Dear RMS Families,
We are hoping that summer break has been a wonderful time of rest and rejuvenation for families and students. Please see the August 8th, 2019 invite below to better understand how we will proceed with 6th Grade Orientation/ New Registrants Meeting versus Open House for all 7th and 8th graders. We split the times for the events in order to better meet the needs of our families based on past parental feedback.
First day for students will be August 13, 2019. Student arrival time is 8:30AM and dismissal time is at 3:50pm. Please make arrangements to ensure that students are on time daily and picked up in a timely manner at the end of the day. Arrival and dismissal procedures will be shared in greater detail during 6th grade orientation/ new registrants meeting. All incoming 7th and 8th graders will follow the same arrival and dismissal protocols from last year. Please know that PCSSD is working hard to provide temporary signage to better support traffic patterns to help guide families to our school. We are also working on a more permanent signage and communication board for later in the school year. We ask for your patience and understanding during this process.
Thank you to all families that was able to make the Principal Meet and Greet on August 1st. A huge thanks to our amazing PTO for providing refreshments for our families! I thoroughly enjoyed meeting students and I am excited to see the rest of our students when the school year begins. Families at the event did hear a little bit of information about our initiatives. As the year progresses, we will dig deeper into the systems we are putting in place to support students. In the meantime, here is the gist for each of the initiatives and how it will support our students.
Initiatives/ Systems
PBIS - Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports
RMS staff have developed a school-wide matrix identifying expected behaviors for hallway, classroom, cafeteria, assemblies, restrooms, before & after school, and emergency situations. These expectations for behaviors will be taught during the first weeks of the school year and will continue through-out the year. Students will be celebrated regularly for demonstrating positive behaviors. While we hold firm to the importance of academics, we plan to have fun and celebrate the great things happening at RMS.
AVID-Advancement Via Individual Determination
The goal of AVID is to “create or enhance a school-wide college going culture that supports high expectations and high levels of achievement for all students.” This year all staff will learn about utilizing WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading) Strategies in their classrooms to engage and support students.
NWEA-MAPS- Northwest Evaluation Association- Measures of Academic Progress
This is a computerized adaptive test that will be given three times a year (Fall, Winter, Spring) in Reading, Math, and Science. This test will tell us where students are academically (strengths and areas in need of support), so teachers can use that data to provide enrichment and interventions to meet the needs of individual students. Parents will receive a copy of the reports during parent teacher conferences.
Enjoy the last week of summer break and I am excited for 2019-20 school year!
Sincerely,
Ms. Appiah-McNulty
