Rice Middle School eNews
Monday, October 22, 2018
Red Ribbon Week: Oct. 22-26th
Red Ribbon Week is October 22nd through 26th. Listed below are the themes for each day. More details to come soon!
"Life is your journey. Travel drug free."
Monday
Your drug free journey will take you to great places!
Wear College Gear
Tuesday
Keep your school journey drug free!
Wear West Feeder T-shirts
Wednesday
Lets make a drug free world!
Wear traditional clothing or your favorite destination t-shirt
Thursday
Drugs are Tacky!
Wear tacky tourist gear
Friday
Be a hero along life’s journey, help others say no to drugs!
Wear Super Hero Gear or red, white and blue.
Join us on October 26th!
Friday, October 26th will be our third annual First Responder Appreciation Day at Rice Middle School. We have invited the Plano Police and Fire Departments to stop by the school any time between 11:00 to 2:00 pm for some snacks, drinks, and fellowship. This event is open to Rice community, and we hope you will stop by and show your appreciation as well.
Random Metal Detector Searches at Secondary Campuses
Attention Parents & Students:
The Plano Independent School District (PISD) is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment so that education remains the primary focus for students and staff. As the district continues to evaluate and enhance school safety features districtwide, the Plano ISD Board of Trustees recently approved policy revisions permitting random, suspicion-less metal detector searches at secondary (grades 6-12) campuses. Click here to review the full policy online in English or Spanish: https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/312?filename=FNF(LOCAL).pdf
PTA News
A. Donor Lunch
Families that donate $100 or more will be invited to attend a small group lunch at Rice MS. Our Principal, Mr Christopher Glasscock, will be the host! This is a great opportunity to get to know your son or daughter’s principal, meet other families, and support RMS PTA.
B. Time to Sign up for a PTA Membership
While you’re in Membership Toolkit, sign up for your 2018-19 Rice PTA membership. Families need to renew each July 1 for the coming school year. Signing up for PTA doesn’t mean you have to volunteer, although we appreciate those who do.
Why join PTA? Since we don’t hold traditional fund raisers at Rice, our membership dollars are key to supporting all the wonderful activities and services offered each year. Membership dollars help fund classroom wish list items, student programs, teacher conference registrations, parent education programs, teacher appreciation luncheons and special amenities throughout the building.
This year, we would like to see 100% parent participation in membership. This may be a lofty goal, but everyone can benefit from being a PTA member. Sign up at http://ricepta.org.
C. Complete your Volunteer Application Now
Rice Middle School PTA new and returning volunteers for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year must complete an online volunteer application through PISD to be eligible to volunteer. Get a head-start and submit your application today at https://www.pisd.edu/volunteer.
You can also select the Rice opportunities that you are interested in volunteering for through our Rice PTA Membership Toolkit athttps://ricemspta.membershiptoolkit.com/home - just log in and click on the "Volunteering At Rice 2018-19" form to submit your preferences.
Contact volunteers@ricepta.org with questions. Thank you in advance for your service to the students and staff at Rice!
D. Please Continue to Send in Your Box Tops
Hello, Parents, We would like to thank the families who have contributed to the Box Tops fundraiser. With your help, we are expecting to raise money just like previous school years. Thank you!
For this year our target is $500. Please continue to support our school by sending in your Box Tops! It's easy: just tear or cut off the Box Tops logo from your grocery item boxes and have your child bring them to the front desk of the school where a container is there to collect them.
Please like the Rice PTA Facebook page to stay informed about PTA activities!
High School Registration News!
All 8th grader students and their parents are invited to attend information meetings at the Academy High Schools. The dates for the meetings are below and a link is provided for more information about each Academy and the meetings.
Here are some important reminders as you start exploring options for 9th grade:
- All students are welcome to apply for an Academy.
- You DO NOT have to apply for an Academy. Rice students automatically go to Jasper (unless you are at Rice on a transfer)
- Placement in each Academy is based on a lottery system.
- DO NOT apply for more than one Academy.
- Each Academy is unique and students should only consider an Academy if they truly want to be a part of the learning environment that is provided.
- Academy applications should only be filled out if a student is aware of the application and wants to attend the Academy (parents, you will not be the ones attending school and doing the work).
- Academy applications are a personal choice and counselors cannot tell you where to apply.
- Academy placements are a privilege. If you apply for and are accepted into an Academy you do not plan on attending, you are taking away a seat from a student that wanted to attend.
- Please choose wisely….and refer to #1-#8 above!
Health Sciences Academy (6:30 p.m.)
- November 6 | November 8 | November 14
- Location: Williams High School Cafeteria · 1717 17th Street · Plano, TX 75074
IB World School (6:30 p.m. at three locations)
- November 8 - location: Plano West Senior High Theatre · 5601 West Parker Rd · Plano, TX 75093
- November 12 - location: Clark High School Cafeteria · 523 Spring Creek Parkway · Plano, TX 75023
- November 15 - location: Plano East Senior High Theatre · 3000 Los Rios Blvd · Plano, TX 75074
Plano ISD Academy High School (meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. except for November 10*)
- November 5 | November 8 | November 10* - 10:30 a.m. | November 12
- *English/Spanish side by side meeting
- Self-guided tours available one hour prior to each meeting
- Location: Academy High School · 1701 Alma Drive · Plano
Attention Parents
The following documents provide information to parents about how Plano ISD will aid students who have learning difficulties or who need special education or Section 504 services. Please take a moment to review the parent letter below:
Upcoming Rice Events!
Here are the events for the next two weeks! Feel free to come out and support our Rice Ravens!
Important Information from Nurse Yang
Flu Season Is Fast Approaching!
To learn more about seasonal influeza, please click on the link below:
https://www.pisd.edu/cms/lib/TX02215173/Centricity/Domain/233/Influenza2014-2018A.pdf
Guidelines for Exclusion due to Communicable Disease
Communicable Diseases – Exclusion from school for health reasons
2018-2019 National PTA Reflections Contest
Express your artistic talent by participating in Reflections 2018-19!
National PTA Reflections welcomes all grades and abilities at Rice MS to explore and be involved in the arts. Students can participate in the categories of Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography and Visual Art as part of the Reflections 2018-19 program. Submitted entries will be first awarded at the school level, with top placing entries in each category progressively advancing to district, state, and final placements will be at the national level.
This year’s Reflections theme is “Heroes Around Me”. The deadline for submitting entries for the 2018-19 Reflections PTA program is Oct 31, 2018.
Note
Visit http://www.txpta.org/reflections to learn more about the program and obtain the student entry form. Carefully read all eligibility and participation rules (such as format, dimensions, video/audio time limit etc.), to avoid disqualification.
Submission rules are as follows:
- Students should have at least 1 PTA/PTSA Member in their household by Sept 30, 2018.
- Fill the student entry form completely and legibly. DO NOT glue/tape the student entry form directly to the envelope or art work. Place it in a sheet protector before taping it on the envelope or back (in case of visual art) of each entry
- All entries need to be submitted at the Rice front office (except Visual Art entries: these should be submitted at the art studio) on or before Oct 31, 2018.
Rice Reflections Coordinator: Deepti Vaidya (deepti2vaidya@gmail.com)
Yearbook Sale!
Friday, November 2nd is the last day to purchase a yearbook for $35. The price will increase after that so hurry and buy yours today! Books can be purchased online at www.jostensyearbooks.com.
8th Grade Dedications!
Do you want to create a custom dedication for your student's yearbook? 8th grade yearbook dedications are a great way to celebrate student success and milestones and reflect on the person your student has become. Show your pride and support your school at the same time! Visit www.jostens.com/yearbookads to create your dedication! ALL dedications MUST be paid for and created online by Friday, November 9, 2018! NOTE: DEDICATIONS ARE FOR 8TH GRADERS ONLY. Ads are full color. If you would like to see a sample, please visit the website OR contact Ms. Marcus with any questions or comments at haley.marcus@pisd.edu.
Prices are as listed:
Full page: Not offered
1/2 page: Not offered
1/4 page: $75.00
1/8 page: $40.00
The Eco-Club Needs the Rice Community's Help!
The Eco-Club is in need of a few items (new or kindly used) and services. If you could help us in anyway, please contact Mrs. Martinez (Rocio.martinez@pisd.edu).
Items we need:
- wild flowers seeds
- sunflower seeds
- 10 gardening gloves
- 5 hand shovel
- 2 pruning shears
Services we need:
- Simple Irrigation system for our vegetable/herb garden (Anything would be better than watering with milk mugs as we currently do.)
Thank you for your help.
The Eco-Club.
King's Court Club
The club meets at 3:30 - 4:30 PM
Schedules Dates:
- Monday, October 22
Time to Update Your Spirit Wear!
Seasons have finally changed...great time for new Spirit wear! Show your school spirit and support the Jasper Jazz Drill Team with the new spirit wear shown in the attached flyer. Sale is going on at Jasper this coming Wednesday, October 24th during lunch from 12:30-1:30pm. Thank you for supporting Jazz!
Helpful Links!
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