Hello River Bend Families!

This third and short week of school certainly flew by quickly! It was heart warming to see so many students and staff wearing gold on Tuesday so we could spread awareness for Childhood Cancer.

We conducted our Code Yellow-Shelter in Place safety drill Thursday and it went perfectly. We initiated the intercom alert that all would hear along with the "code green" alert when it concluded. Everyone was inside the building and it was teaching and learning as usual. Great job!

I do have a construction update...there is a big hole! Our storm shelter is really coming along quickly and I am learning so many things about soil anchors and shotcrete! It has been quite the dump truck meet out there this week.

Our first early release day of the school year is next Wednesday. School dismisses at 2:00 PM. We will send reminders at the beginning of next week. Early release days happen once a month to provide time in the day for classrooms teachers, counselors, and specialists to work collaboratively with their teams and job alikes.

We hope that Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade families will join us next Thursday night for Curriculum Night. Although this is primarily an informational night for adults, please don't let childcare be a barrier to your attendance. Doors open at 5:50 and it is our goal to start promptly at 6:00 PM in the gym. The agenda is below.

Next Friday we will celebrate the completion of our first Benchmark unit. Students may bring a small stuffed animal that day and we will have a little animal cracker snack in the afternoon to wrap up our Life Science nonfiction unit on Plants and Animals.

Lastly, I added a "button" at the end of the newsletter with Staff Favorites just in case you ever need to know that favorite candy bar or bag of chips:-)

It is beautiful outside! Enjoy the weekend!!

Each child as my own,

Jaime

Thursday, September 19th (6:00 PM) - Curriculum Night for 3rd-5th

Wednesday, September 25th - School Picture Day

Wednesday, October 2nd - Rosh Hashanah

Saturday, October 5th - VICC Family Meeting at the City Museum (10 AM - 2 PM) & River Bend Carnival (4 - 6 PM)

Our district has a Comprehensive School Improvement Plan and so does our building. We have goals for students to be successful in School and Life. Our River Bend goals are listed below and all of our strategies and action steps are delivered through a lens of equity.

Success in School

Achievement: Ensure each student is academically successful and fully prepared to respond to an ever-changing world.

• River Bend students, in grades 2-5, who meet their individual reading growth goal will increase from 57% to 70% as measured by NWEA.
• River Bend students, in grades 1-5, who meet their individual math growth goal will increase from 49% to 60% as measured by NWEA.
• River Bend students, in grades 2-5, will maintain at least 80% in Achievement on the NWEA and improve by 1-2%.

Well-Being: Ensure the social-emotional well-being of each student and staff member.

• 90% of students will feel respected by peers and valued by at least one adult in the building as measured by pre and post school climate scans.

Success in Life

Relevance and Real World: Each student will have the opportunity to connect their learning to relevant and real-world experiences.

• 90% of students will be able to identify at least one interest or passion as measured by pre and post school climate scans.

We provide a Tier 1 social emotional curriculum to all students through a resource called Second Step. This program is broken into 4 units. Unit 1 is dedicated to teaching students about Growth Mindset & Goal Setting. Below are the grade level specific learning intentions for this unit. You can help partner with us by incorporating some of this language at home.

Kindergarten- We Watch. We Listen. We Think.

• Demonstrate they know ways to pay attention.

Grade 1- Time to Pay Attention

• Demonstrate how they pay attention.

Grade 2- How to Get Good at Something

• Identify things they've done to get good at something.

Grade 3- Changing Your Brain

• State what happens in their brain when they learn a new skill.

Grade 4- Setting a Good Goal

• Use criteria to set a class goal.

Grade 5- The Right Goal for Me

• Identify a personal goal and explain why it is right for them.

To ensure each student a safe and rigorous learning environment where they feel a sense of belonging, and can grow and lead with a global lens of kindness, responsibility, integrity, and empathy.

Website: https://www.parkwayschools.net/riverbend
Location: 224 River Valley Drive, Chesterfield, MO, USA
Phone: (314)-415-6650
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiverBendParkway