Dr. Troy N. Wright July 2021 Principal 12301 Spotswood Furnace Road Cherilynn Bickerstaff, Assistant Principal Fredericksburg, VA 22407 Michelle Gordon, Instructional Coordinator Rod Goode, Assistant Principal Phone: 540.548.4051 Fax: 540.548.2964 Danny Tryon, Athletic Director Brian Lutterbie, Assistant Principal http://www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us/rhs Dontee Sylvester, Counseling Director Christine Rogucki, Assistant Principal FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL IS THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021 ~ SCHOOL STARTS AT 7:35 A.M. BE ON TIME! Greetings Bears: Ninth Grade & Welcome returning Bears and our new Bears and Bear Families. We are excited to be getting back to a much NEW STUDENT more normal school year, and we are looking forward to having our students back in the building. While the last ORIENTATION year was taxing on everyone, I do feel our teaching staff has learned some new strategies that they will adapt to Family Connection their repertoire; but overall, we feel we will be much more effective in our traditional face-to-face environment. Day, Tuesday August 10, 2021 We remain available to adjust and implement whatever safety protocols are required. We will communicate any 9-11am; 1-3pm, 5-7pm changes to our parent community as plans are finalized. We appreciate your patience as we work through any NEW TO RIVERBEND? changes in safety protocols and procedures before and throughout the school year. Come out for Family Connection Day on Tues- While our teachers are excited to jump right into instruction, we will be sure to spend some time with our stu- day, August 10, 2021. dents during the first week mixing in some procedural guidelines as well as some social and emotional sup- This is a great opportuni- port. Because it’s been a while since we have been in traditional school, and half of our school (all 9 th graders ty to get your schedule and most 10th graders) have never attended RHS in person, we want to make sure our students have time to get and locker. There will be acclimated and adjusted to the routines of school. opportunities to put mon- ey on your lunch ac- Administratively, we have taken lessons learned from virtual and hybrid school and have reviewed many of our count, buy PE uniforms procedures and routines with a new perspective. We are hoping to simplify as many of our procedures as possi- and check out the many ble for our students and parents. While we believe we are better suited for face-to-face instruction, there are opportunities available many routines that Covid-19 has forced us to modernize that we hope will be a convenience for our RHS com- for you to CONNECT munity. with our school. We are looking forward to meet- I want to thank our parents and students for your patience over the last two years in dealing with the numerous ing our new students and changes. We appreciate our supportive community as it makes the difficult times much more manageable. One parents on August 10. thing we heard over and over during Covid-19 was that our parent community appreciated the increased commu- nication. Hopefully we will be able to continue engaging our parents even though we are seeing our students on a more regular basis. Likewise, we want to be available to you should you have any questions or concerns. Feel Welcome to our beautiful free to reach out to your student’s teacher, school counselor or admin if you ever have any concerns. As the school! School starts at principal, please know you are always welcome to contact me with any questions or concerns. 7:35 a.m. All visitors please use the Main En- trance located behind the Our faculty is completing a book study this fall on grading. The book we are reading is “Grading for Equity” by flag poles. YOU MUST Joe Feldmen. Our hope is to use this book to help spur some conversation and develop a grading philosophy in HAVE A PHOTO ID to the spring for implementation for the 2021-22 school year. Many of our faculty have already read the book, and pick up your student(s) will be piloting some of the grading recommendations from the book this fall. and to visit within our school. Please do not At RHS, we have a parent advisory designed to improve two-way communication and vet upcoming plans. We leave your ID in the car; try to meet monthly and would love to increase our numbers. If you would like to join this group, please email you will be asked to re- me directly at [email protected]. We also have a Student-led School Improvement Team called trieve it. RISE (Reinventing the School Environment). Their four focus areas of improvement are currently 1. School Spirit; 2. School Safety; 3. Cultural Awareness; and 4. Practical and Engaging Learning. These groups are led by students from all grade-levels and have many students passionate about making RHS a better place for all. If any student would like to be a member of RISE, they should reach out to me directly at [email protected]. We are excited about this year and the many opportunities that are availa- ble. Thanks for all your support in making RHS the best, and let’s have a great year! Sincerely, Troy Wright, Ph.D. Riverbend Principal Page 2 SAVE THIS NEWSLETTER! STUDENT SERVICES School Testing Class Schedules (See Page 8 for Dates) Student class schedules should be available Counselors on ParentVue and StudentVue on August SAT/ACT Testing 5. Please know that if the first choice for an Dontee Sylvester Testing dates and registration materials elective course was not available, are available online at (SAT’s) the student-selected alternates were cho- Counselor A-B www.collegeboard.org, (ACT’s) sen. Should you have any concerns with the Ext. 5328 www.actstudent.org Seniors should take schedule, please reach out to your student’s the SAT in October or November. Please counselor. Therefore, schedule changes Kimberly Rolling be sure to register online. The first SAT will be made for the following circum- test is August 28. Counselor C-G stances only: Ext. 5325 PSAT Testing Failure of a course which is a pre- Niviea Williams Testing will be given at Riverbend on Oc- requisite for a scheduled course or tober 13, 2021. The cost is $18 for non- graduation requirement Counselor H-Ma sophomores. Registration will open up Clerical error August 12, 2021. All 10th and 11th grade Ext. 5326 Change in course availability students should take the test. It is a good Nick Dolan opportunity for Juniors to identify weak Balancing of class size areas before taking the SAT. **This test Level changes (ex. English 9 to Counselor Mc-R is FREE to Sophomores for the 2021- Advance English 9) Ext. 5324 2022 school year. Once a change is made there will be no Courtney Johnson- reversal back to the previous class. A stu- Minor ASVAB Military Testing dent who withdraws from a class after the The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude first 14 weeks of a yearlong course or 7 weeks of a semester course will receive a Counselor S-Z Battery (ASVAB) will be given at River- “WF” (withdrew failing) or WP” (withdrew Ext. 5323 bend in the fall. Anyone thinking about a passing) which are treated as an “F” when military option after graduation must take calculating the grade point average (GPA). Counselors are available for the ASVAB. Others may wish to take this A student may not drop a required course students and/or parent con- test as well because it provides the stu- at any time. Please refer to the “Catalog ferences during the hours of dent with information about career inter- of Secondary Course Offerings and Relat- 7:15 A.M.- 2:45 P.M. Please est. Register in Student Services. ed Information” for additional information call Ms. Bohnstedt ext. 5321 or contact Student Services. Please note, Selective Service for an appointment. Students students may not leave school early on a If you are a male, 18 years of age or older, daily basis unless enrolled in a school/ are assigned to a counselor you are required to register with Selective work program or with permission from the according to the student’s Services. The school will have a repre- principal. last name. sentative here periodically to assist in reg- istering 18 year olds for selective service. College Night Wednesday, October 29, 2021 6:30pm-8:30pm The College Board Advanced Placement College Night will be held at Spotsylvania Program (AP) provides an opportunity for Towne Center. Over 100 colleges and Registrar students to take college-level courses and Armed Forces recruiters will be present Ms. Allison Jacobsen exams while in high school. Contact Cheryl to answer your questions and hand out Wonsik at [email protected] information. Everyone is invited to at- ext. 5329 or your School Counselor for more infor- tend! See or call your school counselor mation. for more information. Page 3 SENIORS Congratulations for reaching a milestone in your high school career. While your senior year is exciting, it is also filled with dates and deadlines. Below is a list of dates and possible expenses for the year. Expense Date Estimated Cost Fall Athletic Parent Meeting 6pm Thursday, July 29 Parking Permits Sales: Wed., July 28 (9am-10am & 2pm-3pm) $40 (“See Page 5 for Fri., July 30 (9am-10am & 2pm-3pm)) additional information”) Tues., Aug. 3-Tues., August 10 (8:30am-2:00pm) Senior Bootcamp September 2021 (TBD) $0 Class Dues Fall $25 Yearbook Fall $55-$75 (See Page 8) SAT Fees See Page 8 $50.00 ACT Fees See Page 8 $32.00 to $47.00 College Transcripts Spring Free Homecoming Dance October 30 (7:30pm—11:30pm) $10-$20 per person Prom April 9, 2022 (Fredericksburg Expo Center) The sky is the limit! Graduation Announcement Order To Be Announced $20 - $250 **If you plan to use your siblings cap & gown, please contact Mrs.