Rice Middle School eNews
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Journey to Jag Country is Tomorrow Night!
8th Grade Families:
Please visit https://www.smore.com/14e70 for detailed information regarding Journey to Jag Country, Jasper High School's 8th Grade Open House, scheduled for this Wednesday, January 16th. Detailed information regarding times and parking may be viewed at this site.
Spelling Bee Is Tonight!
Congratulations to the 2018-2019 Rice Reflections Winners!
Overall Excellence District Winners Going to State!
Shivani Nathan for Visual Arts and Anushka Gupta for Film Production
Musical Composition District Award of Merit to Maimuna IIyas
Rice Placements
Literature
Award of Excellence: Anika Pandit (Grade 8)
Award of Merit: Zoya Makkar (Grade 8)
Honorable Mention: Madhalasa Iyer (Grade 8)
Visual Arts
Award of Excellence: Shivani Nathan (Grade 6)
Award of Merit: Audrey He (Grade 8)
Honorable Mention: Emily Hu (Grade 7); Shreya Kharwar (Grade 6)
Photography
Award of Excellence: Zoya Makkar (Grade 8)
Award of Merit: Maimuna IIyas (Grade 6)
Honorable Mention: Jerusha Abraham (Grade 6)
Film Production
Award of Excellence: Anushka Gupta (Grade 6)
Award of Merit: Maimuna IIyas (Grade 6)
Musical Composition
Award of Excellence: Maimuna IIyas (Grade 6)
Rice's First Tech Challenge Robotics Competition Team Wins Big!
Congratulations to Rice Middle School’s First Tech Challenge Robotics Competition Team!
Rice Ravenclaw Robotics competed against over 20 other teams in a regional qualifier event on Saturday, Jan. 12 and won the coveted Think Award, which celebrates a team that has an excellent and thorough engineering notebook that focuses on the design and build of the robot.
Ravenclaw Robotics will also advance to the 2nd tier Qualifying Tournament in February. Our team is a mix of 7th and 8th graders. They are Manha Nadeem, Satvik Mahendra, Zainab Choudry, Zahra Mahmood, Amith Yedavavilli, Raksha Rajeev, Vinod Venkataraman, Olivia Embess, David Cui, Shreyas Sailesh, and Sri Kesirajui.
If you are not familiar with FTC (First Tech Challenge), It is a competition league that promotes teamwork, engineering, and creativity through robotics, coding and design through the First organization. First is an organization that promotes STEM learning through robotics in K-12 competitions. Check out the link for more information on the First Organization!
Join Us in Celebrating College Week!
Dress-up Day Themes:
January 16th, Wednesday: Athletes vs. Mathletes
January 17th, Thursday: Crazy Socks
January 18th, Friday: College Gear
End of Year Planning
Please be aware of our end of year calendar when making travel arrangements. The last day of school is May 24th and finals are given May 21st-24th. STAAR and End of Course Exams will take place from May 7th-17th. Due to State testing, students will be unable to take their exams early. Students will need to be present during part or all of the week of May 20th in order to complete their school year. We appreciate your understanding and support in making your child's school year successful!
Block Lunch on January 25th: Volunteers Needed
Volunteers are needed to monitor stations around the school from 11:30am to 1:20pm. Volunteers must complete a Plano ISD Volunteer Application for the 2018-2019 school year; please visit www.pisd.edu/volunteer to fill out this quick and easy form if you have not already done so for this year.
If you are willing and able to help, please sign up for a slot here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4CABAB2AA64-block2
Thanks in advance for supporting our Rice community!
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.
Guidance News: Registration Information
6th to 7th grade Parent Night
Wednesday, January 16 2019
6:00pm to 7:00pm
Rice Cafeteria
Parents of current 6th graders, please join Ms. Edwards for a presentation on 7th grade and the course options for students registering for 7th grade. If you are unable to attend, the power point will be available on the Rice website through the Counseling page.
7th to 8th grade Parent Night
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
6:00pm to 7:00pm
Rice Cafeteria
Parents of current 7th graders, please join Ms. Jimenez for a presentation on 8th grade and the course options for students registering for 8th grade. If you are unable to attend, the power point will be available on the Rice website through the Counseling page.
5th to 6th grade Parent Night
Thursday, January 24, 2019
6:00pm to 7:00pm
Rice Cafeteria
Parents of current 5th graders, Please join Ms. Underwood for a presentation about transitioning to Middle school. Ms. Underwood will talk about courses, music options, the bell schedule, lockers, and all things middle school! If you are unable to attend, the power point will be available on the Rice website through the Counseling page.
Academic Conferences
Academic Conferences for all current 8th graders will begin the week of February 4th. Letters will come home with 8th graders the week of January 21st with conference dates and times. Conferences run 90 minutes and will be held during the school day. During the conference, students and parents will complete a high school 4-Year plan and register for 9th grade. If your child is attending one of the Academy High Schools, their conference will be specific to their Academy.
Academy High School Selections
If your child has received a letter of acceptance for an Academy High School; IB, Health Sciences or the Academy, please make sure your acceptance is returned this week. It is important for your child to secure their seat in the academy they chose to attend. If your child will not be attending the academy they were selected for, please let the academy know immediately so another Rice student can take their place!
CTE Courses for 7th and 8th Grade Students
PTA News
A. 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.
B. 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!
C. 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.
D. Ms Martinez's flexible classroom seating
Join us in helping MS Martinez organizing her flexible seating classroom. Please sign up to donate her wishlist @ https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0945ACA62CA46-flexible
Please like the Rice PTA Facebook page to stay informed about PTA activities!
Important Information from Nurse Yang
State-Required Health Screenings for 7th Grade Students
7th grade vision, hearing, and AN screenings will be conducted through English/Language Arts classes in the library on 1/15/2019. Eyeglasses/contacts are required for vision screening if needed. Please also read the attached information about AN screening.
Flu Season Is Here!
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
Are Your Interesting in Learning Coding
Rice is pleased to offer After School Coding Clubs, which are sponsored by University of Texas at Dallas. These will be offered on Wednesdays from 3:35 to 4:45 PM throughout the spring. Students must register and space is limited. Spots are still available, though! Please click on the link below to learn more.
Cartridges and Electronic Devices
Bring the items to the front office to collect them in room 817 (Mrs. Martinez room).
Thank you
Jasper Jazz Tryouts
It is fun times. It is a close group of friends. It is a sport. It is a time to enjoy dance. It is JASPER JAZZ! Have fun while you stay physically fit, gain confidence through your achievements, and build lasting friendships, all while you enjoy developing your dance skills!
No matter if you have years of experience in dance or just enjoy dancing - come to the Jasper Jazz Hopefuls' meeting, Tuesday, January 22, and a Pre-Tryout Workshop. You will meet the Jazz team and experience the fun of the Jasper High School Drill Team! Please see the attached flyer for important dates.
Helpful Links!
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