January 29, 2023
Hello Lake Ridge Middle School Parents/Guardians - we've officially made it through the 1st semester!! As a reminder, Monday is a teacher professional development day and there is no school for students.
RHITHM APP IMPLEMENTATION
Your student's well-being is an essential part of academic success. As part of our Launching Thriving Futures strategic plan, we are focusing resources to prioritize student well-being and belonging. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated school closures has greatly impacted many of our student's feelings of safety and belonging which are essential to well-being.
To assist our students, our school has been selected to participate in a pilot program in which we will check in with students about their emotions at the start of the school day. The tool that will be used to conduct these frequent check-ins is called Rhithm. Students will complete a short survey to assess their emotional state and will participate in a brief 1-3 minute activity that is tailored to their specific emotional needs. You may navigate to our Rhithm information page for more detailed information about the brief survey and follow up activities.
At our school, we will be having our students use the Rhithm tool, also called "getting in Rhithm", on Wednesdays during Advisory time starting the second semester. We will use the results of this assessment to navigate daily activities based on the emotions of all students in the classroom and pace our learning in a manner that is responsive to these results. If there is a situation where a teacher or other staff member has a concern about the student's response to the emotional check-in, a parent/guardian will be contacted to support next steps during the school day. You may also have questions about how student data will be maintained and kept confidential. Click here to learn more about the protection of your student's data. We plan to begin introducing Rhithm to our students on February 1st. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Merica.
ATTENDANCE INFORMATION
LRMS will continue to work towards the PWCS Strategic Plan with a focus on reducing chronic absenteeism. At the end of the first semester across the county, we saw that 52% of total absences were being excused. Here at Lake Ridge Middle, we saw that 77% of our student absences were excused by a parent or guardian during the first semester. We will continue to closely monitor absences and will be implementing, as needed, PWCS Regulation 724-1 II. A 1 for personal illness for a student. This includes requiring "a written note signed by the student's medical provider certifying that the student has a bona fide medical reason for his/her absence, may be required by the school Principal or his/her designee after a student has accrued 10 or more absences for the school year, and for every additional absence thereafter." Ms. Merica, our Director of School Counseling will begin meeting with students and reaching out to families of students that have 20 or more excused absences at the start of the second semester.
SPECIALTY PROGRAM APPLICATIONS
Specialty Program Applications are due by February 1st. To access the online application portal and information about the application process, please visit the PWCS Specialty Programs website. Late applications will not be accepted.
NEW SEMESTER AND QUARTER 3 ENCORES
Students will begin new Quarter and Semester Encores on Tuesday, 1/31. Students should log into their StudentVue, go to the Class Schedule tab, and focus to Quarter 3 or Second Semester to see their new class. Schedules will not be printed.
SCRIBBLECON23
We are excited to announce ScribbleCon23 is here! It's Saturday, February 11 from 9AM-3PM at Benton Middle School. There will be writing professionals leading presentations on a variety of topics. They are capping the event to 150 students. For more information, contact John Dutton at [email protected]. Register for the event here. See flyer at the end of this newsletter.
PTO
Join the PTO for their February meeting, Wednesday February 1st at 6:00PM. Follow this link to access the meeting.
YEARBOOK PRE-ORDERING
Students, remind your parents that yearbooks are available to be preordered now; the direct link is on the school's main webpage or can be found here. After January 29, the cost of the yearbooks will increase so order yours now to get the lowest available price.
Tuesday is a "B" day.
Jim Dutrow
Principal
Lake Ridge Middle School
703-494-5154