Ridge Ranch Elementary
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News & Notices

At Ridge Ranch, we appreciate our involved parents and community members. We also enjoy broadcasting our latest news and information here on our News page, where we will chronicle school activities and student achievements and publish announcements. We’ll also offer helpful resources and information. So check back often; we’ll update it regularly.

Nick Bruel Visits Ridge Ranch

What an awesome day it was on March 19 at the Ranch with Nick Bruel. K–4 students enjoyed a fun-filled day with the Bad Kitty author and illustrator.

Students with author Nick Bruel
Ridge Ranch PJ Party Story Time

Ridge Ranch students and their families participated in a Pajama Party Story Time at the Paramus Public Library. Mrs. Amato and Ms. Chiaramonte read aloud “Elephant and Piggy,” while students enjoyed a story and craft in their PJs! It was a great way to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday during Read Across America Week!

Students in their pjs
Ridge Ranch Valentine's Day Teacher Treats
Happy women next to cart with hot chocolate and treats for teachers

How sweet it is to work at Ridge Ranch School! Sunshine provided hot chocolate and a cart filled with sweets to show love for the teachers on Valentine’s Day!

Ridge Ranch Celebrates 100 Days of School
Happy first grade students dressed up to celebrate 100 days of school

Ridge Ranch first graders celebrated the 100th day of school by imagining what they would look like when they are 100 years old!

Paramus Public Schools/Littogether Learning Communities Host Hannah Schneewind for Reading Skills Workshop
Hannah Schneewind speaking to the attendees

The Paramus Public Schools and the Littogether Learning Communities proudly present community learning workshop days. On January 18 the workshop, led by author Hannah Schneewind, was entitled “Teaching Readers and Teaching Reading: Strategies for Centering Students While Supporting Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.”

Teachers of grades k–5 inside and outside the Paramus district attended the full day workshop at Memorial Elementary School. Schneewind is co-author of a book called Trusting Readers: Powerful Practices for Independent Reading which focuses on integrating reading skills into instruction that teaches the whole child. The workshop explored how to introduce strategies for getting to know readers, specific language to use while giving them feedback, and how to balance focusing on the reader with focusing on the skills associated with reading.

Presentation on the screen for the reading workshop

Mr. Tom Marshall, principal of Paramus’ Stony Lane Elementary School and founder of Littogether Learning and the New Jersey Literacy Leaders’ Network, explained, “Sometimes we think that being a good teacher of reading means paying attention to the nuts and bolts of the language, and sometimes we think it’s about the meaning-making that happens when reader meets text. It’s really not one or the other. Being an effective teacher means being able to teach both the reader and reading. We need to be prepared to give feedback about metacognition and attribution as well as to give feedback about decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills.”

Staff members sitting at a table to listen to the workshop Hannah Schneewind speaking to a student on the floor Hannah Schneewind speaking to another student on the floor and writing something down on a notepad