Rice Middle School eNews
Tuesday, February 27, 2019
UPDATE: Fine Arts Renovation/Construction Starts March 4th
Construction will begin next week! Fencing will start to go up today around the construction site, and a trailer will be installed as well. Starting on Monday, March 4th, the new plan takes effect, and area in the back of the school where the new addition will go will be shut down.
Please take a moment to review the new traffic pattern!
Some Major Traffic Changes:
- There will be no access to the back of the building, meaning the back carpool lane is gone.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- The east side of Gifford (northbound) is posted as “No Parking” between certain hours of the day (morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up), BUT you can use this as a location to drop your child off in the morning.
We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we make some exciting upgrades to our school.
AVID Parent/Student Information Night
DATE Change: AVID Parent/Student Information Meeting, February 27th
Is your student Interested in AVID for the 2019-2020 school year? Would you like to know more about the AVID program?
Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) is a yearlong elective that teaches study skills, provides in class tutorials, encourages leadership and community service, and requires students to participate in courses of rigor. Recruitment for the 2019-2020 school year will get underway soon. If you are interested in your child joining AVID next year, or would just like more information, please attend the Parent/Student Information Night on Wednesday, February 27th, at 6 PM in the library. Our AVID coordinator, Mrs. Dyer, will present information about AVID at Rice and the high school level. Current and former Rice AVID students will share their experiences as well.
What: AVID Parent/Student Information Night
When: Wednesday, February 27th, 6 PM
Where: Rice Library
Spring Open House, March 4th
Our Spring Open House is going to be the evening of Monday, March 4 from 6:30-8:00. This is a come and go event, so you don't necessarily need to arrive at 6:30. The teachers will be available to say hello and will have student work to share. This is not a time to have individual conferences. If you want to schedule a conference with a teacher, please contact him or her directly. There is a general PTA meeting prior to Open House at 6:00 in the cafeteria.
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!
Dallas Regional Science & Engineering Fair Results
The Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair was held all day this past Saturday on the State Fairs Grounds of Texas. We are so proud of all our students that entered projects reflecting 4 months of hard work and including the prepared speeches to defend their results.
We would like to recognize the following students:
- Sparsh Mathur, Mark Yang, Rida Salim, Jason Xu, Anjali Iyer, Anush Batikeri, Aneisha Gupta, Amith Yedavali, Anika Damle, Kevin Sun, Mihika Mishra, Katie Yin, Medha Kandimalla, Manusha Sathish Kumar, Adil Hussain, and Raghav Ramki.
Honorable Mention Awards
- Mark Yang
- Amith Yedavalli
- Anika Damle
- Mishra Mihika
- Aneisha Gupta
Industry, the Armed Services, & Government Agencies Special Awards:
- Adil Hussain, recognized with an award from the Naval Research Dept of the U.S.
- Anjali Iyer and Kevin Sun , each recognized with an award from the EPA of the U.S.
Students Qualifying for State Science Fair
*The students below earned awards , which qualify for the State Science Fair Competition in College Station later this month:
- Raghav Ramki – 3rd place
- Anjali Iyer – 3rd place
- Kevin Sun – 1st place
- Adil Hussain – 1st place
Congratulations to all our students that competed at Regionals with over 800 entries from 80 school districts and 120 private schools. Good Luck to Raghav, Anjali, Kevin, and Adil who have the honor of representing Rice Middle School at the state competition this year.
Rice Ravenclaw Robotics News
Rice's own Ravenclaw Robotics team competed in the North Texas First Tech Challenge Championship (FTC) at Wylie East High School this past Saturday. Ravenclaw robotics is one of just four middle schools (the rest are high school and private teams) who qualified to compete in the 52 team regional event. There are over 200 teams in the region! Awards are given based on robot design, innovation, documentation, community outreach and robot performance. The students invested over 100 hours into practice and competitions this season and just missed qualifying for the FTC World Championship in Houston.
We are so proud of all of these students and their coaches, Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy, for their hard work and dedication. Pictured below are Mrs. McCarthy and the Ravenclaw team!
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!
Interested in being a Rice Cheerleader or Mascot?
Signed paperwork is due this Friday, March 1st, for all 7th graders who are interested in participating in cheer or in being Rice's mascot next year. Please turn in the forms to either Mrs. Dyer (Room 516) or Ms. Marcus (Room 728).
Again, the deadline is March 1st!
Rice Athletics: Track News & T-shirts
Track season is upon us! Rice Athletics will be selling $20 long sleeve Track & Field Shirts now through Friday, March 1st. Please turn in all orders to Coach Cole or Coach Green. Our first track meet will be Wednesday, March 20th at Kimbrough Stadium. This year's T-shirt design is featured in the photo on the left.
Plano Arts Summer Art Enrichment Program: Pre-Approval Enrollment List
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
Tuesday, February 26
- Choir Pre-UIL Concert @ Jasper High School - 5:00
Wednesday, February 27
- AVID Parent Informational Night - Rice Library - 6:00
Saturday, March 2
- 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
Plano West Lady Wolves Youth Night
National Honors Society Color Run is March 3rd!
Helpful Links!
Thank you for reading the eNews!
** TO UNSUBSCRIBE From ENEWS
To unsubscribe from Rice eNews or change your email address, please go to: http://elist.pisd.edu/ If you are getting eNews because you use Parent Portal, please go to: https://parentviewer.pisd.edu/ to revise your subscription