Mustang Minute Principal Update
January 10, 2021
Dear Families,
Happy New Year! It's incredible to me how quickly this school year is flying by and that we are ready to start the second semester TOMORROW! Wow!
We have been hard at work here at RCMS over the last week preparing to make this semester as great as the first! We can't wait to see all of your children again as we reconvene school. This newsletter has some refresher information as we get back into our routine as well as some new things we want you to be aware of. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please let me know!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Buessing
COVID Protocols - Reminders and Updates
- We will continue to take temperatures as all students and staff enter the building.
- Students will continue to be required to wear masks (correctly - all the way over the nose) at all times in the building.
- We will continue to ask students with ill-fitting masks to get a new disposable one in the office and will continue to apply those consequences to students who choose not to wear them correctly. (I have included the graphics from the previous newsletter as a reminder!)
- Table spaces will continue to be cleaned and sanitized the last few minutes of class each period prior to switching classes.
- Hand sanitizer will continue to be used as students enter and exit the classrooms.
- Later in the first semester, we added plexi glass to the lunch tables, and this will continue
- We have stretched out our lunch time by about ten minutes on the front end as well as ten minutes on the back end and added additional tables to the lunchroom. This will allow us to have less students in at a time in several of the lunch periods.
- We will also be trying a new structure in seating and will only use every other table to ensure additional distance in the lunchroom - much like you see at restaurants.
Not quite! It shouldn't be worn on your chin!
Not there yet! We shouldn't see your nose!
Yes - this is great! It covers both your mouth AND your nose!
Quarantine reminders
This means that students may be rolling into quarantine/remote learning during this time. If this is the case, please first start by alerting our office that your child will be out and for how long. From there, we will work to get them set up for their temporary remote learning. This looks different for different grade levels. See below for the information needed:
- 5/6 graders - Since they do not have their devices at home and will need paper packets of work to go with their daily assignments, the process to set them up for remote learning takes 24-48 hours. Your child's teacher will reach out to you when materials are ready to pick up in the office. When they are awaiting the appropriate materials needed, these students are not marked absent. However, once they receive all of their materials, they are expected to be logged in as required for learning and will be counted absent when they are not.
- 7/8 graders - These students do take their devices home and do not need paper packets for learning, so it is a much quicker process for getting them set up to learn from home. Their Mustang Power teacher will send them a temporary remote learning schedule with all of the Zoom links needed to get in and work can be accessed immediately to get transitioned by the next day (sometimes already that day!). As soon as they have access to their zoom schedule, they are expected to be online. If they are not, these will be counted as absences.
It is important to remember that this temporary remote learning is reserved for those students who are on quarantine due to exposure of COVID. This is not an option for those who will be traveling out of town or even if we have any inclement weather that may slow us down in the mornings. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this info.
Grade cards
Look for grade cards to be coming home in your child's backpack on either Monday or Tuesday. This is a new practice for our 7th and 8th graders, but these grade cards will be coming home for all students. They are in a white, letter-sized envelope. If your child had work to be completed due to quarantine or other circumstances, they may not have one yet as their grades are incomplete.
RCMS Spelling Bee
Unfortunately, this year we are unable to have any guests in the school to watch the bee. I am looking into options to stream it, but I am finding that perhaps that is restricted due to the Spelling Bee rules. More info to come on that.
Our top two spellers will go on to the county bee in St. Mary's on Saturday, January 23rd. Best of luck to all!
Please remind your student to bring a water bottle as we return to school. It's important that our students stay hydrated and only our bottle filling stations are currently in operation. Thank you for your help!
Caught Ya Cards
Students will have a chance to trade these in right away for a small item or put them in a drawing for a bigger prize at the end of the month. We hope this will really help to promote these traits that align with our guidelines for success.
Additionally, we are looking for items for the end of the month drawings. If you would be willing to donate anything for these, we would greatly appreciate it. Gift cards from various places or other items that our middle school kids might be motivated by are welcome! Please let me know if you are willing to donate a few items to start the prize box. Thank you in advance for supporting this recognition program!
PTO Updates
We are trying a new communication tool called Slack. It is an app/web based program that has messaging capability. In our discussions, the group felt like at times email becomes overwhelming with the amount of information coming out and that an app with messaging strands would be an easier way to keep track of specific PTO communication. You should be able to join by visiting rcmspto.slack.com (or downloading the Slack app) to get connected. Once there, you will be directed to create an account and then that should go to our account manager for approval. If you have problems with this or questions, let me know and I will put you in touch with one of the members of our PTO.
The group has also been hard at work brainstorming some ideas for virtual family events. See the info below for a fun upcoming event!
RCMS PTO is hosting an Online Family Trivia Night on Friday 1/22 @7pm. It will be hosted through Zoom & Kahoot! Apps. Please email your RSVP to rcmstrivianight@yahoo.com to register for event! A detailed email will follow your RSVP. We hope you can join us!
February PTO Meeting
Mark your calendars now for the February PTO meeting! I will send out the link again as it gets closer to the date.
Topic: February PTO Meeting
Time: Feb 3, 2021 05:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89668947483?pwd=V2RVNzNrdnpnWTZFN2Zoc0xuenZmdz09
Meeting ID: 896 6894 7483
Passcode: 25CGg6
Wednesday, Feb 3, 2021, 05:30 PM
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Rock Creek Middle School
Email: buessinr@rockcreekschools.org
Website: www.rockcreekschools.org
Location: 9357 Flush Road, St George, KS, USA
Phone: 785-494-8591
Facebook: facebook.com/RockCreekMiddleSchool
Twitter: @RCMiddleSchool