Ridgeview STEM Junior High School
January 3, 2020
#RidgeviewRestart
Greetings Tiger families,
It sure seems as if break went by extremely fast this year. All of us here at RSJHS hope you had a wonderful Holiday break and got time to relax and rest. We are very excited about the upcoming 2020 year and some of the things RSJHS will be implementing the second half of the year.
The past couple of months before break, RSJHS saw an increase in tardies, cafeteria, hallway and classroom behavior. To help get students and staff back on the right track, we are going to start off the New Year with #Ridgeviewrestart. As a building, we want to make sure all expectations are clear and understood by our students, community and staff. The first phase in clarifying our expectations will deal with class tardies, hall passes and hallway behavior. At RSJHS we value class time and want to make sure students are in class as much as possible so they can be successful. The following expectations will be implemented when coming back from break:
- All students will have a sheet of 12 passes they can use for student-initiated requests. The student pass sheet will be for all classes and will be used in six-week time frames. After six weeks, students will receive another sheet with 12 new passes. All student pass sheets will have the students names printed on them already. An example of a student initiated request would be to go get a drink of water or to go to their locker for forgotten homework. Students need to make sure they place their sheets in a safe spot and they do not lose them (Suggestion: in their Chromebook Case). When students request to leave class the teacher will initial their sheet in pen. Once all 12 are used up, there will be no more student-initiated requests for that six weeks. All other passes will be teacher initiated (I.E. - Send to the nurse if ill).
- 10 and 10 rule: No student initiated hall passes will be given in the first and last ten minutes of each class. Again, we value class time and we want each student to know what is going to take place each period so they can be successful in understanding the class expectations for the day. We also value the start of class and we want students to be in class on time. Our goal is to decrease class tardies, class cuts and hallway disturbances.
- The schedule will now have a bell ring at 7:00 am releasing students waiting in the cafeteria to their PAW time. A warning bell will ring at 7:10 am and a tardy bell will ring at 7:15 am. All students need to be in their PAW time class at 7:15 am. Students who are not in class at 7:15 am will be marked tardy unexcused to school. After the tardy bell students not in PAW should report directly to the office to check in.
- During lunch and E/I changes, we will introduce a tardy bell to indicate students who are late to their lunch and or E/I class (This is in between periods 4A/4B, 5A/5B, and 6A/6B). Students need to prepare and plan ahead by gathering the materials they need to take with them so that they can get to all their scheduled courses on time, including lunch. Again, we value the time students have in class and want to make sure they are successful. During this switch we are going to allow students to walk either way in the hallway. There are only a couple of teams in the halls at this time (Again, this is only between periods 4A/4B, 5A/5B, and 6A/6B). We are also going to stress hall behavior during this time so that the volume in the halls does not disturb other classes taking place.
- Lastly, you may start to hear about the R-factor and how students can be disciplined in their mindset by positively responding to events in their lives--hopefully, producing a more positive outcome. Some of you may have already heard E + R = O (Events + Response = Outcomes). This terminology is going to be used more frequently so we can help guide students with their decision making process. Especially with how they are responding to negative events or scenarios in their lives (Example - drama amongst friends).
When we come back from break, the staff will cover the new expectations with the students in their PAW times and classes. Mrs. Richardson and Mr. Koch will also address the students to inform them of the expectations moving forward during a team meeting. As a staff, we will also make videos for our morning announcements modeling the expectations for the students. Please help make the #Ridgeviewrestart a success by emphasizing the above expectations at home with your student. We will introduce a couple more expectations as the year continues. We do not want to overwhelm the students to start off the second half of the year so we will be implementing a phase or two at a time. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the administration.
Once again we hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break and we look forward to seeing everyone back on January 6th, 2020!
Happy New Year!
Eric Koch
Principal
RSJHS
Is it a Snow Day? How to Find Out:
There's no need to call school. See below:
Phone and email alerts
Pickerington Schools will announce emergency closing and delay information through pre-recorded telephone calls to current parents/guardians telephone numbers on file with the district.
The district also sends email messages about any delays or closures via this notification system.
It is important to keep student contact information and contact preferences current by logging into the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and updating your contact information.
District website and social media
Information about school closures or delays will be posted on the home page of the district’s website, on our Facebook page, and on Twitter.
Television and Radio Stations
Pickerington Schools shares any school delay or closure information with local television and radio stations. However, we recommend that parents and students confirm any closure information received from media outlets on the district’s social media sites or website.
Each local television station offers a school closing/delays text message program that sends closure/delay information directly to your phone.
PTO News
Looking for Service Hours?
The PTO will be opening our school store to the PYAA Basketball games and we need lots of help to cover each Saturday through Feb. 29. We have done this the last couple of years and it has gone over well with those attending the games. If you have a student that needs volunteer hours, we will sign off on those hours for them when they volunteer. Please keep in mind, we require a parent or adult to be with the student throughout the entire shift. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jennifer Sander ~ jennsanderpto@gmail.com or 937-694-0987 Thank you for your support of the PTO.
Sign Up https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508094EADAA2CA02-pyaa
PTO School Store Volunteers Needed
The PTO is still looking for a volunteer or two for the school store. We have a shift on Thursday morning from 6:50-7:10am and a shift on the 2nd Friday of each month from 10:00am-1:20pm. If you are interested in volunteering during any of these shifts, please contact Jennifer Sander at jennsanderpto@gmail.com We’d be thrilled to have you!
Sports Information
Winter Sports Fees
Second installment of Pay2Play fee due January 10
Please make sure to have payment submitted by this date so all athletes remain eligible to play for our terrific Tigers!
Spring Softball Open Gyms:
- Sundays, 10 - 11:30, PHS-C Field House
- 1/19, 2/2 and 2/16
- TRYOUTS: week of February 24th
Check the 8 to 18/Ridgeview website for all updated sports information, dates, cancellations, drug testing times, schedules and forms.
Coming Up at Ridgeview
Jan. 6-classes resume
Jan. 14-Spelling Bee Final Round 8:15-10:00 a.m.
Jan. 17-NO SCHOOL-Teacher Professional Development
Jan. 20-NO SCHOOL-MLK holiday
Yearbook Orders
Ridgeview Values
Ridgeview STEM Junior High School
Email: eric_koch@plsd.us
Website: pickerington.k12.oh.us
Location: 130 Hill Road South, Pickerington, OH, USA
Phone: 614-548-1700
Facebook: facebook.com/RidgeviewStem
Twitter: @RidgeviewPLSD