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RRHS Update - Week of 10/16/2023
This Week in Athletics!
Monday 10/16
Volleyball @ Tuscarora, 5:45/5:45/7 p.m. Early Release at 3:45 p.m. Bus departs at 4:15 p.m.
Field Hockey @ Tuscarora, 5:30 p.m. Early Release 3:45 p.m. Bus departs at 4:15 p.m.
Tuesday 10/17
Swim interest meeting for parents and athletes in the Library at 7 p.m.
Wednesday 10/18
Volleyball @ Heritage, 5:45/5:45/7 p.m. Bus departs at 4:30 p.m.
Thursday 10/19
Field Hockey @ Heritage, 5:30 p.m. Early Release at 3:45 p.m. Bus departs at 4:15 p.m.
Cheer @ Woodgrove District Championships, 6 p.m. Bus departs at 5:15 p.m.
Friday 10/20
Varsity Football @ Unity Reed, 7 p.m. Bus departs at 4:45 p.m.
Varsity Cheer @ Unity Reed, 7 p.m. Bus departs at 5 p.m.
Class Pics and Yearbooks!
UNDERCLASS MAKE UP PICTURES THIS THURSDAY OCT. 19- 9:30-12:30 IN THE AUX GYM
This photo day is for students who were absent, are new to the school, or who were not happy with their original package (students are required to return their original package to the photographer). Here is a list of criteria for underclass makeup day for reference, vosphoto.com/retakes. If you have any questions, you can contact: underclass@vosphoto.com
YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW! LOWEST PRICE OF THE YEAR NOW UNTIL NOV. 13!
Yearbooks can be purchased online at www.yearbookforever.com The price will go up to $75 on 11/13 and then to $80 1/29 and $85 in May. Once the books are sold out, no more books can be ordered- buy yours now at the lowest price of the year!
Unity Day is Wednesday - Wear Orange!
We are excited to share that our school community will be celebrating Unity Day on October 18th this year. Unity Day is an annual event occurring during National Bullying Prevention Month that promotes joining together to create healthier communities through kindness, acceptance of difference, and inclusion. It was started by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center in 2011 and is now celebrated around the world. Please join us by wearing orange — if you have
orange shirts or pants, that’s great, but it could also be an orange hair tie, belt, or bracelet.
Math Help Available!
Math Help for Rock Ridge Students
Math teachers and peer tutors are available in Math Lab to offer assistance with math homework, remediation, and re-takes during every school day. To get help, students must request a pass from their math teacher some time before their study hall block.
For students that do not have a study hall block in their schedule, this assistance is available after school on Wednesdays. Activity busses are available after school on Wednesdays if students need transportation home. Each Wednesday after school, stop by room 1206 and let us know which class (Algebra 1, Geometry, etc) you are taking. Please have your attempted homework and questions ready!
For students taking Computer Math, help is available in room L518 after school on Wednesdays.
The Rock Ridge - 10 Year Committee!
Save the Date
Next fall, we will celebrate the Rock Ridge’s 10-year anniversary of the opening of the school. We are using this as an opportunity to examine our school, reflect on what we do well, and make improvements around the school. This includes, but is not limited to, school mission & vision reformulation, adjustment of school norms, refreshed landscaping or artwork around campus, new exterior lighting/features, a logo or mascot redesign, etc.
As a part of this process, we want to get as many different perspectives as possible and will be hosting a series of meetings with teachers, students and community members to get their input. Our first community brainstorming session will be a meeting on Thursday, November 2nd, from 6-7pm, in the Library. This meeting will be immediately followed by a general body meeting of our PTSO, to which all Rock Ridge parents are invited. If you want to be part of the conversation, we hope you can attend!
Support Our PTSO!
ACT NOW to Support the Rock Ridge PTSO
PTSO Membership Drive and Direct Donation, No Hassles Fundraiser is in full swing! HTTPS://GIVEDIRECT.ORG/RRHSPTSO
To name a few of the events we sponsor and/or give funds towards:
- Staff Back to School Breakfast
- Funds request towards curriculum
- Staff Thanksgiving Lunch
- Teacher Appreciation Week
- Senior Scholarship- *Must be a member to qualify for scholarship
- Senior Party
OUR success depends on YOU!
Your contributions directly create an academic environment for students to thrive!
Open Positions:
We currently have open positions for:
· VP of Memberships
· VP of Communication
Only requires a couple hours a month but will have a huge impact on what we can accomplish for RRHS. Email president@rrhsptso.org if interested in joining us.
WAYS TO CONNECT WITH US:
· Weekly Sunday "SMORE" email from Principal Duellman
· Follow & "like" us on Facebook: RockridgehighschoolPTSO and Instagram: RockridgePTSO
· Monthly PTSO newsletter
· Website: WWW.RRHSPTSO.org
· Monthly PTSO meetings
·
o Next meeting is in November
PTSO welcomes ALL Parents, Guardians, Students, & Staff to get involved! Be the Change & BE A ROCK of support for our children and school!
Performing Arts News
All-Virginia Guitar - Congratulations to Aryan Dhiman, Maneesh Getni, Isabella Lopez, and Parth Jaiswal for being selected to the 2023 All-Virginia Guitar Ensemble. They will travel to Richmond in November to perform at the Virginia Music Educators Conference:
VMEA Senior Honor Choir - Congratulations to Ananya Akula, Emily Gruessing and James Madamba for being selected to the 2023 VMEA Senior Honor Choir. They will also travel to Richmond to perform at the November Virginia Music Educators Conference under the direction of Dr. Amanda Quist from the University of Miami.
Rock Ridge Sings Fall Concert (10/19) - All are invited to the first choral concert of the year this Thursday, October 19 at 7 p.m. in the RRHS auditorium. We will be performing uplifting songs that are sure to inspire you! A reception sponsored by the Choral Boosters will follow the concert in the cafeteria. Admission is free but food donations are being accepted for the Dulles South Food Pantry. Their highest needs are cereal, spaghetti, tomato sauce, tomato paste, black beans (canned & dry), chicken, kidney beans (canned & dry), chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, and toothpaste. We hope to see you there as we uplift each other in song!
RRPA Newsletter!
Veteran's Day Brunch - SAVE THE DATE!
Oscar Mike Military Connect Club and Rho Kappa are working together with Stone Hill Middle School to host our 2023 Veteran's Day Brunch. This event is open to all military families including active duty, reserve and National Guard. Please use the link below to RSVP. We are excited to thank you for your service!
RSVP- Veteran's Day Brunch, Friday, Nov 10 @ 0830 to 0930
https://forms.gle/8wM1QscKsKFQVV9p9 - Note: If you have already RSVP'd to Stone Hill, you do not need to RSVP to Rock Ridge.
Parent Coffee - Safety/Security and Unified mental Health
Please join us on Wednesday, November 8th, from 9:45-10:30am, in the Library, as Mr. Duellman hosts the first in a series of “Parent Coffees” when we invite parents in our community to come into the building and hear from us about what’s going on at Rock Ridge! The emphasis of this Parent Coffee will a discussion on student safety and support with members of the Rock Ridge Administration, Counseling Office and Safety & Security team.
UMHT Presentations!
Each year, Rock Ridge Unified Mental Health Team members give mental health presentations to all students. This year, 11th and 12th grade presentations are occurring during your student’s English class. The presentations discuss signs of depression, protective factors, coping skills, and accessing support.
If you do not want your student attending this presentation, please complete the following permission click link to opt your student out of the presentation. Students who opt out will be able to go an alternate location during the short presentation.
11th grade opt-out: https://permission.click/8ww4X/int
12th grade opt-out: https://permission.click/kzVrQ/int
English Learners - The Family Room
Information:
The Division of English Learners, Family and Community Engagement (EL FACE) Office is excited to invite families to join our next The Family Room session titled:
“Understanding LCPS Assessments”
Join us to learn about LCPS assessments and how to support your student’s participation.
We will cover:
- How assessments are administered and measured
- How they can impact graduation and/or course placement
- Important dates
Join us on Tuesday, October 24th, 2023:
6 pm (English & Spanish) or
7 pm (English & Arabic)
Please share with your families via your school’s preferred communication methods.
Click on the flyer link below to learn more!
Contact Sarah.Ocampo@lcps.org, FACE Coordinator, with any questions.
School Counseling News!
Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition
Encourages middle and high school youth, across the county to identify an issue in their school, neighborhood or community, create a plan to address that issue, and implement the plan. The goal is to encourage, support and reward the youth of Loudoun County for making positive changes in their own lives and the lives of others. It is a great way to help the community and learn to work with other. These programs are great to have on your college resume.
https://www.loudounyouth.org/programs/step-up/
Schoolinks
We still have students that need to login!!!
Thanks to all our parents that have logged in. We have about 90% of our parents that have logged in. This is great. Schoolinks is a very powerful tool for our students and families to use for college, career and learning styles exploration.
Currently about 90% of our seniors are using Schoolinks.
Only about 50% of 9-11th graders have logged in. Parents please encourage your student to login and explore. Students at all grade levels should use the resume feature in Schoolinks to keep track or their volunteer experiences, work experience and awards. We find students often forget about awards or volunteer or work experiences they did early on in high school. This information is very important in the college process or when applying for jobs during or after high school. So please ask your student to start their resumes. We will review this process with student later in the year.
Watch the Parent Coffee on Navigating Schoolinks click here
Onboarding for Schoolinks- Students and parents this is your homework to complete. Schoolinks is accessed through LCPS Go. Please have your student complete the following. Doing this will jumpstart your students’ progress!!!
- Student Logins
- Guardian Logins
- Have at Least One Guardian Join
- Complete the “Find the Path” Assessment
- Complete the “Learning Style” Assessment
Seniors
Common App Please sent up your account!! Remember to choose Early Decision, Early Action or Regular Decision for each application.
After setting up your Common App account. Set up your Schoolinks account.
From there counselors will walk students through:
- How to link your Common App and Schoolinks
- How to add colleges and make transcript request
- Please note do not make teacher letters of recommendation request through Common App. We will be using Schoolinks for letters of recommendation.
We will work with seniors through their senior meetings and send out more information on using Schoolinks.
Senior Meetings Start this week- Please sign up!!!
Seniors if you have not had your mandatory Senior Advisement Meeting with your School Counselor. You can schedule your appointment via this link: Rock Ridge Senior Booking or directly e-mail your counselor.
Sophomores and Juniors
2024 Summer Residential Governor's School
Governor’s School for the Visual and Performing Arts(VPA) requires an audition. The auditions are the first part of the process. Below is the sign up forms and more information. These link will be active Monday.
REGISTER FOR VPA AUDITIONS BY 10/23
VPA Auditions
Instrumental and Vocal Music Audition Requirements
Visual Art Portfolio Requirements
Click here For more Governor’s School information and timelines.
Please check out this week’s College and Career Center newsletter from Mrs. Marchante to discover all the important RRHS Counseling information.
Unity Day
We are excited to share with you that our school community will be celebrating Unity Day on October 18th this year. Unity Day is an annual event occurring during National Bullying Prevention Month in October that promotes joining together to create healthier communities through kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. It was started by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center in 2011 and is now celebrated around the world. We’ll all be wearing orange—if you have orange shirts or pants, that’s great, but it could also be an orange hair tie, belt, or bracelet.
Bullying Presentations
Last week in advisory, student in 10,11 and 12th grades worked through a presentation on Bullying prevention. This week in Study Halls 9th grade students will work on the presentations and any 10,11, 12th grade who missed the presentations last week will have access.
Please see this weeks College and Career Newsletter for all Counseling related information. Click Here