Riverwalk Roar
Your Source All-Things Riverwalk Academy
10/17/21
Happy Sunday, Lions!
I hope each of you had a wonderful three-day weekend. The team and I had a great Friday. The morning was spent in a variety of professional development sessions, and we spent time finalizing grades for the 1st quarter report cards (which go home on Wednesday). The second half of Friday, the staff visited the National American Cornhole League, which is located here in Rock Hill. They created a tournament for us, so we spent the afternoon bonding and unwinding. It was a nice get-a-way for a Friday afternoon.
I did want to take a moment to provide a few COVID-related updates.
COVID Dashboard
Our COVID-Dashboard is still up and running and is updated daily. As you can see, we've had a slight decrease in our number of positive cases and in the numbers of students who are having to quarantine. Please check out this link frequently for Riverwalk Academy's latest numbers and use this link to view information about our State and York County.
DHEC's Updated Guidance re: Masks
We are still following DHEC's guidance as it relates to our COVID protocols for contact tracing and quarantining. DHEC did make one fairly significant update that many of our families might be interested in. The updated guidance reads:
In the K–12 schools, the close contact definition excludes students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student (laboratory-confirmed or a clinically compatible illness) if the exposed student(s) wore mask(s) during the exposure time. This exception does not apply to teachers, staff, or other adults in the indoor classroom setting.
Essentially, if a student wearing a mask is a close contact to a COVID-positive student, that student will not have to quarantine (as long as the mask was worn during time of exposure). Students who are 12 and over and are vaccinated also don't have to quarantine when they are designated a close contact regardless of masking.
If you have any questions about our COVID-protocols, please contact Nurse Donna.
Please Notify The School
We're still using this online form as the form to notify us (Nurse Donna) for the following reasons:
- Student is COVID-positive
- Student is a household close contact to a COVID-positive family member
- Student is showing COVID-related symptoms
- Student is awaiting the results of a COVID test
We appreciate you all for using this form to let us know. As you can imagine, Nurse Donna spends a significant amount of time each day following up with families who have contacted her because of a COVID-related concern. By using this form, it allows her (and all of us) to manage everything that we are responsible for as it relates to COVID-management in the schools.
Pride, we greatly appreciate how supportive each of you has been this year dealing with COVID-management. Like I mentioned in a previous letter, just like parents, none of us in the school signed up to be an administrator, support staff, teacher, or a school nurse during a pandemic and we all cannot wait for things to return to "normal." However, we greatly appreciate how much support you've shown us. It means a lot to us.
On behalf of all the staff, thank you all for being so wonderful and we hope you and your student(s) enjoy the week.
In Strength and Blessings,
~Dr. Compton
Photo of the Week
This week's photo is of our dismissal crew from Thursday, Riverwalk Academy's "pink out" day.
Red Ribbon Week Is Coming Up!
2021 Red Ribbon Week Theme: "Drug Free Looks Like Me"
School Picture Retakes
COVID-Related
We're asking that our families assist us in managing everyone's status by using this form when your child shows symptoms, tests positive, is a close contact, or is a household close contact. The data shared with us is kept confidential. After completing this form, you'll receive an email or phone call from Nurse Donna to discuss your child's specific isolation/quarantining plan.
Linked here is Riverwalk Academy's COVID Dashboard. This COVID dashboard is updated by 3:00 pm each school day. This dashboard can also be found on our website.
We've received a few questions about our dashboard, so I wanted to provide an explanation for everyone. Click here for an explanation of our COVID data.
School Lunches
Riverwalk Academy is a "bring your own lunch" school where students are encouraged to bring their own lunches. We do offer a fee-based lunch program that is not income-contingent. Our fee-based lunch program is provided by Golden Corral. For more information about this option, please click here.
Pride, if you haven't done so, please take a moment to check out our new and improved website. From the main page, you have immediate access to the latest news, and up to date calendar.
Family Literacy Night For K-5
For more information, please reach out to Ms. Christman at achristman@riverwalkacademy.com.
Elementary Guidance with Mrs. Carr
Happy Mid-October Families! I don’t know about all of you, but I am ready for cooler weather and more beautiful fall colors. This week was short for the students, but long for me. In addition to being the counselor, I am privileged to also be the Section 504 Coordinator and the State Testing Coordinator. This gives me the opportunity to still speak with many of my middle and high school students and their families. Changing this year to only Elementary was hard for both me and my students; I had to let go of them and allow them to move on. But with the extra jobs and our small school setting, I still get to interact with them regularly. This makes the letting go a bit easier and smoother for all of us.
We have been talking about challenges, overcoming them and learning from them in our lessons and how they can help us get through life. We have to be positive about these changes and challenges in order to keep moving forward. Letting go and allowing these students to grow and move on from me is one of my greatest challenges. Using my personal life lessons helps me teach our students because if Mrs. Carr experiences it - it is more real to them. Continue to ask your students about what helps them grow their happiness spots - what are they thankful for, what was the highlight of their day, what was their biggest success. Remind them that challenges can be highlighted and even the smallest growth made can be their biggest success. My educator friend and coworker, Dr. Dempsey shared this graphic and I had to borrow it for this week’s article. It is a great reminder for parents and students alike.
Weekly 7th and 8th Grade Newsletters
7th and 8th Grade Families,
Beginning today, and every Friday after, we will be emailing a weekly 7th and 8th grade newsletter. These newsletters can be viewed by clicking the following links:
Be on the look out for an email from Ms. Pack (7th grade families) and Ms. Manigault (8th grade families) today at 6:00 pm. Future newsletters will be sent on Friday's at 6:00 pm.
A Message From Ms. Menges
-I want to start by saying that we are so proud of our 8th and 10th graders for tackling the PSAT this past Wednesday!
-Josten's will be back at York Tech for our senior ordering session on Wednesday, October 20th at 12:45PM. This will be an opportunity for students to put in their orders for graduation related items if not already done online.
-11th and 12th graders: on Wednesday, October 20th at 6:00PM there will be a college and career night at Riverwalk Academy in the Multi-Purpose room regarding post high school graduation plans. Students and parents are welcome at this event and we are excited to dive deeper into this subject!
-11th grade IGP meetings are starting this week! Please sign up for a time through the email that I sent if you have not already. I cannot wait to connect with everyone!
Please reach out if you ever have any questions, you can always email me at cmenges@riverwalkacademy.com.
RED RIBBON WEEK CHALLENGE 2021
Monday, October 25th - Friday, October 29th we will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week.
The Red Ribbon Week Challenge is a week of challenges for middle and high school students to participate in each day to raise awareness for Red Ribbon Week. These teams and challenges will occur in FIRST BLOCK. This week was created to teach students about living a healthy life, saying no to drugs, and understanding the importance of medication, and the safety revolving around it. Have fun and be creative! The winners at the end of the week will receive something fun for their class!
For more information please reach out to Ms. Menges at cmenges@riverwalkacademy.com or Ms. Goedhart at kgoedhart@riverwalkacademy.com.
Red Ribbon Spirit Week
Student Council
Are you interested in serving as your grade level representative (6th - 8, 9th/10th, and 11th/12th) for student council? If so, please reach out to Ms. Manigault about running for one of these positions. We will hold elections in two weeks.
Interested in Cheer?
Dublin, London, and Paris Travel Questions
Is your student enrolled for the Dublin, London, and Paris trip this coming April? Many questions have come up in the past few weeks concerning COVID-19 and international travel. At the present time, the trip is still scheduled, as planned; however, if you have any questions you feel you need answered, please email rloyst@riverwalkacademy.com. He's working with EFTours to address any concerns you may have on an individual basis.
Still interested in traveling with the school this Spring Break? There's still time to enroll! Email rloyst@riverwalkacademy.com for more info.
Senior Orders: 10/20/21
Looking for an 11th/12th Grade Student Representative
11th and 12th Grade students, we're looking for one male and one female to represent you on our student council. If you are interested, please contact Ms. Manigault for information about running for these elected options.
Athletic Events of the Week
Cross Country
- 10/19/21 @ Clover 5:00pm-6:30pm
Volleyball
- 10/18/21 @ Lakepointe 4:30pm-5:30pm
- 10/21/21 @ Lakepointe 5:30pm-6:30pm
Week Ahead
Monday: 10/18
- Volleyball Away Game vs. LakePointe School 4:30pm-5:30pm
- Cross Country Practice 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm
- Cheerleading Practice 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Tuesday:10/19
- Cross Country Meet @ Clover 5:00pm-6:30pm
- Cheerleading Practice 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
- Board Meeting 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Wednesday: 10/20
- Picture Make Up Day
- Senior Graduation Orders at York Tech
- Cross Country practice 3:15pm-4:30pm
- Cheer Practice: 3:30pm-5:00pm
- Junior/Senior College and Career Prep Night 6:00pm-7:30pm
Thursday: 10/21
- Cross Country Practice 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm
- Cheerleading Practice 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
- Volleyball Banquet 4:30pm-5:30pm
- Volleyball Game @Lakepointe Christian Academy 4:30pm-5:30pm
Friday: 10/22
- BPA Meeting 12:30pm
Connect with Us
The Mission of Riverwalk Academy is to lead students to achieve through authentic project-based learning experiences with the knowledge and inquiry skills they need to succeed in life, college, and their future careers.
Email: info@riverwalkacademu.com
Website: https://www.riverwalkacademy.com/
Location: 5750 Mount Gallant Road, Rock Hill, SC, USA
Phone: (803) -327-8400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riverwalkacademy
Twitter: @riverwalklions