The Riverview Reader
Updates For The Week of December 4th
Translation of Newsletter
For translation of this newsletter please click on the "Translate" button above or on the right hand side of this page.
Para traducir este boletín, haga clic en el botón "Traducir" arriba o en el lado derecho de esta página.
Si aad u turjunto warsidahan fadlan ku dhufo badhanka "Turjumi" ee kore ama dhinaca midig ee boggan.
A Message To Families From Mr. Peck
Riverview Families,
We hope your child enjoyed their day off from school this past Friday. While they were getting a little break from learning, their teachers were hard at work committing to their own professional growth. Teachers and staff participated in sessions on everything from specific literacy focused instructional strategies to ways to improve our communication with families. They learned about how to better support the mental health of our learners, how to improve our writing instruction, how to better manage disruptive student behaviors, how to make our classrooms more accessible to students with disabilities, how to leverage the holistic benefits of going outside during the academic day, and more. We tapped into the knowledge and expertise of those on our Farmington team and learned SO MUCH. Ultimately, the people that will benefit the most from this collaboration will be our learners.
As we try to be even better for our learners and the families we serve, we also have begun the process of analyzing the survey data that measured feedback from our learners, caregivers, and staff. There are several areas where we are clearly performing very well and meeting our goals. There are others that require us to take a look at our current practices and make some changes. We will continue to do everything we can to give students the best experience possible while at school, ensure they are learning as much as possible, and that we are serving our families to the best of our ability.
Best wishes for a great week!
Shawn Peck
Principal
Important Upcoming Dates
- Tuesday, Dec. 5 - CARES Student of the Month Breakfast 7:30 AM in the Multi-Purpose Room
- Tuesday, Dec. 5 - PTP Meeting 5:30 at RVES Multi-Purpose Room
- Tuesday, Dec. 5 - Band Demo Concert, 6:30 PM
- Wednesday, Dec. 6 - Friday, Dec. 8 - Farmington Community Ed Toy Sale (see below for details)
- Thursday, Dec. 7 - Riverview Night at the Apple Valley Applebee's (see below for details)
- Monday, Dec. 11 - Deadline to donate to Toys For Town (see below for details)
- Monday, Dec. 11 - Instrumental Music Holiday Concert, FHS Recital Hall 7:00 PM
- Wednesday, Dec. 13 - Multi-Age Field Trip to the MN History Center
- Thursday, Dec. 14th - Last day for "STAR"
- Monday, Dec. 18 - Vocal Music Holiday Concert, FHS Recital Hall 6:00 & 8:00 PM.
- Friday, Dec. 22nd - Monday, Jan. 1st - NO SCHOOL; WINTER BREAK
- Tuesday, Jan. 2nd - School Resumes
Author, Kathy Groth Visits Multi-Age to Share Her Journey of Becoming a Writer
3rd Grade Students Enjoy Trip to the MN Zoo
This Week's Riverview Hero is Ms. Diana Collingnon! (Click Image to Play Video)
Join the Next PTP Meeting This Tuesday, Dec. 6
The RVES Parent/Teacher Partnership (PTP) will meet this Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 5:30 in the Mutli-Purpose Room at Riverview. All parents/guardians are invited to attend and share their voice. Please reach out to PTP President, Tamara Barum at presidentrvesptp@gmail.com if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!
Support Farmington Community Ed at Toy Sale Starting This Wednesday, Dec. 7
Support RVES PTP by Eating at the Apple Valley Applebee's on Wednesday, Dec. 7
If you happen to be out shopping and need to stop and get a bite to eat, try out Applebee's in Apple Valley. Get some great food and help out Riverview PTP at the same time. Anything raised goes back to our students. Mention "Dine to Donate" to RVES when you order or simply show your server the flyer below to have the 15% to go to our building.
Have a Child Starting Kindergarten in 2024? Join The Kindergarten Mailing List!
Kindergarten enrollment will open in early January. In order to ensure you are receiving the most up to date information regarding enrollment, please click here to add your contact information to our mailing list.
We will be hosting information sessions, giving school tours, and hosting a kindergarten open house in the spring. Be sure you get important details about each of these events.
We Need Your Help! Consider Volunteering For the 2024 Career Fair
We are looking for parents, friends and family members of 5th graders to join us for a unique opportunity! Our 5th graders will be attending the annual 5th Grade Career Fair at Farmington Elementary School with 5th graders from across the district.
We are wondering if YOU or a relative or co-worker would be willing to come volunteer at the 5thgrade career fair by sharing information about your career/job. The event takes place on Friday, January 5th from 9:00 am until noon. Volunteering is easy—you just sign up and show up at FES on January 5th! 5th graders will come and ask questions about your career. It’s easy, fun and all of our students benefit by learning about a wide variety of career fields.
If you or someone you know is interested, just fill out the attached form (see below) and have your 5th grader turn it into their teacher.
Information On "Parental Controls" For Student Issued iPads
The “Parent Guide” portion of the iPad Loan agreement has links to a free version of a home network filtering option. We also recommend that parents/guardians check with their home internet service provider. Depending upon the service, some companies provide network and internet controls for their customers. In addition, there is the link in the “Set Expectations” section of the “Parent Guide” section to Apple’s resources for Parental Controls through the use of the Screen Time function that is built into the iPad operating system. The section on “Prevent web content” provides guidance on blocking specific websites. We also have links to this information in our “iPad Loan FAQ”.
Apple’s instructions for setting “parental control” options in the iPad's "Screen Time" settings allows parents/guardians to set content & privacy restrictions. To help minimize confusion, please know that several years ago when Apple introduced “Screen Time,” there are now two separate locations in which “restrictions” can be set on the iPad –– by the school district in “Device Management” (through the use of our Mobile Device Management MDM software, Jamf Pro) and by the parent(s)/guardian(s) through Screen Time. Apple designed Screen Time for parent/guardian controls and flexibility. The school district, by design, cannot adjust the Screen Time settings. The iPad will apply the most restrictive setting between Device Management and Screen Time (even though the two separate setting locations do not show the restriction settings of each other).
IF parents/guardians are wanting to apply more restrictive or specific settings to the iPad (we do have “Device Management” restriction settings enabled on the iPad by Jamf Pro), it is recommended to share the parental control “Screen Time” passcode with the child’s teacher(s) (but not the learner), so that the teacher may bypass iPad settings, if restrictions are interfering with access to learning activities. Through our device management software, we are able to “Clear Screen Time Passcode,” but it is best to have families and teachers coordinate in advance so that the code doesn’t have to be lifted to get to learning activities; and then again communicate with parent(s)/guardian(s), that the Screen Time Passcode had to be cleared while at school and the parent will need to put a Screen Time Passcode back on the device.
Students In Grades 3-5 Able to Share Views Through Learner Survey
Hearing the voices of the young people we serve is important to us. Throughout all Farmington elementary schools, learners in grades 3-5 were able to participate in a survey recently and share their views on a number of things. We compare our responses to those of the thousands of students who have taken the same survey around the country. Here are a few things that stood out to us:
- "I believe my teachers care about me." Riverview's average response was a 4.60 which placed us in the 98th percentile on this prompt when compared to other schools nationally.
- "I believe my teachers challenge me to think." Riverview's average response was a 4.45 which placed us in the 98th percentile on this prompt when compared to other schools nationally
- "I believe my learning is important at school." Riverview's average response was a 4.44 which placed us in the 92nd percentile on this prompt when compared to other schools nationally.
2023 Fun Run Highlight Video Recently Released
Consider Being a Substitute Teacher or Guest Paraprofessional
Consider Donating Unwrapped Toys For Those in Need This Holiday Season
Riverview Elementary is a drop off location for the “Toys for Town” collection drive. Toys for Town is an annual toy drive organized by the Farmington Police Department to help make the holiday season special for children in our community. The program provides local families a holiday meal kit and gifts for their children. In 2022, there were 400 children from 117 families that benefited from this program. The police department is anticipating similar numbers in 2023.
This year, the Farmington Police Department is setting an ambitious fundraising goal of $40,000, which would match 2022's donations. Along with the fundraising goal, collection bins for unwrapped toy donations have been set out at area businesses and city buildings. (See full list of locations below). They will be available until Monday, Dec. 11. In addition, monetary donations to the Toys for Town program will be accepted at the police department.
If your family needs this program, the department will take request calls through Dec. 11. Call 651-280-6TOY (6869).
Volunteers are needed to wrap and deliver toys on Saturday, Dec. 16. The wrapping event will be held at Farmington High School, 20655 Flagstaff Ave., starting at 9 a.m. Just show up at 9 a.m. ready to wrap!
Toys for Town tree ornaments are available for purchase! Proceeds will benefit the Toys for Town program. Stop by the police department, or the downtown Farmington Liquors location to pick one up.
Attendance Line Information
Riverview Elementary School Hours
Office Hours: 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Riverview CARES
- Cooperation
- Assertiveness
- Responsibility
- Empathy
- Self-Control
Important Phone Numbers
Main Office: 651-460-1600
Nurse: 651-460-1606
Social Worker - 651-460-1629
Food Service: 651-460-3820
Bus Company: 651-463-8689
School Fax: 651-460-1610
School Closing Line: 651-985-1100
Community Education: 651-460-3200
Make Sure Your Child is Reading At Least 20 Minutes Per Night
About Riverview: A Learner Centered Community
The mission of Riverview Elementary School, a learner-centered community that transforms the future of learning, is to ensure each individual continuously grows emotionally, socially, and academically to have a positive impact in their communities through:
- Honoring the diverseness of our communities
- Learning experiences driven by passions, sparks, and interests
- Reflection on the learning process and real-life experiences
- Collaborative relationships, trust, and open communication
Our Objectives:
- Each learner continuously demonstrates academic and personal growth.
- Each learner develops the skills to understand how they learn best.
- Each learner possesses the skills to advocate for themselves and others.
- Each learner continuously explores personal interests and passions to drive their learning.
Read more about our Strategic Framework here.
Email: speck@farmington.k12.mn.us
Website: https://rves.farmington.k12.mn.us/
Location: 4100 208th Street West, Farmington, MN 55024, USA
Phone: 651-460-1600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rve192