Bruno M. Ponterio

Ridge Street School

Home of the Bluebirds

Weekly Highlights 6/22/26-6/26/26

Blind Brook High School Senior Walk

The Blind Brook High School Class of 2026 had a chance to revisit their elementary school years by taking a walk through the hallways of the Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School! This is becoming such a wonderful tradition that we all love! Our bluebirds proudly made signs for the high school graduates! And, they ended with a sing-a-long with Mr. Dimiceli!

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5th Graders Are Moving On Up!

We are so proud of our fifth graders as they took to the stage at the SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center to accept their 5th Grade Moving Up Certificates! We will miss them next year and wish the best as they fly off to Middle School!

All 5th Grade Families will be sent a link to the photos that were taken at the BMPRSS Moving Up Ceremony.

Third Graders Become Published Authors

The students in Mr. DeFabbia's third grade class collaborated to write and illustrate a class book, which was professionally bound and published. This writing experience encouraged creativity, teamwork, and pride in their work, resulting in a special memory book that celebrates the voices and talents of the entire class. So proud of our bluebird authors!

Last Day of School

We are so proud of all of our bluebirds and want to wish everyone a wonderful summer! While some of our bluebirds may be flying off to Middle School or to other nests, just remember...once a bluebird, always a bluebird! Have a wonderful summer!

Report Cards

End of year report cards will be posted on the eSchoolData Parent Portal at 3:00 pm on Friday afternoon. Here is a link to the portal!

Rye Brook New Family Buddy Program

Dear Rye Brook Families,

Help Us Welcome New Families to Rye Brook!

Moving to a new community is exciting—but it can also feel overwhelming. Many of us remember what it was like to be new to the community and navigate so much unfamiliar information while trying to settle in. Thus, we are launching the Rye Brook New Family Buddy Program this summer to help incoming families feel supported as they transition into our schools and community. We’re looking for volunteer families to serve as Family Buddies—a simple but meaningful way to make a difference.

The commitment is light: answer questions, share local knowledge and resources, and help a new family feel welcomed. Whether you’ve lived here for 2 years or 20 years, your experience can make a lasting impact on a family beginning their Rye Brook journey.

Interested in volunteering? Please complete the Buddy Family Interest Form by July 15th: https://forms.gle/uGj1wiVjYJzHnSiv6

We will use the information collected to match families over the summer before the new school year begins.

Thank you for helping make Rye Brook the welcoming, connected community we all love!

Warmly,

Rye Brook New Family Buddy Program Team

School Supplies 2026-2027

Check Another Item Off Your List Order your 2026 - 2027 School Supply Kit Today!

Friendly Reminder:

New This Year: Ridge Street School Orders will be delivered DIRECTLY to the school and arrive in your student's classroom on 8/24. No more lugging supplies on the bus!

MS Supplies will be delivered on 8/29 or 8/30 to each student's home address so they can prepare each subject for each teacher.

The PTA has worked closely with the BMP Ridge Street School and Blind Brook Middle School to provide school supply lists for the 2026-2027 school year.

Get a head start on next year and visit https://blindbrooksupplykits.com/ to order kits for your children's grade level.

Orders must be placed online by Wednesday, July 15th, 2026.
IMPORTANT ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS FOR RSS K-5 STUDENTS:

Please use RSS (390 N Ridge St, Rye Brook, NY 10573) as your Shipping Address when requested
If you enter your personal home address, your box will still be delivered to the school

There may be additional items needed depending on the NY State Requirements.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact
Mike at: sales@premiersupplykits.com or Lisa Benoit (BBPTA) at: benoitlisa@gmail.com and Jessica Trosterman (BB PTA) at: jesslovescamp@gmail.com

BMPRSS Main Office - Contact Info

If you need to reach anyone in the BMPRSS Main Office, please make sure you use our Main Office email address and Main Office phone extension:

- - - Email - ridgestreetmainoffice@blindbrook.org
    - Phone - 914-937-3600 x2199

Reporting Absences

If your child will be absent please remember to email all three:

BMPRSS Nurse's Office - rssnurse@blindbrook.org
BMPRSS Attendance Office - rssattendance@blindbrook.org
Your child's teacher

Health Office - Contact Info

Our school nurses are responsible for all matters relating to individual student health issues, including verifying medical excuses, monitoring individual student health matters, emergency intervention, and special programs related to student health.

The BMPRSS Nurse is the main point of contact for:

Parents to inform the school of children's absences
Assessing and caring for infirm children during the school day
Contacting parents to report children's illnesses and injuries
Maintaining and dispensing children's medications
Ensuring that food brought into the classroom (i.e., for parties) is nut-free

We are very happy to have three nurses at our school - Nurse Frannie, Nurse Tara, and Nurse Erica. Please use our Health Office email to contact them about any medical questions! If you need to contact the BMPRSS Health Office PLEASE email rssnurse@blindbrook.org so that ALL of our BMPRSS receive important information.

If your child has severe allergies, or a newly diagnosed medical condition, and you have NOT notified the school at this time, please email rssnurse@blindbrook.org ASAP!

BMPRSS Health Office Email Address: rssnurse@blindbrook.org

BMPRSS Health Office Phone Number: 914-937-3600 x2217

Mental Health Resources in the Bluebird Nest

Click HERE to go to our BMPRSS Mental Health Resources page.

Important Notes About our School Lunch Program

The Blind Brook-Rye School District utilizes an independent 3rd party, My School Bucks, to process charges and payments to individual student accounts. The parent/guardian sets up this account and decides which options they want to utilize including automatic payment and low balance notices. We do not have access to this information due to privacy concerns and to safeguard personal financial information. If you believe there is an issue with your My School Bucks account, we suggest you contact the company directly. We are unable to intervene on your behalf.

Once this account is set up, you can view your child’s purchases and balances. If you have specific questions concerning individual items purchased, please contact our food service company here. If you wish to restrict your child’s purchases to only meals or only one additional item per day, you can contact our food service management company and they will note that in your child’s account.

If a student’s balance becomes negative and exceeds $50, the student will no longer be allowed to charge supplemental meal items such as snacks, second servings of meal components, or additional drinks. However, the Blind Brook-Rye School District will still allow the purchase and charging of a lunch. Please log into your "My School Bucks" account and check if there is any balance remaining on the account.

If any family is experiencing financial difficulties, please contact our guidance department. They will be able to provide resources and contact information. All personal information provided is strictly confidential.

Transportation Information

If your child is eligible for our bus service, you will receive information on the Parent Portal of your child's bus number and bus time pick-up and drop-off. If you have any questions about bus transportation, bus stops, or pick-up/drop-off times, please reach out to Mr. Juan Zhindon (Head of Transportation) via email: jzhindon@blindbrook.org

If you're found NOT to be eligible for the District's bus transportation you are considered a non-bus student (NBS) will receive an NBS tag to display on your vehicle's rearview mirror. By now, all NBS families should have received information in the mail. If not, please contact the BMPRSS Main Office for your NBS bus info.

We are a "Nut Aware" School and Allergy Aware School!

Dear BMPRSS Families:

The Blind Brook School District has established a Health and Wellness Policy committed to providing a school environment that promotes and protects children's health, well-being, and the ability to learn by fostering healthy eating habits and physical activity.

As a school community, we are committed to the health and safety of our students. We are writing to alert you that some of our students have a type of food allergy that can be particularly serious and, in some cases, life threatening. If the child comes in contact with the offending food (whether airborne, ingested or physical contact) there may be an anaphylactic reaction resulting in the inability to breathe. For this reason, we have a “nut aware” environment at the Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School. Our food service vendor does not sell peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or use peanut oil or any tree nut products in the preparation of the food sold in our cafeteria. Our faculty and staff are trained and take great measures to ensure the safety of our children.

In addition, there are things that you and your children can do to help keep these specific children safe. In particular, please do not send food to school that “contain peanuts or tree nuts”, “may contain nuts”, “are made in a factory that processes peanuts”, or “are made in a facility that makes or processes tree nuts”. If your child eats peanut butter or any product containing tree nuts for breakfast, please have your child wash his/her hands and mouth thoroughly and brush their teeth after eating. This will help avoid contact with any peanut or tree nut residue, which can cause a potentially fatal reaction for a child with a peanut/tree nut allergy. Children who happen to bring a food item to school for lunch, and this item contains or may contain peanuts/tree nuts, will sit at a specifically designated peanut/tree nut table during their lunch period, and they are allowed to ask one friend (who is not allergic to peanuts/tree nuts) to sit with them. Please pack a wipe packet and stress to your children that they must wash their hands after eating their food containing peanuts/tree nuts. (Please note that hand sanitizer is available to all children. We also have a handwashing station in our Cafetorium.)

We are asking you to scrutinize labels and if there is ANY sign of peanuts/tree nuts, please do not bring the food items to the classroom. Our classrooms remain peanut/tree nut free. Any food item that is brought in must contain a label. We recognize that some of our children may have allergies to foods other than peanuts/tree nuts. Our BMPRSS nurses will send out specific information to those classes and grade levels so that everyone is mindful of any allergens. As such, we do NOT condone the sharing of food during lunch time or in the classroom.

For your convenience, we have attached a list of healthy food guidelines and suggestions. If you are sending in a food item not listed in these guidelines, you MUST send in the label. We have taken these measures to protect all of our students. We understand that this may be an inconvenience for many of you, but exposure can be life threatening to some. If you have any questions, you may contact the BMPRSS Health Office at ANY time: 914-937-3600 x2217 or via email rssnurse@blindbrook.org

Thank you for helping keep our children safe!

Tracy Taylor, Principal
Dr. Teresa Letizia, Assistant Principal
BMPRSS Health Office - rssnurse@blindbrook.org

Visitor Information

In our effort to maintain a safe and secure environment, all school visitors must enter through the school’s main entrance, provide a valid photo ID, sign in at the security desk, and wear an ORANGE VISITOR LANYARD while they are in the building. If you have a meeting with a teacher, staff member, or administrator, please enter through the Main Entrance as the security monitor will have a list of scheduled meetings.

Visitors will not be allowed in the building without a valid Photo ID and a scheduled meeting.

Disruptive Devices and Items

(This includes reference to the NYS Distraction-Free School Law)

At BMPRSS, we strive to create a learning environment where all of our bluebirds can engage fully with the world around them—learning, connecting, and growing together each day. To support a distraction-free environment, we are reminding families of our long-standing expectations around personal devices and disruptive items.

In alignment with New York State’s Distraction-Free Schools Law (NY Education Law § 2803), "Students cannot use devices like smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches (or any device accessing the internet) on school grounds from the start of the school day until the end, including all instructional and non-instructional time." This applies even if the internet or WiFi is turned off. These items must remain off and out of sight during school hours.

As outlined in our BMPRSS Family Guidebook, the following items have always been considered disruptive and should not be brought to school or on school grounds:

Smartwatches (including those that send/receive messages or connect to the internet)
Phones, tablets, iPods/iPads, hand-held video games
Toys or collectibles, such as Pokémon cards, trading cards, Silly Banz, etc.
Any item that resembles a weapon of any kind
Clickers or noise-making devices

Please note: This list is not exhaustive. Any item that disrupts the learning environment or poses a safety concern will not be allowed in school.

We appreciate your support in helping us maintain a focused and safe learning environment for all our bluebirds!

School Safety Drills

BMPRSS will begin to conduct all of our required fire drills and lockdown drills starting in September for the 2025-2026 school year. Families are required to receive notification of drills prior to the scheduled drills. If you have any questions about these drills, please contact Dr. Letizia - tletizia@blindbrook.org

Updating Emergency Contact Information

As part of our ongoing commitment to student safety, we are strongly encouraging all families to review and update their emergency contact information in eSchoolData. In the event of an emergency where we are unable to reach a parent or guardian, having accurate and comprehensive contact details is essential.

We kindly ask that you include anyone you trust who might serve as an emergency contact, such as a babysitter, family friend, or relative. Updating this information now ensures that we are prepared in case unforeseen circumstances require us to reach out to someone other than parents.

For your convenience, here is the information we have been sharing in the Weekly Highlights:

Log onto the eSchoolData Parent Portal and click on the name of your BMPRSS child.
Click the “Contact Verification” button below your child’s photo.
In the Guardian Information section:
- Ensure that each guardian is assigned a contact priority number. Priority numbers must begin at 1 and cannot be used more than once.
- Ensure that all listed phone numbers are accurate.
- Ensure that guardian email addresses are correct.
In the Emergency Contact Information section:
- Ensure the name and contact information for any adult (over the age of 18) who will be permitted to sign your child out in the case of an emergency.

Thank you for taking the time to keep this critical information up to date. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks,

BMPRSS Administration, Faculty, and Staff