RTMS Review

January 2023

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Important Dates

January 9 - Teacher Institute Day (no school)
January 10 - Classes Resume!! 😃
January 14 - ACCESS Testing Begins
January 16 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (no school)
January 17 - Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
January 25 - Trails Has Talent, 7:00 p.m.

End of Year Dates to Add to Your Calendar:

May 23 - 8th Grade Dance
May 26 - 8th Grade Graduation (JHHS)

Please click on this link to see the 2022-22 District Calendar.

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Dear RTMS Families,

I hope that you all had a restful, and joyful winter break. RTMS ended 2022 with a very successful Winter Carnival, which raised over $2000 for the Make a Wish Foundation! We are planning to hear more information from one of the Make a Wish representatives during our student assembly later in the month. While we had to adjust our schedule due to the weather on December 22nd, our staff and students made the absolute most of this fun-filled day. We would like to thank all of the parent volunteers who came in during the last week before break to sell tickets, and help gather raffle tickets throughout the carnival, as well as a big thank you to the families who donated prizes. Your time, assistance, and generosity were very appreciated!

We are looking forward to a New Year, and a successful 2023. There is still quite a bit of time left in Trimester 2; please look at PowerSchool with your student, and ask them how they are doing in their classes. What goals can they set to end this trimester on a positive note? If their grades are looking well, what clubs could they join? How can they become more involved in their school community? Please take a look at our weekly calendar, and encourage your child to try something new. Having extracurricular interests outside of schoolwork can help students broaden their horizons, and make new friends. If you follow RTMS on Twitter or Facebook, you will see a graphic shared of the Week at a Glance each week for ideas.

While our staff will be growing and learning together tomorrow during our institute day, we will also be looking forward to seeing everybody in our hallways on Tuesday! Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns as we start 2023.

In partnership,
Mary Krall-Meske

Principal

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Yearbooks

The deadline for ordering yearbooks is

Monday, February 13th.

1) Go to inter-state.com and enter the code 72523B.

-or-

2) Return the completed order envelope (students received this in October) with $25.00 cash or a check payable to River Trails Middle School. We have additional order forms in the office, if needed.

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8th grade parents/guardians:

It has been an 8th grade tradition at RTMS for family members to share a short personal message, including a picture of their 8th grader (typically a baby/toddler photo, or from kindergarten, age 5 or 6) that will appear in the yearbook. The message typically offers an inspirational or congratulatory tone.

Messages and photos can easily be submitted electronically by using this link (you will need to be logged into a Gmail account). If you do not have a Gmail account, your message and photo can be emailed to sletzig@rtsd26.org.

The due date for submitting a message/photo for your 8th grader is January 13th, 2023. The publishing company has set a hard deadline and we will not be able to accept photos or messages after this date!

Again, the due date for ordering a yearbook itself is Monday, February 13th. As noted above, to order your yearbook, follow this link and input the school code: 72523B. There will be a very limited number of books to buy after this date.

8th Grade End of Year Activities

8th grade parents should have received two documents before Winter Break began. One listed end of year dates and fees, the other was regarding requirements for 8th grade graduation and the end of year activities. If you have not already, please talk to your 8th grade student about this information, and please send in the signed sheet acknowledging that this has been read together.

There was one mistake in the end of year information document, so please note that the 8th grade dinner/dance will be on Tuesday, May 23rd.

Please reach out to our front office with any questions or concerns.

Drop Off/Pick Up

As a friendly reminder, please be careful picking up, and dropping off students. The cold and icy conditions challenge our driving skills; even the best drivers need to be cautious and alert. Please stay patient and follow the parking lot guidelines.

Please give yourself time to allow your student to get into the building on time each morning. As we all see, the line coming into the parking lot backs up the closer it gets to start time. Students are marked tardy if they are not in their first block class when the first block bell rings (7:40 on a regular day, 8:30 on late start Thursdays). Many parents have found more success (and less frustration!) when dropping off their child in the church parking lot next door, or on neighboring streets with enough time to carefully walk over to the building.

Feedback

Schools are complex organizations. At RTMS we have approximately 500 students, all with different learning and emotional needs. Our mission is to help each one of these children grow to be healthy, independent, and productive citizens in a safe learning environment. Your feedback is important. Please reach out if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts related to our professional efforts.

As many of you know, our block schedule was brand new this year. Please keep an eye on your email in January for a parent/guardian survey so that we can analyze the strengths of this new schedule, as well as opportunities to improve. We will also be asking for feedback from our students and staff members.

6th Grade Dental Forms

All 6th grade students, and students new to our district, are required to turn in a dental exam form signed by a licensed dentist before May 15, 2023. Dental forms and other health forms can be accessed online by visiting our Nurse page, and going to the District 26 Health Services Information. If you have any questions, please contact the Nurse Veller in our health office at (224) 612-7605.

DISTRICT 26 FAMILY NIGHT

WITH THE CHICAGO WOLVES

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 VS. ROCKFORD ICEHOGS

DOORS OPEN AT 6PM: PUCK DROPS AT 7PM

Come out and join District 26 for a night of fun at a Chicago Wolves hockey game. All attendees will receive a FREE Chicago Wolves knit hat and be seated together in the same section.

Order tickets here:

https://fevo.me/district26ptc

*To purchase a discounted food voucher which includes a hot dog and soda for $6.50,

please call Stefanie Evans at 847-832-1939. Deadline to order tickets and food vouchers is 12:00 Noon on Friday, January 27th.

Click Here to Access Community Announcements

- - Reminders - -

Attendance Line: 847-298-1750, option 1

Bus Issues: Grand Prairie 847-640-2142

Daily announcements

Our daily student announcements are available for parents/guardians to access on our school website each day. If you scroll to the bottom of the homepage (Family Resources and Information), or if you click on Families at the top of the homepage, you will see a link to "Daily Announcements." If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you can also see a Week at a Glance graphic that will give you a quick view of all the weekly activities at RTMS.