Oehlert Alert - 09/05/23

Good Morning Ramilies, 

Welcome to the most recent edition of the Oehlert Alert!  There is a ton of information here, so please take the time to review it.  

Cross Country

It was great to watch our Cross Country team compete in their first race last Thursday!  In spite of the unbearable heat, our Ram Runners represented our team well and got to experience an amazing and supportive experience.  If you've never been to a XC race, you may want to join us at SRMS on September 28 as we host a meet.   

Music Classes

Mrs. Warnke and Mr. Spencer joined us this year to teach music and have done a great job creating excitement and engagement with their students!  We have a short video that Mrs. Warnke made of students when they were given a letter informing students which instrument that they would be able to play.  The screams of joy and excitement were amazing to hear, but I am too technologically challenged in order to send it.  Just trust me that this two are doing great things in terms of engaging students. 

October Count

October count is a large source of our funding from the state and federal government and is based on the number of students that we serve.  While attendance every day and on time is always important, it is especially so during the month of September and into early October.  Please remember to call your student into the attendance line at 720-972-5048 if they will be late or if they will not be at school.  Also, please be aware that COVID seems to be making the rounds again.  We follow CDC and Colorado Public Health Department guidance for returning to school which is 5 days isolation from onset of symptoms followed by masking for an additional five days or until you have two negative tests.  If you'd like more information, please click here.  

Dress Code

Student dress code is frequently a hot topic in schools.  At Shadow Ridge, we hope to provide some clarity for you in order for us all to be on the same page.  The Adams 12 Student Dress Code can be found here.  To provide consistency around enforcement and also clarity for families, we wanted to give some clarification around section 2.2 which reads, " Inappropriately sheer, tight, short, or low-cut clothing that bares or exposes traditionally private parts of the body, including but not limited to, the stomach, buttocks, upper thigh, back and breasts is prohibited;".  We have discussed this as a staff and feel that the hardest section to interpret involves how much of 'traditionally private' areas should be allowed to be exposed.  If a teacher or staff member has a concern about dress code, we will have them send the student to the office for two administrators to make a determination about the outfit.  Our intent here is to avoid shaming anyone and not engage in a power struggle with students about what they are wearing.  We will be using a guideline for shirts covering stomachs that the bottom of the shirt must touch the top of the shorts or pants when standing normally.  We intend to spend this week educating students and then transition into making sure students are following the dress code. 

Panorama Survey

The Panorama survey is given to students in grades 3-12 once in the fall and once in the spring. This email has specific information about the version of this survey being conducted this fall. Shadow Ridge students will receive the survey on Monday September 11, 2023 during their social studies classes.

What does the survey ask?

This survey asks questions about:

• How well students think they are able to persevere through setbacks to achieve their goals

• How well students believe they can manage their emotions

• How confident students are in their ability to succeed in school 

• How students feel about their school’s social and learning environment 

• How valued students feel in their school community 

Who can see my child’s responses? 

A small number of staff members will be able to view students' answers. Over the course of the school year, these staff members may review this information to help them better serve students as they interact with them as part of their normal work (i.e. counselor check-ins with students in ninth grade). 

The staff members who will be able to see students’ answers are:

• District administrators

• School administrators

• School counselors

• Mental health providers

• Social emotional learning specialists 

Your child’s teacher will NOT be able to see your child’s answers to the survey questions. 

If you want to see your child’s responses on this survey, please contact our school mental health team or school counseling team.

• Jantrey Meyer, 6th Grade Counselor 720-972-5053
• Deborah Millard, 7th Grade Counselor 720-972-5054
• Pam Trujillo 8th Grade Counselor 720-972-5057
• Rachel Taylor Social Emotional Learning Specialist 720-92- 5061

How will you use this information?

We will use responses to this survey to explore trends and patterns across our school that will inform how we approach social and emotional wellbeing for all students.   

Opt out information 

If you do not want your child to complete this survey, please complete the opt out form attached to this email. 

Thank you for your participation in this survey. We are excited to learn more about the social-emotional needs of our students in order to provide them with the best possible educational experience. 

Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions

Priority Improvement

Lastly, I wanted to notify you all about state test scores, please read on for a formal notification of this and what it means.  

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Pursuant to the Education Accountability Act of 2009, all public schools in Colorado are required to develop unified improvement plans that outline targets for performance outcomes and strategies that the school will implement to achieve academic improvement. Schools may be required to implement a performance plan, improvement plan, priority improvement plan, or turnaround plan. Based on results from the Colorado School Performance Framework, Shadow Ridge Middle School  will be required to develop a Priority Improvement plan during the 2023-24 school year. 

The school was assigned to this plan type based on performance not meeting state expectations in the areas of Academic Achievement and Academic Growth. 

The district is required to submit Shadow Ridge Middle School’s unified improvement plan to the Colorado Department of Education on or before October 1, 2023. To meet that deadline, the plan will be developed according to the following timeline: 

We are hard at work developing and implementing a plan that we are confident will improve both Academic Achievement and Academic Growth.  If you would like to provide any feedback to this plan, please attend our School Accountability Committee meeting on 5:30 pm on September 12, 2023. 

Prior to adopting a plan, the Adams 12 Five Star School Board  will hold a public hearing on Oct 4th, at 7pm, in Adams 12 Educational Services Center. For more information, please contact me directly.  

 

Matt Oehlert

(he/him/his)

Principal

Shadow Ridge Middle School

720-972-5043