Blue Ridge CUSD #18

Good afternoon, due to the impending storm, Blue Ridge will be using E-Learning Days for both Wednesday, 2.2.22 and Thursday, 2.3.22. All students will be learning remotely according to their building/grade level remote schedules. As a reminder, two days of meals will be sent home with K-6th grade and offered to 7th-12th grade this afternoon. Please be sure to check backpacks! YZone and SHIELD testing are cancelled for 2.2.22 and 2.3.22. Freshman Orientation will take place virtually on 2.2.22 at 7 pm. Instructions are in 8th grade students' emails. Other athletics and activities will be determined in cooperation with coaches, sponsors, and administration. Messages will be sent accordingly. Weather will be monitored over the next few days and a decision about Friday, 2.4.22 will be made and communicated as soon as possible. Thank you. Be safe! #br_u_knighted

Reminder that the lunch menu for the High School and Schneider has changed for today. Walking tacos will be served in place of the soft tacos. BRIJHS will remain the same as on the menu and the alternative lunch is also the same.

Have you signed up yet?? 4-H STEM Wednesdays: Join 4-H Teen Teachers from the Blue Ridge High School STEM Club on Wednesdays from February 9-March 16 for Hands on STEM Activities at Schneider Elementary. We are teaming up with the Blue Ridge Y-Zone afterschool program to bring some Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics excitement, but you don’t have to be a current Y-Zone member to participate. This program series is $15 for non-Y-Zone members and FREE to current Y-Zone members who have paid to attend on Y-Zone on those Wednesdays. Register before February 4 at https://extension.illinois.edu/events/2022-03-16-dewitt-county-blue-ridge-stem-club-wednesdays https://5il.co/14cs2. #br_u_knighted

How do you feel about the weather forecast? Personally, I love snow, but I may be in the minority on that! Knowing that a significant storm is approaching, we have made some TENTATIVE plans. Meal packages will be sent home Tuesday afternoon with all K-6th graders, and offered to all 7th-12th graders. The packages will contain school meals for two days in anticipation that we may have E-Learning Days on Wednesday, 2.2.22, and Thursday, 2.3.22. We will formalize the plan either Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. If we need to remain on E-Learning for Friday, 2.4.22, we will send out a meal form on which you can sign up to receive meals for that day. As a reminder, E-Learning Days include instruction and meal service, so they are not made up at the end of the year. SHIELD testing and YZone will not be available on any E-Learning Days this week. Coaches and activity sponsors will contact students regarding extracurricular activities. Join me in the weather watch and we'll be in touch with finalized plans as soon as we can. #br_u_knighted

Softball and Baseball registration is now open for the 2022 Summer League. Online registration is open and available now, as well as walk in registration on Feb 2. Check out their website for more details and upcoming events. http://clubs.bluesombrero.com/farmercity

There has been a lunch menu change for tomorrow at the High School and Schneider. Walking tacos will now be served in place of the soft tacos. BRIJHS will remain the same as on the menu and the alternative lunch is also the same.

BR Families, the most updated COVID guidance can be found in the two linked documents: https://5il.co/14t5t-2 and https://5il.co/14t5s-2. Some of the most common questions recently have been about Test to Stay and early release from quarantine/isolation. Test to Stay is not available for household members nor for any contact outside of the regular school day hours, such as extracurriculars. Early release from quarantine/isolation is dependent upon proper and consistent masking on days 6-10. Please refer to the full guidance for greater detail. Thank you. #br_u_knighted

The Eastern Illinois Foodbank and Trinity Community Fellowship are teaming up to bring the FOODMOBILE to you on February from 9:30-10:30! If you reside in DeWitt, McLean or Piatt County and meet the income eligibility guidelines, be sure and reserve your spot by pre-registering. Check out the flyer for more information! https://5il.co/14qwi

BR Parents/Guardians, it's time to give you information about the district's 5Essentials Survey. We would greatly appreciate our parents filling out this annual survey! Please see the letter with parent participation information here: https://5il.co/14ma7. For the student survey, if you would prefer to opt your 4th-12th grade student out of participation, please see the linked form here: https://5il.co/14ma6. Thank you! #br_u_knighted

This month's newsletter is linked here: https://5il.co/14ma1. Are you wondering if there is a trivia question inside? Thank you for reading our updates! #br_u_knighted

Good afternoon BR Families. Please read the remote learning update for next week in the letter linked here: https://5il.co/14lju Thank you. #br_u_knighted

PK-8 Yearbooks on Sale Now! The yearbook will again be delivered in August of 2022 to your child's school and distributed the first week or two of school. Please use the link below to order your yearbook. If you have any questions please email Mrs. Hardesty at mhardesty@blueridge18.org. https://www.jostens.com/apps/store/productBrowse/1088274/Blue-Ridge-Intermediate-and-Junior-High-School/2022-Yearbook/2021091713020245099/CATALOG_SHOP

Softball and Baseball registration is now open for the 2022 Summer League. Online registration is open and available now, as well as walk in registration dates on Jan 21 and Feb 2. Check out their website for more details and upcoming events. http://clubs.bluesombrero.com/farmercity

BR Families, we have an update for Thursday and Friday regarding remote instruction. Families of 7th and 8th grade students, please note there is a change for your students from how they have been learning earlier this week. Thank you. https://5il.co/14hav #br_u_knighted

4-H STEM Wednesdays: Join 4-H Teen Teachers from the Blue Ridge High School STEM Club on Wednesdays from February 9-March 16 for Hands on STEM Activities at Schneider Elementary. We are teaming up with the Blue Ridge Y-Zone afterschool program to bring some Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics excitement, but you don’t have to be a current Y-Zone member to participate. This program series is $15 for non-Y-Zone members and FREE to current Y-Zone members who have paid to attend on Y-Zone on those Wednesdays. Register before February 4 at https://extension.illinois.edu/events/2022-03-16-dewitt-county-blue-ridge-stem-club-wednesdays https://5il.co/14cs2. #br_u_knighted

BR Families, please read the attached letter regarding a school closure due to increased COVID cases. https://5il.co/14cqx Thank you for your understanding and support. #br_u_knighted

Reminder: lunch menu change for today! Beef and noodles, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cuties will be served in all buildings today.

Lunch menu change for Thursday, January 13. All buildings will be served Beef & Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli and Cuties.

Good morning! Our purple bus is running about 10 minutes late this morning. Thanks to our sub driver for making this route possible today! #br_u_knighted

Please read the following message from Debby Adams regarding Blue Ridge Athletics. Hello, I wanted to inform you what the current status of the Boosters is. My son graduated last spring. Because of Covid, I stayed on as President. Kristina who is currently secretary and treasurer has no children in high school. We have only one other parent who regularly attends meetings and a very limited number of volunteers. The Cash Bash has been a labor of love for the past 7 years. We have raised money and funded many requests from coaches, community administration, etc. It is a great night to meet new people, catch up with old friends and support the kids of our communities while having a lot of fun. We are trying to figure out if Cash Bash 2022 is happening and what it will look like. WE NEED YOUR HELP, if you have a student in high school we need you to step up and become the future of the boosters. Please, contact Kristina Forrest or I, we would love to talk to you about it. Thank you… Debby