Happy Sunday, Lions,
I hope each of you are doing well and that everyone is well rested with that extra hour of sleep that we received last night. I'm not sure about you, but my kids and pet missed the memo about the extra hour of sleep. So, instead of waking up an hour later, we arose an hour earlier.
I wanted to take just a brief moment to say "thank you." Thank you all for slightly adjusting your arrival schedules by just 5 minutes. Those five minutes had a huge impact. Looking at the data from Monday through Thursday from two weeks ago, compared to last week, our 8am tardies were cut by 55%. A cut by 55% means that 86 of our students who were tardy two weeks ago, made it on time to class last week.
"But it's only 5 minutes."
Here is what happens during the first five minutes of every class:
- Make that mental shift and transition to the classroom
- Discussion of the learning goal for the day (or class period)
- A recap of yesterday's learning (helping make the transition from yesterday's material to today's)
To quote James Lang, from the University of Florida, "The opening five minutes offer us a rich opportunity to capture the attention of students and prepare them for learning. They walk into our classes trailing all of the distractions of their complex lives — the many wonders of their video games/smartphones, the arguments with siblings/family/friends, the question of what to have for lunch. Their bodies may be stuck in a room with us for the required time period, but their minds may be somewhere else entirely. It seems clear, then, that we should start class with a deliberate effort to bring students’ focus to the subject at hand.”
Pride, thank you for the efforts that you all took last week to help our students have a more successful transition to the school day.
Have a great week, Lions!
In Strength and Blessings,
~Dr. Compton
Photo of the Week
This week's photo is of Carlie Keller (sophomore) who attended Clemson’s Challenge for Academically Talented Students (C-CATS) this past weekend. C-CATS is for freshmen and sophomores who are in the top 10% of their class. They spend the weekend taking on new scholarly challenges while immersing themselves into student life at Clemson.
We're asking that our families assist us in managing everyone's status by using this form when your child shows symptoms, tests positive, is a close contact, or is a household close contact. The data shared with us is kept confidential. After completing this form, you'll receive an email or phone call from Nurse Donna to discuss your child's specific isolation/quarantining plan.
Linked here is Riverwalk Academy's COVID Dashboard. This COVID dashboard is updated by 3:00 pm each school day. This dashboard can also be found on our website.
We've received a few questions about our dashboard, so I wanted to provide an explanation for everyone. Click here for an explanation of our COVID data.
Riverwalk Academy is a "bring your own lunch" school where students are encouraged to bring their own lunches. We do offer a fee-based lunch program that is not income-contingent. Our fee-based lunch program is provided by Golden Corral. For more information about this option, please click here.
Pride, if you haven't done so, please take a moment to check out our new and improved website. From the main page, you have immediate access to the latest news, and up to date calendar.
Welcome to the week before World Kindness Day! Most of the students can tell me they need to be kind, but sometimes it is hard for them to articulate what this looks like. While reviewing the Energy Bus first two rules (Create a Positive Vision and Fuel your Ride with Positive Energy), I remind the students that to be positive and have positive energy they need to smile, laugh, trust, think happy thoughts, and show gratitude. If we participate in acts of kindness, we can do all of these things. As the youngest students decorate their turkeys, they realize what they have to be thankful for - within themselves and in their lives. This builds their positivity. As the older students discover their “one word” and work on their thankfulness activities, they build their positivity. Being positive about themselves grows their self esteem and self confidence. In this age of social media and technology, I am finding that students have lower and lower self esteem and self confidence. They struggle more with finding themselves and their identities. They have more anxiety and pressure on them to express things they don’t yet have the ability to express. The pandemic and negativity in the news adds to their anxiety. With acts of kindness, smiles, laughter and love, we can reduce some of the effects of all this stress, anxiety and negativity.
I often wonder how many of you read this article, I stress and have personal anxiety while I write it. But, I also smile and feel my love for the students going out into our Pride and hope for the best. Being a counselor is a stressful, busy, tiring job, but the rewards outweigh all of the stress and gives me strength to make it through each day. The love I have been given by the Pride family through my personal struggles this last year and years before is my strength. The love I receive daily from all your students is something I am thankful for each day of the year.
If you would like your student to participate in acts of kindness this month (or any time), here is a document that has some suggestions (see graphic attached to this article)
Watch on Saturday for a video from me for you and your students to view to celebrate World Kindness Day!
Hugs! Mrs. Carr
Happy Sunday Everyone!
As we have entered November, meaning Thanksgiving is close by, I just wanted to start off by saying that I am so grateful to be here in my position as the middle and high school counselor! Getting to know the students here has been so sweet and I am proud of their determination and achievements here at Riverwalk. As time goes on, I have gotten the opportunity to spend time with more and more students in the dismissal line, throughout the halls, and as I visit classrooms. I love moments where I get to sit down and talk with students to know them better. In the good, or the challenging, I am here to support your students and walk alongside them as needed!
Things to know:
-11th and 12th graders, York Tech is holding an Apprenticeship Fair on Tuesday, November 16th from 3:00PM-7:00PM in Building C. If you are interested in learning more about apprenticeship opportunities in the area, please stop by and check it out!
-As mentioned before, I am still in the process of make up 11th and 12th grade IGP meetings. After I finish those, I will start moving to 10th grade. 10th grade parents, be on the lookout for an email with a sign up link sometime in the next few weeks.
-Please reach out if you ever need anything at cmenges@riverwalkacademy.com
Have a fabulous week Lions!
Ms. Menges
Dublin, London, and Paris Travel Questions
Is your student enrolled for the Dublin, London, and Paris trip this coming April? Many questions have come up in the past few weeks concerning COVID-19 and international travel. At the present time, the trip is still scheduled, as planned; however, if you have any questions you feel you need answered, please email rloyst@riverwalkacademy.com. He's working with EFTours to address any concerns you may have on an individual basis.
Still interested in traveling with the school this Spring Break? There's still time to enroll! Email rloyst@riverwalkacademy.com for more info.
Week Ahead
Monday: 11/8
- Advanced Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
- Cross Country Practice 3:15pm-4:30pm
- Boys JV Basketball Practice at the Rock Hill Events Center 3:30pm-5:00pm
Tuesday:11/9
- Beginner Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
- Cross Country Practice 3:15pm-4:30pm
- Cheer Practice 3:30pm-4:30pm
- Boy's JV Basketball Practice at the Rock Hill Events Center 3:30pm-5:00pm
Wednesday: 11/10
- Advanced Band Practice 3:00pm-4:30pm
- Cross Country practice 3:15pm-4:30pm
- Boys JV Basketball Practice at the Rock Hill Events Center 3:30pm-5:00pm
Thursday: 11/11
- Beginner Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
- Cross Country Practice 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm
- Cheer Practice 3:30pm-4:30pm
- Boys JV Basketball Practice at the Rock Hill Events Center 3:30pm-5:00pm
- NHS Induction 6:00pm-7:00pm
Friday: 11/12
- BPA Meeting 12:30pm
Connect with Us
The Mission of Riverwalk Academy is to lead students to achieve through authentic project-based learning experiences with the knowledge and inquiry skills they need to succeed in life, college, and their future careers.
Email: info@riverwalkacademu.com
Website: https://www.riverwalkacademy.com/
Location: 5750 Mount Gallant Road, Rock Hill, SC, USA
Phone: (803) -327-8400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riverwalkacademy
Twitter: @riverwalklions