Pride,
Happy Sunday! I hope each of you are well-rested and ready for the upcoming week. I know our staff is excited and ready to see everyone return on Monday. It's hard to believe that for our K - 10th grade students, there are 15 school days that stand between today and Winter Break (8 days for our junior and senior students).
Speaking of our Seniors, I wanted to take a moment to give them a shout out (I will share some information about our Juniors in the upcoming weeks). When we return from the Winter Break, we will showcase 1 of our Seniors each week. These students who you'll get to "meet" starting in January are extremely special to Riverwalk Academy. This group will be our inaugural graduates. May 26, 2022, the day of our inaugural graduation, will be a date that I will never forget.
What made me think about this group of students was a comment we received when we solicited your feedback on the two remote learning/mental health and wellness days (11/22 and 11/23). Eighty-six percent of our families responded in favor of this and out of the 321 responses, only 3 would I classify as being "negative." I am thankful for these comments as they give me insight into misconceptions that I look forward to addressing over the next few letters to parents. One of these comments was that we're not preparing "college-ready" students. Hence, the reason why I was thinking about our Seniors.
Let me take just a moment to give a snapshot of our Senior Class (as of last month):
84% have earned at least 1 hour of college credit, at no cost to the students or their families
75% have earned at least 3 hours of transferable college credits, at no cost to the students or their families
50% have earned at least 18 hours of college credit, at no cost to the students or their families
5 students are expected to graduate with their Associates Degree (60 transferable hours) before they graduate with their high school diploma (at no cost to the students or their families)
2 have already been awarded a University Studies Certificate from York Technical College, which is 30 transferable hours and the half-way point towards earning their Associates Degree (at no cost to the students or their families)
Our Seniors have a combined 94% credit attainment rate (302 credits attempted and 283 credits earned)
The average SAT score of our Senior Class was higher than the four surrounding high schools: Northwestern, Clover, York Prep, Legion.
84% of our Seniors have been with Riverwalk Academy for 3 or more years
30% of our Seniors have been with Riverwalk Academy for 5 or more years
I can't speak for everyone, but these data are outstanding and appear to be a good indication that Riverwalk Academy is preparing our students to become college-ready. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one additional data point. While being college-ready is the goal for many of our students, we also help students prepare to be career-ready (check out SC's Profile of the SC Graduate). 94% of our seniors earned a bronze certificate or higher on SC's Ready to Work Assessment (19% earned Gold or Platinum and 50% earned a Silver).
If asked, "does Riverwalk Academy prepare students for life after high school", the answer is a resounding yes. Regardless if the student's post-secondary goals are college or career, Riverwalk Academy's instructional model is the vehicle that can help our students make that transition to post-secondary.
Have a great week, Lions!
In Strength and Blessings,
~Dr. Compton
We're asking that our families assist us in managing everyone's status by using this form when your child shows symptoms, tests positive, is a close contact, or is a household close contact. The data shared with us is kept confidential. After completing this form, you'll receive an email or phone call from Nurse Donna to discuss your child's specific isolation/quarantining plan.
Linked here is Riverwalk Academy's COVID Dashboard. This COVID dashboard is updated by 3:00 pm each school day. This dashboard can also be found on our website.
We've received a few questions about our dashboard, so I wanted to provide an explanation for everyone. Click here for an explanation of our COVID data.
For anyone who ordered lunch on 11/22 and 11/23, a credit will appear on your account. If you have questions about this, please contact Ms. Burns.
Riverwalk Academy is a "bring your own lunch" school where students are encouraged to bring their own lunches. We do offer a fee-based lunch program that is not income-contingent. Our fee-based lunch program is provided by Golden Corral. For more information about this option, please click here.
Pride, if you haven't done so, please take a moment to check out our new and improved website. From the main page, you have immediate access to the latest news, and up to date calendar.
Greetings and love,
I don’t know about all of you, but for me, this week was much needed, much appreciated and filled with family. I am grateful for each of you and hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The next three weeks of school will fly by and be full of learning and fun. It will also be very busy. I have many meetings, professional development gatherings, and for the older grades, some of the students will be taking their End of Course State mandated exams and I am lucky enough to be the State Testing Coordinator for Riverwalk. It is a necessary job, but I enjoy my small group and classroom lessons much more!
For the Kindergarten through second grade classes, we will be making “Complimittens.” I don’t want to give too much away, but I think they will enjoy it. Hopefully it will liven up the halls as well. It will help them appreciate the holidays and support our Positive Energy ride on the Energy Bus.
For the fourth and fifth grade classes, we will be making Merry Messages for our peers, teachers and the staff at Riverwalk. We may expand to send some home as well, or to anyone in the community the students feel moved to express gratitude for this season.
I hope each of you have a great week.
Hugs,
Mrs. Carr
Hello Riverwalk Family!
I hope you all have had a nice time the past week taking some time to yourselves. Over the break, I was able to spend time with friends and family, start decorating for Christmas, and watch the Tigers beat the Gamecocks (woohoo)! I am so excited to be in the holiday season, it really is one of my favorite times of the year, although I am not a fan of the cold weather . I look forward to seeing all of your shining faces back at school tomorrow. Let’s make the next few weeks great!
Things to know:
-8th grade families, I am in the process of receiving PSAT scores back, and will start sending home Junior Scholar forms in the next few weeks. I will announce in this newsletter when I have sent those home!
-If you are a high schooler taking Virtual SC courses, please reach out to me to schedule your exams. According to Virtual SC, they should be scheduled for a time on December 7th, 8th, or 9th. I have to proctor these so we will need to find a time to do so!
-10th grade families, I sent out an email a few weeks ago that included a sign up for IGP (individualized graduation plan) meetings. Please select a sign up time so that we can have this important meeting regarding your student!
-10th, 11th, and 12th grade students, I am still in the process of finishing up make up IGP meetings. I’m going to try and get all of these done before Christmas break!
-Email me if you have any questions or concerns at cmenges@riverwalkacademy.com
See you all tomorrow!
Ms. Menges
Week Ahead
Monday: 11/29
- Advanced Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
- Basketball Scrimmage (home) v First Baptist of Winnsboro, 6:00 pm @ Rock Hill Events Center (Ogburn)
Tuesday:11/30
- Beginner Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
- Cheer Practice, 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm (Kunde)
- Basketball Practice, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm (Ogburn)
Wednesday: 12/1
- Advanced Band Practice 3:00pm-4:30pm
- Jr. and Sr. Beta Club Meeting, 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm (Graham & Kunde)
- Basketball Practice, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm (Ogburn)
Thursday: 12/2
- Beginner Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
- Cheer Practice, 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm (Kunde)
- Basketball Game (away) at Lake Pointe Academy, 5:00 pm (Ogburn)
- Jr. and Sr. Beta Club Induction Ceremony (MPR), 6:00 pm (Graham & Kunde)
Friday: 12/3
- BPA, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm (Girard)
- ChristmasVille Parade 6:30 pm, downtown Rock Hill (Johnston)
Connect with Us
The Mission of Riverwalk Academy is to lead students to achieve through authentic project-based learning experiences with the knowledge and inquiry skills they need to succeed in life, college, and their future careers.
Email: info@riverwalkacademu.com
Website: https://www.riverwalkacademy.com/
Location: 5750 Mount Gallant Road, Rock Hill, SC, USA
Phone: (803) -327-8400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riverwalkacademy
Twitter: @riverwalklions