We were lucky to hold Ridgeway's November Little Jays Playgroup on a warm day which allowed for indoor and outdoor play. Some tasty snacks and a fun story time rounded out our "Building with Little Jays" Morning. Little Jays are invited to our next family event a game and makerspace (craft) night and a visit from Santa on Friday, December 5th from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Thanks to RPAC for supporting this activity!
1 day ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway students were treated to a "Pop-Up" performance by two members of the Winona Symphony Orchestra this week. The students enjoyed listening to the orchestra members and learning about their violins and their experience as musicians. The Orchestra will be performing several chamber music concerts over the winter months at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, prior to their season finale symphony concert on May 2, 2026. Find out when you can catch the full orchestra performances on their website at:
https://www.winonasymphony.org/events-and-tickets/concerts/. They will also be performing a children's concert "The Life of Babar" for area students on February 24th.
3 days ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway Community School held its Veterans Recognition Program on Monday. The event included a song and some readings by the students, an introduction of our veteran guests, and a slide show by Ridgeway area community members who participated in the most recent La Crosse Freedom Honor Flight to Washington D.C. The event wrapped up with a luncheon featuring Stinson's locally raised ham, scalloped potatoes and local Green Beans from SnoPac Foods in Caledonia. The students and staff of Ridgeway Community School wish to thank all area veterans for their service to our country!
6 days ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway Community School will host its November Little Jays Playgroup on Saturday, November 15th, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. This FREE Family Playgroup Event is for all 2 to 6-year-olds and their caregivers. There will be building and other creative play activities, as well as large-motor activities, including a bounce house and a climbing wall. A craft, story time featuring the 3 Little Pigs, and a healthy snack will also be provided. Photos show children having fun at our last Little Jays Building-Fun Playgroup in April, 2024. Tours of Ridgeway Community School's Preschool and Kindergarten Classrooms are available for throughout and just after the event. Preregistration for this event is requested to help us make sure we have enough craft supplies and snacks for all who attend. Click on this form to register so we have enough craft and snack supplies on hand for everyone who wants to attend:
https://forms.gle/2uSFfTokHiU7vP98A8 days ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway's preschool to 5th-grade students had a fun Halloween Parade and classroom parties to wrap up the day today. Have a safe and fun Halloween Evening tonight everyone!
17 days ago, Ridgeway Community School
Congratulations to these Ridgeway Community School alumni who are attending the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN this week!
17 days ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway Community Veterans Day Program
Monday, Nov. 10th from 10 AM to 12 Noon
Ridgeway Community School is holding its annual Veterans Recognition Program the day before Veterans Day to accommodate the schedules of some of our guest presenters. This year we will begin the event with a program at 10:30 a.m., which will be followed by a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. The program will include a song by our kindergarten to 5th grade students, some readings on the history of Veterans Day by our 5th grade students, and a presentation by several veteran community members who recently participated in the Freedom Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.. The luncheon will follow the program and will include a Stinson Ham and Scalloped Potato Meal and Apple Crisp Dessert. The meal will be free for veterans and active duty military members and will cost $5.50 for all other guests. Community members are welcome to attend this event to show their appreciation for veterans from our community. Registration for the meal needs to be made by Thursday, November 6th. To place a meal reservation you can either return the paper form to the school office, call (507-454-9566) or email the school office (office@ridgewayschool.org), or fill out the online registration form: 2025 Ridgeway Veterans Program Luncheon Reservation form.
18 days ago, Ridgeway Community School
As we prepare to welcome school families and community members to Ridgeway's annual Community Halloween Party, here are a few collages of photos from our 2012 and 2018 Community Halloween Parties.
23 days ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway Community School's Annual Community Halloween Party is ready to welcome our guests for some Halloween season fun! We have games, crafts, activities, Little Jays Story time, and goody bags for our guests to enjoy. Stop by with your family and friends and check out the fun!
23 days ago, Ridgeway Community School
As we celebrate our 25th year of operation as a FREE public charter school, we will share photos of Ridgeway Community School activities from years past. To get folks in the mood for our annual Ridgeway Community Halloween Party coming up on Saturday, October 25th, from 1 to 3 PM, we want to share some photos of our 2005 Community Halloween Party. Please feel free to shout out to those students you know. We wish to acknowledge that Mrs. Sobeck is still inspiring artists here at Ridgeway Community School, 20 years after these photos were taken! Way to go, Mrs. Sobeck!
about 1 month ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway's preschool to 5th-grade students have been participating in fire safety lessons this month. The students practiced evacuation to the Ridgeway Fire Hall and participated in fire safety lessons led by Ridgeway Fire Chief Wade Schossow and Asst. Chief Rodney Merchlewitz. The preschoolers even got a chance to sit in one of the fire trucks! Thanks to the Ridgeway Fire Department for keeping our community safe!
about 1 month ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway Community School hosted our 25th annual Grandparents and Special Persons Day event on Friday, October 10th. Our Kindergarten to 5th-grade students and guests enjoyed a variety of activities inside the classroom and assisted with a cider pressing activity in our outdoor classroom. The afternoon wrapped up with the students singing some songs for our guests, and some fun stories and songs performed by Sandbar storyteller Don White. We want to send a big shout-out to the three educators of Ridgeway who are also grandparents of Ridgeway students: Mrs. Groth, Mrs. Sobeck, and Mrs. Johnson! We also wish to thank Annabel and Colt Larson's grandparents, Brian and Laurie Longhenry, for sharing their cider pressing skills with us! Finally, we appreciate all the grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and family friends who took time out of their busy schedules to spend the afternoon with our students! As you can see by the smiles on their faces, it means the world to them!
about 1 month ago, Ridgeway Community School
The Ridgeway Blue Jays are off to a great start over the past month as we begin our 25th year as a FREE public charter school. We have a number of other Ridgeway Community School milestones to celebrate this year:
Mrs. Johnson's youngest grandchild is a 5th grader this year, which will be the final year of the 17 year Ewing - Buxengard family reign.
We hired our first former student as a teacher when we welcomed Caroline (Anderson) Provost as our new Kindergarten teacher for this school year.
Mrs. Provost's kindergarten class includes two children of former Ridgeway Community School students, and it just so happens that both sets of parents got married on the exact same blustery day in June.
One of those two students is also the eldest grandchild of our art teacher, Mrs. Sobeck, which now means that we have five staff members who are grandparents of current or former Ridgeway Community School students.
We also have a record number of staff members, six to be exact, who either attended Ridgeway Community School or our predecessor Ridgeway Elementary School, or the one room country schools that consolidated into the Ridgeway Elementary School District.
Finally, we want to say that we are grateful for our community who has done so much to support our school over our first quarter of a century. Stay tuned to Ridgeway's Facebook and Instagram pages to see how our community of learners engage in a busy year of work and play.
about 1 month ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway's hiking club got out for another warm Thursday afternoon hike. This week we did our annual Shady Maple hike along a trail through the north-east facing hillside on the Gilles Family Dairy and Woodland. In addition to hiking through a beautiful maple woodland our hiking club members got to enjoy a couple of wagon rides to and from the trail, and some baled jumping for a warm-up before heading off on the hike. Many thanks to Mike and Joan Gilles for hosting us and for the parent and grandparent chaperones who assisted with this beautiful outing.
about 1 month ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway's Little Jays Playgroup program held its first event of the school year, with a Magical Kick Off. It was a morning of fun, creative and active play for all who attended. The next Little Jays Playgroup will be Saturday, November 15th from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.. The theme will be "Lets Build with Little Jays." We hope to see a lot of 2 to 6 year-olds, along with their caregivers and siblings in attendance. Also, mark your calendars for Ridgeway's Community Halloween Party on Saturday, October 25th from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
about 2 months ago, Ridgeway Community School
Ridgeway's students are back to the books, and back to the woods! Our first hiking club outing to the Gilles Family Dairy and Woodland hiking trails was a success! We found a few Billy Goats Gruff at the woodland playground, and a troll under the bridge. The students got in a good hike on a beautiful day, along with some nice refreshments, and a convenient wagon ride back to school. We appreciate the Gilles Family for hosting us and for the other parent and grandparent chaperones who helped make this outing possible.
2 months ago, Ridgeway Community School
The FREE Annual Ridgeway Community Celebration will be held Sunday, August 3, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Ridgeway Community School. The event will feature a Chicken-Q provided by Steakshop Catering; the Robert Hass Memorial Tractor and Classic car show, a kiddie tractor pull; and a variety of other kids’ activities. A pie auction will wrap up the event. The celebration begins at 11:00 a.m. and those bringing tractors and classic cars are asked to have them in place by 10:30 a.m.
The children’s activities, which include inflatables, a barrel train, and water balloon games, will be taking place throughout the day. A pedal tractor pull, beginning with the oldest peddlers, will begin at noon. Age groups for the pedal tractor pull will be 9 & 10, 7 & 8, 5 & 6, and 3 & 4 year olds. All participants will receive ribbons, and trophies will be given to the top three finishers in each age category. Ridgeway’s 4th and 5th grade classes will be selling refreshments will be selling a BBQ Chicken Dinner beginning at 11:00 a.m., they a children’s hot dog meal will also be available for purchase. Proceeds from the Chicken-Q will support their 3-day overnight field trip to Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center. The meals will be available until 2:00 p.m. or when sold out.
The event will wrap up with a live pie and baked goods auction with Mark Frickson as auctioneer at 2:00 p.m. The auction supports the costs of putting on the free event as well as other community service projects throughout the year, including the veterans and volunteer recognition luncheons held each year. The event is free and everyone is invited to join in the fun by meeting up with your old friends and making some new friends!
Ridgeway Community School is located 2 miles east of the intersection of Interstate 90 and Minnesota Highway 76 on Winona County Rd. 12. For more information, contact the School at 1-507-454-9566 or
office@ridgewayschool.org; or visit the school’s website at
www.ridgewayschool.org4 months ago, Ridgeway Community School
Happy Mother's Day to all our students' mothers, grandmothers, aunties, and caregivers, as well as to all of our staff members who are mothers' grandmothers and aunties! Enjoy this beautiful day!
6 months ago, Ridgeway Community School
Saturday, May 10th is our last Little Jays Playgroup of the school year. Tomorrow's theme will be "Little Jays in Space." There will be a variety of fun activities, a story time, and the Scholastic Buy One Get One Free Book Fair will be open from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. during the event. In addition to our assistant preschool teacher, Ms. Sarah, who organizes and leads the event both our kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Helms, and our Preschool teacher, Ms. Abbey, will be in attendance at this Little Jays event. This will provide an excellent opportunity for next year's preschool and kindergarten students to get to visit with their new teachers a little bit. It will also provide parents and opportunity to ask your child's future teacher any questions you might have. Programming for our Little Jays playgroups are for 2 to 6 year old's and their siblings up to 8 years of age. The event is FREE and open to any community member, whether or not they attend Ridgeway Community School. We hope to see you on Saturday morning for a fun celebration of space travel!
6 months ago, Ridgeway Community School
7 months ago, Ridgeway Community School
