February 1, 2018

Dear RHHS Families and Friends

With the January calendar flipping to February, we transition to the second semester of this school year.  Our motto, “It’s a great day to be a Hawk”, is evident as we continue to celebrate our students’ successes in academics, athletics, and activities.  As an overview, students are recognized through quarterly Honor Roll and PRIDE Students of the Month.  The large bulletin board outside of the Cafeteria and Student Services displays recognition and outstanding work.  Our athletic teams are posting exciting season performances with many championship titles, which will be updated on the Gym banners. And of course, our activities give students the opportunity to develop leadership, provide service, and share their student voice in ways that are meaningful to them.  As information is submitted to our Communication Punchlist, we have a work group that updates the various communication platforms that are available to us; Mrs. Karina Carr can assist the larger RHHS community when additional student/school information needs to be published.

At this time, the Student Services Team is busy working with your children to complete the course registration process.  These selections are critical to each student’s four-year plan.  Also, these selections drive the staffing and scheduling process in order to ensure that we meet student needs.  As families, please make sure your child has a balanced schedule to allow for electives as well as to support college and career readiness.  One of the biggest tasks facing our students is the college essay and we are finding that a balance of activities and academics provides a genuine source of writing topics that will allow students to share who they are in an authentic narrative.

Also, you may have heard bits and pieces about the JumpStart initiative.  While the enrollment numbers continue to be fluid, we anticipate approximately 200 students will be joining the RHHS community.  The number of students who will opt to take courses with dual enrollment will be higher since students already in the RHHS community will also select this option.  At this time, we do not have the final list of dual enrollment courses to be offered at RHHS, but we expect that we will be offering courses in all departments.  Dual enrollment and specifically JumpStart will allow students to earn credits for one or more college classes (as many as 60 credits) while still in high school.  As families explore this option, many attended our Parent/Student Night in January for incoming 9th graders.  We will be hosting a Hawk Nation Night on March 5th at 6:30 pm to highlight additional student opportunities at RHHS, to include performing and visual arts, athletics, clubs, activities, and school spirit. (JumpStart newsletter for new RHHS families)

In terms of school security, the front door by the Main Office is the only access point during the school day.  Staff will have a key card swipe for use with PE classes and athletic teams.  We would like to ask our parents to drop off students only in the circle and not by the gym doors since this creates a safer traffic pattern for everyone trying to park in the student and staff parking lot.  Also, many are rushing to get into the building at the 7:20 AM bell and often cars are blocking the curb by the gym.  Please be aware that students should be in the building at 7:20 AM and ready for the start of class at 7:25 AM. 

Looking at the school calendar, we have hit the mid-year point!  HCPSS has not designated the 2 days for make-up and we have shared the concern that the A Day/B Day calendar has been impacted.  We will always post updated schedules on the student Canvas calendar as soon as we have information.  Please understand that although teachers do not assign flipped classwork on inclement weather days, we would encourage students to use some time for study.  These missed instructional days are particularly important for students who will be taking AP exams in May, and students may need to put in extra hours for reading, study, and practice.

The RHHS staff would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our parent volunteers.  We appreciate all you do for our students and our school. 

RHHS…Better and better every day in every way!

Mrs. Kathryn McKinley

Principal, River Hill High School