Hello, Ram families!

I hope your week has been okay.  I don’t know about you, but I have become reacquainted with my gym clothes and ball caps.  All is not bad!

As you can imagine, the staff has been working hard to wrap our heads around what remote learning will look like.  During this season of remote learning, we will not be able to accomplish all that we would normally accomplish in a face-to-face setting.  We are bound by variables that we cannot control. We will, however, provide lessons for students to maintain skills, expand skills and gain content knowledge that will allow them to progress to next learning having experienced the most important pieces for the courses.

Phase 2 of remote learning begins on April 13th.  Please reference the schedule listed on the RHS website to understand how the weeks will look.  Essentially, there will be lessons that a student will guide himself or herself through for the week.  There will also be times either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday for the teachers to connect with the students as a class or small group from the class to support the learning that has been posted for the week.  There will also be office hours for each teacher that will allow students to reach out to the teachers for individual support. This shift is major for all of us, but I think we will find a groove.  

You have had many questions about grades, quarters, expectations for seniors and more.  WCPSS is sending or has sent as of the time of this email information to address grades, report cards, supports for remote learning and more.  Please make sure you reference this information.

I want to remind you that RHS will be a food distribution site all of next week even though it is technically spring break.  We are pleased that so many folks are coming to RHS for support. Please remember that there might be sites closer to your home that also have food distribution.  Check the information here.

WCPSS also has resources listed for families who are experiencing great stressors at this time and need community support.  Those resources are at the bottom of this page.

I mentioned last week that students must be able to access their WCPSS email accounts.  Please make sure you have communicated this to them.  It is the email that will be necessary for students to not only access email but also the applications in Google and Canvas in order to do their work.  For their information, I am making a copy of this email that I send to you each week. I think they also should be reading this email and attending to things that pertain to them.  Please also make sure you mention that they need to look for a new email from me at the end of each week.

Several of you have asked me about accessing student work.  Many of our teachers already ran their classes on Google Classroom or Canvas.  Have your Ram log into the Google Classroom or Canvas and they should be able to see what learning will be like if they have not already done so.  If they still are not sure, have your child email the teacher through his or her WCPSS email account. Teachers will not respond to personal student email accounts.

Several folks have asked for Driver Education Certificates.  We do not have staff at school to handle these and WCPSS has clearly said that we cannot issue them at this time.

Several of the parents of juniors have asked about ACT scores.  It is my understanding that the company will mail scores directly to parents five-to-eight weeks after the test was taken.  You will not have to wait until we reopen school to get scores.

The yearbook company has reached out to me.  We were able to pull it together to go to print and we will work out a plan to make sure that folks who bought one will get it.  There are still 53 copies available for purchase online. Once these are gone, we will not be able to get additional copies.

Mrs. Ellis, our CDC, wanted me to remind you that she will be hosting VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS [Mon-Fri 1 PM-2 PM] to answer questions regarding resumes, CCP, interviews, jobs, etc. Students can visit the scheduler: bit.ly/RHSCareerServicesVirtualOfficeHours to sign up for an appointment.

We heard from Que Tucker, Commissioner for the NC High School Athletic Association on Thursday.  Among the things she sent, I am going to share one reminder. I have no knowledge that any such thing is happening in our area, but I thought I should pass it to you.

“We have received word that some AAU basketball coaches are conducting workouts with member student-athletes.  We do not know where such workouts are being held; however, please remind your athletes and coaches that such workouts are in violation of the Governor’s mandates.”

For those families who are not able to print math materials for the MVP Math I, II and II classes, we will have unit workbooks available for pick-up at the food distribution at RHS.  We have to know WHICH level in order to give you a workbook.

We continue to try to reach parents who we’ve not yet reached.  We have roughly 350 families who we have not been able to connect with. For those who have responded, thank you. We have noted needs for electronic supports for learning and are making our needs known to the district.  I am very concerned that we have not been able to reach some families and therefore, do not know if there are needs. We also cannot help students connect with their teachers. If you are friends with other families, will you please ask if either the parent or the student has communicated with the student’s second-period teacher?  Correct information to reach families and information about device and internet needs is urgent.

As you can all surmise, a prom for April 18th has been canceled.  The district has not yet given directions about how they want us to refund the money.  I promise that we will start working on it when we get direction.

I certainly miss seeing my Ram family and wish all well!

Mrs. Lassiter