Principal's Message - Mar 22
Principal’s Message
Hello, families! Welcome to the start of Spring! It was great sharing dinner with many of you at Super Duper last week, and Mr. Aguayo was quite the emcee for families at RHMS Bingo on Friday.
Certificates of Academic Achievement
Like in the fall, we will provide students with certificates for their second trimester academic achievement. Sixth period teachers will distribute them to those students whose grade point averages were between 3.00-3.49, 3.50-3.99, and at 4.00. Please look for the certificates in your child’s backpacks on Tuesday of next week.
On behalf of our entire staff, I’d like to thank you as parents, guardians, and extended families for the support you continue provide our students at home. That support, whether it’s providing a quiet place to study or an additional email to a teacher or reading this message, is paramount to the success of the children and students we share.
LiMPETS Science Field Trip
In an effort to bring learning alive, we are excited to have booked LiMPETS, a science based field trip for seventh grade. Incorporating science and math, and taking place in April, it will serve all 325 of our seventh graders. Students will spend one school day in Santa Cruz, where they will explore the tidal ecosystems, working collaboratively to obtain specimens from the beach, making appropriate measurements of those specimens, and entering data into an international database. While the experience itself has no fees, securing transportation and substitute teachers is a costly endeavor. Fortunately, Mr. Alexander has secured a $600 grant to help offset fees. In order for this to be successful, letters with an attached suggested donation amount along with permission slips will be distributed to seventh graders early next week. We encourage you to provide the suggest donation amount of approximately $13 per child. Details will be distributed through seventh grade science classrooms.
Counseling Presentations
Our Counseling Department continues to have a meaningful impact upon our students. Focused upon the social emotional development of our students, both Ms. Wood and Ms. Gotuaco have led several engaging classroom presentations at all grade levels. Topics have been entitled, “How to Solve a Problem,” “Healthy Friendships,” and “Coping Strategies.” Our counselors are wrapping up presentations in sixth grade classrooms this week.
Always seeking ways to quantify success, there are pre and post assessments associated with the presentations. Based upon student feedback, students are acquiring skills that are proving beneficial to their social emotional development and our school’s climate.
In addition to these presentations, Kaiser Permanente will lead our 7th and 8th graders in a large performance called “Nightmare on Puberty Street.” A fast-paced show featuring current music and dance, this presentation encourages students at this age to look critically at healthy lifestyles and decision making skills. This presentation will take place Thursday of next week.
Reading Intervention
We are always looking at opportunities to support additional students. While we offer an array of electives, including STEAM II, Spanish II and symphonic band, and advanced math classes in seventh and eighth grades, we are also looking at further ways to leverage our Reading Intervention Specialist. We will be meeting with students in the coming days to discuss the opportunity to be in a 10 week reading support class. The aim is to offer additional support in vocabulary development and reading comprehension to students who qualify based upon data, including SBAC and iReady. Students will meet with Ms. Nishihara and receive an introductory letter on Friday before the support starts next Monday. Our expectation is that with a ten week support class, additional students will access increasingly complex texts in English, social studies, science, and math classes and become more confident readers.
CLMS
Several months ago, California League of Middle Schools Region V bestowed upon Mrs. Bell its Educator of the Year award. To follow up, she was honored in Sacramento last weekend for her commitment to educational excellence and making significant efforts at implementing educational reform. Mrs. Bell has worked to implement proven instructional techniques in her classroom and in CUSD, including learning targets and writing strategies that benefit all learners. In my several months at RHMS, it is clear to me that RHMS has a bevy of committed educators like Mrs. Bell of which I am very proud.
PTA
Special thanks to the PTA for organizing the Super Duper fundraiser and Bingo Night last week. Proceeds from the events go directly to our RHMS PTA who in turn gives it directly to programs at RHMS. Please log onto https://www.ptarhms.org/ for more details about how to support the PTA as it works to support over 1,000 RHMS students.