VIRTUAL NEWSLETTER

Weekly Report

We will keep you up to date with all things happening in Drivers Education throughout the Virtual/Hybrid/Normal Schooling in the Fall of 2020. You will also find links to helpful sites to guide your 10th grader through the process that is learning to drive.

WEEK 5 (10/5-10/9)

Good afternoon everyone! Just wanted to give you this week’s update on what’s happening in your teen’s Driver’s Education classes. We have finished Chapter 3 and are just finishing up Chapter 4 which covers safe driving rules and regulations such as yielding to the right of way, intersections, turning, entering and exiting highways (I know some of you just went into panic mode) and items such as when to use headlights. We will be giving another assessment towards the end of this week which covers Chapters 3 and 4, in addition to some road signs questions.

Good news is the driver manuals finally came in and we have been distributing them to students that have been in school during their cohorts. To accommodate the virtual students, we are setting up distribution times both before and after school. This will be a drive up event as one of the Driver’s Ed teachers will be responsible for handing out the manuals and checking names off the list. Please keep a close eye on your emails as the schedule will be sent out soon.

Lastly, we have been encouraging your teens to start paying attention to the roads when riding along with you, as well as the inside of your vehicles to try and make more sense of all the concepts we are teaching. We are hoping that it will assist with all these rules and guidelines being more relevant because they are seeing it live, instead of on a screen or slides. So feel free to “quiz” your teens as they are riding along with you on your next trip to the grocery store, or wherever you may be traveling.

As always, if you have any questions, please email your teen’s Drivers ed teacher directly. Thanks for watching and have a GREAT week!

Week 3-4 (SEPT 21-OCT 2)

By now, our Drivers Education classes have begun learning about more than just Graduated Drivers Licensing and general information about paperwork. This week is all Driver Responsibility. Driver Responsibility comes in many forms. Things like knowing what different Signs, Traffic Signals, and Road Markings mean can help guide you safely from place to place as a novice or inexperienced driver. In addition, making sure all passengers are properly and safely buckled falls under the responsibility of the Driver as well. Chapter 3 in the Drivers Manual is beneficial to both the student driver and the adult supervising driver as it is filled with information that experienced drivers may take for granted, but still very helpful to know (or refresh your memory) when teaching you child the ropes.

This week, we will giving our first knowledge assessment. We encourage you to inquire about how your teen did on it as it will be our first chance to show the multiple choice format of the State Exam. This (State) exam is loaded with questions that can confuse and overwhelm even the most confident learners.

This week is also our chance to meet you at back to school night. We encourage you all to join us via your teen's Zoom/Calendar for the appropriate period. While we will not be able to answer every question in the allotted time, we do encourage you to reach out to your child's teacher with any questions that you have. Thank you.

-The Drivers Education Team at Ridge High School

WeekS 1-2 (September 3-September 18)

Hello, welcome to the 2020-2021 school year. This year certainly looks and feels different than any other. Despite the many obstacles facing us all this year, we in the Ridge HS Health & PE Department are firmly committed to providing the best possible learning environment for your 10th graders. The first full week of class will find your children getting accustomed to the processes and technology that we will be utilizing this fall. There will be challenges for everyone to overcome, and we want you to know that we are going to be patient and understanding of this, and we would hopefully receive the same from you. This is uncharted territory for everyone and we will work through all the obstacles. This class is stressful for your child because almost every single one of them is going to want to be able to drive when they turn 17 years old. And that is where you come in. We, as teachers of theory, will never be behind the wheel teaching your children to drive. That responsibility should come from you. It certainly can start with a local state certified driving school, but at some point in the process, you will need to be next to your son or daughter as they embark on the practice period of supervised driving. This is called the Graduated Drivers Licensing System, and it is our main focus of class through the 1st week of school and beyond. Please familiarize yourself with the information below to help assist YOU in this adventure that is teen driving. We look forward to communicating more as the semester moves steadily along.

-The Drivers Education Team at Ridge High School