Hello, Ram families!

It has been a busy week for RHS.  The cap and gown pick up on Wednesday was great.  I would like to especially thank PTSA for the yard signs for seniors and for your help with celebrating the class of 2020!

Parents received a School Messenger from WCPSS regarding grading for the remainder of the year. I think most people are pretty clear on the senior marks.  They will either be PC-19 for a passing grade as of March 13th or a WC-19 for a failing grade as of March 19th.  There will be no letter grades on the transcript for seniors in their second semester.

The grading scenario is different for students in grades 9-11.  The complete document from WCPSS can be found here.  The most important things you must remember are:

• The default grade will be PC-19 for passing or WC-19 for failing grades for quarter 3.

• If a family wishes to count the letter grade in lieu of the PC-19 designation, we must have that request on file.  When we get closer to the end of the year, I will send a form via email.  You will complete the form and email it to an email address created just for the collection of these forms.  Right now, you need to do nothing. I will tell you specifics as we get closer to the time I will need that information
• Students who are failing a class can continue to work to improve grades to pass.  I expect all students to pass their classes.  We truly need to take advantage of all opportunities to get students to at least 60.  I am asking parents to partner with teachers to do everything you can do to help us make sure that students get passing grades for all classes this semester.
• Students can also work to improve a letter grade from March 13th. They must work with their teacher to establish a plan to do so.

Coaches will be following this schedule to collect all parts of athletic uniforms during the next week.  Please understand that we need all pieces or students will be charged for replacements.  As you can imagine, there will be no money to replace pieces of uniforms from the athletic budget.  All budgets are taking a hit, so we need to make sure that students inspect and combine all parts before bringing them to school.  When you come to school to drop them off, the items will be bagged and tagged in the area near the flagpole and visitor parking.

      Baseball - Tues. & Thurs. 5/19 and 5/21 12:30-1:30 pm

       Softball - Thurs. 5/21 12:00-1:00 pm

       M Lax - Mon. & Wed. 5/18 and 5/20 12:00-1:00 pm

       W Lax - Thurs. 5/21 12:00-1:00 pm

       Stunt - Thurs. & Fri. 5/21 and 5/22 12:00-1:00 pm

       W Soccer - Tues. 5/19 12:00-1:00 pm

       M Golf - Tues. 5/19 12:00-1:00 pm

Information Pertaining to Seniors   

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We have a large number of seniors who have not paid the senior fee of $40.  I know it is because we have not been in school with the daily reminders and, frankly, it has not been the top priority on my list.  I should have said something before now.  However, now that we are able to plan for a diploma distribution event, this event will cost money.  These fees pay for diplomas, covers, anything we have to rent, buy, build, etc. for graduation, the senior gift to the school, and more.  I believe Mrs. Stever is going to send a general email reminder today to those who have not paid.  Since we have not started refunding parking fees, we could potentially handle it through a deduction of the $40 from the parking refund before checks are cut.  We would need to communicate individually about that scenario.  

The Wake Weekly wants to support our local seniors and families in a very generous way.  They have always published the names of graduating seniors in the paper.  This year, they will publish photos and messages from families in the June 18th edition at no expense to families. Don’t let this opportunity slide.  Go to  https://wakeweekly.com/wake-graduation to find the form.  You must do this by Friday, May 29th.

We have been working behind the scenes on ways to recognize our seniors despite restrictions due to the pandemic.  While we hoped to have the seniors virtual awards ready to go on May 21st, there is just no way.  We are all drinking from a fire hose right now and can’t finish one thing before three more happen and have a deadline of tomorrow.  It will be alright, but WHEW!  We are putting this presentation together and want to be sure it is correct and runs well before we release it to the public.  We are aiming for Thursday, June 4th at 7 PM to release a show that walks families through what would have been the senior awards program.  That date was supposed to be a rehearsal at the convention center.  We are just replacing it with an event where families can watch together.

Senior parents will get a separate email from me on Friday to share a bit of information regarding our plans for diploma distribution.  We still have many details to figure out, but we have an idea that we need to set into motion with details for seniors, families, and staff very soon.  Please be on the lookout for that email.

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This is important.  As we are approaching graduation, whatever that form might be, there is some information we need to collect from you.  In this email is a link that directs you to the end of year survey that we give to seniors at the end of every year.  Please complete your survey as soon as you can by logging into your wcpss account.  We would like to have a survey returned from each student.  https://forms.gle/oSroMHRnLia4Ce95A

Regarding seniors, please remember that any updates regarding seniors will be added to the FAQ.  The FAQ is on the school website under STUDENTS and CLASS OF 2020.

If any senior attended WCPSS from kindergarten through twelfth grade and believes he or she has had perfect attendance for all of those years, we need to know right away to give us time to research and respond.  Please email Mrs. Jane Stever (jstever@wcpss.net) and copy Mrs. Kelly Nilles (knilles@wcpss.net) to notify the school.

Student Services is asking that families please continue to send emails of college acceptance letters.  Letters can be emailed to your child’s counselor.  We need this information as soon as possible.  We still want to honor seniors in some form of a senior awards celebration and this information is included.

We are requesting that seniors who have been awarded a scholarship please take a picture of the scholarship letter and give it to your counselor as soon as you can.  We normally are asking for these via morning announcements, but we are not in a situation where we need to make a quick sweep to see where we are. It has been fun to hear from students when they have learned that they were awarded scholarships.  Truly, I have done a happy dance at my house when I have gotten the word (and I know I am not the only one).  This information is also needed asap as we include it in our senior celebration.

PERTAINING TO ALL GRADE LEVELS

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WCPSS sent a parent survey to ask about remote learning from the home perspective.  Please remember to complete this survey by Wednesday, May 20th.

It is the time of year that WCPSS begins to prepare bus routes for next year. You should have gotten notification from WCPSS transportation if your child rode the bus this year.  Additionally, the system opened on May 11th to register for transportation if your child did not ride the bus this year.

Foodservice had been canceled for Memorial Day, May 24th.

Our local CDCs polled current students for topics they would like to hear about and have found speakers for the various webinars.  Mrs. Ellis, our Career Development Coordinator, tweeted from the RHS Career Services' account to market for the webinars.  The link goes to a Piktochart with the webinar topics, dates, and registration info:  She tweeted, “Teens asked & we have answers! Live webinars for 9-12th graders on Investing, Car Loan Basics, Networking, Avoiding Scams, Applying to Grad. School, Advice from HS Alumni & MORE! Check out the link for dates, more info & how to register: https://bit.ly/3brilPg” 

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Mrs. Nuckles is processing prom refunds.  She is starting with refunds to the folks who were first to purchase tickets and moving forward in chronological order.  We should have checks in the mail next week.

We are planning to distribute 2020 yearbooks soon! A pick-up date will be set and announced once the yearbooks are delivered to RHS in early May. Jostens is preparing a virtual yearbook-signing for the students. More information to come soon! There are 32 yearbooks left for purchase through www.jostensyearbooks.com. You can help us make sure every senior's able to remember this historic year by donating a yearbook. Using the link, enter "Senior Donation" when prompted for a name. Please contact Rebecca Hatcher at rhatcher@wcpss.net if you have any questions. 

The Rolesville Athletic Club (RAC) is a volunteer-based organization devoted to providing our student-athletes at Rolesville High School with the best equipment, facilities, and opportunities available.  Monthly meetings are held on the first Monday at 6:30 pm in the Rolesville High School Media Center (2nd Floor). Currently, we are having online video meetings.

We need YOUR help as we continue to grow and improve the Rolesville High School athletic program into one of the best in the state of North Carolina.  One way to support the Rolesville Athletic Club is by volunteering in one of the Club Committees: Apparel and Merchandise; Communication; Concessions; Facilities; Fundraising and Sponsorship; and Membership.

The Rolesville Athletic Club includes dedicated administrators, coaches, parents/guardians, teachers, and community businesses and members who together raise monetary funds each year.  Our various fundraisers have included the Boston Butt Sale, Chicken Plate Sale, Golf Tournament at Zebulon Country Club, and Ram Walk.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and visit our website! 

Several folks have asked when learning ends.  Our last day of school for students is the same as it would be in the school building which is June 12th.

I know that most families are very aware, but I want you to make sure your AP Ram is ready to take the AP online exams.  To that end, here are the dates and times that the exams will be administered online.

May 18:  Environmental Science @ 4PM

May 19:  Music Theory @ 12PM, Psychology @ 2PM

May 20:  English Language and Composition @ 2PM

May 21   World History @ 2PM

May 22:  Statistics @ 2PM, Spanish Language @ 4PM

Mrs. Ellis, our Career Development Coordinator, asked me to share some updates with you regarding opportunities available even now.  We often remind students of these things over the daily announcements, but we need to make sure families are reading and searching out opportunities with Mrs. Ellis.

• For up-to-date Career articles, resources, and leadership & job opportunities for students, please follow @RHSCareer on Twitter.  
• There are many career and college planning resources, information about the school's Business Alliance and notifications about local Employment, Internship and Volunteer opportunities located on the RHS Career Services website: bit.ly/rhscareerservices
• Students interested in learning more about enrolling in the CTE Internship class (Fall 2020 or Spring 2021) must listen to the Internship Information Virtual Workshop recording: https://t.co/MZ4WhPGgh1?amp=1

A few of you have asked about Drivers Eligibility Certificates.  We now have a procedure for the release of certificates.  After you contact DMV and get an email with the DMV appointment information, you will forward that email to Dean Tracy Miller (temiller@wcpss.net) with a request to set up a time to get the certificate from the school.  We will only release certificates by appointment.  You will need to take a picture of the Driver Education Certificate and email it in advance of your meeting at school.  The person who contacts you to set the appointment will tell you where to email the picture of the Driver Education Certificate.  Please limit the number of people who meet with the school representative to the parent and student for whom you are requesting the certificate.  When you come to the school at your scheduled time, you must bring:

• Student’s birth certificate or passport
• Proof of address if the current address is different than the one listed on the Driver’s Education Certificate or the address listed in PowerSchool. The address must be verified for the NC Real ID.

I want to remind you that 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.

Stay healthy and Ram Strong!  

Best,

Mrs. Lassiter