Important Dates

• Wednesday, September 17th, Constitution Day
• Friday, September 19th, First Social 7-8:30 pm
• Monday and Tuesday, September 22nd and 23rd Homework free - Rosh Hashanah 
• Thursday, September 25th PTO meeting

 

Principal’s Message

This newsletter finds me a little later than usual on a Sunday afternoon, and that's by design. During the week, I prefer to be present in the moment and in our school hallways, connecting with RMS students and staff. My drive home provides some time to reflect, but then family life takes over. This weekend, my hometown's quiet vibe was replaced by the energy of the Tunbridge Fair, an annual tradition. For me it's the perfect opportunity to spend time with family, catch up with neighbors, and watch my dad dance with the contra dancers. I hope your weekend provided opportunities to connect with others as you enjoyed the beautiful late summer days.

During Wednesday's staff meeting, RMS educators engaged in meaningful conversation about our school-wide expectations. Staff collaborated to identify our shared values and goals for students. This work was informed by our previous discussion of the SAU 70's Portrait of a Learner.

This collaboration resulted in five core expectations: respect, perseverance, integrity, curiosity, and community. Our next step is to define what each of these means and create simple, student-friendly phrases to help them understand and remember our expectations. It was affirming to see that many of the same sentiments were already celebrated on a bulletin board in our PE hallway!"

PE bulletin board describing attributes of a successful PE student.

 

I'd like to express my gratitude to the Dresden school board members. This week, they convened a special meeting to appoint Chelsea Voake as our interim associate principal. We are excited to welcome Chelsea to our school community.

 

Take care,

Anissa

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School News and Information

RMS has three open positions, please visit SAU 70’s SchoolSpring page for more information.

• Digital Arts teacher: This half-time position is scheduled to teach four mornings a week. 

• Financial assistant: The shift of Janice Starkey to the Assistant Business Manager for SAU 70 opens the financial assistance position at RMS. 

• 1:1 special education assistant: This job could flex between 27-35 hours per week based on candidate availability. 

 

Constitution Day

This week, our morning announcements will feature information about the U.S. Constitution. The New Hampshire legislature recently passed a law requiring schools to observe Constitution Day, adding it to a list of patriotic observances that includes Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

 

First Social -  Friday, September 19th RMS will host the first of four evening socials. Richmond’s version of a school dance is more than bouncing to your favorite songs with friends. During socials, students may play basketball or soccer in the gym, board games and ping pong in the lobby, or dance in the cafeteria. Admission is $5.00 per student. Snacks will be sold to benefit the 8th grade trips to NYC and Montreal. Please plan to pick up your student promptly at 8:30.

 

Student Photos -  Please take a minute to fill out this form if you would like to see and/or purchase school photos this year. This form must be filled out in order to view picture proofs.

 

Attendance Correction -  Our email for ALL attendance purposes is rmsattendance@sau70.org

 

Drop-off/Pick-up: Please do not use Dresden Road, Curtiss Road, or RMS parking lots for student drop-off or pick-up. The cutouts on Lyme Road are the designated locations for before and after school private car transportation. The State Law School Zone Speed Limit is 15MPH. 

 

Calling all Volunteers!  

Interested in helping with health screenings?  Want to lend a hand with theatre productions?  Not sure of your availability but are still interested in hearing about upcoming volunteer opportunities? Please take a minute to fill out our annual intake form - by doing so we are able to streamline our volunteer program and let you know of opportunities that speak to your strengths and interests.    

 

Health Office Updates

No Richmond Middle School flu vaccine clinic during school for students due to government budget cuts and finances. I am so sorry as a community nurse to share this. 

 

Here are the options-

Pediatric Flu Clinic:

The Pediatric flu clinic schedule is for patients ages 6 months to 18 years.

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center - Lebanon
Pediatrics 6L Reception Area

 

September 8 through December

• Monday through Friday: 7 am to 5 pm

• Saturdays: 8 am to 12 pm

• Sunday, October 26: 8 am to 12 pm

 

Additional Flu Clinic Options:

Here are the surrounding free, no registration or insurance needed community flu clinics available https://uvpublichealth.org/2024-phc-flu-vaccine-clinics-are-coming/

 

RMS Technology

Our New RUP and TOS

Welcome back RMS families!  The year is in full swing and the RMS technology has been cleaned up, booted up, and prepped for another great year.  I want to introduce and provide links to two important documents that describe the Responsible Use of SAU 70 network, devices, and systems.  Your student(s) are learning about the new districtwide Responsible Use Policy (RUP) in homerooms this and next week.  I encourage you to spend some time reading the new RUP along with your student to set them up for success this year.  The second document is a Terms of Service description specific to communications systems.  

 

SAU Responsible Use Policy

RMS Email Terms of Service 

 

Chromebook or other device damage

One of the principles of responsible device use is keeping hardware physically safe.  We know that accidents do happen and we all work to minimize the likelihood of accidental damage, however if a student damages a device while mistreating it, we may need to reach out for reimbursement of the cost for repair or replacement.  Thank you for your support at home in helping our students continue to be responsible users of technology.

 

Technology Help

If you or your student(s) has technology questions, please send an email to helpdesk@hanovernorwichschools.org and the RMS tech support department will be happy to help answer your questions.

 

PowerSchool and Schoology

This summer we began syncing user accounts from PowerSchool to Schoology.  Be sure you are accessing your Schoology account with the same credentials as logging into the PowerSchool Parent Portal.  This will automatically associate you with your student(s).  If you don’t see your student accessible in your account, try your PowerSchool login or reach out to the help desk.

 

Tom Hermanson

Digital Learning Specialist

 

Athletics and Co-Curriculars

Parents: we are looking for a couple of people to join an advisory committee to provide input on the development of our athletics programs. Individuals should have some knowledge about athletics in Hanover either at the rec level or high school level. Commitment would be 1-2 meetings per month, most likely around 3:30pm (may change). If you are interested in being a part of this committee, please email Brandon Hannon a letter of interest by Friday, 9/19. Please include your relationship to Hanover/RMS athletics and why are you interested in being a part of this committee?

 

Sports at RMS will be starting up with Basketball during the winter season. We will be meeting throughout the fall in order to develop our athletics programs. I will send out more information as our programs develop. We are still in the process of setting up our sports registration website, this will most likely be up by mid-October

 

Student opportunity: (Date Changed) Any students interested in getting involved in building a community garden at RMS should reach out to Derek Butler. The first meeting to discuss the community garden will take place in the library during recess next Friday, 9/19. Any student interested in participating should attend this meeting.

 

Club Updates

• The Robotics Team meets every Monday from 3:00-5:30pm. Advisors: Tom Hermanson and Jess Holmes

• Quiz Bowl Team meets during 7th/8th grade lunch in room 600. Advisor: Alex Lovejoy

• SAGE (Sexuality and Gender Equality) meets every Tuesday during lunch. All are welcome! Advisors: Chris Putnam-Pouliot and Cris Wood

• The Math Team meets every Friday from 3:15-4:30pm at HHS in room 313. Advisor: Tom Wharton

 

All other clubs are still finalizing their start dates. Those will be sent out in the coming weeks!

 

Training Tip of the Week

Dynamic vs. Static Stretching: Proper stretching is important for all different sports. Dynamic stretching involves movement as part of stretching. Muscles will lengthen and shorten with the goal to activate the muscles. This type of stretching is typically done as part of a warmup. Static stretching involves holding a stretch in the same position for a period of time typically 30-45 seconds. This type of stretching is typically done as part of a cool down after a workout.

 

School/Team Apparel

We will be setting up an online school store. Students and families will be able to purchase RMS merchandise directly and have it shipped directly to your house! This will hopefully be available to families by October.

Any questions about Athletics or extracurricular activities in general can be directed to Brandon Hannon, Director of Athletics & Co-curricular Programs

 

RMS Cafe

Information about menus, mealtime, and application for RMS’ meal program are on the FRMS website. The RMS lunch program is run “in house” and does not follow a state or federal program.  If your family may benefit from assistance for meals, please contact Robin Morley-Ploof in the office for more information.  The program is confidential and runs the same way as the more traditional cafe meal funding program. 

 

RMS works hard to accommodate the dietary needs of our community, so if you have any questions, concerns, please contact Austin Jacobs. 

 

PTO Update

The September meeting is Thursday, September 25th at 7:00pm. Please visit the PTO website for a meeting link.