I hope you are well and enjoying your summer break. I know many of you must be disappointed to hear the news that we will not begin the school year with the 50/50 model we were planning for, while some of you may also be relieved for safety reasons. I, too, am disappointed to not be able to start in person with our RMS students, but please know that we will have everyone back in the building as soon as we are able to safely do so. RMS parents and students belong at RMS, and believe me when I say that we want you in our building and we miss you all!

Currently, the Thurston County Department of Health is recommending that all schools in the county begin in September with online learning only, but we hope to have students return to in-building learning as soon as possible. We ask that families remain positive, energetic, and enthusiastic in planning for a highly successful online experience to begin in September. 

This online learning model will be better and more robust than what you experienced last spring. We have more time to plan and prepare for a highly valuable online learning experience for our students, and that is what we will deliver in September. There is no other online learning program that can provide the close and supportive relationships students will have with their RMS teachers and staff this year. We will work hard to ensure a high level of learning and student success.

We know our Yelm community, we know our families, and we are invested in our students’ success in ways that no outside online program can replicate.

I know this announcement likely prompts many other questions, and I may not be able to answer all of them right now. We will be releasing details of the online learning plan soon. But if you have questions, please direct them to me at Craig Curry or call 360-458-1100. You may also check the district website’s Safe Start to Success page for more information.

We will do great things this year together as students, parents, staff, and community! We will provide an amazing learning experience for our students. We will be back in person with our kids at some point. Until then, we will become stronger as we support one another throughout this year's journey, and we will come out the other side of this as better students, better educators, and an even better and stronger school and community than we were before. 

We must look for opportunity in all of our challenges, and we have lots of opportunity ahead of us! I look forward to working closely with families and students again soon.

Sincerely,

Craig Curry
Ridgeline Principal
craig_curry@ycs.wednet.edu