Rockets Report

October Newsletter

Principal's Post

We are very excited about transitioning to a K-8 School of the Arts for the 2020-2021 school year! This will be another great option for the families of Cabarrus County and we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our school community about this transition!

Did you know…there is a positive cumulative effect on student growth and achievement with prolonged arts integrated engagement and instruction. In other words, the more years that a school actively engages with arts integration, the stronger the achievement of its students.

Here are some key points to know:

· 2020-2021 will include 6th grade only. This transition will happen one year at a time, with 7th grade onboard in 2021 and 8th grade in 2022.

· Current 5th grade students will complete a renewal to stay in the fine arts program at Royal Oaks.

· Families have the choice of attending their assigned middle school instead of remaining at Royal Oaks. Families would need to enroll at their assigned middle school if they are choosing not to attend Royal Oaks.

· Depending on the number of 5th graders that are renewing and staying at Royal Oaks, additional seats will be open for other program choice transfers for families that would like to join us in 6th grade.

· Our school hours will remain the same, 7:45-8:15 drop off, 8:15 tardy bell, 3:00 dismissal.

· All students will continue to receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to families.

· Kid’s Plus will be available before and after school for all grade levels. This is offered at a cost to parents.

· Transportation will be provided for students that live in the Royal Oaks school attendance zone.

· HUB stops will be provided for students living outside of the Royal Oaks attendance zone based on need.

· Consideration will be given for elementary and middle school students riding buses (ex: bus assignment, seating plan).

· 7th and 8th grade will be located in the currently unused wing; the first wing upon entering the school where our SRO office is located.

· Middle school students will have limited interactions with elementary students due to location in the school as well as strategic scheduling of lunch and recess.

· We would like to take advantage of this opportunity to teach middle school students how to be mentors and use that in a facilitated way when appropriate.

· All 7th and 8th grade students will be eligible to participate in athletics at Concord Middle School with transportation provided by bus OR return to their assigned school with no bus transportation provided. (6thgraders do not participate in athletics.)

· Royal Oaks will continue to provide after school clubs, with attention given to which clubs are open to which grade level groups.

· The district has not yet determined the Fine Arts high school feeder, but that is a current topic of discussion.

We hope you are as excited as we are about this wonderful opportunity and we look forward to watching your child grow in their fine arts education at Royal Oaks!

Feel free to submit your feedback at this link: https://forms.gle/V1VwFTtdESwfmdR8A

Sincerely,

Melody Marsh, Principal

What Sets Us apART

How Students Learn

As a staff, we are committed to forming relationships with each of our students in order to best serve them academically. One of the most important understandings we can bring to our job is the knowledge that each student in our care learns best in a different way. According to the research of Howard Gardner, there are eight different modalities or ways that people learn best:

1. Verbal/linguistic – These students are “word smart”. They are able to communicate well in both spoken and written word and love to read and write. These students learn best through the spoken or written word.

2. Spatial/Visual – These students are “Art Smart” and are great at visualizing things. They love puzzles, maps, charts, etc. They learn best when there is a visual component to the lesson.

3. Logical/Mathematical – These students are “math smart” and are great at logical reasoning. They love analyzing complex problems. These students learn best through experiments or challenges and they love to play challenging academic games.

4. Musical Intelligence – “music smart” students think and process information primarily through sound. These students consistently hear music notes in their heads and have an uncanny ability to compose and write music and lyrics. These students love when a teacher uses lyrics or music to teach a concept.

5. Bodily/Kinesthetic – “Body smart” kids love to move. They love to put movements to words or concepts to help them remember the key information. They love to write scripts, create tableaus, build objects that represent a concept being learned or use charades to act out characters or concepts from a story.

6. Interpersonal – These students are “people smart” and have a natural ability to work well with and understand the others around them. These students are good leaders and usually are surrounded by a number of friends. These students love to collaborate or work in groups/partnerships in order to learn. They also thrive on helping others understand concepts they have already mastered.

7. Intrapersonal – These students are considered “self smart” and are very aware of their own personal feelings, goals, etc. They tend to need a time alone to process and create. They thrive when writing journals, autobiographies, essays about people or places that have a personal influence or impact on them or keeping a scrapbook of their poems, songs, and writings.

8. Naturalistic intelligence – “nature smart” students love being outside and are drawn to anything in nature. They learn best when the concept being taught is presented in a way that appeals to this love of their environment.

This week, your students will be creating an art piece that will reveal their strongest multiple intelligences. Teachers will use that information to adapt lessons in a way that will be more readily absorbed and retained by every student in the class. Sometimes a lesson may be taught in a way that more than one intelligence is addressed. The goal is for every student in each class to understand the content being taught and to succeed academically. Your student should be able to soon tell you how he or she is “smart”. This is a great idea for a dinner conversation.

Have fun!

Amy-Lyn Foster

Arts Coordinator

Attendance Policies

Cabarrus County Schools recently updated its attendance policy for students in grades K-8. The updates address excessive absences and tardies. With the policy update, when a student accumulates a combined total of five unexcused tardies (this includes early unexcused checkouts), each totaling 15 minutes or more, he/she will now receive one unexcused absence.

We understand that some absences are unavoidable, but we are asking that you do all you can to keep them to a minimum. Good school attendance habits help students get the most out of their education.

You can find information about the attendance policy update on page 19 of the online Parent Information & Student Code of Conduct handbook, or you can review Policy 4400 in its entirety through the online Policy Manual. Both are accessible from our district website at www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us.

If your child has to be absent, please be sure to send in a note or complete the form below:

Online Excuse Form for Absences