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Top 10 Tips for Day One – We're so excited for the upcoming school year and can't wait to welcome our students back. To make sure you're ready, please take a look at our Top 10 Tips for Day One. I've tried to keep them short and sweet, so visit our back-to-school hub for more in-depth information and links to start the school year strong.
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1) Make sure you're on time – We love you here at RPS and look forward to welcoming every student – and expect to see every student – on Monday, August 19. Your 2024-25 start times are as follows:
- Preschool: 7:45 am - 1:45 pm
- Elementary School: 7:45 am - 2:45 pm
- Middle School: 8:15 am - 3:15 pm
- High School: 9 am - 4 pm
Please note a few transportation-related exceptions:
- River City Middle School uses the high school schedule.
- Cardinal Elementary, Chimborazo Elementary, Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary, Frances McClenney Elementary, George W. Carver Elementary, and Westover Hills Elementary use the middle school schedule.
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2) Make a list, check it twice – Our Family Checklist will help you keep key names and information, like your child’s room number and the name of your school nurse, organized and nearby.
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4) Know where to go – School bus routes will be posted on our website this week – Thursday, August 15. Check this page frequently, as routes may change based on enrollment. Your principal will also let you know if your journey is impacted.
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5) Start strong – To keep us all safe, healthy, and in school, please make sure to stop by the pediatrician for your child’s required school immunizations as soon as possible. These immunizations are mandated by Virginia law so please don’t delay! For a complete list of vaccination and physical clinics in our area, please visit the Virginia Department of Health website or call (804) 205-3501.
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6) Take care of business – All of our Beginning of the Year documents are available for download in our back-to-school hub. Please complete and return all required forms to your student’s school as soon as possible. Your school’s office associate can also provide you with a copy to fill out. Forms are due back by Friday, August 30.
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7) Get in touch – Remind is RPS’s text-messaging system, and we use it to share important updates throughout the school year. It’s where you will first hear about any weather closures or changes to the school calendar. Every family’s account has been created, so if you're not receiving these text messages, please make sure your school has the most up-to-date contact information for your family. You may also manually sign up for a Remind account. We have a great (and short!) overview of Remind in English or Spanish. For more information, please take a moment to look over these helpful tips available in English, Spanish, and French (Arabic, Swahili, Farsi, Dari, and Kinyarwanda are coming soon!).
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8) Communicate comfortably – We're committed to ensuring that every family, no matter what language they speak, can engage with RPS. The Family Language Line allows families to connect with an interpreter before being connected to their school. Families can find these phone numbers by looking at the bottom of their school's homepage (see the example below for River City MS).
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9) Connect with us – Follow Richmond Public Schools on Instagram to catch special livestreams and stories all through the first week of school! Make sure to also follow us on Facebook.
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10) Shout your school out – One of the best ways to celebrate a teacher, bus driver, custodian – anyone at RPS – is to submit a shout-out. If you encounter someone wonderful at RPS, let us know so we can celebrate them. All you need to do is send an email to shoutouts@rvaschools.net. Thank you!
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Ultimate Backpack Supply Drive – It was so energizing to get ready for the upcoming school year alongside hundreds of volunteers at the Seventh Annual Ultimate Backpack Supply Drive last Thursday! With the generous support of the RVA community, thousands of clear backpacks were stuffed with school supplies for students in Richmond and beyond. Enormous gratitude to Comcast, CoStar Group, Dominion Energy, Estes Express Lines, Packaging Corporate America, Target, Virginia Commonwealth University Alumni, and many others for serving our students with love! I want to send an especially huge thank you to Mayor Stoney, Board Member Cheryl Burke, and event organizer Timmy Nguyen for making this possible, year after year.
RPS students will receive the stuffed backpacks from their schools during the first week. Look for more information from your school's principal – and enjoy!
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Help us get first-day ready – Due to last week’s weather, our beautification day at the Richmond Technical Center was rescheduled to tomorrow, August 13. Join us to help teachers and staff prepare classrooms and beautify school grounds. Your help means that our teachers can focus on other critical tasks before the first day. Volunteers can sign up here. Thank you in advance!
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Fun on the Front Lawn – How did kids play in the past? Toys like jacks, Jacob’s ladders, and yoyos have been found around the world for thousands of years. Tomorrow, August 13, from 10 am - 5 pm, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture (428 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.) will host Fun on the Front Lawn. At the event, children will have the opportunity to play with Colonial-era replicas of these games, as well as take part in Slinky races down the front steps, play giant checkers on the lawn, and more! This free event is fun for all ages, but recommended for students in elementary and middle school.
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Youth mental health first aid – The Virginia Home for Boys and Girls will host a free workshop on youth mental health first aid on Friday, September 20, from 8:30 - 5 pm in the VHBG dining hall (8716 West Broad St). The course will help teachers and other school staff to recognize the signs of anxiety, depression, and more in youth ages 12-18. Space is limited and registration is required. If you are unable to attend at this time, additional dates are available online.
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With great appreciation,
Jason
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- The district math team would like to offer our appreciation to the math academic architects who wrote an amazing comprehensive curriculum that will lead to understanding, application, and outcomes we can all be proud of. Monica Thomas-Moore, Aliyah Hoye, Erin Knight, Kate Perry, Chelsea Graham, Amira Akam (Boland), Brianna Brewer, Raffinee Worsley, Rachel Smith, Valerie Schwarz, Anne Dunn, and Ellen Burgess worked together and will present their products in grades K-5. Larry Johnson, Jr., Jenna Ross, Ashleigh Russell, Charmaigne Lloyd, Electa Barr, and Tara Brown crafted middle school lessons and units that will be remembered, and Jennifer McCall, Tara Brown, Allison Loudermilk, and Ella Ilie worked diligently on our high school curricula. Our teachers, students, and families appreciate your expertise and efforts!
- Thank you, thank you, thank you to Ms. Ro Stark for coming to Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School to help the math interventionists learn more about conducting student interviews. We learned so much and cannot wait to start working with our students using this process. Your help and support is always appreciated!
- I would love to give a well-deserved shout-out to Clara Curbelo-Goad. She works in Finance and she is outstanding. She wasted no time helping me when I had to quickly change my direct deposit from one bank to another while I was on vacation. She even called me to verify the request was authentic and within a day of reaching out to her my direct deposit was deposited into the new account. I was able to enjoy my vacation without anxiety. I know Clara Curbelo-Goad did for me what she likely does for every RPS employee who contacts her, but she truly made my vacation less stressful. Thank you, Clara, for working for me while I was on the beach!
- I want to shout-out all of the Facilities crews at every RPS school who have been working so hard to get our schools ready for the upcoming year (and in some cases the current year!). I want to highlight Mr. Patterson and Mr. Jones at Westover Hills Elementary School. Our floors, rugs, and painted walls sparkle from your care all summer long.
- Shout-out to Mrs. Lawson at Westover Hills Elementary School. For a laugh to share, a shoulder to support you, and the person who knows where everything...Mrs. Lawson is your lady. Every year starts better with her as our backbone.
- Big shout-out to the Cardinal ES faculty and staff! Everyone came back to school with positivity and enthusiasm to greet our students. Looking forward to a great year at Cardinal where learning is a fiesta!
- Shout-out to the dismissal team at Cardinal ES! You make sure everyone gets home orderly and safely. You rock, and we appreciate you!
- I would like to shout-out a huge woo-hoo(!) to Payroll Technician Clara M. Curbelo-Goad! She went above and beyond to help us. She reached out by phone and email, followed up, and ensured that our folks would get paid!
- Kudos to Ms. Hicks, a first year kindergarten teacher at Southampton Elementary. Her room is magnificent and ready for her students already. She came in early before school started so she could also attend the new teachers institute. Going above and beyond without being asked is true dedication. Her room is so inviting and ready for learning. Welcome to RPS, Ms. Hicks. We are so happy to have you as a part of our team!
- I would like to shout-out Desktop Technician Leroy Hatcher! He saved the day and made it possible to print materials needed for the district's professional development. Leroy, you are the bomb!
- Congratulations to Yvette Davis-Rajput, executive director of the Armstrong Leadership Program, for successfully developing, coordinating and executing an outstanding historic experience across four state lines (VA, NC, AL, GA) for the students in the Armstrong Leadership Program. The experience, known as CHIP (Cultural History Immersion Project), is a unique and comprehensive initiative designed to educate and empower youth! Our leaders traveled from Richmond, Greensboro, Atlanta, Tuskegee, Montgomery and Selma to learn, study and reflect on the experiences of the African American community during slavery, reconstruction and the civil rights movement. This trip included stops at museums and historic sites, HBCU visits, cultural immersion, student-led research and interactive learning and activities! Thank you, Yvette Davis-Rajput and Marvin Roane, for continuing this life-changing and transformative work which will impact our students forever! Below are a few pictures of the group at the Legacy Museum (Montgomery, AL), Freedom Rides Museum and Pettus Bridge (Selma, AL), and MLK National Historic Park (Atlanta, GA).
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- Last week, Cardinal Elementary had their opening ceremony for the "Learning Games." The torch has been lit and we are going to have a gold medal year! Kudos to the amazing staff members who put this all together, our amazing staff members who participated, and our wonderful students who are excited about learning. We are off to a great start!
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| - I would like to congratulate Kim Jones and Jodi Granger for planning and executing a fun and exciting new teacher orientation. The teacher development coaches, Danas Crawley, Angela Delaney, Vickey Drew, Shannon Hodges, Christal Mark, and Dale Williams, did a wonderful job supporting NTO and made every new teacher feel welcome and supported. Gabriele Price did an amazing job controlling the flow and answering all questions with a smile at the information table at NTO. Thanks to School Board Chair Dawn Paige for welcoming new teachers to the district with an inspiring message and 4th District School Board member Garret Sawyer for meeting and greeting new teachers during their lunch at orientation. Thanks to Huguenot Principal Michael Massa, Activities Director Richard Farquharson, and the Falcon staff for hosting and supporting New Teacher Orientation. REB winners Joanna Minnot and Kimberly Bailey inspired the RPS 2025 Teachers of the Year to dream big during the 2025 Teacher of the Year Induction Day.
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| Reminders from Previous RPS Directs
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| #TeachWithLove at RPS – We're thrilled to offer signing bonuses of up to $7,000 for new hires starting in the fall! If you or someone you know is interested in joining the RPS team, please take a moment to visit our website to browse open positions. For more information, please email talentoffice@rvaschools.net.
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| RPS Links
Crisis Support Links
Health and Wellness Links
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