Welcome To Our School Blog!
Message From Our FORCE Staff
August 16, 2021
August 16, 2021
Happy Monday FORCE Families!
We hope that you and your children had a wonderful first full week of school at The Farm! It has been an awesome start to the 2021/2022 school year, and seeing the smiles on the student's faces as they get more comfortable with their classrooms, teachers, and new friends, is awesome to see! We can't thank our families enough for their support and understanding with our school safety mandates and procedures.
Our hope is to keep this blog updated frequently so that you can be informed of upcoming events, news, happenings, and important information regarding Fiddyment Farm Elementary and the great experiences your child will be having here at our school this year. Fiddyment truly is a special place, where our staff thrives on building relationships with students and parents, in hopes to build a partnership that make everyone's time here safe and enjoyable, especially for our young learners.
In this blog you will find school updates, important safety reminders, PTC information, acknowledged students and staff, lunch menu, after school enrichment info and community event flyers.
Have a wonderful rest of your week, and remember to always - "BE A FORCE FOR GOOD"
Ryan Poulsen - Principal
&
Fiddyment Farm Staff
Our school mission is to maximize learning for each member of our FORCE!
We are the F.O.R.C.E.
F - Focused O - Organized R - Respectful C - Compassionate E - Encouraging
Follow Our Story - Click the circle links:
The Farm has indeed grown in size this school year! We are very excited to welcome all of our new students and families this year - we are up to 660 students! Only Junction and Orchard Ranch have more students than we do!
With more students come more amazing staff here at Fiddyment! We have brought on some outstanding new teachers and support staff - Check them out!
- Ken Kikosicki - (TOSA - Teacher on Special Assignment) - "Mr. K." as the kids call him, is a veteran teacher of 20 years who comes over from Blue Oaks Elementary to be our TOSA this year! Every elementary school in RCSD is lucky to have a TOSA for the next couple years, who will serve as an extra support to teachers in numerous ways - For Mr. K and his experience as a leader at Blue Oaks, he will enjoy supporting teachers and students all year long!
- Kelli Brusaschetti - (1st Grade Teacher - Rm. 6) Mrs. Brusaschetti is a seasoned teacher with years of 1st grade experience that comes over from Orchard Ranch to join our awesome 1st grade team - we are very lucky to have her at The Farm.
- Danielle Schmidt - (2nd Grade Teacher - Rm. 17) Mrs. Schmidt has returned to Fiddyment after having taught online for Diamond Creek last school year. We are so lucky to have back one of most talented, dedicated, phenomenal teachers back on staff!
- Jacee Lempner - (4th Grade Teacher - Rm. 24) Ms. Lempner is a brand new teacher, but her learning roots are from The Farm! Jacee was a student teacher at Fiddyment Farm last year in Mrs. Harless' 3rd grade class. When she finished student teaching, she also served as a long term sub for us in 4th and 1st grade. She knows the students and staff very well and we are thrilled she gets to be at Fiddy to begin her teaching career!
- Jake Swisley - (5th Grade Teacher - Rm. 28) - Mr. Swisley comes to us from Gates Elementary School - a veteran teacher with experience in all grades, he brings humor, fun, and variety to the classroom - the students are going to love him!
- Heather Hall - (5th Grade Teacher - Rm. 31) Mrs. Hall has 30 years of teaching experience in both elementary and middle school. She has also taught with Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Williams in the years past, so they were both ecstatic to have her join the 5th grade team - we are very thankful to have her knowledge and expertise on the team!
- Kirsten Ratliff - (3/4 SDC Grade Teacher - Rm. 12) Mrs. Ratliff actually joined our team mid year last year as our RSP teacher when Mrs. Trexler had to go out on a leave of absence. With Mrs. Trexler back in RSP, we are beyond lucky to keep the enthusiastic and talented Mrs. Ratliff on staff to teach our new 3/4 SDC class!
- Desmond Hansen - (PE Teacher) - Mr. Hansen takes over for our amazing Mrs. Burkhead who retired at the end of the year. Desmond is already familiar with our school, as he taught PE a few years back here and is ready to take up the role again, along with his awesome aide - Mrs. Dockswell.
- Chris Cazneaux- (Music Teacher - Rm. 27) - Mr. Cazneaux is a first year music teacher and will take over for Mrs. Foree, as she has taken a position in Sacramento. Chris brings excitement and fun to the music program and he has already made a huge impact on staff and students his first week here - his fun, musical games will have students longing to attend his class every week!
- Support Staff - We also have some new faces of support staff that help out behind the scenes to support the school and students each and every day.
- Rachael McCoy - SDC IA
- Stephanie Harada - SDC IA
- Tyler Maines - Night Custodial Support
- Susan Chaney - Food Services Cashier
Some fantastic new members of Team FORCE that will help keep our school running strong!
Our main priority for having a wonderful environment for students to learn in is, to keep them SAFE!
And that starts as soon as they arrive at school, all the way to when they leave our campus for the day!
We promise to do our part with proper student supervision, preparing students for emergency situations, and responding to student needs - however, WE NEED YOUR HELP!
How can you help? Most of all, you can help out with drop off and pick up! We need all parents/guardians to adhere to proper safety procedures of the parking lot, and most of all, be courteous to each other out there!
PLEASE...
1. Always give the right away to walking students and family members - please don't be in so much of a hurry, that you are willing to put walking or biking children's safety in jeopardy!
2. Always observe the proper flow of traffic in the parking lot. There are arrows and signs everywhere - do not be someone who breaks the rules, just to save yourself a few seconds of waiting!
3. Always pull forward in the loop - it is not fair to make others wait behind you because you want to sit and wait in a certain spot - please consider others, as you would want them to consider you!
4. NEVER park in the loop or the parking lot lane - this hinders and holds up traffic immensely, and also drives everyone else who is following the rules, to be very upset - if you need to park to exit your vehicle to walk with or pick up your child - please park in the lot in an appropriate parking stall!
5. MOST IMPORTANT - DRIVE SLOWLY and FOLLOW THE LAW at all times!
And that starts as soon as they arrive at school, all the way to when they leave our campus for the day!
We promise to do our part with proper student supervision, preparing students for emergency situations, and responding to student needs - however, WE NEED YOUR HELP!
How can you help? Most of all, you can help out with drop off and pick up! We need all parents/guardians to adhere to proper safety procedures of the parking lot, and most of all, be courteous to each other out there!
PLEASE...
1. Always give the right away to walking students and family members - please don't be in so much of a hurry, that you are willing to put walking or biking children's safety in jeopardy!
2. Always observe the proper flow of traffic in the parking lot. There are arrows and signs everywhere - do not be someone who breaks the rules, just to save yourself a few seconds of waiting!
3. Always pull forward in the loop - it is not fair to make others wait behind you because you want to sit and wait in a certain spot - please consider others, as you would want them to consider you!
4. NEVER park in the loop or the parking lot lane - this hinders and holds up traffic immensely, and also drives everyone else who is following the rules, to be very upset - if you need to park to exit your vehicle to walk with or pick up your child - please park in the lot in an appropriate parking stall!
5. MOST IMPORTANT - DRIVE SLOWLY and FOLLOW THE LAW at all times!
Parent Teacher Club (PTC)
We truly value the partnership between the school and our families, and no one fosters that better than our Fiddyment Farm Parent Teacher Club! The parents/guardians that help volunteer with school events and activities are very special and very much appreciated!
We are looking forward to another year of wonderful events coming up this year, some that help fund special projects/enrichment/activities at the school, and some that just help to bring our community together!
Here are some awesome events/activities that PTC organizes and puts on:
*Be aware, some of these events are still ON HOLD with current COVID-19 protocols.
Dance A Thon (Like a jogathon, but more fun!)
Harvest Festival
Scholastic Book Fair
Spring Carnival
Father-Daughter Dance
Mother-Son Night Out
Skate Nights
Dine Outs
Harvest Festival
Scholastic Book Fair
Spring Carnival
Father-Daughter Dance
Mother-Son Night Out
Skate Nights
Dine Outs
Popcorn Fridays
In order for these events to occur and give our students and families a valuable community experience
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!
If you are able to help out the PTC with volunteering - please email the current board members at:
If you would like more info about our fabulous PTC which includes calendars, link to spirit wear purchase, and staff information - check out their website!
Like them on Facebook for reminders and info as well!
Where do the funds go that is raised from events? Glad you asked - check out below just a few of the awesome things that our families help fund with their generosity!
School Assemblies
Technology
School Musical
Extra PE and Music Materials
Library Books
Community Events
Teacher Classroom Supplies
Extended Curriculum and Conferences
Project Lead the Way Funding
Check out the August Edition of the PTC Newsletter with some info on upcoming events and information to start off the year!
We would LOVE your help! If you are interested in volunteering here at Fiddyment Farm, please click on the link to our district website - Volunteer Policy Page. There you will find information about the policy, the difference between Category I and Category II Volunteer, and all the needed paperwork in PDF form to get started! - Thank you for your time!
Each Friday is spirit day - students and staff are encouraged to wear their school spirit shirts, or sport the school colors - black and gold! The class with the most students to sport their spirit for the day, wins the coveted "Spirit Stick" as a reward, to keep in their classroom for a week! Next week the competition begins - make sure to wear your school colors and/or Spirit Wear next Friday....and every Friday!!!!
HOW DO I GET SPIRIT WEAR?
This school year, we are re-focusing our PBIS (Positive Behavior Expectations and Supports) structure to be more simplified for our students. We are going to continue with our character themes of F.O.R.C.E. - Focused, Organized, Respectful, Compassionate, Encouraging, and put more emphasis on good character traits and habits.
On the behavior side, to simplify the "behavior" expectations, we continue with
Be Safe - Be Responsible - Be Respectful
These are very simple for our students to understand, and are easy to reinforce and celebrate when students follow expectations and make good choices! These 3 main behavior expectations, will also carry over to Cooley Middle School, as they use the same 3.
When students do make good choices and follow behavior expectations, and show great character qualities of the F.O.R.C.E., they will be acknowledged at different times of the year, in different ways, from awards, to FORCE Tickets, to prizes - we want to acknowledge our FORCE students for showing up every day and being a true "FORCE" in our school!
If your child comes home with a FORCE ticket stub - they made a really good choice at school and should be encouraged to continue their positive choices and behaviors in the future!
*NOTE
The Breakfast at Fiddyment Farm will ALWAYS be the
CONTINENTAL BAGGED BREAKFAST!
Thank you for reading our blog and supporting Fiddyment Farm Elementary School!
The Governing Board is committed to providing equal opportunity for all individuals in education. District programs, activities, and practices shall be free from unlawful discrimination, including discrimination against an individual or group based on race, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital, pregnancy, or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or genetic information; a perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.
