Youth Lacrosse Parent Meeting was canceled due to Snow Day Jan. 20th - please stay tuned for a rescheduled date. Registration open until January 31, 2022. Visit the program website for more information - www.rhamyouthlacrosse.com

It is never too late to join a club or activity! Even if a club has already started, most clubs have the ability for you to jump right into the activities. Please see the office or club advisor for details.

Running:

• Art Club - Meets every Tuesday from 2:15 - 3:15 pm in Room 237. Please contact Mrs. Gradie for more information.
• GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) - This all inclusive club plans meets to plan different activities to help spread equality and inclusion for all. We paint murals, play games and engage in other school wide awareness activities. Meets every other Wednesday from 2:20-3:00pm in Room 136.
  
• Math Club - Meets every Wednesday from 2:15-3:15pm in Room 100. All grades, all levels of math abilities are welcome!
  
• Card Game Club - Meets alternate Thursdays from 2:15-3:45pm in Room 103. Card games and board games of all kinds are welcome and encouraged! Contact Mr. Conroy for more information.
• Environmental Club - Meets every Thursday at 2:15-3:00pm in Room 115.
• Jazz Band - Meets every Tuesday from 2:15-3:30pm. Students should sign-up on the bulletin board in the Music Hallway.
• Yearbook Club - Meets every Tuesday after school until 3:30 pm in Room 123. All are welcome, please see Ms. Sinosky or Mrs. Allard for more details.
• Drama Club (RMS) - began with it's informational meeting on this year's edition of "Radio Play" on Wednesday, October 6th from 2:20-3:30 pm in the High School Auditorium. More information to come.
  
• Lego Club - Meets every other Wednesday from 2:15-3:30 pm in Room 123. Come build with your friends where Everyone is a Master Builder! See Ms. Sinosky for more information.
• RHAM Race Team - (formally Alternative Energy Race Team) Meets every Thursday from 2:15-3:30 pm in Rm 122. See Ms. Sinosky for more information.
  
• Future Problem Solvers Club - Meets on Monday evenings at RHAM High School from 6:00-7:00 pm. For more information, please contact Sherri Pelletier at sherri.pelletier@gmail.com.
• TSA/VEX - (Technology Student Association) If you are interested in Co2 Cars, Programming, Public Speaking, Problem Solving and/or VEX Robotics, this club is for you. Meets every other Wednesday from 2:20-3:30 pm in Room 123. See Ms. Sinosky for more information.
• RHAMblings - student literary magazine. Meets once a month (dates TBD). Please contact Ms. Golas for more information and details.
• Leo Club - As a member of the Leo Club you will volunteer at community events as a way to raise money. At the end of the year you will decide where to donate the money in the community. Meets one Wednesday a month and volunteer opportunities occur throughout the year. Please see Mrs. Van Sicklin for more information.

Ongoing After School Help:

• PM Study - Meets Tues/Wed/Thurs afternoon. Grade 7 in Rm 112 and Grade 8 in Rm 206. Please see school counselor for a PM Study Contract if interested.
• Math Lab - Meets every Tuesday, Room 101, Mrs. Kane
• Writing Lab - Meets every Wednesday, Room 110, Mrs. Day-Canty

The decision to not allow student spectators at middle school athletic events is a long deliberated and hard decision to come to. Ultimately, during this time of extremely high community spread of COVID-19, the following reasons were considered to minimize the risk of any unnecessary outbreak that would jeopardize our school remaining open and our athletic teams finishing their season.

• The majority of schools in our Middle School League have eliminated student spectators for the time being.

• Some schools are eliminating spectators altogether as a prevention measure. We’d like to continue to allow families to watch their children participate.

• Middle school gymnasiums and seating sections, including ours, do not support the opportunity for appropriate and/or comfortable social distancing from each other, which at this time with high state and community spread is important to many people. Not having student spectators provides a better opportunity to accomplish this.

• Proper mask wearing at athletic events is a major and important concern across the state right now. Policing student sections to wear masks from 2:15 (when school ends) to 5:00 PM (when a game ends) adds an additional challenge to afterschool management at a time where we are already struggling to be able to appropriately staff events.

• Right now, per state guidelines a student-athlete who tests positive for COVID-19 needs to isolate from School Athletic Activities for 10 days and then once they receive medical clearance from a Doctor, they are required to complete a Return to Play protocol with our Athletic Trainer that can take an additional 7-10 school days. This essentially ends any positive student-athlete’s winter season and this is something we want to avoid at all costs. Eliminating the potential spread amongst any student at a game helps to minimize this risk for student-athletes.

Community and statewide spread of COVID-19 is extremely high right now. Our primary goal is to keep our schools safe and open. A secondary and important goal for the Athletic Dept. is to keep our teams playing and finish the season. As with this entire pandemic, rules change as the situation changes. If towards the end of the season we aren't feeling the impacts of the extremely high community spread and we feel we can more safely provide this experience to non-competing students, we will. For right now, we feel this gives us the best chance of finishing our seasons, as well as finishing our seasons with at least having parents remain at the games.

Please utilize the FamilyID Link for information or updates from athletics.

** Friendly reminder to please make sure to inform the school nurse if your student is presenting with any COVID 19 symptoms, has been tested for COVID 19 or has been exposed to COVID 19 either in or outside of school. We are now able to accept any negative at-home test results.**

The CDC has updated the quarantine guidelines, shortening the quarantine period, for most individuals, this may reduce the length of any required quarantine. Please check HERE for the updated guidelines. There is also a new chart HERE to reference. **If you have a student involved in athletics, please make sure to refer to the Athletics Department for COVID 19 related information, as it may differ from what is stated below.**

It is more important than ever for families to monitor their students for any symptoms that may be a sign of COVID 19 infection. Please continue to monitor your students, contact the Middle School Nurse and keep them home if they are sick and/or exhibit any of the following symptoms:

KEEP YOUR CHILD HOME IF ANY OF THESE ARE TRUE:

• Fever above 100.4 when taken by mouth
  
• Chills, muscle pain, body aches
  
• Cough (or new uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing for students with chronic allergies/asthma)
• Diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• New onset of severe headache, especially with fever
• Loss of taste or smell

Travel Guidelines

Please be sure to review the CDC's recommendations/guidelines for domestic travel. Click HERE.

COVID-19 Mask, Washing, and Physical Distancing Guidelines

• Consistent mask wearing over the entire mouth and nose while in school. It is critical that all individuals wear their masks properly. Repeated incidents of not wearing a mask properly can result in disciplinary action.
• Students are required to sanitize their hands upon entering a classroom each period of the day. This is a recommendation from Chatham Health District. Students may choose to clean their desks, but this is not a requirement nor a recommendation from Chatham Health. Hand sanitizer and wipes are available throughout the building and when possible, staff and students should wash their hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. Frequent hand washing is encouraged.
  
• Maintain 3 to 6 feet of distance between individuals whenever possible.

Vaccinations

• If your child has symptoms after being vaccinated, please keep them home from school.

• If they come to school while having COVID symptoms that may or may not be due to the vaccination, the nurse must treat the students as though they may be COVID positive, which includes isolating them, sending them home, and requiring testing/quarantining.

Nut Free School

We are still a nut free school, so please be sure your child is not bringing food products with nuts in them.

The Regional School District #8 Food & Nutrition Department is asking for your patience and support as we navigate new challenges. We may need to make quick substitutions to our menu(s) based upon what we are able to acquire. We want to help limit the effects this has on our students, and we are doing out best to provide updates about menu changes as soon as possible after we identify an issue.

As you may be aware, nationwide shortages and delays have affected the availability of certain food items, leading to substitutions of menu items that we've been able to offer regularly in the past. These supply issues are occurring throughout the country and are especially challenging for school systems due to the quantity of meals we serve and the nutrition standards we follow. The entire food service industry is currently faced with unprecedented shortages and massive delays or cancellations of deliveries, in addition to food service department labor shortages.

Please know that our number one priority continues to be providing healthy, nutritious and appetizing meals for your children, and we will ALWAYS have a meal for them every day. We appreciate your community support and patience as we continue to offer meals at no charge for all students. The good news is that free breakfast and lunch will continue throughout the school year. Participation helps our program to stay strong, as well as ensures everyone gets a nutritious meal. We look forward to serving our customers every day.