Friday, January 30, 2026

January 30, 2026

 UPCOMING EVENTS AND REMINDERS

*Are you looking for a way to volunteer? As a school, we would love to give you the opportunity to volunteer and supervise our class for lunch. You would arrive at 11:25, take students through the hot lunch line, and then supervise the class as they eat lunch. Students would be dismissed to the playground for recess at 12:05. If you are interested in helping, please check our sign up! Thank you!

* Share the warmth! 

January 26th-February 4th Donate new socks!

Pine Ridge is helping in a very real and urgent need. When the weather turns cold, socks matter more than you think. Every person who stays at Central Church’s Warming Center receives a brand-new pair of socks for warmth, comfort, and dignity. You can help make that happen. If you can help please bring your new socks to school and drop them off at the school office.


GOOD TO KNOW:

  • New socks only (no used socks, please)

  • All sizes welcome

  • Crew or warm socks are best

  • Every pair donated goes directly to someone staying overnight at Central Church’s WarmingCenter


Wacky Wednesdays

February 4 - Pajama day

February 11 -Sports day

February 18 - Hawaiian day

February 25 - Backwards day


The highest percentage of  participants (per class) in each school wins a hot chocolate party! 



* Learning Opportunities for Parents and Educators

The ODC Network is launching a meaningful 4-part speaker series in 2026 featuring nationally-renowned experts who will explore how technology is reshaping our lives and offer practical ways to restore balance for ourselves, our families, and our communities.


Through the generosity of local donors, tickets for the talks in Holland are free (one per email address) and can be reserved HERE.


Additionally, Hope College has opened a lecture to the public that aligns with recent reflections on the impact of technology. The Saint Benedict Institute will host speaker Dr. Jared Ortiz on “The Monk and the Machine: How St. Benedict Can Help Us Preserve Our Humanity in the Digital Age,” on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at 7 p.m. in Winants Auditorium at Hope College. 


Please feel free to share this with your family, friends, and colleagues who may be interested.


* Forest Family Night Hike

We hope you can join us for a special evening in the forest with your family from 6:00-7:30pm on Thursday, February 19! The FS Parent Board has planned a nighttime hike at the FS campus. Families are encouraged to bring headlamps/flashlights and sleds depending on weather conditions. No RSVP is necessary for this event.


*Our class will have a Valentine Exchange on Thursday, 2/12. Students are welcome to bring paper valentines and/or a small treat to share with their classmates. A class list will be provided on Friday, 2/6.


*1000th Day of Learning: We will recognize this milestone on Friday, 2/6.


Curriculum Highlights
BIBLE: We continue to work on the Parables of Jesus. Students are working hard on their parable packet. In their packet they are illustrating the parable and then writing a personal connection about what the parable means to them. 


MATH: Our next math unit covers large number multiplication. We will be learning strategies to help us multiply whole numbers, decimals, and powers of 10.   

READING: We are practicing our informational reading skills. We are reading informational texts to identify details, connecting the new information we learn to our previous knowledge and becoming experts on our topic so we can teach others.  








SCIENCE: We were excited to have snow on the playground so, we headed out to the playground to gather data to help us determine the density of snow and the water ratio.







We then compared our data from January to our data in December ... what did we notice and what did it make us wonder.




WRITING: We have been working hard on completing our Text Feature writing project.


We have also started our work on our Non-fiction Picture Books. We generated topics, created sub topics and then wrote a persuasive letter to Mrs. DeZwaan trying to convince her that we should write on a particular topic.




A note is coming home early next week with some information about how you can help us with our research. Please take a look! We are looking to start our research work the end of next week. Thanks in advance for your help!

OUTDOOR LEARNING SCHEDULE FOR NEXT WEEK

We played some group games - "Pizza Pie Tag" and "Steal the Bacon."

Monday: Wolters Woods
Tuesday: on campus
Wednesday: Sassafras Ridge
Thursday: on campus
Friday: on campus
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