The Renton High School

Happy Friday, RedHawkS,

I hope this week's newsletter finds you well as we end the first week of the new trimester. I first want to thank the many of you who completed our family climate survey over the past couple weeks. Soon we will share the themes from the feedback we received as well as our plan of action to address any areas of focus. Your feedback, ideas and suggestions are appreciated in our effort to continuously improve and show everyone why we're the best high school, both in Renton and in the state!

I'm also proud to share that our 9th grade success team created and shared a series of activities to help all RHS scholars start the trimester strong. Throughout the week, students were exposed to ways they can get involved in clubs and athletics, we went over school expectations, and they looked at and reflected on Tri 1 grades and set goals for themselves in Tri 2 based on the top 3 behaviors that students who pass all their classes do (see the picture below). We hold high expectations for all RHS scholars because we know they can achieve them with supports when needed. We invite you to talk with your scholar about these behaviors and if there are ways we can support you or your scholar in developing these behaviors, please reach out.

Lastly, we want to remind you that grades for trimester 1 will be official and posted to student's transcripts on Monday, Dec 9.

Please see the important information below and as always, we welcome and appreciate your feedback. Have wonderful, safe, and warm weekend!

Drew O'Connell

Proud Interim Principal

It's a wonderful day to be a RedHawk!

DECEMBER 10 - FINANCIAL AID NIGHT (see info below)

DECEMBER 12: BAND / ORCHESTRA CONCERT 6:30PM @ IPAC

DECEMBER 20: WINTER SPORTS ASSEMBLY

DECEMBER 20 - JANUARY 3 - WINTER BREAK

JANUARY 11 & 25 - SCHOLAR SATURDAY (9 - Noon @ RHS)

Believe it or not, we are already starting to plan for the 2025/2026 school year. One of the first things our students will do is register for their classes next year. We are currently planning our process for registration, and more information and guidance will be coming soon.

Earlier this year we held a community cafe event at Boon Boona Coffee as a strategy to engage with our families/community and in alignment with our School Improvement Plan. We are now planning the second community cafe event, and more details, including the date and location will be coming soon. We hope you will be able to join us. Stay tuned...

As we begin the new tri, we want to provide clarity around when/how we will address schedule change requests from our students. To begin with, we are only granting schedule change requests for incorrect placements and to fill holes in student’s schedules. If a student has a hole in their schedule, meaning they are not enrolled in a class during a particular period, they need to report to the counseling office during the period the hole exists.

We are not granting schedule requests for teacher preference, to be with friends or to have a different lunch. With a comprehensive school schedule like ours, we are simply not able to accommodate these kinds of preferences. In addition, we believe exposure to a variety of teachers, peers and experiences is an important part of the high school years.

To request a schedule change for an incorrect placement, students need to:

1. follow the schedule change requests process by using the bookings to see their counselor,
2. wait to be called down.

Please reach to your student's counselor for questions and/or support.

With the start of the new trimester, we want to remind everyone in the RedHawk community that we have adopted a No Cell - Bell to Bell policy this year. This means we expect our scholars to keep their cell phone away during class in order to maximize engagement and learning. You can help us by talking to your scholar(s) about the importance of keeping phones away and to maintain focus on the learning activities in the classroom. In addition, here are some tips and resources to help manage screen time:

• iPhones: Use the built-in Screen Time feature to set app limits and downtime. Learn how here: Apple Screen Time Guide.
• Android Devices: Use Digital Wellbeing settings to set app timers and focus modes. Learn how here: Android Screen Time Guide.

In general, our staff provide reminders about our cell phone expectation, options to lock up or use a courtesy charging station, communicate with families if/when our students demonstrate challenges in meeting our expectation, and/or submit behavior referrals for ongoing issues. Thank you for your support.

RedHawkS athletics are soaring along! Please check out the Kingco Conference website for all athletic schedules and competitions for Winter Sports. We'd love to see you out there, cheering on our athletes!

Here are some upcoming competitions:

Friday, 12/6/24

Boys C-Team Basketball vs. Issaquah, 4:00 p.m. at Renton High School- Main Gym

Boys Junior Varsity Basketball vs. Issaquah, 5:40 p.m. at Renton High School- Main Gym

Boys Varsity Basketball vs. St. Francis, 7:15 p.m. at Renton High School- Main Gym

Saturday, 12/7/24

Boys C-team Basketball vs. Woodinville, 11:00 a.m. at Woodinville High School- Main Gym

Boys Junior Varsity Basketball vs. Woodinville, 2:00 p.m. at Woodinville High School- Main Gym

Girls Junior Varsity Basketball vs. North Creek, 3:30 p.m. at North Creek High School- Main Gym

Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Woodinville, 5:00 p.m. at Woodinville High School- Main Gym

Girls Varsity Basketball vs. North Creek, 6:30 p.m. at North Creek High School- Main Gym

Monday 12/9/24

Girls Junior Varsity Basketball vs. Bellevue, 5:40 p.m. at Bellevue H.S.- Main Gym

Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Bellevue, 7:15 p.m. at Bellevue H.S.- Main Gym

Tuesday 12/10/24

KingCo Girls Wrestling Scramble vs. North Creek (and 22 others), 8:00 a.m. at North Creek H.S.- Main Gym

Boys C-Team Basketball vs. Issaquah, 4:00 p.m. at Issaquah H.S.

Boys Junior Varsity Basketball, 5:40 p.m. at Issaquah H.S

Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Issaquah, 7:30 p.m. at Issaquah H.S.

Wednesday 12/11/24

Girls Varsity Flag Football vs. Hazen (and 1 other), 4:00 p.m. at Renton Memorial Stadium

Girls Varsity Flag Football vs. Liberty (and 1 other), 5:30 p.m. at Renton Memorial Stadium

Girls Junior Varsity Basketball vs. Sammamish, 5:40 p.m. at Renton High School- Main Gym

Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Sammamish, 7:15 p.m. at Renton High School- Main Gym

Thursday 12/12/24

Boys Varsity Swim vs. Bothell, 3:00 p.m. at Hazen High School-Pool

Girls Varsity Wrestling vs. Mercer Island, 6:00 p.m. at Mercer Island- Main Gym-Mat 1

Boys Varsity Wrestling vs. Mercer Island, 6:00 p.m. at Mercer Island-Main Gym-Mat 1

Girls Varsity Gymnastics vs. Interlake (and 3 others), 7:00 p.m. at Interlake H.S.- Gym

Girls Varsity Wrestling vs. Bellevue, 7:15 p.m. at Mercer Island H.S.

Boys Varsity Wrestling vs. Bellevue, 7:15 p.m. at Mercer Island H.S.

Friday 12/13/24

Boys Junior Varsity Basketball vs. Mount Si, 3:30 p.m. at Mount Si H.S.- Main Gym

Girls Junior Varsity Basketball vs. Newport, 5:00 p.m. at Mount Si H.S.-Main Gym

Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Newport, 6:30 p.m. at Mount Si H.S.-Main Gym

Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Mount Si, 8:00 p.m. at Mount Si H.S.-Main Gym

Saturday 12/14/24

2024 Larry Brown Tournament- Boys wrestling vs. Fife (and other schools), 8:00 a.m. at Fife H.S.-McCrossin Court- Main Gym

To sign up for RedHawkS athletics, you must register through Final Forms. Please follow this link for information and guidance on registering for Winter sports. If you need assistance, please reach out to our Athletics Support Specialist, Ms. Cardenas by emailing andriana.cardenas@rentonschools.us.

GO REDHAWKS!!

Do you need support completing the FAFSA or WASFA? Come to our family support night and get help from our Renton School District experts!

When: December 10th, 2024

Time: 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM

Where: Renton High School Commons

Make sure you bring all necessary items (social security # if applicable, tax return information, relevant income documents)

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Deborah.currie@rentonschools.us or Cindy.martinez@rentonschools.us

Register here: English form & Spanish Form

As a diverse, multicultural, and international school, Renton High School wants to acknowledge as many cultural celebrations in our community as possible. If you would like us to recognize an upcoming cultural celebration, please contact Mr. Collie, our IB Coordinator.

• December is Universal Human Rights Month
• 9th December is Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Catholic calendar
• 10th is International Human Rights Day. The theme for 2024 is Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now.
• Catholics in Mexico and the United States celebrate The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 12th.
• 15th is Bill of Rights Day, celebrating the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution

Renton School District has partnered with Providence Healthcare and Hazel Health to provide access to quality mental health care services for all students, at no cost to families. The partnership has already made a difference in its first year with more than 2,200 virtual therapy sessions completed!

At Renton High School. our amazing school counselors can initiate a video visit with a Hazel Health licensed therapist while your child is at-school. The personalized virtual therapy sessions with Hazel Health professionals are safe, private, and confidential, and are conducted through phone, text, and at kiosks at schools.

Families can also create a Hazel account for in-home virtual sessions for help with depression, stress, anxiety, bullying and more. Learn more and create your family account at https://my.hazel.co/rentonschools/info

Read more about this free service at our Hazel Health webpage.

Renton High School is home to the International Baccalaureate-- IB Diploma and IB Career Program (a program started this year). If your student is interested in meeting with Mr. Collie (IB Diploma) or Mr. Bento (IB Career), they can make an appointment to meet with them to learn more information about both programs. Please reach out if you have any questions. Please go to https://rentonhs.rentonschools.us/programs/ib for more information.

If you have a senior in the IB Career Program, they are currently working on their IB Reflective Project (RP). The Reflective Project is a research paper/project in which students identify an ethical dilemma in their Career-related Study/Career Path Classes.

Here are some upcoming Deadlines:

January 31 - Final Project Due

February 28 - Final Meet (Viva Voce) with RP Supervisor

If you have any questions about the IB Career Program, please reach out to IB Career Coordinator, Mr. Bento Seniors in the Diploma Program as similarly working on their Extended Essays (EE), an independent research project in one of their IB fields of study of approximately 4000 words.

The timeline for the EE is:

December 20 - Submit draft to EE supervisor

January/February - Meet with EE supervisor to discuss draft, work on final version

February 14 - Final version of EE due to supervisor

February 28 - Final reflection meeting with EE supervisor

RHS offers after school academic assistance through our Homework Help Center. Homework Help Center runs from 2:03 to 3:30 in the library, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our staff will be here and ready to support your student(s) with their classwork, homework, to study, and to deepen or extend their learning. Please encourage your student(s) to come!

RedHawk Seniors and Families,

It’s time to submit your senior photos and quotes for the 2024-2025 yearbook!

Senior portraits and quotes will be accepted until January 17, 2025. Portraits MUST be submitted through our image upload link (see attachment for link and instructions). Our image upload site is designed to verify name, grade level, and contact information so that we may reach out to you, should there be an issue with your photo submission. PLEASE NOTE: If you do not submit an individual student photo for 2024-2025, your student ID photo will appear in the yearbook by default.

Daily, on time attendance in all classes is one of the most significant factors in your student’s educational success.

Please notify the attendance office via phone, email or written note if your student will be absent for any reason. Absences may be excused up to 48 hours following the absence. Here is the contact information:

Attendance Office Contact

Attendance Specialist: Heather Ralston - heather.ralston@rentonschools.us

Phone: 425.204.3410

Email: renton.attendance@rentonschools.us

For more information about attendance including BECCA law and truancy, please visit our Attendance Website.