Rye Neck Middle School

Dear Rye Neck Families,

Happy New Year! We hope this message finds you well and refreshed after a wonderful holiday season. As we dive into the second half of the school year, there are exciting updates and important information to share with our middle school families.

In this issue you will find information about our new Student of the Month program, midterms, parent workshops and opportunities for community engagement. As always, please reach out with questions or concerns.

Warm regards,

~Dulce

Dr. Dulce Barker

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - School Closed: January 15th
• ESS PD for English-Speaking Parents - Virtual: January 16th, 9 AM
  
• BOE Meeting: January 17th, 7 PM, MS/HS Community Room
• ESS PD for Spanish-Speaking Parents: January 18th, 6 PM, Community Room
  
• PTSA/MS Activity Night: January 19th, 6-8 PM, MS Gym
  
• 2nd Quarter Ends: January 26th
  
• 3rd Quarter Begins: January 29th
  
• BOE Planning Session: January 31st, 6:30 PM, Collaborative Science Center

On Tuesday, January 16th students in grades 6-8 are doing a simulation of the computer-based State exam. The simulation should take 20-30 minutes to complete. Please remind your child(ren) to charge their Chromebooks. In the event of inclement weather on Tuesday, the simulation will take place on Friday.

Midterm week is January 22nd to January 26th. The midterm schedule for 8th graders is as follows:

Monday, January 22nd 8-10 a.m. - World Language (French 8, Italian 8, Spanish I)

Wednesday, January 24th 8-10 a.m. - Algebra I (students in Math 8 do not have a midterm)

Thursday, January 25th 8-10 a.m. - Living Environment

*Students will report to their regularly scheduled class at the end of each midterm (at 10:13 a.m.).

**Students not taking a language will report to school at 10:13 a.m. on January 22nd.

Please see the flyers below:

We are excited to announce a new program at the middle school to recognize students. Student of the Month aims to celebrate and elevates awareness of student contributions to the middle school and Rye Neck community at large. Students who are nominated have demonstrated that they value their education by exhibiting academic responsibility and curiosity. They have also demonstrated excellent behavior in and out of the classroom.

Any RNMS staff or administrator may nominate any student for any of the following reasons: significant progress in the classroom; marked improvement in grades; leadership, attendance; notable consideration toward others; outstanding attitude; community involvement; personal development; exemplary character or individual achievement.

Two students per grade will be selected by a committee. SOTM recipients will be recognized with a certificate and on our website. Information about this program has been shared with students and they received an email with specific examples for the criteria.

We look forward to this month's nominees and announcing the first batch of SOTM!

Click on this link to buy the RNMS yearbook: www.yearbookordercenter.com

Then enter code: 40568

Herff Jones will also be sending out sales emails throughout the year! Get your yearbook soon as the price will increase later in the year.

We would like to remind you of some bike safety rules.

• By law, all children ages 13 and under must wear a helmet while riding a bike. In Mamaroneck, bicycle riders must consider the safety of pedestrians on sidewalks (and must dismount and walk their bikes on Mamaroneck Avenue).

• Unlike joggers, bicyclists should ride in the same direction as auto traffic while on the road.

• Students must be mindful of how they are riding their bicycles while on our MS/HS campus. There are lots of staff, students and parents walking and many cars that are driving during arrival and dismissal.

• Please review this New York State resource on Bike Safety. Please remember that all of us who use the roads, whether on foot, on a bike, or in a car, have to pay attention to each other to prevent physical injury.

After school clubs started the week of October 2nd. They are open to students in grades 6-8. Students can try different clubs or if they are in 6th grade they can also participate in intramural sports. The club presentation as well as the schedule for intramural sports is below.

MS After School Clubs

2023 - 2024

6th Grade Intramurals Schedule

School Days

Monday - Friday

3:00PM - 4:00PM

• Intramural sessions are run by Rye Neck Coaches.

• Intramural design will consist of skill development and scrimmaging.

• Please use this FamilyID link to register your child for Intramurals:

• 6th Grade Intramurals

• 6th Graders are to report directly to the location indicated below.

• Intramurals only run on days school is in session.

• Attendance is not mandatory for participation but if you sign up we ask that you make every attempt to attend each day. A student may register for multiple sessions/sports.

Please be sure to review the Acceptable Use Policy for Technology with your child. Students are not allowed to delete or download programs that block GoGuardian.

Code of Conduct

Academic Integrity Agreement

PTSA Event Calendar

Date: Saturday, February 10

Time: 7-10:30

Location: Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club

Link to buy: Winter Wonderland Tickets

6th Grade Research Tech - Ms. Costelloe: We started the new year exploring the Rye Neck databases, beginning with our online encyclopedias. Each assignment will allow students to become familiar with resources that are just perfect for MS research assignments. Facility within each of these resources will provide options as they embark on research projects in the spring.

6th Grade Art - Ms. Appel: During the month of December, 6th grade art students learned about Grant Haffner in order to create landscape paintings inspired by his style with a focus on using perspective in their work. Next they learned about Pablo Picasso, Cubism, and his anti-war painting called “Guernica” in which they created works of art with a focus on a positive message and using the peace dove within their compositions. To start off the month of January, students are learning about the Pop Art movement and artwork created by Roy Lichtenstein. They will be creating their own sound word designs using a printing technique and will focus on a specific color scheme.

7th Grade ELA B - Mr. Macli: We will finish reading and watching A Raisin in the Sun over the next two weeks. The students will also read a passage about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and discuss parallels between his life and the play.

7th Grade Art - Ms. Appel: During the month of December, 7th grade art students learned about Andy Warhol and his printmaking techniques in order to create their own prints inspired by his style. They focused on using an animal as their subject matter and created their own printing plates by carving into styrofoam before they printed onto paper using different colored inks. Now students are currently finishing up their grid drawings inspired by enlarged, up close images of candy wrappers. Students learned about Chuck Close and how he used the grid method to create highly realistic paintings and drawings of people.

8th Grade Art - Ms. Appel: During the month of December, 8th grade art students learned about Andy Warhol and his printmaking techniques in order to create works of art inspired by his style with a specific focus on endangered animals. Andy Warhol did an entire series on endangered species to help raise awareness. Students chose an endangered, or once endangered animal, and carved that image onto styrofoam before printing with different colors on one piece of paper and overlapping their images. Now students are currently finishing up their wire figure sculptures inspired by the work of Alberto Giacometti. Students had to think about a pose, movement, action, or specific emotion to visually portray within their work.

Email: rnmiddleschool@ryeneck.org
Website: www.ryeneck.org/ryeneckmiddleschool
Location: 300 Hornidge Road, Mamaroneck, NY 10543, USA