Grizzly Gazette
Riverglen Newsletter- October 2021
From the Desk of the Principal
Dear Riverglen Parents/Guardians,
WOW! It's already the end of the 7th week of school and we are all excited by how the school year is going. We end our announcements each day with the phrase "It's a great day to be a grizzly" and we are working to make it another great year at RJH. It's been a busy first quarter both in the classrooms and in our Fall sports and activities. Please make sure you are checking your student's grades and progress in Infinite Campus on a regular basis. Weekly grade checks really do help keep the kids from falling behind and from any surprises at report card time. If you need help accessing the Parent Portal contact our registrar at laurel.dunstan@boiseschools.org and she can help you. We are looking forward to our grizzlies finishing the quarter strong academically, athletically, and socially.
Junior High is often a time when parents begin to feel less connected with their child's school. We don't want that. Keeping you informed about what is happening here at school is critical and sometimes dragging information out of teenagers can be tricky. Knowing this, I will be sending a newsletter every 4-6 weeks so you know what's happening here at school. Additionally, we will send messages through Infinite Campus with reminders or issues that come up that require an immediate release. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions please reach out. Parent feedback and input is always appreciated!
Have a great day!
Deborah Watts
Upcoming Dates at Riverglen
Below are a few of the important dates coming up that all families should be aware of are:
October 15th- End of First Quarter
October 19th- 20th Parent-Teacher Conferences 4 pm-7 pm (VIRTUAL)
October 22nd- NO SCHOOL
November 2nd- VIRTUAL DAY (all BSD)
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Riverglen Families:
This year’s Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on Tuesday, October 19, and Wednesday, October 20th from 4:00 PM -7:00 PM. Friday, October 22 there is no school. All conferences will take place virtually via Calendly. Although we know that in-person conferences are preferable, we are happy to be able to provide this as an alternative. The process will be as follows:
- The week or so before conferences the school will send you a Conference sign-up letter through Infinite Campus. In this email, you will be given a link to sign up for an appointment slot for each of your student's teachers you want to conference with.
- Conferences will vary in length depending on appointment requests by the teacher but will be no longer than 10 minutes.
- Due to the limited number of time slots available, please prioritize requesting conferences for classes that you have the most academic concerns.
- If a teacher’s appointment slots fill up, then they will find a time to conference with you about your student at some other point during the week of conferences or the following week. If that is the case, please email the teacher directly to set up a time.
Athletic Update
Hello Riverglen Families, the following is an update about our athletic plans.
Riverglen Girls Basketball will begin Oct. 12th
Tryout dates Oct 12th,13th, 14th
2:45pm -4:45 pm
Parent Meeting Oct 14th @ 4:45 PM
All athletes need to bring a mask and their own water bottles.
Riverglen Girls B-Ball Coaches
John Hardy 7/8 A john.hardy@boiseschools.org
Todd Hitesman 7/8 B Todd.hitesman@boiseschools.org
Alysia De Vries 7/8 C Alysia.devries@boiseschools.org
9th Graders interested in trying out for basketball need to attend an informational meeting at lunch on October 5th with CHS head coach ron.marthe@boiseschools.org for tryout information. We will announce this meeting as well the day before and of the meeting.
Wrestling
Practices will start on Oct. 21st.
Please directly email the coaches for information.
Coaches
Marc Lannon Head Coach marc.lannon@boiseschools.org
Matt Telleria Associate Head Coach matthew.telleria@boiseschools.org
November 2nd- Virtual Day
November 2nd- Due to the large number of patrons that turn out for the General Election, we will implement a virtual learning day to help keep our students and staff safe across the Boise School District.
No bussing or food service is available on this one day
Synchronous Schedule for Secondary (Classes will run through Google Meets). Our teachers will guide the students on how the day will look and the expectations.
If you do not have internet access we will work with your Grizzly to make sure they can access the learning day. Please reach out to Mrs. Watts if you need assistance at deborah.watts@boiseschools.org
TikTok Challenges
Have you seen reports about “viral challenges” on social media or in the news? The most recent challenge is called the “devious lick” challenge where students steal or destroy school property and post a video about it on Tik Tok. This behavior is taking place in school districts both locally and nationwide which has resulted in many disruptions to the school. Fortunately, due to increased staff awareness and changes to some school procedures (without advertising the challenge to students), Riverglen has not had any major disruptions and we would like to keep it that way.
There are future Tik Tok challenges planned and we need your help to minimize the disruption to school. The future challenges include: “smack a staff member on the backside”, “kiss your friend’s girlfriend at school”, “deck the halls and show your b**** in school halls” (think body parts that start with a b and rhyme with halls), “Jab a breast”, “Mess up school signs”, “Make a mess in the courtyard or cafeteria”, and other challenges that involve harassment, theft, or destruction of property.
As you can see, these “challenges” may result in harassment of students or staff, destruction of school property. This behavior will not be tolerated and will be dealt with accordingly. Destruction of school property or harassment of students or staff will result in school discipline being applied to the fullest extent, including paying restitution for property that has been damaged or destroyed and possibly being criminally charged by the police department.
As many junior high students are not the most open communicators with their families, the topic of Tik Tok challenges or viral challenges may be great conversation starters. Please talk with your child/children about respecting their fellow student peers, school staff and school property and make them aware we are taking a zero-tolerance stance on this behavior. We hope if students hearing a consistent message at home and at school, they will not participate in these challenges.l
Here are some resources for parents below from Common Sense Media:
Parents Ultimate Guide to Tik Tok
13 Viral Challenges Your Child Already Knows About
The information for parents/guardians is applicable to any viral challenge even though it has not been updated with the most recent challenges.
Please help us in achieving our goal of providing students with a disruption free environment that all students can feel safe to learn.
Emergency Broadband Benefit
Riverglen Contact information
Camille Fraley- Asst. Principal
Michele Conant- Counselor A-K
Julie Lileks- Counselor L-Z
Laurel Dunstan- Registrar
Maureen Tyzcka- Attendance and Front Office Secretary
Jaime Faraimo- Counseling Secretary
Officer Williams- School Resource Officer
Email: deborah.watts@boiseschools.org
Website: https://riverglen.boiseschools.org/
Location: 6801 North Gary Lane, Boise, ID, United States
Phone: (208)854-5910