Dear Families,

As we enter the final month of 2025, I want to take a moment to reflect on what a wonderful first half of the school year it has been. December is always a special time on our campus—full of excitement, learning, and opportunities to come together as a school community.

Upcoming Events & Reminders

Thank You to Our Families

We are incredibly grateful for your support. Whether you’ve attended events, volunteered, or encouraged learning at home, you make a meaningful difference in our school community. Thank you for all you do.

Looking Ahead

The last day of school before winter break is Friday, December 19th. Students will return on Wednesday, January 7th. We hope this break gives your family time to rest, recharge, and enjoy the season together.

On behalf of our entire staff, I wish you and your family a joyful holiday season and a wonderful New Year. We look forward to an exciting and productive 2026.

Michelle McHugh

 

For safety reasons, students who need to be checked out of school prior to the dismissal bell must do so no later than 3:15 p.m. Parents arriving on campus after 3:15 p.m. will be asked to pick up their child through the car line.

There will be no student pick-up at the front desk. All students must either ride the bus or be picked up in the car line.

All parents and guardians must present an ID to sign out a student.

We must have a note from the legal parent or guardian if someone other than them will be picking up or checking out a student. Emergency contacts are for school use only in case of an emergency and cannot be used for routine student pick-up.

Forest Ridge is proud that all teachers and administrators who work with our students are certified by the state of Florida or other governing board. We appreciate the following teachers who have volunteered to teach a subject outside of their primary certification and are currently taking classes to obtain certification in the area they are teaching out of field. Each of these teachers has both experience and coursework in the area that they are teaching. They are excellent teachers and we appreciate the extra effort that are putting forth on behalf of our students.

Marie Martin- Currently pending FL DOE certification in Social Work, teaching out of field in Social Work.

If you, or anyone you know, requires reasonable accommodations at any of our school events because of a disability or physical impairment, please contact Mercedes Rushmore at 527-1808 Ext. 5007.

 

FRE sponsors several fundraisers each year, for different purposes. Profits from fundraising at FRE will be used, among other things, to purchase school wide needs, such as additional playground equipment, technology supplies, and instructional materials. A small amount of these funds may be used to provide food and other consumable items for faculty and staff sessions throughout the year, staff appreciation and student recognition. Some fundraisers are for specific purposes such as Kids Heart Challenge. We are always mindful that these are optional for students and are deeply appreciative of the support of the FRE community.

 

Speech: If your child has a speech sound goal, use mirror play-watch how your mouth moves when you say tricky sounds.

Language: Model kind, thankful words to build social communication with "thankful talk" .

Build vocabulary and sentence skills by talking about gratitude. Say things like, "I'm thankful for Grandma because she tells funny stories."

Sort toys or foods into categories and name what belongs together.

Pragmatics: Talk about turn-taking and listening during family conversations and role-play.

Thankful words build grateful hearts and great communicators!

Heather Celani, SLPA