Rice Middle School eNews
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
BLOCK LUNCH - NOVEMBER 2
This Friday is our first ever Block Lunch Bonanza! Our students will have the opportunity to choose to attend sessions (clubs/activities/fun) on Friday that are being offered by our teachers! This is the first time we have tried it out, so we are excited and anxious at the same time!
The Block Lunch will be held from 12:00-1:30 on Friday. Students will be able to choose from this list of sessions on that day. The sessions are in 30 minute intervals, so they will also choose to eat lunch during one of the timeframes. We hope to offer these block lunches on a more frequent basis, but for now we are gearing up for a successful one on Friday!
A special “THANKS” goes to Mrs. Dyer and Mrs. Johnson for putting together the events for the day--you two are Rockstars!!!!
2018-2019 National PTA Reflections Contest: Deadline Wednesday!
Express your artistic talent by participating in Reflections 2018-19!
National PTA Reflections welcomes all grades and abilities at Rice MS to explore and be involved in the arts. Students can participate in the categories of Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography and Visual Art as part of the Reflections 2018-19 program. Submitted entries will be first awarded at the school level, with top placing entries in each category progressively advancing to district, state, and final placements will be at the national level.
This year’s Reflections theme is “Heroes Around Me”. The deadline for submitting entries for the 2018-19 Reflections PTA program is Oct 31, 2018.
Note
Visit http://www.txpta.org/reflections to learn more about the program and obtain the student entry form. Carefully read all eligibility and participation rules (such as format, dimensions, video/audio time limit etc.), to avoid disqualification.
Submission rules are as follows:
- Students should have at least 1 PTA/PTSA Member in their household by Sept 30, 2018.
- Fill the student entry form completely and legibly. DO NOT glue/tape the student entry form directly to the envelope or art work. Place it in a sheet protector before taping it on the envelope or back (in case of visual art) of each entry
- All entries need to be submitted at the Rice front office (except Visual Art entries: these should be submitted at the art studio) on or before Oct 31, 2018.
Rice Reflections Coordinator: Deepti Vaidya (deepti2vaidya@gmail.com)
CALLING ALL VETERANS!
On November 9th the students and staff of Rice Middle School will celebrate Veterans Day and honor veterans who have served in the military. There will be musical pieces performed by the Rice band and choir, Rice speech students presenting our veterans, and a special guest speaker.
If you, your spouse or an immediate family member is a United States Armed Forces Veteran, we would like to honor your/ his/ her service! Please complete the information in this link so that you or your veteran may be properly recognized. Please submit a DIGITAL PHOTO of you or your veteran to Ms. Nipper at elizabeth.nipper@pisd.edu no later than November 7th.
Additional questions may be emailed to Ms. Nipper.
If you are unable to open the Google form, please send the following information and DIGITAL PHOTO to elizabeth.nipper@pisd.edu:
-Veteran’s name
-Veteran’s branch of service
-Veteran’s last rank
-Veteran’s locations of service
-Any special awards or recognitions
-Rice student name and grade
Semper Fidelis,
Sergeant Nipper
Upcoming Rice Events!
Here are the events for the next two weeks! Feel free to come out and support our Rice Ravens!
Monday, October 29
7th Grade Football vs. Hendrick - Kimbrough - 5:30/7:00
Tuesday, October 30
8th Grade Football vs Murphy - Willilams - 5:30/7:00
Wednesday, October 31
8th Grade girls Basketball Tryouts (7:30 am)
Book Fair Teacher Preview and Set-up
Thursday, November 1
8th Grade girls Basketball Tryouts (7:30 am)
Book Fair begins
MathCounts test (911 and 907)
Fall Play - cafeteria - 6:30 pm
Friday, November 2
Career Day for 8th Grade 8:30-12:00
BLOCK LUNCH for all students 12:00-1:30
8th Grade girls Basketball Tryouts (7:30 am)
Book Fair
7th Grade Boys Basketball tryouts (3:30 pm)
Fall Play - cafeteria - 6:30 pm
Progress Reports
Saturday, November 3
All-Region Phase 1 Band Auditions (Rice MS)
Monday, November 5
7th Grade Girls Basketball tryouts (7:15 am)
Book Fair
All-Region Phase 2 Band Auditions ( 5:00 pm at Nelson MS)
Tuesday, November 6
8th Grade girls Basketball Tryouts (7:30 am)
Book Fair
Band -- Whirleyball Social (5:00 pm)
Wednesday, November 7
8th Grade girls Basketball Tryouts (7:30 am)
Book Fair
Thursday, November 8
Book Fair
Friday, November 9
8th Grade Science Fair Projects Due
Veteran's Day Assemblies (8:30-11:00)
Book Fair
All-Region Band Clinic (PSHS/Haggard)
All-Region Orchestra Clinic (PWSHS)
Students Leaving Early
Visitor's Badges
Parents, please remember that you need to bring your driver’s license when coming to visit the campus, including the cafeteria, counseling office, or nurse's office. You will need to have it scanned in the front office to receive your visitor’s badge. Thank you for your cooperation!
Random Metal Detector Searches at Secondary Campuses
Attention Parents & Students:
The Plano Independent School District (PISD) is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment so that education remains the primary focus for students and staff. As the district continues to evaluate and enhance school safety features districtwide, the Plano ISD Board of Trustees recently approved policy revisions permitting random, suspicion-less metal detector searches at secondary (grades 6-12) campuses. Click here to review the full policy online in English or Spanish: https://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/312?filename=FNF(LOCAL).pdf
PTA News
A. Donor Lunch
Families that donate $100 or more will be invited to attend a small group lunch at Rice MS. Our Principal, Mr Christopher Glasscock, will be the host! This is a great opportunity to get to know your son or daughter’s principal, meet other families, and support RMS PTA.
B. Time to Sign up for a PTA Membership
While you’re in Membership Toolkit, sign up for your 2018-19 Rice PTA membership. Families need to renew each July 1 for the coming school year. Signing up for PTA doesn’t mean you have to volunteer, although we appreciate those who do.
Why join PTA? Since we don’t hold traditional fund raisers at Rice, our membership dollars are key to supporting all the wonderful activities and services offered each year. Membership dollars help fund classroom wish list items, student programs, teacher conference registrations, parent education programs, teacher appreciation luncheons and special amenities throughout the building.
This year, we would like to see 100% parent participation in membership. This may be a lofty goal, but everyone can benefit from being a PTA member. Sign up at http://ricepta.org.
C. Complete your Volunteer Application Now
Rice Middle School PTA new and returning volunteers for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year must complete an online volunteer application through PISD to be eligible to volunteer. Get a head-start and submit your application today at https://www.pisd.edu/volunteer.
You can also select the Rice opportunities that you are interested in volunteering for through our Rice PTA Membership Toolkit athttps://ricemspta.membershiptoolkit.com/home - just log in and click on the "Volunteering At Rice 2018-19" form to submit your preferences.
Contact volunteers@ricepta.org with questions. Thank you in advance for your service to the students and staff at Rice!
D. Please Continue to Send in Your Box Tops
Hello, Parents, We would like to thank the families who have contributed to the Box Tops fundraiser. With your help, we are expecting to raise money just like previous school years. Thank you!
For this year our target is $500. Please continue to support our school by sending in your Box Tops! It's easy: just tear or cut off the Box Tops logo from your grocery item boxes and have your child bring them to the front desk of the school where a container is there to collect them.
Please like the Rice PTA Facebook page to stay informed about PTA activities!
High School Registration News!
All 8th grader students and their parents are invited to attend information meetings at the Academy High Schools. The dates for the meetings are below and a link is provided for more information about each Academy and the meetings.
Here are some important reminders as you start exploring options for 9th grade:
- All students are welcome to apply for an Academy.
- You DO NOT have to apply for an Academy. Rice students automatically go to Jasper (unless you are at Rice on a transfer)
- Placement in each Academy is based on a lottery system.
- DO NOT apply for more than one Academy.
- Each Academy is unique and students should only consider an Academy if they truly want to be a part of the learning environment that is provided.
- Academy applications should only be filled out if a student is aware of the application and wants to attend the Academy (parents, you will not be the ones attending school and doing the work).
- Academy applications are a personal choice and counselors cannot tell you where to apply.
- Academy placements are a privilege. If you apply for and are accepted into an Academy you do not plan on attending, you are taking away a seat from a student that wanted to attend.
- Please choose wisely….and refer to #1-#8 above!
Health Sciences Academy (6:30 p.m.)
- November 6 | November 8 | November 14
- Location: Williams High School Cafeteria · 1717 17th Street · Plano, TX 75074
IB World School (6:30 p.m. at three locations)
- November 8 - location: Plano West Senior High Theatre · 5601 West Parker Rd · Plano, TX 75093
- November 12 - location: Clark High School Cafeteria · 523 Spring Creek Parkway · Plano, TX 75023
- November 15 - location: Plano East Senior High Theatre · 3000 Los Rios Blvd · Plano, TX 75074
Plano ISD Academy High School (meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. except for November 10*)
- November 5 | November 8 | November 10* - 10:30 a.m. | November 12
- *English/Spanish side by side meeting
- Self-guided tours available one hour prior to each meeting
- Location: Academy High School · 1701 Alma Drive · Plano
Important Information from Nurse Yang
Flu Season Is Fast Approaching!
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
Rice's Fall Play is November 1st and 2nd
Yearbook Sale!
Friday, November 2nd is the last day to purchase a yearbook for $35. The price will increase after that so hurry and buy yours today! Books can be purchased online at www.jostensyearbooks.com.
Girls Only Coding Club
*There are coding opportunities for boys so please check eNews and have your child listen carefully for announcements coming soon from Mr. McCarthy. Thank you!
8th Grade Dedications!
Do you want to create a custom dedication for your student's yearbook? 8th grade yearbook dedications are a great way to celebrate student success and milestones and reflect on the person your student has become. Show your pride and support your school at the same time! Visit www.jostens.com/yearbookads to create your dedication! ALL dedications MUST be paid for and created online by Friday, November 9, 2018! NOTE: DEDICATIONS ARE FOR 8TH GRADERS ONLY. Ads are full color. If you would like to see a sample, please visit the website OR contact Ms. Marcus with any questions or comments at haley.marcus@pisd.edu.
Prices are as listed:
Full page: Not offered
1/2 page: Not offered
1/4 page: $75.00
1/8 page: $40.00
Eco-Club School Wide Clean Up
The Eco-Club is joining the Fall Waterways Clean up in the City of Plano . We are cleaning around Rice, Skaggs and Russell Creek Park this Saturday November 3rd from 9-12. NHJS points and a free t-shirt will be provided. Sign up with Mrs. Martinez in Room 817. All grades are welcome to participate. Thank you for helping keeping our school and environment clean.
17TH ANNUAL SNOWFLAKE BAZAAR
When: Saturday, Nov. 10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 11 from noon to 5 p.m.
Where: Plano West Senior High School, Cafeteria, 5601 W. Parker Road, Plano, TX 75093 (between Preston and the Dallas North Tollway)
What: A holiday shopping extravaganza benefiting the Plano West Mighty Wolf Band.
The 17th Annual Snowflake Bazaar is one-stop shopping for the holidays, featuring seasonal items, floral design, gourmet specialties, jewelry, toys, candles, home accessories, ladies and children’s apparel, personalized items, handbags, shoes, and so much more! Sponsored by the Plano West Band Boosters, this is the largest annual fundraiser for the Plano West Senior High School Band.
Cost: Admission is free.
Contact: Email pwshsnowflake@gmail.com or visit ww.planowestband.org.
Helpful Links!
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