Open Announcements
May 16, 2021
Dear Open High Family,
Please watch this important video featuring ninth grader Ta'Dreama McBride and her work with Rise for Youth to end youth incarceration. We applaud Ta'Dreama's advocacy and all our students who speak out about issues that affect our community, our country, and our planet. At Open, we take adolescents seriously and believe their voices can lead to real change!
Let me take a moment to express my gratitude to our entire community for continuing to show up and remain engaged. We know exhaustion with virtual school is real, and it's easy to feel unmotivated or stressed about grades, testing, and the future. Let's always keep health, wellbeing, and true learning at the forefront of our thoughts. Parents and caregivers are our partners in education, and we value your involvement and communication. Attendance remains important if our students are to do their very best, and we ask that parents let Ryan know when absences are unavoidable. Email her at reldridg@rvaschools.net or call the school at 780-4661.
AP Exams this Week (Day and Check in Times) See details below.
- AP US History (Wednesday, 11:30 am)
- AP Art History (Wednesday, 3:30 pm)
- AP US Government (Thursday, 11:30 am)
- AP Spanish Language (Friday, 8:00 am RCHS)
Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry SOLs for 9th graders will take place on Saturday, May 22 at RCHS at 8:30 am. The SOL Intent Survey has also reopened. See details below and reach out if you have ANY questions about testing.
Interim Reports will be available on Aspen by Tuesday, May 18. If you have questions, please reach out to teachers.
A big THANK YOU to all the parents and students who came out this weekend to help paint our hallways! On Saturday, May 22 there will be another Open Volunteer Day to work on our green spaces. And we've added Saturday, June 5 to finish painting the upstairs. You can sign up here. A special thank you to parent Scott Garnett for all his guidance and support.
Science is making us safer! We hope all our students will take advantage of the new availability of the vaccine for those 12 and up.
The PTSA's final fundraiser of the year will take place at Pies & Pints on Thursday, May 20 from 11:00 am-9:00 pm. We receive 20% of proceeds from ALL customers, ALL day!
Plans for Graduation 2021 and other topics will be shared at Monday night's School Board Meeting which you can watch at 6:00 pm on RPSLive at www.facebook.com/RichmondPublicSchools/Live.
Read more about our ReOPENing Plans for Fall 2021 below. If you have any questions, never hesitate to contact me at cwashing@rvaschools.net or at 804.229.9961. As always, be well, stay safe, and keep celebrating Open minds!
Clary Carleton
Principal
NEW! Important AP Testing Updates
All AP Students should
- Install the digital testing app
- Practice sample questions in the app
- Complete exam setup 3 days before the test
- Check in 30 minutes before the exam
Watch this presentation if you need help downloading the App. Reach out to Micah (your AP Coordinator), your teacher, or Clary if you are having any difficulty.
AP SCHEDULE & GUIDELINES
- All students are expected to take AP exams.
- Students will take AP tests digitally at home with the exception of *AP Spanish Language.
- Students enrolled in the fall semester will take their AP exam in Administration 2. The exceptions are AP Calculus and AP Statistics.
- Students enrolled in the spring semester will take their AP exam in Administration 3.
- Portfolio submission (AP CSP and AP Studio Art) deadlines are May 20, 11:59 pm (with earlier student deadlines).
Administration 2
- AP US History, May 19, 12:00 pm
- AP Art History, May 19, 4 pm
- AP US Government (SM1), May 20, 12 pm
- *AP Spanish Language, May 21, 8:00 am (at Richmond Community HS)
- AP Human Geography (SM1), May 28, 12 pm
Administration 3
- AP English Literature, June 1, 12 pm
- AP US Government (SM2), June 3, 12 pm
- AP English Language, June 7, 12 pm
- AP Computer Science, June 7, 4 pm
- AP Human Geography (SM2), June 8, 12 pm
- AP Calculus, June 9, 12:00 pm
- AP Statistics, June 10, 4 pm
- AP Biology, June 11, 12 pm
- AP Environmental Science, June 11, 4 pm
ReOPENing Fall 2021
Please read Superintendent Kamras' Family Letter and Checklist. RPS is also hosting Community Conversations to ensure families are prepared, informed, and excited to #ReopenWithLove2.0! For all the latest information from the district, subscribe to RPSDirect.
OPTIONS FOR 2021-2022
- Five-day/week in-person learning option OR
- Five-day/week virtual option through Virtual Virginia.
We hope all of our students will choose to come back in person. If you choose to attend Virtual Virginia for health reasons, you must complete the 2021-22 Virtual Enrollment Form (Formulario de intención de instrucción virtual) form by June 1, 2021. Please read more about the virtual options here and reach out to Clary (cwashing@rvaschools.net) or Micah (mdavis7@rvaschools.net) with questions. Online classes with Virtual Virginia begin on August 24.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Read about Health and Safety protocols for next year. Open will also have a full time nurse and clinic for the very first time!
HELP MAKE OPEN BEAUTIFUL
Sign up for one of our Open Volunteer Days to help us beautify our learning environment!
NEW! SOL Testing Updates
The RPS SOL Intent Survey has been reopened if you still wish to take an upcoming SOL or you have not yet shared your intentions. RPS will send you a confirmation by email prior to the test. Safety protocols will be followed according to CDC guidelines. Students who do not take in-person End of Courses SOL tests this spring will be marked as "absent" or "parental refusal." In order to receive verified credits, students will be required to test during a future test administration.
All tests begin at 8:30 a.m. at Richmond Community High School. Students will be provided breakfast, lunch, and transportation (if requested). Students should bring a charged RPS Chromebook with a power cord. If you still need to pick up a Chromebook, please contact Clary ASAP at cwashing@rvaschools.net. Here are the Saturday dates and tests being administered:
- May 22 Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra 2 SOLs for 9th grade students who are currently enrolled or who took last semester and have not yet tested.
- June 5 Make-up Testing/Expedited Retakes/EOC 11 Writing Part 2
- June 12 Make-up Testing/Expedited Retakes
9th and 10th grade students currently enrolled in World History I and World History II will take a local assessment, administered virtually during regularly scheduled class time over the next few weeks. This is in lieu of a required End of Course SOL history test.
As a reminder, federal and state education departments have not waived state testing as they did last year. Virginia high school students must pass approved tests to earn verified credits for graduation in certain subjects. More info on End of Course (EOC) SOL Testing is attached in the document below.
Class of 2021: A Year to Remember
Commencement 2021 will take place the week of June 21 at the Diamond. Details from RPS should be available soon. Thank you for your patience!
LAST DAY of classes for seniors is Friday, June 11.
- PECS (Personalized Exploration for College Success) at VCU is providing a flexible, free, and virtual essay feedback portal. Students can submit their college or scholarship essays to our form and receive personalized feedback from trained PECS mentors within a week of submission. All feedback is completely remote, and students can access the flexible portal at whatever time is convenient for their schedules.
- If you haven't already completed, make time TODAY to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Even if you're not sure about next year, completing this will give you more options! The application is available online at www.studentaid.ed.gov. Here is a link from CollegeBoard on how to complete the FAFSA: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/financial-aid-101/how-to-complete-the-fafsa Ms. Dixon (open@grasp4va.org) from GRASP and Ms. Kennedy (hkennedy@rvaschools.net) from the Future Center are also available to assist your families with this process.
More scholarships can be found at Micah's Counselor Connection Classroom. Don't hesitate to reach out to Micah (mdavis7@rvaschools.net) with any questions about planning your next steps, regardless of the direction!
NEW! Early College Academy (ECA)
Tuesday, May 18, 6 pm
ECA Coach Open House Zoom Meetings for families of current ECA Juniors
These are meant to be an informative conversation about ECA coaching, courses, and other program details. ZOOM LINK: https://vccs.zoom.us/j/3889456952
Wednesday, May 19, 1:00 pm
ECA Bridge Day Orientation MANDATORY for all new ECA students.
Friday, June 11th:
JUNIOR END OF YEAR DROP OFF/PICK UP EVENT
Downtown Campus Parking Deck, by appointment 12-4pm. Each year, students come to return textbooks and sign senior year course request and FERPA forms. Students also pick up gifts from the college and raffle items won during coaching sessions.
Summer School
OHS Art Expo & Auction 2021
Please save the date for the annual (now virtual) Open High Art Expo 2021 May 31, 2021 - June 5, 2021 sponsored by our Parent Teacher Student Association. See a preview here. Each year Open High School depends on the Art Auction to help fund the art department. This year our goal is to raise $5,000 to purchase art supplies for next year's art classes. The Art Expo & Auction 2021 is seeking art, sponsors, and donations:
- Art: All Students! We would love to receive your donation of any piece of art you make - painting, ceramic, jewelry, macrame, etc. (It is not necessary to be in Brigette's art class now or ever :)
- Sponsors: Will your business or family sponsor the Art Expo or match donations?
- Auction Items: Share your talents and gifts - perhaps some families would like to put together a basket for auction - wine, food, garden supplies, services, etc. Creativity welcome!
Please contact Pam Embrey pjembrey@gmail.com or Brigette Newberry brigettenewberry@gmail.com if you have questions.
Open High School
Email: cwashing@rvaschools.net
Website: https://www.rvaschools.net/OHS
Location: 600 South Pine Street, Richmond, VA, USA
Phone: 8047804661
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialopenhighschoolpage/
Twitter: @openhighrva