Rice Middle School eNews
Sunday, March 5, 2019
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS MONDAY!
Construction on our new Fine Arts addition begins this coming Monday, March 4. Hopefully, we will have some police officers directing traffic in the morning and afternoon for the first few days of the transition. Please make sure you review the attached Rice Middle School Fine Arts Addition Traffic Plan to ensure you know what changes are taking place.
Below is some important information that has been shared in the past several weeks:
1. There will be no access to the back of the building, meaning the back carpool lane is gone.
2. We are going to use the front driveway off of Gifford for bus drop off in the morning and afternoon. No carpool will be allowed in the mornings as well as the afternoons until the buses have exited.
3. The bus lane along Russell Creek Drive will now be used as a carpool lane. There will be one-way traffic in this lane and would be best for the Andrews and Skaggs community.
4. The driveway on the north side of the building (by the football field) will also be used as a carpool lane. This is a two-way lane, meaning traffic will be entering and exiting at the same location. The exit will be RIGHT TURN only. This lane will be best for the Wyatt community.
5. The west side of Gifford (southbound) is still posted as “No Parking, Stopping, Standing, etc.” so please do not drop your children off on that side of the street.
Thank you in advance for your patience and support. We all need to work together to ensure the remaining 10 weeks of the school year runs smooth.
Spring Open House, March 4th
This Monday night, March 4, is our Spring Open House, which is scheduled from 6:30-8:00. There will be a General PTA Meeting at 6:00 in the cafeteria.
The Spring Open House is a "come and go" event which means you don't necessarily need to be here right at 6:30 when the doors open. There is no schedule to follow; you will just need your child's schedule and go visit his or her classroom. While the teachers will be present, this really isn't a time for parent/teacher conferences. If you want to schedule a conference with one of your child's teachers, please contact him or her directly. Please also take note of #1 above, with the construction taking place, they are also taking many parking spaces from us in the back area, so parking is limited. We look forward to seeing you Monday night!
ILLNESSES
We ask that if your child is sick, or showing signs of illness, that you let him or her stay at home in order to get rest and feel better. We know school is important, but your child will be able to make up any work he or she misses. Thank you for your consideration on this issue.
End of Year Planning
Please be aware of our end of year calendar when making travel arrangements. The last day of school is May 24th and finals are given May 21st-24th. STAAR and End of Course Exams will take place from May 7th-17th. Due to State testing, students will be unable to take their exams early. Students will need to be present during part or all of the week of May 20th in order to complete their school year. We appreciate your understanding and support in making your child's school year successful!
AVID Application Due Friday
Are you interested in improving your study, time management, and organization skills? Did you put AVID on your schedule for the upcoming school year? Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students interested in joining AVID for the 2019-2020 school year should stop by Mrs. Dyer’s room (516) and pick up an application today. Applications are due back to Mrs. Dyer before we leave for Spring Break. Interview times will be announced the end of March.
Gateway Summer Engineering Camp
The Gateway Summer Engineering Camp is a hands-on, project-based camp designed to introduce middle school students to the fundamentals of STEM and recruit them into PLTW courses. Certified PLTW instructors provide expert instruction in small group settings. Students work together in a fun, exciting environment using leading-edge technologies to sample engineering related activities and projects and get a taste of how fun it can be to be an engineer.
We are offering camp sessions at Jasper HS and Otto MS. Each session is four days long.
Learn more about the camp and register at https://www.pisd.edu/gatewaycamp
Click on the flyer below to learn more about this opportunity. Registration opened on March 1st!
PISD SEL Art Showcase Winners
Congrats to Sofia Aguilar, Daisy Chang, and Katherine Han! Their artworks are going to be a part of the PISD SEL Art Showcase! This art exhibit will be at the Cox/Courtyard Theatre, and the opening reception will be on March 19th from 6:00-7:30.
The theme of the art exhibit is on Social and Emotional Learning with themes of hope, unity, empathy, relationships, persistence, and self-reflection.
PTA News
A. Lunch Duty
The staff would like help supervising students at lunch, to include include playing games with the kids, talking to them, reminding them to recycle and stack trays neatly, and asking them to be seated if not getting food/throwing away trash. If you are able to help, please sign up for a shift here:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4cabab2aa64-lunch
B: 2019-2020 Rice PTA Board
Our nominating committee is also looking for members to serve on next year's PTA Board and make the 2019-2020 school year a wonderful one for our Rice Ravens! Available officer positions include:
· President
· Treasurer
· VP of Membership
· VP of Programs
· VP of Ways & Means
· VP of Volunteers
Please feel free to contact volunteers@ricepta.org if you are interested in serving or would like more information about any of these positions and other chairs like Communication and Copy Room Coordinator.
Follow us on Facebook and Like Rice PTA Facebook page to stay informed about PT
ESL News
Parents of ESL students,
Please come learn more about the ESL program in Plano ISD, as the ESL instructional specialists and Rice lead counselor will provide information and ask questions. We look forward to seeing you on March 26th in the Rice Library!
Important Information from Nurse Yang
Attention 6th Graders:
Please read this linked letter for required immunizations in order to enter 7th grade. A separate parent letter with your child's detail immunization requirements will be mailed to you in March 2019. These required immunizations are due by last day of school, 5/24/2019. You can also view your child's current immunization record on file with the school on https://parentviewer.pisd.edu/
Flu Season Is Here!
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
Check the Lost & Found
Hey students! We need you to check the lost & found right away! We have jackets, lunch boxes and binders galore! They need to find their home and be returned pronto! Please check the lost & found in the cafeteria and in each grade level as well. Items will be donated by Friday, March 11th.
Jasper Tennis Tryouts
Are you going to Jasper next year? Do you play competitive tennis? Do you know what a UTR and USTA stand for? If so, please consider trying out for the Jasper Tennis team next year. To tryout you must sign up for tennis and be ready to tryout next year. This is not a PE class where you learn how to play. If you have any questions please email Coach Moore at mark.moore@pisd.edu
Mean Green Summer Debate Camp
Eco Club News
Bottle Caps and Tin Cans!
The Eco-Club @ Rice needs plastic bottle caps of all sizes and colors. We also need tin cans of all sizes. Please wash them and bring them to Room 817. We appreciate your help. Thank you.
Cartridges and Electronic Devices
The Eco-Club at Rice is participating in a program called Cartridges for kids. They are a Product Recover Service that collects ink cartridges, cellphones, laptops, Ipods, tablets, ereaders, to provide help to children in need. Please consider donating any of these items instead of disposing them once they are no longer being used. For more information visit: http://www.cartridgesforkids.com/
Student Events for the Next Two Weeks
- Whiz Quiz Tournament - Rice Middle School
Monday, March 4
- CONSTRUCTION BEGINS and THE NEW TRAFFIC PLAN STARTS (refer to the Rice website)
- Open House - Come and Go Event - 6:30-8:00
Friday, March 8
- End of the Third Nine Weeks Grading Period
Spring Break, March 9 - 17
Monday, March 18
- Students Return to School
Plano West Wolves Baseball PSA Middle School Night
Come out to The Ballpark at Plano West, Friday, March 22 and join Plano West cluster Middle School students, families and teachers as the Wolves take on city rival Plano Wildcats! The Varsity game begins at 7:30pm!
Come early to cheer on Junior Varsity at 4:30pm, grab food, snacks and drinks from the concession, enjoy the new picnic area and to participate in the pre-game ceremonies! Middle School students, stop by the PSA tent before 6:45pm on game day to win a chance to throw out the first pitch of the game! There will be great high school baseball, music, drawings for giveaways and fun for all! Let’s pack The Ballpark with Wolfpack pride!
Join our Plano West cluster community on Friday, March 29 for PSA Elementary School Night as Plano West Wolves take on McKinney Boyd!
Follow Plano West, Jasper and Shepton Baseball at planowestbaseball.org and on Twitter @PWBaseball2019
Plano West Lady Wolves Youth Night
Helpful Links!
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