RMS Update: 11.14.23

Roosevelt School News:

• Principal's Message
• Lost and Found
• Teacher/Staff Appreciation Dinner

Activities + Community Events:

• Middle School Madness Event

This Week

• NOVEMBER 13 (M):A DAY
• NOVEMBER 14 (T): B DAY
• Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
• Band Concert- 6:30PM
  
• NOVEMBER 15 (W): A DAY
• Affinity Wednesday
• Early Release- 2:35PM
  
• School Board Meeting- 7:00PM
• NOVEMBER 16 (TH): B DAY
• NOVEMBER 17 (F): A DAY

Next Week

• NOVEMBER 20 (M)
• No School- Student-led Conferences
• Front Office Hours: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
• NOVEMBER 21 (T)
• No School- Student-led Conferences
• Front Office Hours: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  
• NOVEMBER 22 (W)
• No School
• Front Office Closed
• NOVEMBER 23 (TH)
• No School- Holiday break
• NOVEMBER 24 (F)
• No School- Holiday break

Greetings, RMS families!

Lots happening at school as we wrap up the first quarter and continue preparation for student-led conferences (SLCs) next week. We'll also be kicking off HAP when students return the week of November 27 and you'll receive information next week about our RMS Direct Drive.

We'd like to invite you to sign-up today for your SLC if you haven't already. We had an overwhelming response to signups last week and already more families signed up this year than last year which tells us you are as excited as we are to have space and time for a concerted conversation with your student about their learning and middle school experience.

Now in my fourth year at middle school having spent the majority of my professional time at high school with a short stint at elementary, student-led conferences are something I have seen at high school in an International Baccalaureate program with 11th grade students. My own children participated in SLCs as both elementary and middle school students and from my experience, I find the time together for family and student is an important way to learn about progress, strengths and areas of growth and to receive different kinds of information from your student's perspective. We hope you are looking forward to good conversations with your incredibly perceptive students!

We would love to see you at SLCs on 11/20 or 11/21. Information and signup links are below. We'll certainly ask for your feedback after your conference so we can continue to adjust and respond.

As we end the first quarter, SLCs are well-timed and offer a natural reflection point for students. Though the focus of SLCs is on learning and not necessarily on outcomes in the form of grades, progress reports will be out in the next week on ParentVue and will come in the mail, too. If you don't receive a grade report by the end of next week, will you email our registrar at salinas_k@4j.lane.edu? Thank you!

We're looking forward to next week and the weeks beyond as our school comes together around HAP-- Helping All People. Please look for a special message next week on both HAP and our RMS Direct Drive in lieu of our weekly newsletter.

Thanks for you ongoing contributions and support... RMS continues to be a special place to learn and grow and to be together in community.

Have a great week ahead!

Courtney and Mike

We look forward to seeing you between 10 am - 8 pm on either Monday, November 20 or Tuesday, November 21 for you SLC. If you have multiple students, you can sign up for as many 25-minute blocks as you have children at Roosevelt. Teachers are available for brief consults at your Dining Hall table.

Please click on the link below to schedule a conference or contact the front office if you have any questions: 541-790-8500

1. Create a parent square account if you have not already.
2. Sign up for SLC: https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/25850755

Thank you! Looking forward to seeing you next week !

Parent Square is our new communication platform and you don't have to download the app if that's not your preference. RMS is piloting Parent Square this year and next year, all schools will be required to use it for parent communication, replacing a program called School Messenger.

• Go to https://www.parentsquare.com/.
• On the right hand side, enter your email associated with your student's 4j account.
• Sign up for your SLC: https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/25850755

If you have any questions or issues logging in, please contact Skye at stier_s@4j.lane.edu

If your students have lost any large items, like clothes, water bottles, or binders, please have them check our Lost and Found closet in the C-Hall. If they've lost a small or valuable item, remind them to check in at the front office.

**Please check the Lost and Found before of after your Student-Led Conference. On Tuesday evening, November 21, all items remaining in the Lost and Found will be donated.

It's time to celebrate our teachers and staff at RMS!

Teachers and staff give so much of themselves to our students and the community!

So, to celebrate them and thank them for all the great things they do, we will be providing a meal for our teachers and staff during the student-led conference, Monday, November 20th, to remind them how "souper" they are and how thankful we are for their investment in our children.

Please find an option HERE that works for you and sign up!

Please ensure all food items arrive at RMS by 4pm on Monday, November 20th and include:

• a list of any allergenic ingredients, including peanuts, eggs, dairy, gluten, etc.

• your name so leftovers can easily be returned

Non-perishable items can be dropped off on Friday, November 17, at the front office if that’s more convenient for parents.

We also need volunteers to help set up at 4:30pm and clean up at 6:15pm. Please sign up HERE.

You can contact Laura Fuhriman with questions.

Thank you very much!
PAR

At Roosevelt, we recognize and honor different national heritage months over the course of the year in our classrooms, within our curriculum, with visual reminders throughout the hallways, and by sharing school announcements. Our work is to make current realities and histories visible, accessible, and affirming. This is the month to celebrate the history and diverse culture of indigenous peoples throughout the US and time to acknowledge and amplify contributions Native and indigenous people have and continue to make in our district, state and nation. This is an excellent opportunity also to raise awareness about challenges and triumphs and ‘survivance’– the notion that Native American peoples persevere and resist despite generations of practices and policies designed to forcibly assimilate.

If you would like to discuss this heritage month with your student, some resources include:

• Native American Heritage Month

• Tribal History/Shared History

• Smithsonian National Museum

• Why celebrate?

A little later than we intended... and we apologize for not getting information out sooner! Schools were encouraged to participate in the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day event as a way to highlight a culture of active transportation and to give our students the chance to celebrate Ruby Bridges’ courage by walking, biking or rolling to school. We shared this on school announcements but neglected to inform our community.

At age six, Ruby Bridges became the first African-American to integrate an elementary school in the South and she has been a lifelong civil rights leader. This event provides a great opportunity to teach students about the civil rights movement and make connections to today’s collective efforts for change. More resources about Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day are linked here.

We hope you had a great weekend and found fun ways to enjoy an additional hour in the switch to Daylight Savings time. At this time last year, we'd already had a few little snow flurries in the valley which reminds us winter is almost here. As we move further into the fall and winter months, please check out this 4j page for information on how to sign up for weather alerts, school delays and building closures. We’ll always re-share district information via Parent Square in the case of winter weather, and no news means no change to the daily schedule.

In the past month, we've seen an unfortunate increase in the number of bike thefts at RMS. Please remind your students about the prevention strategies they can use to reduce risk given the prevalence of bike theft in our community:

• Always lock your bike, even if you're just leaving it for a minute.
• Lock to something secure, not something like a chain link fence that is easy to cut through.
• Do not leave your bike locked at school overnight.
• Lock with a U-lock, not a cable lock.
• Lock the bike through one of the triangles of the frame, not through the wheel, as that can easily be removed.

Oregon law requires 7th grade students have their Tdap booster. Students must have current school records of all required vaccinations or valid exemptions to continue attending school on and after Exclusion Day, a date set by the State of Oregon that is in February of each school year.

Where to get immunizations: Vaccines are available at many health care providers’ offices, many pharmacies, Lane County Public Health (541-682-4041), and the school-based health centers at North Eugene (541-790-4445) and Churchill (541-790-5227). Call for information or to schedule an appointment.

Nonmedical exemptions: If a parent seeks a nonmedical exemption from one or more required immunizations, the parent must provide a completed Vaccine Education Certificate, available from a health care practitioner or from the online vaccine education module at www.healthoregon.org/vaccineexemption, along with the completed Certificate of Immunization Status. The Vaccine Education Certificate must be valid for all of the vaccines for which a nonmedical immunization exemption is being sought. A separate certificate is required for each child.

Information about exemptions

Fiction Fantastic Contest
Our annual Fiction Fantastic Young Writers Contest is now open. Youth that live or attend school in Lane County are eligible to enter this free short story contest. Visit fictionfantastic.org for more information or download this handy PDF to share.

Rainbow Reads Book Club
Rainbow Reads is a young adult LGBTQIA2S+ book group for Lane County teens hosted by Wordcrafters in Eugene in partnership with the Eugene Public Library! For more information about this free program visit here.

For November we're reading Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh.

• When: Wednesday, November 8 | 4:30-6:00 PM Pacific
• Where: Eugene Public Library, Downtown

Rainbow Read Club members can pick up a free copy of the monthly book at the Eugene Public Library Downtown.

Write Club for Youth
This our monthly writing workshop that runs during the school year and is offered to youth 9 and up. These workshops offer the opportunity for young writers to explore various genres and topics in writing with local teaching artists throughout the year.

November: Playwriting; Just Begin with Jeany Van Meltebeke Snider

• Saturday, November 11, 2023
• 10 AM - 12 PM | ages 9 and up

Join Jeany Van Meltebeke Snider for our November Write club and jump into writing for theatre.

December: Roll-Up a Holiday Story with Nina Kiriki Hoffman

• Saturday, December 9, 2023
• 10 AM - 12 PM | ages 9 and up

Join author Nina Kiriki Hoffman for December’s Youth Write Club, and roll the dice to collect ingredients to create three characters, then roll again to find plot elements.

For information about our upcoming Write Club (for Youth) workshops visit here or download this handy PDF.

4J Welcome Center will once again be hosting and collaborating with Toys for Tots this year to be a satellite distribution site for all 4J families with students from ages 0-13yrs old.

• Deadline: Nov 24, no applications will be accepted after this date.
• Distribution Date: Saturday, Dec 9
• Time/Location: TBD

Click on this link to register: https://eugene-or.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/request-toys.aspx

Haga clic en este enlace para registrarse: https://eugene-or.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/local-toy-request-single-form.aspx

Oregon's Bottle Drop Program! Blue bags and tags are available for pick up in the front office.

You can help Roosevelt earn money for our school by registering your credit card with eScrip. Earn money for Roosevelt every time you shop at Market of Choice, Sizzle Pie (& other local restaurants). Register your credit/debit cards, designating Roosevelt Middle School—Recipient ID #6723045. Click on the link above to get started.

Sign up for the Community Rewards program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to Roosevelt. You can search by our name or by our non-profit number GB554.

Download the Box Top for Education App in Google Play or the App Store, sign up (or sign in) and take a picture of your receipt within 14 days of purchase. It will automatically credit the school for each product. For more information, click on the link above.