Author: Steven Orders

RCMS Community Tour, 2019

Yesterday, our entire leadership team climbed aboard a big yellow bus to visit feeder elementary schools and other areas of our RCMS community. Teacher-leaders, counselors, coordinators, and administration got to meet and greet a ton of past, present, and future Golden Hawk students and families. While distributing backpacks, pens, paper, and other school supplies, we had great conversations with incoming 6th graders. Here are some of the things they had to say…

“I’m really looking forward to math — it’s my favorite subject, even though sometimes it’s a little hard.” -Lindsey

“This summer, I’m reading what I have to — but also some graphic novels, like the Bones series.” -Mya

“Having a locker is going to be a little scary…but I’m excited about having lots of teachers.” -Maalik

We are so excited that in just THREE WEEKS, we get to welcome our incoming 6th graders, and welcome back our returning students. Make the most of every moment — and remember to mark your calendars for important upcoming events, like our Magnet “Welcome Back” picnic, Back-To-School Night, and 6th/8th Grade Parent Info Night!

Gearing Up for Fall 2019

Frank Baldwin's "pinwheel machine" patent (https://history-computer.com/MechanicalCalculators/19thCentury/Baldwin.html)

It’s hard to believe that we’re more than halfway through our summer break. Here at school, the halls are certainly quieter (and shinier!), but that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty of important work being done all around the building.

One thing we’ve been working toward is developing better ongoing communication between our magnet program and our magnet families. Last year I didn’t embrace the traditional “newsletter” format, because it never felt like the right fit. I believe that purpose should drive format, rather than the other way around, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on the right “WHY” for our magnet newsletter to serve. Still, I do agree that we could — and should — strive for more frequent sharing, exploring, publicizing, etc., in order to better unite the hemispheres of school and home.

So when our principal, Mr. Brown, suggested a few days ago that leaders consider using web spaces in new ways, my gears began to accelerate. Perhaps a blog could be the answer: a platform with almost limitless possibilities, whose structure imposes no restrictive demands on content.

Image Credit: https://www.propertyme.com.au/blog/property-management/property-management-blogs-you-need-to-be-reading

My hope is that this little corner of the Internet, our new RCMS Magnet Blog, will develop into an agile space that serves the needs of parents, teachers, and staff alike — even and especially as those needs evolve and change.

I envision this weblog as a place to share important informational updates, useful apps and online resources, teacher highlights, philosophical and scientific explorations of learning, student/group features, exciting events, and more. I encourage you to join the dialogue about all the amazing opportunities Clemente already offers our students… and to help us imagine new ways to set us apart from every other school in the world.

Welcome to our new ‘newsletter.’ Thanks for reading, and see you soon!