Riverwalk Roar

Pride,

Welcome to February! I hope each of you had a wonderful and restful weekend. On Friday, the Riverwalk Academy staff participated in a virtual professional development put on by NAMI of SC. The SC Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) lead an interactive session entitled Refresh and Reclaim.

We spent time talking about "boundaries." Boundaries are defined as any physical, mental, or emotional limits we establish to protect ourselves. Establishing boundaries are important for all of us, regardless of our role (parent or teacher). Listening to our staff talk about boundaries really got me thinking. I found myself asking myself, have I established boundaries with my staff? What about with our parents and students? I also began thinking about the boundaries that our staff has established. Do I know their boundaries? Do I respect their boundaries?

Some of the examples of healthy boundaries that our staff developed were:

• It's okay to say "no"
• It's okay to say "yes" (when support is offered)
• It's okay to say "thank you" without feelings of regret or shame (or even an apology)
• It's okay to delegate
• It's okay to protect "me" time
• It's okay to ask for space (we all need our own time)

Most of us can agree to the above statements. The real questions becomes, how do I do this in practice?"

The presenters covered three concepts that can help many of us learn "the how" of establishing boundaries.

Create:

• Make specific boundaries that that honor your values (e.g. if your family values "family time" an appropriate boundary could be "I will not check my work email on Sunday in order to spend more time doing things with my family on Sunday)

State:

• (your boundaries) to yourself and to others e.g. informing your colleagues (or others) that you will not text/calls/email after 8:00 pm each night

Maintain:

• Be prepared for some resistance with boundaries that involve others (and even from yourself)
• You may need to restate your boundaries, but do so in a calming and supporting way

So let me ask, What boundaries have you established with your family or with your colleagues? In what ways have your implemented these boundaries without feeling guilty?

Setting boundaries is a difficult but necessary thing to do.

I'd like to close this week's newsletter with the following quote from Prentis Hemphill:

Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.

I hope each of you has a wonderful week!

In Strength and Blessings,

~Dr. Compton

This week's photo is of Nicholas Stammer and Jazmine Sepulveda, two students in our dual enrolled course (ENG 102) taught by Mr. Loyst. The students are working on creating a podcast called Reading Between the Lions about the book Fahrenheit 451.

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.

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.

Each week, we'll showcase one of our seniors from our inaugural graduating class. #Classof2022

If you would like to purchase a yearbook for 2021-22 for your student(s) - please follow this link: http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A02183267

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Dwana Tillman (dtillman@riverwalkacademy.com) or Mrs. Kathryn Carr (kcarr@riverwalkacademy.com).

Greetings,

This week brought some reminders of good lessons to remember in life. I think I have mentioned it before, but I often make plans that get sidetracked. A counselor’s day never goes as planned - my supervisor in graduate school told me this was the biggest lesson she could teach me. Whatever you have planned on your calendar, be ready for it not to happen. Sometimes I love my job because of this, sometimes I don’t. But each day also brings a reason why I love my job - helping others. I was also reminded this week that I work in the human services field and that is why I am always so willing to give more time than I have, more energy than I have and why I have such a wonderful reason to get up each morning and go to work. Because I love helping the students, the staff and the parents. This month riding the Energy Bus, we learn to “Love Your Passengers.” I think this is very appropriate this month - it is Black History month and Valentine’s Day. A month that we talk about diversity and loving everyone and it is also full of beautiful hearts and flowers. There are many books to support the lesson of diversity and loving your fellow human beings (passengers). I, personally, use The Crayon Box that Talked and The Judgmental Flower. Both of these books emphasize the importance of recognizing everyone’s differences and still loving each other. For the classes I didn’t get to see in January, I will cover both rules (No Bullies Allowed and Love Your Passengers). Again, both rules go with February as well, so this should work seamlessly. If you have any questions, concerns or would like a link to purchasing any books I list, please reach out to me. My email is kcarr@riverwalkacademy.com. It is the easiest way to get a hold of me and I try to respond as quickly as possible. I look forward to the day we can all gather for a parent’s night, but until then, please stay safe and healthy.

Love,

Mrs. Carr

Thank you for all that you do for our students and our community. We truly have appreciated your support over the last few weeks. We are halfway through the third nine weeks already!! Your students are working hard and are making gains daily.

We need your assistance in one matter. We have had several students who have wanted to bring their own devices to school. We are asking for you to assist us by reminding your student that we are not allowing this for several reasons. At Riverwalk Academy, we believe technology is a tool to supplement the core instruction students receive daily. We have firewalls and some websites blocked since they can be distractions to students and open students to more online presence. When students bring their own devices they are able to bypass our safety nets and this has created a disruption to the learning environment and also makes it so that we cannot monitor your students' online presence during the school day. Additionally, we do not want a student's personal device to get damaged or missing at school, therefore, the safest place for it to be is at home. Finally, we have invested in purchasing enough Chromebook so that each student can have one in class to work on, when the instruction requires it. We appreciate your support and as always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Warmly,

Dr. Christy Dempsey

On Tuesday, February 8th at 1:30 PM a representative from Jostens will hold a meeting for 10th grade students about class ring ordering. Students will have the opportunity to see and try on the many types of rings, they will be sized for rings, and they may complete the ordering process. Students who aren’t ready to order their rings yet may still do so online even after the meeting. If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Born.

If you would like to purchase a yearbook for 2021-22 for your student(s) - please follow this link: http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A02183960

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Caroline Menges (cmenges@riverwalkacademy.com) or Mrs. Alyssa Snipes (asnipes@riverwalkacademy.com).

Happy Sunday!

This past week I was pretty busy working on IGP meetings with our students. While it can be a challenge having my schedule so filled up, I really enjoy getting to sit down with each student and their parents to discuss their career goals and aspirations. Being new, it has been a great way to get to know more of our students better. This coming week is going to look similar to last week with many back to back meetings, so continue to bear with me when it comes to responding to emails, phone calls, etc. I look forward to all the meetings to come and spending some time discussing your student and their future! Here’s what we have going on this week:

Things to know:

• 8th grade families, I sent home an email regarding the movie “Wonder” (PG) that my SEL Friday class is planning on watching this week. Please read the email and reach out if you have any concerns about this movie!

• 9th grade families, two weeks ago I sent out an email with a sign up link for IGP meetings. Please sign up for a meeting time. If that email has become buried, I am attaching the link here: https://tinyurl.com/2p8fjv7y. If you do not schedule a meeting, I will have to move forward and meet with just your student (I won’t start these for a couple of weeks when doing makeups)

• 10th graders, we will be having a class ring ordering session on Tuesday at 1:30 in the MPR.

• 11th and 12th graders, I will be sending out an email regarding Parchment (transcript ordering website) tomorrow or Tuesday explaining how the transcript requesting process is changing for future requests! Keep an eye out for it.

Love,

Mrs. Menges

Monday: 2/7/22

• Beginning Band, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm (Johnston)

Tuesday: 2/8/22

• 10th Grade Ring Ordering/Sizing 1:30 pm (MPR) (Born)
• Beginning Band, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm (Johnston)
• Cheer Practice: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm (Kunde)
• Basketball (away at Governor's School) 6:00 pm

Wednesday: 2/9/22

• Progress Reports Sent Home (K-10)
• Advanced Band, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm (Johnston)

Thursday: 2/3/22

• Beginning Band, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm (Johnston)
• Cheer Practice: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm (Kunde)

Friday: 2/4/22

• BPA Meeting: 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm (Girard)
• Basketball (home) v Lewisville High School (@ Northside Recreation Center) 6:00 pm

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