School provides a childcare option for Riverside students prior to the start of the regular school day. The program runs Monday through Friday from 7:15am until school opens at 8:30am. Any questions, contact Kristine Redlien at  kristine.redlien@gmail.com
PICTURE DAY ORDERS
School Picture Day is Tuesday, September 24th. Please remember to either order online or fill out the form order and return it to school to the basket marked "School Photos" near the PTA birdhouse. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact Valerie Brunet at valeriebrunet1@hotmail.com  or 
MJ Desnoyers at mjdesnoyers@optonline.net.
ANNUAL FALL FUNDRAISER - SAVE THE DATE! 
Please save the date for Riverside School's Annual Fall  Fundraiser, which will be held on  Saturday, October 19th at 7pm at Innis Arden.  This year's event will have a "Riverside U" theme.  Tickets will go on sale soon. 

Thank you so much to all the volunteers who signed up to help with the Fall Fundraiser. We are looking for exciting and meaningful auction items, and would welcome additional input and support! If you would like to donate to the auction, please contact Caroline Higginbotham at  cbhigg@gmail.com .
APPAREL UPDATE! XS AND SMALL SIZES AVAILABLE
Still looking for your favorite Riverside Gear in small sizes?
Order  these hoodies in XS, or these fuzzy pj's in small- more  items will be available in a few weeks. Stay tuned!
 Riverside School News
DENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM
The dental health program will begin the week of September 23.  This program is led by Jeannie Schnakenberg (RDH, BS) at the Town of Greenwich Department of Health. The program includes both an educational portion as well as a dental screening for all the students at Riverside Elementary School. This program is beneficial in continuing to maintain the health and well being of the students. Thank you for promoting good dental health. Parents can also help by providing good, nutritious snacks and lunches for their children.  It has to be a team effort from us all to combat decay and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
FLUORIDE RINSE PROGRAM VOLUNTEER NEEDED
Please sign up to help with the Fluoride Rinse Program. The volunteer meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 25th at 8:45 AM in the school cafeteria. If you have signed up as a volunteer and can't attend, please contact Jeannie Schnakenberg, RDH, at 203-622-3779.
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 Principal Weiss on Monday, Aug 26th with more details).  If you used School Dismissal Manager last year, you can log in with your existing credentials.
5th Grade News 
SAVE THE DATE - ALL 5TH GRADE CLASS COFFEE
Friday, September 27th, 9:00am in the Riverside School Cafe.  Catch up and volunteer for all of the different special 5th Grade activities!
District News 
SUPPORT GROUP FOR GPS SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN  kids_reading_book.jpg
Strong moms and dads raise strong kids. Come network with other special needs families as we form an inclusive and accepting community for our children. Join us for monthly meetings. Our first meeting will be held on September 17 at First Church in Old Greenwich (108 Sound Beach Ave , Old Greenwich) from 6:30-8:30. Refreshments to follow.
GPS WEEKLY DISTRICT DIGEST
Greenwich Public School will be issuing a weekly  newsletter  "District Digest," an e- newsletter  to share news, updates, announcements and more to parents, students, community members, and all others who are interested in staying up-to-date on Greenwich Public Schools.  Click here to subscribe and receive the next  newsletter  directly to your email inbox.  The GPS District Digest  newsletter  is by opt-in only.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at riversideschoolpta@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Kristin Duda and Heeyoon Slater
Co-Presidents Riverside School PTA

 Office: 203-637-1440   -   www.greenwichschools.org/rs