Principal Moment
Thank you for all your support as we navigated the twists and turns accompanying the start of the new school year. There is nothing like being together again! Our staff was excited to meet our new students and see the return of so many familiar faces.
The students have done an admirable job adhering to safety guidelines, adapting to the shortened school day, and using their Chromebooks in a responsible way.
One thing that has not changed is our commitment to maintaining high standards of academic excellence. Necessity drives innovation, and already our staff are finding novel ways to drive learning forward.
Building strong literacy and mathematic skills is one of our main focuses this year. Soon each child will take an iReady Diagnostic Assessment in both reading and mathematics. Students will also begin the year with an Acadience Reading test. These assessments will be taken three times each year and help us gauge each child’s current reading and mathematics levels and what support they will need to be successful. You child may be eligible for additional help through our Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, a well-developed system of interventions where we pinpoint exact skill gaps and pair students with trained intervention coaches to address those needs.
Our wonderful Librarian, Mrs. Thorpe, has been working hard to create procedures that will allow our students to safely check-out books on a regular basis. Our wonderful Assistant Librarian, Mrs. Larsen, is preparing our younger grades to soon have access to our take-home reading program, students will be loaned five books selected for them based on their individual reading levels.
The home is another important piece of the literacy puzzle. When you show your children how much you value reading, they are more likely to follow your example.
Riverview Mission, Vision, Values and Goals
The Riverview Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals are the GPS for our school. Together, they create a map that guides our decisions, informs our instruction, and challenges us to improve. We are better together and I invite you to become part of our collective commitments that make Riverview an amazing school.
Mission: Turning “I Can’t” into “I Can” through learning while giving support to students and faculty in a safe, respectful, and kind environment.
Vision: Working together with faculty, parents and students while maintaining positive and professional behaviors and attitudes in order to master student and teacher growth in a safe environment.
Values:
- Cooperation - Respect Differences, Listen to All, Try New Things, Trust, Understand, Practice Patience
- Commitment - Do and Be Our Best, Honest Self-Assessment of Personal and Academic Growth.
- Positive Attitudes – Be willing to get in and out of the Learning Pit, Gratitude, Appreciation.
Goal: Students will be able to self-assess their growth towards mastery of the essential standards.
Riverview Learner Powers
Have you ever felt stuck and frustrated when you are learning? The Learning Pit and learner powers are about giving students courage when they feel stuck. When we are stuck, we are actually doing our best learning. Education is about building our learning capacity.
Using the learner powers helps students feel courageous when they get stuck. Once students can identify which learning phase they are in, they can more easily select a learner power which will help them pass to the next phase in learning and begin their learning journey out of the pit and finally reach the point of breakthrough to "Hooray, I get this now!"
Last Friday, we introduced students to the learning pit and the learner powers and some new animals characters to help adopt the habits of the learner powers.
This month we are going to focus on the ‘Be Determined’ learner power. Spike Spider is the animal who helps us learn what being determined feels like. Meet Spike Spider. Spike is a spunky spider who has stickability. He doesn’t give up and keeps trying until he reaches the top. Spike woke up one sunny day determined to climb the water spout. He began his climb, spinning sticky webs back and forth as he carefully climbed the spout. But then the weather changed from sunny to rainy. Down came the rain and went all down the water spout. Spike found it hard to hang on and he slipped. Down and down he fell further and further. Then with a plonk he fell to the ground soaking wet and exhausted. Did he sulk? Did he slink away? Nope! He never lets setbacks get in his way. Spike waited. The sun came out a few hours later and he began his climb back up the water spout. He doesn’t give up and keeps trying until he reaches the top. Be like Spike Spider. Keep trying. Keep climbing until you make it to the top and finally get to say “Hooray, I Get This Now.”
When you are Determined like Spike Spider, you…
- Learn hard
- Practice a lot
- Keep going in the face of difficulty
- Try new strategies
- Ask for help
- Start again
- Take a brain break
A Few Reminders
Thank you for a safe start to our school year. Students have done a remarkable job with the safety protocols from the County Health Department. We appreciate you for sending your child to school each day with a clean mask and water bottle.
If your children walk, ride a bike or you drop them off, please plan arrival as near to 8:40 as possible.
All visitors/volunteers are to check in at the office for temperature check and sign-in prior to going to classrooms for potential contract tracing as per the county health department. Please note that all visitors/volunteers will need to wear face coverings inside the school.
Reminder there is no left turn when exiting the west drop off zone. When entering the parking lot near the Kindergarten playground, please be aware of the yellow walking path. This parking lot is shared with walker and bikers. Please do not park within the walking path to allow students to travel safety home from school.
Remote Learners
Those of you who have registered your children for the remote option this term, we invite you to come for school pictures on October 2nd.
PTA
I encourage you to participate in our PTA. Membership is $7.00. Please look for flyers that will be coming home shortly. A strong home-school connection is one of the best indicators of students’ success.
Box Tops Competition will be September 14th – 18th.
The PTA Reflections contest theme this year is, “I matter because…” Entries should be submitted before October 7th and will be judged entirely online. Our marvelous PTA will send out more information about Reflections soon.
Lastly, I encourage you to connect with us on our school Facebook and Instagram pages, read the weekly emails sent from both myself and the classroom teachers.
We look forward to learning with you this year and your continued support.
Upcoming Events
- September 7th – No School; Labor Day
- September 14th – 18th – PTA Box Tops Competition
- September 17th – Constitution Day; Wear Red, White and Blue
- September 21st – Minimal Day; Students dismissed at noon
- October 2nd – School Picture Day
- October 15th & 16th – No School; Fall Break
- October 26th – 29th – PTA Red/Green Ribbon Week
- October 29th – SEP Zoom Conferences
- October 30th – No School
Have a great week,
Mrs. Angie Killian, Principal