Rice Middle School eNews
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Congratulations to Rice's 7th & 8th Grade Science Fair Winners
Grand Prize Winners
- Adil Husain
- Raghav Ramki
- Mark Yang
*These students will be advancing to the District Science and Engineering Fair and the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair.
1st Place Winners
- Anusha Batikeri
- Anika Damle
- Aneisha Gupta
- Anjali Iyer
- Sparsh Mathur
- Mihika Mishra
- Salim Rida
- Kevin Sun
- Anthony Wang
- Jason Xu
- Amith Yedavalli
- Katie Yin
- The team of Medha Kandimalla and Manuja Sathish Kumar
* These students will advance to the District Science Fair and the Dallas Regional Science Fair, too.
2nd Place Winners
- Sonali Gupta
- Sathvik Mahendra
- Sara Moore
- Henry Rutnam
- Ashish Samson
- Kaaviya Shenbaharaman
- Sophia Song
- Ishan Vemireddy
- Vedanth Venkatesh
- The team of Alanna Polyak and Kaori Shioyama
- The team of Olivia Embess and Varsha Kumar
- The team of Sophia Perez and Holly Goff
- The team of Vinathi & Pranathi Beeram
3rd Place Winners
- Elleen Anis
- Alahni Bradford
- Belinda Dong
- Agrim Jaimini
- Mayuresh Mhaskar
- Arshun Sharma
- Ayan Sharma
- Pranitha Tatineni
- Heidi Wang
- Allison Zang
- The team of Harini Rajmohan and Harini Soundar
- The team of Vivek & Vinod Venkataraman
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THESE STUDENTS FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS!
Absences & Exam Week
With the end of the first semester fast approaching, many of you have already begun to make plans for Winter Break.
December 18th - 21st, the 7th & 8th graders will be taking semester exams, and 6th graders will take a Math test. Please consider this as you make travel arrangements. Here are the periods that will be tested each day:
Tuesday, December 18
7rd Period Exam
5th Period Exam
Wednesday, December 19
1st Period Exam
6th Period Exam
Thursday, December 20
4th Period Exam
2nd Period Exam
Friday, December 21
3rd Period Exam
Keep in mind that it is important for students to be at school during exam week. If you know that your child will be out during this time, please contact your child's counselor as soon as possible. Also, have your child pick up an Absence Request Form from the Front office, and once completed, he or she should submit it to the main office.
Gifted and Talented: Spring Assessment Referral Information
For those who wish to apply to enter the PACE program: 2018-2019
PACE provides services for academically gifted and/or talented students in grades K-12 who have demonstrated the need for advanced, differentiated instruction.
The Plano I.S.D. conducts open, rolling referral, meaning that any student may be referred at any time during the school year. However, we have specific assessment windows. Kindergarten through 8th grade students are assessed in the second semester for services that begin the following semester. Students may be referred for the gifted program by teachers, parents, principals, counselors, or by the students themselves. Students are assessed at their home campus during the regular school day.
Referral applications for spring PACE testing must be submitted by January 16th, 2019.
Referral applications received after the posted deadline will be held for the next assessment cycle. Specific information regarding spring testing dates and times will be sent out in February.
2019-2020 Online Transfer System for Secondary Schools
The Office of Student Administrative Services has an online numbering system for secondary transfer requests to reduce the need for long lines on the January 7th transfer request day.
Beginning December 10th at 6:30 AM, parents must log onto the Plano ISD website at https://www.pisd.edu/transfer to receive a number that will hold a place in line for requesting a transfer for the 2019-2020 school year. Online access will end December 13th at 5:00 PM.
Please click on the link below for additional information.
PTA News
A. Rice Middle School PTA Awards
We are grateful to the wonderful community we have at Rice. This fall we brought home 3 prizes for which we are thankful to all of you and our Membership chair Pernille Nordstorm. Special thanks to Kay McPherson for serving as a grand parent on the board.
1. Fall Membership Increase Award
2. Golden Apple Award
3. Generations Award (grand parent board ember)
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. Plano ISD PTA Nights
Have fun and help your PTA when you sign up for a Python coding class or go watch a game of Texas Legends Basketball. Visit
https://pisdcouncil.membershiptoolkit.com/familyengagement for more info or out face book page @ Rice PTA Facebook
Plano ISD Night with the Legends is scheduled for Wednesday, December 5 at 7 pm, at the Dr. Pepper Arena (2601 Avenue of the Stars, Frisco 75034).
- For every $10 ticket sold our PTA gets $10!!
- The PTA uses income from these events to sponsor things like new chairs for the library, field trips, & more!
- Purchase Tickets here: https://groupmatics.events/event/PlanoISDPTA
E. 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!
Save the Date for Journey to Jag Country!
Calling the PWSH Class of 2023!
We would like everyone to mark your calendars for the evening of January 16, 2019, as the date for Journey to Jag Country. This event is for 2019-2020 9th graders who will be attending Jasper High School. Look for more information in the future issues of the E-news. We look forward to welcoming you to Jasper High School!
Spelling Bee News
It’s time to sign up for our Rice Raven Spelling Bee!
Visit http://bit.ly/SpellingBeeRMS by December 14, 2018 to sign up for the Spelling Bee.
You MUST attend ONE of the following meetings:
- Wednesday, January 9 - 8:00 am - 8:15 pm in the Learning Lab
- Thursday, January 10 - 8:00 am - 8:15 am in the Learning Lab
- Thursday, January 10 - 3:40 pm - 4:00 pm in the Learning Lab
The Spelling Bee will be held after school on Tuesday, January 15, 2019,
from 3:40 pm - 5 pm in the cafeteria. Parents are welcome to attend.
Auditions for Rice's One Act Play
Audition application forms are posted outside room 731. Students will only need to attend one of the audition days. More information on the play can be found by going to the Rice Theatre Site linked below.
Rice's Lost and Found
Students,
Have you lost a coat, hat, water bottle, lunchbox or agenda?
We have lots of each in the Lost & Found. Please check the Lost & Found in each grade level and especially the cafeteria! Anything left in the cafeteria by Friday, December 21st will be donated.
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
Toys for Tots Collection
Message from Mrs. Martinez:
- 6 High stools
- 6 foot stools
- 6 plastic storage crates
- 4 stadium seats
- 2 fitness balls
- 2 soft plush folding chairs
- 8 seat cushions
- decorative pillows of all sizes - 12 bed raisers
Bottle Caps and Tin Cans!
Upcoming Rice Events!
Tuesday, December 4
- Beginning Band Concert -- Rice Gym 7:00
Thursday, December 6
- 7th Grade Boys Basketball vs Wilson -- Rice Gym 6:00/7:00
- 7th Grade Girls Basketball @ Wilson -- Wilson Gym 6:00/7:00
Friday, December 7
- Choir and Jazz Band Performance Tour -- School Day
Saturday, December 8
- Speech Tournament -- Renner Middle School
Monday, December 9
- 8th Grade Girls Basketball vs Bowman -- Rice Gym 6:00/7:00
- 8th Grade Boys Basketball @ Bowman -- Bowman Gym 6:00/7:00
Tuesday, December 10
- Choir Winter Concert -- St. Andrews United Methodist Church 6:30
Wednesday, December 11
- Band Winter Concert -- Rice Gym 6:30
Thursday, December 12
- 7th Grade Girls Basketball vs Bowman -- Rice Gym 6:00/7:00
- 7th Grade Boys Basketball @ Bowman -- Bowman Gym 6:00/7:00
Friday, December 13
- Jasper Side-by-Side Band Concert -- Jasper HS 6:00
- Orchestra Winter Concert -- Rice Gym 6:00
Helpful Links!
Thank you for reading the eNews!
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