A Word from Our Administrator

Dear Richmond Families,

Announcements We will be posting additional information on our Best Practice Blog on January 22, 2016. We will publish the link on our next newsletter and on our website under the parent tab. Make sure you take a look at how we can share both academic and social/emotional best practices in school and at home. Richmond School will be hosting another Blood Drive for our 8th year on January 21st. Please help donate blood and save up to 3 lives! Child care will be available if needed through our PBIS leadership students. Our Blood Drive is being planned and organized by Mrs. Jody Calarco and Mrs. Amanda Feiker. State Releases Badger Exam Results from spring 2015 Yesterday, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released school data from the Badger Exam, which students in grades 3-8 took last spring. (Individual student score reports were sent home in early September.) We are proud to report that our Richmond students scored well above the state average. Since this is the first and only year of the Badger Exam, it is difficult to draw any definitive comparisons. When we do compare the results of the Badger Exam to the WKCE, it is very encouraging to see that the number of students in the advanced category for mathematics nearly doubled from last year (23.6% to 43.8%) and tripled for reading (13.6% to 39.7%). Also, our students with disabilities outperformed the overall percentage of students in the state in mathematics (61.5% to 43.7%). The overall number of students at Richmond who are proficient or advanced for math is 75.3% (43.7% for the state average). In reading, 77.4% of Richmond students are proficient or advanced compared to 51% for the state. Although the Badger Exam is no longer funded by the state, our students will continue to take a state exam which is now called the Wisconsin Forward Exam. Because the Badger Exam was administered for only one year, we are pleased to see that our students performed well but do not

Mark Your Calendars

January 17 – CANCELLED, PTOBC

Open Gym, 2:00-4:00pm, Richmond

Gym

January 18 & 25 – Love & Logic

Parent Class, 4:30-6:00pm, Room

121 & 123

January 19 – PTOBC Meeting and

Administrative Forum, 6:30pm,

Community Room

January 20 – Student Council

Meeting, 3:16-4:30pm, LMC

January 21 – 3rd Grade Flat Stanley

Event, 9:30-11:30am, Cafeteria

January 21 – Blood Drive, 10:00am-

3:00pm, Gym

January 21 – End of Term 2 and

Early Release, 11:45am (In Service)

January 22 – No School

January 25 – Matt Wilhelm Pro-

Biker Assembly, 12:00-3:00pm,

Gym

January 27 – Senior Kindergarten

Winter Fest, 8:45-10:45am,

Cafeteria

have longitudinal data that can be used to compare year over year performance. The scores for Richmond and all other public schools in Wisconsin will eventually be made public via the state's WISEDash public portal. Since it is not yet loaded, we do not have comparison data from other local districts to assist with our interpretation of results or to share with you at this time. Look for more information in the coming weeks, as it is available.

End of the Semester It is difficult to believe, but our first semester will be completed very soon and report cards will be coming out at the end of the month. Our parent portal will be closing today and reopening by January 29th with final grades. In addition, our Honor Roll Breakfast and Assembly is scheduled for February 2nd. Richmond Spelling Bee The Spelling was today, Friday January 15th. There were 8 participants and 4 alternates. Our third place winner was Cassie Hembrook and second place went to Dima Lando. Our 2016 Richmond School Spelling Bee Champion is Anvita Bansal. Way to Go! Gena Santharam Principal/Director of Special Education Richmond School District

Richmond School is hosting Blood Drive on January 21, 2016 from 10:00am-3:00pm. Please help save

lives! One donation can save up to 3 lives!

Schedule online, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767)

Sponsor Code: Richmond

Attempting donors will get a coupon for free a pint of custard!

1. Go to https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/

2. Type in code: 10762616

3. Enter student name & billing

information

4. You’re done!

Contact Mrs. Huffman or Mr. Holzer if you have

any questions. Thanks for ordering early!

High Interest Day

is COMING!

On March 24, Richmond

School will be offering

“Explore Galore”! This is a morning filled with

opportunities for students to explore a variety of

hands-on, engaging activities and lessons with

their class outside of our normal curriculum.

We are looking for anyone interested in leading

a session with students in a lesson outside of our

usual curriculum. Students will be given the

opportunity to not only “see and hear” but also

“touch and feel” areas of special interest.

If you would like more information on this

opportunity, please click Explore Galore!

RECESS UPDATE

Richmond School uses the

National Weather Service

(NWS) to determine whether or

not students should be outside

for recess. This is the same

system used to determine if school should be open or

closed. We use the experts to determine what is safe for

our students and have used this service for over ten

years. The NWS uses three components to determine

weather safety, which include temperature, wind chill and

exposure time.

For more information, you can visit the NWS website at

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/winter/windchill.shtml .

Richmond uses the lightest blue area of the graph

(furthest to the left) which is for more than 30 minutes

exposure because the longest time any student spends

outside is approximately 30 minutes.

Valentine Dance at Richmond

Join us for a 7th and 8th grade dance hosted by Richmond’s Student Council on Friday, February 12 from 7:00-9:00pm. The cost is $5.00 at the door with a student ID. The cost is $10.00 without an ID, and parents will be called to verify attendance. Please remember to dress appropriately, no hats or spaghetti straps. Cell phone use will be allowed at the end of the dance to call for rides. Concessions will be offered. Tell all your friends, and we’ll see you there.

The PTOBC

has decided

to cancel the

Open Gym

scheduled for January 17th due to low

attendance. Thanks for your

understanding.

All-School

SPELLING Bee

News!

Congratulations to all of our All-School Spelling Bee participants! We had eight semifinalists and four alternates compete in the All-School Spelling Bee on Friday, January 15. They were Mathew Chu, Dima Lando, Maddy Esser, Anvita Bansal, Shannon Dwyer, Tyler Dale, Josh Farrell, Thatcher LeCaire, Ryan Hembrook, Cassie Hembrook, Andrew Kescenovitz and Ross Yenerich. The spelling bee this year was extremely exciting; we had several rounds of intense competition before we had our champion! Our third place winner was Cassie Hembrook; second place went to Dima Lando. Our 2016 Richmond School Spelling Bee Champion is Anvita Bansal. Anvita and Dima will each be representing Richmond School at the Regional Spelling Bee on Monday, February 22, at Cesa #1 in Pewaukee. We are very proud of them, and we wish them luck!

Bowl-A-Rama Is Coming!

If you want to be a

part of Richmond

School’s Bowl-A-

Rama Committee,

please join us! The

PTOBC plans this

event each year and

would like to schedule a planning meeting soon.

The event will take place on SUNDAY, APRIL

10th

at Sussex Bowl. To be a part of the fun,

contact Kierstin Anderson at 262-923-0633 or

kierstin.anderson5@gmail.com.

Missing a shoe? A blanket? A coat? 1 or 2 mittens? There are many items

in our Lost and Found that will be going to a local charity on January 22nd! Please check the Lost and Found in the main hallway. Thanks!

Student Council is once again sponsoring the Pennies for Patients campaign to help benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for children with blood cancers. Bring your pennies, other coins, or dollars from January 11-29, and place it in your classroom collection box. If Richmond raises more than $500, the class with the highest total will win an Olive Garden pasta party! If you want to help children with cancer, bring in those coins and win a party!!!

Attention 8th Grade Parents & Students! Parent and Student Freshman Orientation – January 19th & January 20th at AHS South Campus

Richmond parents and students should attend the orientation from 7:30-8:00 on 1/20/16 in the AHS South Campus Library.

Staff from various departments will be available in cafeteria.

Student representative from co-curricular activities will be available for questions.

8th Grade Career Conferencing & Registration Assistance – TBD at Richmond (end of January)

Students will present their Career Portfolio to their parents and discuss it as they plan for their futures.

Parents and students can ask questions and obtain more assistance in understanding course options, both general and specific to their child.

For other important dates, please click on 8th GRADE. If you have additional questions or concerns, contact Amanda Feiker at 262-538-1360 ext. 111.

Writing! And Whistling In the Dark and others will be presented at the Pauline Haass Public Library on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 1:00pm by author Lesley Kagan. For additional information call 246-5180 during regular library hours or click LIBRARY. 2016-2017

School

Calendar

The Richmond School calendar is derived from the Arrowhead High School (AHS) calendar due to transportation and other logistical considerations. At a consortium superintendent meeting in early fall, AHS proposed moving spring break 2017 to the week prior to Easter instead of the week after as has been past practice. In 2017, Easter is much later in the year. If spring break were not moved earlier in the school year, students would attend school for twelve weeks with only one day off without a break. Therefore, the AHS consortium schools proposed to their respective school boards that spring break run April 10-17, 2017. Earlier this fall, the other consortium school districts approved this change in spring break. Please note the following important dates for the 2016-2017 school year:

1st day of school: Thursday. September 1, 2016.

Winter Break: December 23-January 1, 2017. Classes resume on Monday, January 2.

Spring Break: April 10-17, 2017. Classes resume on Tuesday, April 18th.

Last day of school: Friday, June 9, 2017

A final 2016-17 Richmond calendar will be presented to the Richmond School board for approval in the spring.

Richmond Chargers

Show Your Spirit!

Help Student Council spread

the word that every Friday is

School Spirit Friday!

Richmond students from JK to 8th grade be sure to

remember to represent your school! Wear your

purple and black spirit wear and show everyone

your Charger pride! Show your spirit every Friday!

Learning Never Ends

An Evening of Mini Classes for Adults

What: The Learning Never Ends program offers twelve mini-classes on a wide variety of

topics. The classes are offered free of charge, and are open to any member of the community interested in lifelong learning.

When: The evening of Wednesday, March 16th

Where: North Campus of Arrowhead High School

Who: Any member of the Arrowhead Community with a passion for learning.

Register online here.

If you have any questions, please call 262-369-3612 X3704. View the brochure with full

course descriptions by clicking on the link below:

Learning Never Ends Brochure

Parents United will be

presenting “What

Behaviors Can Be

Expected – Knowing the

Difference Between a

Serious Problem and the

Typical Behaviors of

Childhood & Adolescence”. This free workshop

will take place on Wednesday, February 10 from

9:00-11:30am at Country Springs Hotel &

Conference Center in Pewaukee. For additional

information click on Parents United.

Richmond Scrip Update… Please remember if you used a Kohl’s Charge card for holiday spending, you can pay off your balance in the store using Kohl’s Cares Physical Gift Cards or ScripNOW delivered to your smartphone. It is a great way to support Richmond PTOBC with no added cost to you. Upcoming Scrip Gift Card 2016 Order Dates: 2/15, 3/14, 4/18, 5/9, 6/6 Place an order online at www.shopwithscrip.com or email your order to ken_kathymills@yahoo.com

JOB OPPORTUNITY AT RICHMOND

This is a great opportunity for a parent, grandparent or anyone who enjoys being around children to join a fun team. The job includes assistance with food preparation, serving, cashiering and clean up duties. The potential for a permanent position is possible when a position opens. Please come into the office for proper paperwork.

Student Council members will be managing the Box

Tops for Education project. They would like to

conduct a positive competition among all classes at

Richmond. All box tops that are donated will be

credited to each student’s homeroom. At the end of

the year, the two homerooms with the highest

number of box tops donated, will receive a pizza

party. Parents please check expiration dates. Expired

box tops have to be thrown away. For details on

sending in Box Tops, click EDUCATION!

Student Health

Reminders

1. If your child has a fever

of 100.0 or greater, s/he should be kept

home. A student must be “fever free” for 24

hours without the aid of medication, before

returning to school.

2. If your child has been prescribed an antibiotic,

they must have 24 hours of medication before

returning to school.

3. A child with diarrhea should be kept home until

diarrhea is no longer present.

4. A child with a rash should not attend school

until the rash has been checked by a physician.

5. If a child has a stomach ache, headache,

earache, or any other ailment which may limit

their ability to participate in activities, the child

should stay home.