Principal's Message, October 4

Welcome to October!  Walking classrooms, we see a number of students using descriptive language as they write about abandoned houses and creepy forests.  Students are participating in simulations of feudalism, considering how one’s class truly defined one’s experiences centuries ago.  Electives are in full swing, as students are learning how to play instruments and log onto Power School to assess their own progress.  Our blacktop now has pickleball and volleyball courts, enabling our PE department to utilize more space.  Science classrooms are working on group projects, while our upper grade math department is using an online program called IXL to further support students.  There is a lot of student engagement in classrooms!

Fall Conferences

The expectation is that all parents have an opportunity to conference with their child’s teacher(s) in the fall.  At the middle school level, this can become more challenging for several reasons.  The student population is larger as are class sizes, and in many cases students have between three to six teachers.

To improve upon past practices, RHMS will move to arena style conferences for our seventh and eighth grade families.  All seventh and eighth grade teachers will be present in the Gym so that parents may visit with teachers in a single location, at a single time.  (Elective teachers may prove a little more difficult, as they are responsible for sixth graders as well.)  We have run alphabetized lists of upper grade students, assigning families certain days.

Because sixth grade can be managed by their core teachers, parents of sixth graders will be receiving individual notices from their core teacher regarding a specific day and time.

It is important to note that all CUSD schools end an hour prior to the Minimum Day.  That is to say that we will be out at 1:08.  Please plan accordingly for your child’s safe transportation home.

iReady

Our schoolwide testing schedule was very successful.  All teachers supported all students as they completed an online reading and math assessment over the course of four days.   In year’s past these assessments were taken exclusively in our ELA and math classrooms.  This year, no curricular areas were short changed, and all departments supported students.

Spirit Week

The Student Council is working on a Spirit Week starting Monday, October 29.  In addition to a fall color day where each grade level will be asked to wear a certain fall color, there will a day for Breast Cancer Awareness, Halloween costumes, Movember, and a day exclusively for RHMS spirit wear.  Seeing our student leaders taking ownership of this will be exciting, and it will be evidence of their “soft skills” being leveraged.  Student representatives of all classrooms are sharing with their classmates the details as they are finalized.

Communication

While we encourage you to remain in contact with your child’s teacher, we are working on a few angles to foster better communication with our large community.  With the support of our district, we are looking to have our KEGL morning announcements on our website in the coming weeks.  This is a student generated news program that is part of an upper grade elective; it may help better inform parents of current happenings at RHMS.  Additionally, PowerSchool has an option for parents to select daily announcements, as well grades and attendance.  If parents want help on this facet of PowerSchool, please come to the office and let us know.  Finally, school administration will attend a training this week to learn more details of an online elementary program called SeeSaw aimed at potentially increasing student engagement and parent communication, and consider its implementation at the middle school setting.

Web to One

In an effort to obtain parent input regarding CUSD’s Web to One Initiative, please take a moment to complete the following link.  Your input will help drive the direction and timeframe of CUSD providing each student with a Chromebook for use at school and at home, something at least two surrounding districts have already implemented.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-Gw3jFLuyMrlQpTvkufpaiNkoMqbeZ6A5mP0PHRHN2a-Uqg/viewform

Thank You…

… for taking the time to read this and supporting your child as he or she advances through RHMS.  Your presence, whether it is sharing stories about your own middle school experiences, reading a Power School email, reviewing a math concept, or telling your child how much you appreciate his or her effort at school, goes a long way.