Lake Ridge Elementary School

Mrs. Berry found the purr-fect reading buddy this summer! 📚🐱 She recently adopted a new cat named Mabel, who has quickly become her favorite reading companion. Reading is even more fun with a furry friend nearby! She is currently reading Story Thieves by James Riley. The story follows Owen, whose ordinary life changes when he sees his classmate Bethany climb out of a book in the school library. Together, they set off on an unforgettable adventure as Bethany searches for her missing father, a fictional character! Mrs. Berry highly recommends it for rising 4th and 5th grade students.

Whether your Explorer is reading independently or enjoying a family read aloud, every page helps build strong reading habits. We’d love to see who has been keeping your child company during summer reading! In the comments, tell us what book your Explorer has been reading this summer or share a photo of them reading. Help us inspire each other and grow our summer reading list! 💚📖

Rainy days didn’t stop the fun at Summer Educare! ☔💚 With outdoor play on hold, Ms. Hughes invited some of the 2nd through 5th grade students to put their creativity to work by making posters for her preschool classroom. We love seeing our older Explorers using their talents to help create a welcoming space for our youngest learners! 🎨✨

We have some exciting news to celebrate from this summer! 💚💍 Ms. Trivette tied the knot in Knoxville this July and is now Mrs. Whitehead! Please join us in congratulating Mrs. Whitehead and wishing her and her husband a lifetime of love, happiness, and wonderful memories together. Congratulations! ✨

The countdown to a new school year has officially begun! 💚💙 We cannot wait to welcome our Explorers and families back to Lake Ridge for Meet & Greet. This is a great opportunity to connect with teachers, visit classrooms, say hello to PTA, and get excited for another amazing year together. We are looking forward to seeing everyone soon! ✨

It’s time to start checking off those back-to-school shopping lists! ✏️📚 School supply lists for all Lake Ridge grade levels are now available. Find your child’s supply list and get a head start on back-to-school shopping.

Happy shopping, Explorer families! We can’t wait to welcome everyone back for another amazing school year! 💚💙

Click here to view all Lake Ridge school supply lists:

https://www.jcschools.org/about/back-to-school-2026-2027/school-suppy-lists/lake-ridge-school-supply-lists

The Summer Adventure Series continues with a day full of creativity! 💚🎨 Mrs. Sherwin, Mrs. Preston, Ms. Ferenbach, and Mrs. LaBarbera stretched their creative legs by visiting Kiln’ Time in Bristol to paint pottery and work with cut glass. They also enjoyed making beautiful cut flower arrangements together. It was a wonderful day of trying new things, expressing creativity, and spending time together before another exciting school year begins! 💐

Mrs. Berry spent a week of her summer relaxing at the beach with one of her favorite pastimes… reading! 🌊📚 One of her favorite discoveries was reading Wizard for Hire by Obert Skye. The story follows Ozzy, a boy searching for answers about his missing parents, who unexpectedly meets an unusual wizard named Rin. Together they embark on a magical adventure filled with mystery, humor, and plenty of laughs.

If your child enjoys the Harry Potter series, this may be another great read to add to their summer reading list! Mrs. Berry recommends it for rising 4th and 5th grade students. She can’t wait to read the rest of the series. ✨

Let’s inspire each other and help grow our summer reading list! 📚 What has your Explorer been reading this summer? Tell us in the comments or share a picture of them with their favorite book!

Mrs. Enns spent a few days visiting some of the biggest trees in the world by volume! 🌲🌎

Her first stop was the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume! It stands 275 feet tall, weighs an estimated 1,385 tons, contains 52,500 cubic feet of wood, and is approximately 2,200 years old.

Next was the Presidents Tree, which stands 247 feet tall with a base diameter of 27 feet. It contains over 54,000 cubic feet of wood and is estimated to be around 3,200 years old. Older doesn’t always mean bigger!

The final giant was the General Grant Tree, the third largest tree in the world. It is 268 feet tall, 40 feet wide, and approximately 1,700 years old.

Mrs. Enns and her husband also walked through the trunk of a fallen giant sequoia that people once lived in! They learned that giant sequoias don’t grow in meadows because there is too much water, which makes them more likely to fall over. Instead, they thrive after forest fires! The heat forces their cones to open and release seeds while also clearing away forest debris, giving the seeds a place to grow.

Before the National Park was established, many giant sequoias were cut down to make shingles, lumber, and vineyard stakes. A giant slab from the famous Mark Twain Tree was even sent to a museum in New York City. People on the East Coast didn’t believe a tree could actually be that big and called it the “California Hoax!” What an incredible summer adventure filled with history, science, and some truly amazing trees! 🌳✨

Mrs. Wampler recently explored the beautiful Cape Cod National Seashore, part of the National Park Service! 🌊☀️ During her trip, she visited the iconic Nauset Lighthouse, featured on Cape Cod Potato Chips bags, and the Pilgrim Monument, which commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims’ first landing in the New World in 1620.

To make the trip even more memorable, she extended her stay to watch endangered sea turtles being released back into the ocean. What an incredible summer adventure filled with history, nature, and unforgettable experiences! 💚🐢

Want to learn more about the Pilgrim Monument? Visit: https://www.pilgrim-monument.org/

Mrs. Enns spent the week visiting her parents in a small Kansas town of just 350 people. One stop during the trip was story time at the local library, which is the smallest library recognized as a family-owned establishment. 📚

The visit began with a lesson on circuits before everyone was surprised with a dinosaur lesson! Her kids and nephews searched for clues about carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores, completed a dinosaur identification challenge, and learned how to make their own dough before creating dinosaur fossils. They had fun dinosaur activities to explore, and everyone even went home with a free bag. What a fun summer adventure filled with learning! 💚☀️