Riverwalk Roar
Your Source All-Things Riverwalk Academy
10/31/21
Happy Sunday, Lions!
I know for many of our families, tonight will be a late evening filled with excitement and lots of sugar, and that bedtime might be a little more difficult than other nights. I feel your pain, and to quote the character Effie Trinket, from The Hunger Games, "May the odds be ever in your favor."
On more of a serious note, parents who drop off in the mornings, we need your help with something. We're noticing that we have a significant increase of families who are coming in between 7:55 am and 8:05 am.
Our day begins at 8:00 am, and our procedures are that at 8:00 am, our arrival crew comes inside to start our day, and any parent who arrives after we've gone inside will need to come inside to sign their child in.
What's happening is that after 7:45 am, our arrivals decrease until 7:55 am. Because of the influx of cars arriving at this time, it causes a backup.
Here is our ask:
- Try to make it to our campus by 7:50 am.
- If your child has not exited by 7:59 am, be prepared to park and come inside to sign them in.
For our middle and especially our high school families, in addition to the above, please understand that the State has a "seat time requirement" for every credit-bearing class. So students who are dropped off at 7:58 am (which is before the 8:00 am cutoff), but who do not make it to their class by 8:00 am, are still marked tardy.
We've had a few middle/high school families express their frustration that their child was marked tardy for 1st period. They stated, "but my child make it to school before 8:00 am." Their child did make it to school before 8:00 am, but when the bell rang at 8:00 am, the child wasn't in class. We understand that it takes about 90 seconds to walk from the car line to class, but in cases like this, we're asking our middle/high school families to arrive just a few minutes earlier so they can avoid the tardy.
On Monday, anyone arriving after 7:55 am will receive a note reminding them of the above (try to arrive by 7:50 am and that anyone whose child exits the car after 7:59 am will have to come inside to sign the child in).
On Tuesday, anyone whose child hasn't exited after 7:59 am will be asked to park and to sign the child in.
Pride, we hope everyone stays safe this evening and we're looking forward to seeing you all on Monday.
In Strength and Blessings,
~Dr. Compton
Photo of the Week
This week's photo is of our State Champions. The JV competitive cheerleaders were named the 2021 1A JV State Champions on Saturday, during Saturday's State Middle School and JV Competitive Cheer Championships. Congratulations!
COVID-Related
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.
School Lunches
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.
Cross Country Fundraiser: Moe's Southwestern Grill
Moe’s Southwest Grill will be delivering to Riverwalk Academy on Wednesday, November 3rd from 3:30-5pm.
Order and pay online in advance, drive up to the front of the school, and we will put the order into your car and off you go.
ALL ORDERS MUST BE PLACED BY: Tue. November 2nd by 4:00PM
To preorder, visit: https://form.jotform.com/212843998369172
2021 1A JV State Champions
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.
Staff Members of the Month
Congratulations Ms. Long (Elementary STEM Teacher) and Ms. Lahr (6th grade Math and Social Studies Teacher) for being named the November Staff Members of the Month.
Read more about Ms. Long and Ms. Lahr by clicking here.
Do you know of a deserving staff member who should be recognized? If so, nominate them by clicking here.
Family Literacy Night For K-5
For more information, please reach out to Ms. Christman at achristman@riverwalkacademy.com.
Elementary Guidance with Mrs. Carr
Happy Sunday! It has been a busy week full of fun and excitement at school. It is so exciting to see all the creativity in the students’ camouflage, crazy hair, hats, crazy socks, outfits and superhero/book character costumes. I hope they all continue the fun this weekend and everyone stays safe. The stories I hear the first day of school after a holiday are always so interesting.
This week starts a new month of guidance on the Energy Bus. We won’t do the next rule this month, but use it to review the first two rules again and build on the concept of gratitude and driving our buses in a positive direction. The Energy Bus is about being positive, but also about overcoming challenges. In order to be positive, people need to trust, have gratitude, spread happiness, joy, have faith and be helpful and giving. The students need to understand and grow these traits. Since we celebrate Thanksgiving in November, it is a wonderful opportunity to work on these characteristics. The K-2nd grade students will do a fun gratitude turkey activity and the 3rd-5th grade students will pick “one word” (a character trait) that they want to work on for the rest of the school year. Something they want to grow within themselves to help them drive their bus and build on their vision for the future.
In addition to working on gratitude, watch out for news regarding activities before, after and especially on November 13, World Kindness Day. I would love for all the students to work on doing at least one act of kindness each day and not just one day a year. In the book we read last month, A Little Spot of Happiness, the Happiness Spot explains that one act of kindness can spread to hundreds. During our talks of gratitude and thanksgiving, and our “one word” activities, I hope to emphasize how important kindness is and how one act can change someone’s life, not just their day or a moment in their day. Kindness has much more power than anyone realizes. It builds on my lessons about everything being their choice as well. Giving children choices gives them power where they usually feel they don’t have any. As adults we have to make decisions every day and forget that it is something that children don’t actually get to do - they need to feel they can make choices and have control over things as well. This gives them strength and confidence. If we don’t allow choices, they often make wrong ones and end up with negative attention rather than positive.
Parents - remember we are growing our students together - it really does take a village. If you would like to borrow my copy of The Energy Bus for Kids or get any resources from me, please email me at kcarr@riverwalkacademy.com. I have a great library and a plethora of information saved to share.
Have a wonderful week! Hugs and blessings - Mrs. Carr
Middle/High School Guidance With Ms. Menges
“Hello Riverwalk Families,
I hope you have had a fabulous weekend and feel recharged for the upcoming week! Last week, we got to celebrate Red Ribbon Week 2021, and we had so much fun as a school helping our students learn more about living a healthy lifestyle, making good choices, and saying no to drugs. I am thankful for a restful weekend after a busy Red Ribbon Week, along with our visit to a college fair at Winthrop with the juniors and seniors, as well as proctoring the SAT.
Things to know:
-Congratulations to Ms. Girard's Fine Arts (1st block) class for winning our "Battle of the MOD" Red Ribbon Week Challenge 2021. We had a ton of participation with the middle and high schoolers and got to really see students shine in different challenges!
-I will be in the process of make up 11th and 12th grade IGP meetings in the next couple of weeks. 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 mid-November.
-Please reach out if you ever need anything at cmenges@riverwalkacademy.com
Let’s make it a great week!
Ms. Menges”
Weekly 7th and 8th Grade Newsletters
Interested in Cheer?
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: 11/1
- Cross Country Practice 3:15pm-4:30pm
- Cheer Tryouts 3:30 pm (Kunde)
- Boys JV Basketball tryouts at the Rock Hill Events Center 3:30pm-5:00pm
- Advanced Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
Tuesday:11/2
- Cross Country Practice 3:15pm-4:30pm
- Boys JV Basketball tryouts at the Rock Hill Events Center 3:30pm-5:00pm
- Beginner Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
Wednesday: 11/3
- Cross Country practice 3:15pm-4:30pm
- Boys JV Basketball tryouts at the Rock Hill Events Center 3:30pm-5:00pm
- Moe's Cross Country Fundraiser 3:30pm-5:00pm
- Advanced Band Practice 3:00pm-4:30pm
Thursday: 11/4
- Beginner Band Practice 3:00pm-4:00pm
- Cross Country Practice 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm
- Boys JV Basketball tryouts at the Rock Hill Events Center 3:30pm-5:00pm
- Family Literacy Night (K-5) 5:00pm-7:00pm
Friday: 11/5
- 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