Navigating the River

Each week, you will receive our newsletter containing important dates, events, and school news. Navigating the River is one of the best ways to stay up to date on what's happening at the River and ways to get involved to help make this school year the best yet! #RMSGoodAsGold

• February 2nd - 7th Grade Field Trip Forms/Payment Due
• February 3rd - Forsyth County Schools Job Fair @ South Forsyth HS ( 8 - 11:30 am)
  
• February 8th - PTSO Spirit Night @ Crumbl Cookies (5:00 - 8:00 pm)
• February 9th - Semester 1 Spotlight Breakfast
• February 11th - Middle School State Robotics Meet (Team E) @ OIa High School
• February 12th - Boosterthon Glow Run Kickoff
• February 13th - FBLA Testing (9:00 am)
• February 13th - 15th - Track and Field Tryouts
• February 14th - Family Connects Night
• February 16th - 20th - Student Holidays
• February 23rd - Boosterthon Glow Run/Celebration during Connections
• March 11th - Football Informational Meeting @ 6:00 pm

Get important information even faster by following us on Facebook and Twitter (X)!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/riverwatchms

Twitter (X): www.twitter.com/RiverwatchMS

Panther families,

In an effort to not only maintain efficiency during morning carpool, but to also provide a safe environment for students, parents, staff, and the community, our SRO, administration, and School Safety have been monitoring morning carpool. At the recommendation of School Safety, and our SRO, drivers leaving Riverwatch Middle School will no longer be allowed to make a left turn onto James Burgess during morning drop off. There are a lot of moving parts with the Riverwatch school traffic being there is north and southbound traffic not involved with the carpool line, vehicles from Rivermist turning onto James Burgess, and the parent drivers entering and exiting the school.

Having a relatively steady flow of vehicles turning right only onto James Burgess alleviates some of the congestion at the traffic location on James Burgess Road, as well as the flow of traffic in front of the school as children are being dropped off. Please keep in mind this only applies to the morning carpool, not dismissal time.

We thank you for your understanding and for partnering with us as we all have a role to play in keeping the public safe.

RMS Administration

Parents, we need your help! We have some opportunities for you to volunteer some time at the school (while also getting to see your student)! If you can donate some time, please fill out the links below!

2/6 - PBIS Rewards Distribution

2/23 - Glow Run

Panther Families,

We have an exciting fundraiser in store for students to help bring much-needed funds to our school!

Our Fundraiser at a Glance:

• Kickoff Event. Students will learn what to expect from the fun days ahead and how the fundraiser will work.
• Character-Building Videos. Our school will follow along with a character-building program called World Changer Workshop. Students will learn about five different character traits needed to make a difference in the world!
• Throughout the time between the kickoff event and the Glow Run, our class will earn fun rewards based on how much we raise on our classroom donation tracker.
• Event Day. This is the epic celebration - Riverwatch Middle Glow Run and Celebration!

Our school has a fundraising goal of $13,000 and we are raising funds for a Outdoor Wellness/Educational/Activity Space and continuing Teacher/Student Appreciation programs!

This is where we need your help! Register at MYBOOSTER.COM today under your PANTHER TIME teacher (make sure you have the correct teacher and grade) if you haven’t already, and share with family and friends!

Thank you in advance for your support of our fundraiser!

P.S. To register your student on mybooster.com search for Riverwatch Middle Glow Run.

Applications will go live on February 5th. Any 6th grader interested is welcome to apply!

February 15th will be the last day for collecting items from Lost and Found. After 2/15, items still remaining will be donated to The Place!

The Lanier Region Technology Competition occurred on January 20th. 18 of our RMS Panthers competed with 11 students placing either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in their category! Congratulations to:

Jayasri M. - 1st Place in Graphic Design

Aneesh G. - 1st Place in Audio Production

Srinidhi P. - 1st Place in Device Modification

Teja D. - 1st Place in Digital Game Design

Pranav D. - 1st Place in Mobile Apps

Kevin L. - 2nd Place in Project Programming

Sai Amogh V. - 2nd Place in Audio Production

Samyak C. - 2nd Place in Animation

Shanthanav M. - 2nd Place in Digital Game Design

Vedant P. - 3rd Place in Digital Game Design

Kelly L. - 3rd Place in Graphic Design

Again, a huge congratulations to these students for showing our region why Riverwatch is #RMSGoodAsGold!

Deadlines are approaching for participating in the 7th Grade field trip to Fernbank Museum of Natural History! See below or the presentation for details!

We are still in need of parent chaperones! If you are interested, fill out this form!

Permission Slip due by Friday Feb 2 to Homeroom Teacher

If not attending, have parents write your name and “not attending” on permission slip and turn that in. Both form and payment must be submitted on time to attend!

Date(s) of Trip:

March 19 – Teams R & S Homerooms: Burnsed, Tisdale, Griffin, Verdin, Pittman, Poole, Wood, Nagel, Lima, Weatherford

March 21 – Teams M & P Homerooms: Hicks, Higginbotham, Miskus, Kulikowski, Chastain, Bonciu, Mack, Blankenship, Fowler, Overstreet, Yu, Kincheloe, Taylor, Sudduth

If your student is interested in playing football for the 2024-2025 school year, please attend the informational meeting that will be held on Monday, March 11th, 2024, at 6 pm in the Riverwatch Middle School Cafeteria. We will be discussing all things football (games, payment, spring workouts, summer camp, and fall football season). If you are planning on attending, please fill out the following form.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ucFBvII3AkSp4r-McSVXkByT9FVFtBFIingOsbeTBNdUM0pXVFdDQzJWUTAxVThYNVRJWE1CQVNRWC4u

Any questions can be emailed to Kimbra Balthazor at f35013@forsyth.k12.ga.us

Our most recent digital citizenship student lessons focused on digital footprints and responsibility. To partner with parents in protecting our students, we have compiled a list of resources available to support proper digital citizenship!

Resources:

• Internet Safety Guidelines and Conversation Starters from Forsyth County Sheriff's Office
• Guarding Your Child's Digital Footprint: A Parent's Ultimate Guide
• Parental Controls for Windows
• Parental Controls for Macs
• Parental Controls for Androids
• Parental Controls for iPhones

We are preparing for our second Sources of Strength campaign here at Riverwatch Middle School. The protective factor we will focus on in this campaign is Family Support. It’s a time to highlight our own families, but also the people at school that make up our school family. These are the people who care about us and provide support and encouragement! Middle school is a hard time to “find your people” but most of the time they are right beside us. This campaign will kick off January 29. We want to make it fun and memorable for our students, so they are reminded who is there for them.

This is a great time to remind ourselves to have regular talks with our children and show them that we can be great listeners in addition to providing necessary guidance. Let’s put the social media and the interruptions away and focus on what is important. Middle school can be a time of goofiness, confusion, and growth- providing even more reason to have those that will listen to us and help us process the world around us.

We look forward to a month of highlighting the people that care about us and make us feel special.

Help us decide on Teacher and Staff Member of the Month by nominating someone who has been influential in your child's learning journey! Visit the nomination form to let us know!

Track and Field Tryouts will be held February 13th, 14th, and 15th from 4:30-6:30 pm at RMS. More information can be found by visiting the RMS Track and Field website!

• Attendance (Excuses, Check-In/Check-Out), Attendance Update Letter from Ms. MacAllaster
  
• Transportation Changes
• Updated Exam Policy for 2023-2024
• Joining PTSO
• RMS Panther News
• Yearbook Ordering - Order #1287 (Riverwatch Middle School)
• Previous Editions of Navigating the River - January 17, January 10, December 20, December 13, December 6