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

• April 17th -19th - 6th Grade JA
  
• April 19th - 8th Grade Dance (6:00 PM)
• April 22nd - May 8th - Football Spring Practice
• Monday - Thursdays (4:30 PM - 7:00 PM)
• Fridays (7:00 AM - 8:30 AM)
• April 22nd - Earth Day
• April 23rd - 8th Grade Rising Night (6:00 - 7:30 PM)
  
• April 25th - 7th and 8th Band Spring Concert
• April 26th - 28th - RMS Drama presents The Wizard of Oz (at Lambert HS)
• April 27th - Riverwatch Robotics Invitational Tournament and Banquet (8:30 AM - 2:00 PM)
• May 1st - 7th Grade Rising Night
• May 6th - 9th - Symphonic Band Auditions
• May 7th - 8th Grade Awards Night
• May 8th - Football Spring Scrimmage (6:00 PM)
• May 9th - PBIS Points-A-Palooza (during Connections periods)
• May 13th - 8th Grade Field Day
• May 13th - 17th - Symphonic Band Auditions
• May 14th - 6th & 7th Grade Field Day
• May 14th - 8th Grade Field Trip (Teams R & M)
• May 15th - 8th Grade Field Trip (Teams S & P)
• May 16th - 21st - Finals
• 16th - Social Studies
• 17th - ELA
• 20th - Science & Spanish
• 21st - Math
• May 22nd - 8th Grade Walk
• May 23rd - Last Day of School (Early Release)

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Facebook: www.facebook.com/riverwatchms

April is the Month of the Military Child and Purple Up! Day on April 15th recognizes some of the military's most unsung heroes - their children. The day encourages everyone to wear purple representing all branches of the military and showing unity with each other.

Our RMS staff brought out their purple in support of the day and to celebrate our military community!

A big congratulations to Tejas Gandi and Jason Chai on placing in the Honor Roll division for their outstanding performance on the AMC 8, a national middle school mathematics exam designed to promote the development of problem-solving skills. Honor Roll earners had to score within the top 5% nationally on the exam.

Congratulations to these students for their hard work and dedication!

8th Grade Dance - April 19th

PBIS Rewards Distribution - April 30th

Parents of 8th graders - Tickets to the 8th grade dance are still available for purchase. As of 4/1, ticket prices are now $30. Please see the flyer for the GoFan QR code, or visit this link to purchase tickets. Please note that this event is for Riverwatch Middle School 8th graders only!

Also available for sale are 8th Grade Yard Signs! Click here to order a sign that can be personalized with your student's high school and name.

Congratulations to the Academic Bowl team on their results from the Suwanee Slugfest tournament, which took place here at Riverwatch on Saturday! The A, B, and C teams played in the Nationals division, competing against the other Georgia teams who have qualified for this year’s national championship tournament. The A team placed 2nd, the B team placed 4th, and the C team placed 6th! Our D team played in the Regular division and placed 1st out of 24 teams! Rochan S. (8th grade) placed 2nd individually, Suchet K. (6th grade) placed 4th, and Madhav K. (8th grade) placed 5th. We are very proud of all of these students!

Symphonic Band Auditions will be held May 6-9 and May 13-17 before and after school in the band room! See you there!

We had three teams that competed this weekend at the State Science Fair. Two of them came away with awards!

NeoCare- Nila Prabhu, Anika Vasisht, Arani Pittu

CosmoFrost- Dhiya Prabhu, Eileen Yu, Vaiga Anoop

NanoGenuity: Crafting a Sip towards Health- Rushi Bansal

For the Special Awards:

Two teams were invited to apply to Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge- " the nation’s premier STEM research competition for middle school students". Only the top 10% of middle schoolers that compete in affiliated science fairs are eligible for nomination. Winners will receive a trip to DC to compete for $100,000 in prizes. including the $25,000 Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND (Aspiring Scientists Cultivating Exciting New Discoveries) Award; $10,000 Broadcom Coding with Commitment TM Award; $10,000 DoD STEM Talent Award; $10,000 Lemelson Award for Invention; and $10,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement. If one of the groups are picked, RIverwatch could also receive $1000 award in addition to the other possible awards.

Nila Prabhu, Anika Vasisht, and Arani Pittu

and

Rushi Bansal

For the Grand Awards for GSEF:

(elected by the students involved in the state science fair) Student Choice Awards Junior Division- "Never Would Have Thought Of That"

Nila Prabhu, Anika Vasisht, and Arani Pittu

Best in Category- Junior Division- Medicine & Health- Biomedical & Health Science- Rushi Bansal

3rd Place in Overall Science Fair - Nila Prabhu, Anika Vasisht, and Arani Pittu

Way to go, teams!!

We are pleased to announce the Riverwatch eCybermission team, NanoGenuity, finished first in the state competition and has moved forward to the Regional Competition. The team members are Rushi Bansal and Harini Arumalla. If their team places at the Regional competition they will travel to Washington DC this summer to compete in the National eCybermission competition. We are so proud of both of these girls!!

Way to be #RMSGoodAsGold!

Congratulations to three of our Panthers on their success of being 1st place winners at the 2024 GaSTC State Competition!

Pranav Duggirala - 1st Place in Mobile Apps

Srinidhi Pala - 1st Place in Device Modification

Aneesh Gosangari - 1st Place in Audio Production

This past Saturday saw a plethora of students showing off their skills at FoCAL Center for Forsyth's Future Entrepreneurs Expo sponsored by the Cumming Civitan Club! Riverwatch was well-represented by some of our students who make truly incredible works of art! These students have skills that are #RMSGoodAsGold!

This past Saturday, the Lambert and Riverwatch Orchestra programs sponsored a BookNotes STEAM event at the Cumming City Center. Take Flight gave the community an opportunity to engage with the programs, explore orchestra instruments in a "petting zoo", and listen to a story concert about Aviation Pioneer Willa Brown- the 1st African American woman to earn a pilot’s license in the US.

It was an #RMSGoodAsGold opportunity for our students and our community!

The Riverwatch Symphonic Band had a wonderful trip and performance last week at the Music for All UCF-Orlando Invitational. The Directors of Bands from LSU, UCLA, UGA, and KSU personally sought them out to congratulate them on such wonderful and mature playing. They also enjoyed spending some thrilling times at Universal to celebrate all their hard work!

Students will have their last purchase window next week to spend their Panther PRIDE points towards Student Rewards. Students can login to their PBIS Rewards App during the purchase window to buy a fun event and/or fun prizes. There are limited spaces and items, so shop early for the best selection.

Take a few minutes and let someone know you appreciate their hard work and dedication!

Nomination Link

Being part of the yearbook staff is an honor for which many students apply. I hope you will give serious consideration to becoming part of one of the most rewarding organizations at our school.

For the 2024-25 school year, the yearbook class will be a yearlong course; however, there MAY be times when staff members will be expected to cover events before and after school, which will require them to arrive early or stay late. There is also a yearbook camp in August that every staff member is expected to attend. The cost of the camp will be determined at a later date.

APPLICATION FOR 2024-2025 YEARBOOK STAFF

All applications must be completed by April 26th. LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. The size of the staff must be limited; therefore, all yearbook staff members must meet certain criteria. Each staff member must:

1. Be in good academic standing.
2. Have two recommendations from two of your core class teachers from this year.
3. Complete the attached application.
4. Be willing to go the extra mile for each and every deadline!!

Being an RMS Yearbook Staff Member is a privileged. Applicants are chosen for their character, academic success, and work ethics. Applicants should know that I will review their present records including attendance, grades, and discipline. Also, the recommendation of their teachers plays a VERY important role in the selection. At no time will any of this information be made public, nor will any students ever see this information.

I appreciate your interest in the yearbook class, and I look forward to choosing an excellent staff.

Linda Scheaffer
Yearbook Advisor

Check out the newest episode of RMS Panther News!

The newest episode includes segments on Staff Member of the Month: Mr. Casey, Exceptional Child Week, Easter, the eSports Team, MLB Opening Day, the 8th Grade Field Trip, and Spring Break!

Tickets available here!

Available via SchoolPay!

WhyTry, one of our district’s behavior intervention programs, offers this free Parent Guide to Resilience. Each section of the guide provides an audio overview, examples and analogies, discussion guidance, and even family meeting ideas.

The Month of the Military Child was established by former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in

1986 to acknowledge the significant role military youth play in our communities. These youth face

many challenges that are unique to their situation, such as having a parent/guardian deployed,

frequent moves, new schools, and leaving friends. This month provides opportunity to recognize and

honor our youngest heroes, military children.

• 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