Navigating the River

Each week, you will receive our newsletter containing important dates, events, and school news. Navigating the River is one of the best ways to stay up to date on what's happening at the River and ways to get involved to help make this school year the best yet! #RMSGoodAsGold

• February 8th - PTSO Spirit Night @ Crumbl Cookies (5:00 - 8:00 pm)
• February 9th - Semester 1 Spotlight Breakfast
• February 11th - Middle School State Robotics Meet (Team E) @ OIa High School
• February 12th - Boosterthon Glow Run Kickoff
• February 13th - FBLA Testing (9:00 am)
• February 13th - 15th - Track and Field Tryouts
• February 14th - Family Connects Night
• February 16th - 20th - Student Holidays
• February 23rd - Boosterthon Glow Run/Celebration during Connections
• March 11th - Football Informational Meeting @ 6:00 pm

Get important information even faster by following us on Facebook and Twitter (X)!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/riverwatchms

Twitter (X): www.twitter.com/RiverwatchMS

Panther families,

In an effort to not only maintain efficiency during morning carpool, but to also provide a safe environment for students, parents, staff, and the community, our SRO, administration, and School Safety have been monitoring morning carpool. At the recommendation of School Safety, and our SRO, drivers leaving Riverwatch Middle School will no longer be allowed to make a left turn onto James Burgess during morning drop off. There are a lot of moving parts with the Riverwatch school traffic being there is north and southbound traffic not involved with the carpool line, vehicles from Rivermist turning onto James Burgess, and the parent drivers entering and exiting the school.

Having a relatively steady flow of vehicles turning right only onto James Burgess alleviates some of the congestion at the traffic location on James Burgess Road, as well as the flow of traffic in front of the school as children are being dropped off. Please keep in mind this only applies to the morning carpool, not dismissal time.

We thank you for your understanding and for partnering with us as we all have a role to play in keeping the public safe.

RMS Administration

Parents, we need your help! We have some opportunities for you to volunteer some time at the school (while also getting to see your student)! If you can donate some time, please fill out the links below!

2/23 - Glow Run

Riverwatch Middle School parents and families,

Our main fundraiser, the Riverwatch Middle Glow Run kicks off soon! We have a goal for 80% participation (registered and $15 Pay to Play donation made). If 80% participation is reached by 2/12, Ms. MacAllaster will do one of the following:

• Kiss a pig
• Get slimed
• Get pied in the face

**Students get to vote for their favorite option!

Mark your Calendars!

• Register your student on MYBOOSTER.COM under your Panther Time teacher and donate your $15 Pay to Play flat donation.
• Riverwatch Middle Glow Run campaign officially kicks off on 02/12/2024
• Event Day on 02/23/2024

**Note: There is a $15 flat donation required for students to participate in the Glow Run and Glow Celebration! This donation also allows your student the privilege to participate in nightly class incentives during the program.**

February is Black History Month which was created to recognize the significant achievements and culture of Black Americans. To read more about these contributions, see the link below!

Black History Month - Notable Figures

Learn about Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in professional baseball, during this live children's theatre production. For more information, see the link below!

Sharon Forks Library - Jackie Robinson: A Bright Star Touring Theatre Production

The National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Atlanta, GA) has family activities in celebration of Black History Month. Each week offers different themes related to famous contributions to the world. Activities and giveaways will be held throughout the building every weekend from 12 pm to 5 pm. For more information, visit the Center's website!

Our very own Ms. Rosseter, orchestra director at RMS, has been chosen as the recipient of the Professional Development Scholarship Opportunity for Educators from the National Aviation Hall of Fame! We are so lucky to have Ms. Rosseter leading our orchestra program at the River!

Good evening parents,

ATD (Attack the Day) workouts will begin Tuesday, March 12th, 2024, at 7 am in the morning. These workouts are for any 6th or 7th grade boy or girl who wants to work out each week to help them become stronger on and off the field or court. The workouts will be every Tuesday and Friday at 7 am. All students will be dropped off at the front entrance of the school and will walk around outside to the gym door where Coach Garner will be there to check them in.

Below you will find the ATD workout dates:

March 12th (First Day)

March 15th

March 19th

March 22nd

March 26th

March 29th

April 9th

April 12th

April 16th

April 19th (Last Day)

Please use the link below to sign your student up for the ATD Workouts.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ucFBvII3AkSp4r-McSVXkByT9FVFtBFIingOsbeTBNdUM1JTWE05S0tEODZPSVJXUTBBMU5VSVJWMC4u

Thank you,

Kimbra Balthazor (Football Coordinator)

Many Asian countries such as China, Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea observe Lunar New Year a celebration marking the first moon in the Lunar calendar. Commonly known as the Spring Festival in China, Lunar New Year is a fifteen-day celebration marked by many traditions.

Continue the Conversation at Home!

• Provide kids with construction paper, tissue paper, colored cotton balls, crayons, safety scissors, glue, and other art supplies to make their own lanterns, masks, flags, and other items for a Chinese Lunar New Year Parade. Kids may even wish to work together to make a lion or a dragon. Let kids carry their creations and hold their own parade. You may wish to download some Chinese music to play during the festivities.
  
• For the New Year, Chinese children are given red envelopes with brand-new money inside. Make a solution of 1/2 cup white vinegar and 1/4 cup salt in a nonmetal bowl. Have kids drop pennies into the solution, wait a few minutes, then remove and dry the coins with a paper towel. Kids will have shiny “new” pennies to wrap in red paper and give as gifts to their friends and families.

Come celebrate the Lunar New Year at Sharon Forks Library (in partnership with OneForsyth). See the link below for more information!

Sharon Forks Library - Lunar New Year Celebration

Parents,

The RMS GOLF TEAM is ready to start the 2024 season and is on a quest to go back-to-back County Champions.

Students interested in trying out for the golf team MUST have a physical on file, uploaded to Dragonfly, located on the RMS Athletics page NO later than 2/13

Tryouts are February 20th & 21st @ 4:30 each day at Olde Atlanta Country Club located on Old Atlanta Hwy.

Contact Coach Kulikowski or Coach Matthews if you have any questions.

kkulikowski@forsyth.k12.ga.us

f37445@forsyth.k12.ga.us

40 RMS DECA students participated in the State Career Development Conference last week in Atlanta.

We had 8 students place in the Top 8 in their event.

Anushka Dingare - 1st Place in Middle School Principles of Marketing

Adya Dharni - 2nd Place in Middle School Theme Speech

Sanika Khairnar - 3rd Place in Middle School Principles of Business and Administration

Samaira Budhwani placed in Middle School Role Play

Aiyana Verma placed in Middle School Principles of Hospitality and Tourism

Natalia Gomez Gonzalez, Rayna Patel, and Ashley Scheffler placed in Middle School Promotional Pitch

AND…Alexis Lee participated in a high school event and got 5th Place in the Entrepreneurship Individual Series and has qualified for the International Conference in Anaheim, California!

Our students wouldn't be this successful without the hard work and dedication of their sponsor, Ms. Ruckert! She was recently featured in the Forsyth County News for her effort, dedication, and love of what she does!

Check out the article here!

A big THANK YOU to Ms. Guetarni, Dr. Hadley, and Ms. Thomas for the hard work and dedication they show every day to our students and staff!

Applications will go live on February 5th. Any 6th grader interested is welcome to apply!

February 15th will be the last day for collecting items from Lost and Found. After 2/15, items still remaining will be donated to The Place!

The Lanier Region Technology Competition occurred on January 20th. 18 of our RMS Panthers competed with 11 students placing either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in their category! Congratulations to:

Jayasri M. - 1st Place in Graphic Design

Aneesh G. - 1st Place in Audio Production

Srinidhi P. - 1st Place in Device Modification

Teja D. - 1st Place in Digital Game Design

Pranav D. - 1st Place in Mobile Apps

Kevin L. - 2nd Place in Project Programming

Sai Amogh V. - 2nd Place in Audio Production

Samyak C. - 2nd Place in Animation

Shanthanav M. - 2nd Place in Digital Game Design

Vedant P. - 3rd Place in Digital Game Design

Kelly L. - 3rd Place in Graphic Design

Again, a huge congratulations to these students for showing our region why Riverwatch is #RMSGoodAsGold!

If your student is interested in playing football for the 2024-2025 school year, please attend the informational meeting that will be held on Monday, March 11th, 2024, at 6 pm in the Riverwatch Middle School Cafeteria. We will be discussing all things football (games, payment, spring workouts, summer camp, and fall football season). If you are planning on attending, please fill out the following form.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ucFBvII3AkSp4r-McSVXkByT9FVFtBFIingOsbeTBNdUM0pXVFdDQzJWUTAxVThYNVRJWE1CQVNRWC4u

Any questions can be emailed to Kimbra Balthazor at f35013@forsyth.k12.ga.us

Our most recent digital citizenship student lessons focused on digital footprints and responsibility. To partner with parents in protecting our students, we have compiled a list of resources available to support proper digital citizenship!

Resources:

• Internet Safety Guidelines and Conversation Starters from Forsyth County Sheriff's Office
• Guarding Your Child's Digital Footprint: A Parent's Ultimate Guide
• Parental Controls for Windows
• Parental Controls for Macs
• Parental Controls for Androids
• Parental Controls for iPhones

We are preparing for our second Sources of Strength campaign here at Riverwatch Middle School. The protective factor we will focus on in this campaign is Family Support. It’s a time to highlight our own families, but also the people at school that make up our school family. These are the people who care about us and provide support and encouragement! Middle school is a hard time to “find your people” but most of the time they are right beside us. This campaign will kick off January 29. We want to make it fun and memorable for our students, so they are reminded who is there for them.

This is a great time to remind ourselves to have regular talks with our children and show them that we can be great listeners in addition to providing necessary guidance. Let’s put the social media and the interruptions away and focus on what is important. Middle school can be a time of goofiness, confusion, and growth- providing even more reason to have those that will listen to us and help us process the world around us.

We look forward to a month of highlighting the people that care about us and make us feel special.

Track and Field Tryouts will be held February 13th, 14th, and 15th from 4:30-6:30 pm at RMS. More information can be found by visiting the RMS Track and Field website!

• Attendance (Excuses, Check-In/Check-Out), Attendance Update Letter from Ms. MacAllaster
  
• Transportation Changes
• Updated Exam Policy for 2023-2024
• Joining PTSO
• RMS Panther News
• Yearbook Ordering - Order #1287 (Riverwatch Middle School)
• Previous Editions of Navigating the River - January 31, January 24, January 17, January 10, December 20, December 13, December 6