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Sixth Grade Service Learning Has Roots in Nature
As part of their service learning project, sixth graders planted drought-resistant grass in the front of the RGS main building with Mr. Pendleton. Hard at work (from top to bottom) are Adam Weyhrauch, Gavyn Pendleton, Anna Bennett, Greer Hill, Segolene Pihut, Carly Bonwell, Laura Garrett, Bianca Gonzales, Elsebeth Kirby, Francis Mulert, and Siri Sumpuran Khalsa. |
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New Parent Gifts to Annual Fund to be Matched 2 for 1
Rio Grande School has an extraordinary opportunity to punctuate the school year with a bold exclamation point.
The Board of Trustees is now issuing a final challenge to parents who have not yet participated in the Annual Fund or who wish to give again:
1) For every new gift to the RGS Annual Fund from a current RGS parent, the Board will also give double the amount of that gift.
2) We must reach 90% parent participation in order to meet the challenge.
Since the challenge was announced last week, eleven families have given $4,250, with gifts ranging from $1 to $2,000. If we raise another $7,850 from a minimum of 18 more families, the Board of Trustees will donate $24,000 to get us to our $200,000 goal!
Here are some examples of how powerful your tax-deductible gift will be:
Please either email Jay with a pledge to give a specific amount (payable by May 31) or use our secure server to give right now:
Your tuition just about covers teacher and staff salaries. Money raised through the Annual Fund covers everything else you see at RGS, including computers, books, furniture, and playground equipment. As you know, the Board of Trustees agreed to forego any tuition increase for the 2010-2011 school year with the hope that our parents would continue to support the school as strongly as they always have.
Let's not allow this incredible opportunity pass us by--our children will reap the benefits!
CLICK HERE to see a complete list of donors to the Annual Fund. |
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Plans Coming Together for Jane Goodall's Visit
 Internationally renowned author, activist, and researcher Dr. Jane Goodall will be coming to RGS on Friday, April 23. Dr. Goodall will arrive in the MAC at 9 a.m., first spending time with our Early Childhood students. At 9:30, our elementary students will enjoy a very special 30 minutes with Dr. Goodall.
Classes have been preparing for Dr. Goodall's visit by reading some of her children's books as well as studying some of the many print and internet resources about Dr. Goodall and her work.
Parents are welcome to join us for the presentations and are asked to sit on the bancos at the back of the MAC, as we wish to preserve the front space for our children.
We are deeply grateful to the Andrew and Sydney Davis Foundation for sponsoring Dr. Goodall's visit.
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"Best Party" Spots Still Available
A hearty THANK YOU to all who purchased tickets to the Best Parties offered at this year's Gala Grande, held to benefit the RGS Tuition Assistance Program. Below is a comprehensive list of parties and their dates. There are some great parties that still have space available as noted below. Please contact Sue Gaddis in the RGS office to purchase tickets or if you can't recall which parties you've already purchased.
Here are the parties that still have space available:
Fifties Sock Hop at El Meson
Donated by Kelly and David Huertas/El Meson
May 6, 2010; 6:30 p.m.
SPACE AVAILABLE @ $65 PER ADULT
Moms' Jewelry Making Party
Donated by Laurie Lenfestey/Bittersweet Designs
September 23, 2010
SPACE AVAILABLE @ $150 PER MOM
Bocce Ball Party at the Naylors'
Donated by Blair and Trey Naylor
August 28, 2010; 5:00 p.m.
SPACE AVAILABLE @ $70 PER ADULT
Game Night at the Trevisanis'
Donated by Wendy and Peter Trevisani and Michelle and Jeff Branch/Capital Grill
September 11, 2010; 4:00 p.m.
SPACE AVAILABLE @ $60 PER ADULT
Thank you to the generous donors who are hosting these parties. The Best Parties alone brought in more than $19,000! |
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SO MANY RGS Stars!
Faculty Impressing
Ahlum and Cara Scarola's home will be featured in a major design blog, Design Sponge today, April 12! The feature coincides with the kick-off of Cara's new design business, Ore Studios. With offices in Santa Fe, and Providence, RI, Cara and her business partner, Andy Beers, provide interior design services to both residential and commercial clients. Congratulations on both exciting events!
Congratulations to Science Specialist Mollie Parsons for her hard work and dedication to preparing our 6th grade math students for the two competitions in which they recently participated. Mollie had been working with Gavyn Pendleton, Laura Garrett, Grace Calavan, and Carly Bonwell in preparation for the local MathCounts competition. Through their success in that event, our RGS students then qualified for the New Mexico State Math Competition! Bravo to both our mathematicians and especially to Mollie for her time and enthusiasm.
Students Achieving
During the weekend of March 27-28, several RGS skiers participated in the USAA Southern Series Skiing Championships at Taos Ski Valley. Representing the Taos Ski Associates team were Blake (3rd grade)and Luke Trevisani (1st grade), as well as Elsebeth (6th grade) and Alix Kirby (4th grade). Representing the Taos Ski Academy were Westy Davis (4th grade) and Thomas Naylor (5th grade). Each of our J4 & J5 participants saw the podium at least once in their final races, which is incredibly impressive as our skiers were competing against teams from Los Alamos, Durango, Angel Fire, Santa Fe, and Flagstaff among others. Congratulations on such a successful ski season to all!
 Sixth grader Grace Calavan(at right) competed this week in the New Mexico Hunter Jumper Association's Spring Show and came in 2nd in the children's short stirrup-hunter division and 3rd in the open Hunter division over fences! Her sister and RGS Alumna Caroline Calavancame in 1st in the Hunter medium stirrup division!
Congratulations are due to Fourth Grade Associate Teacher and parent, Sarah Thomas, who was recently accepted to the University of New England online education program to pursue her Masters in Education. Sarah will be focusing her studies in K-12 literacy, and she begins her program in a few short weeks on May 3rd! Best of luck as you begin this exciting time.
Also in graduate school news, we are proud to congratulate Shinji Ochiai, father of students Mary, Sean, Ojiro, Shintaro and alumna Maria, who was recently accepted into the Economics Doctoral Program at the University of New Mexico. Well done, "Dr." Ochiai!
Director of Admission and Music Specialist Barbara Bentree has been invited to present a paper at the International Society of Music Education (ISME) Early Childhood Music Educators Conference in Beijing, China this summer. Ms. Bentree's paper is titled Musical Learning: Using Music Education as a Platform For Learning to Read and English Language Literacy. Her paper is based upon over 10 years of creating audio books for children that are used all over the world to teach reading and English. Ms. Bentree is also starting to use "Musical Learning" in her EC music classes at RGS. |
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Mark Your Calendar
Rummage Sale!
Saturday, April 17
8:00-1:00 in the MAC
RGS Swim Meet
Sunday, April 18
Chavez Center
9:00-1:00RGS Book FairMonday, April 19 - Thursday, April 228:00-3:30 Media Ctr.Jane Goodall VisitsFriday, April 23
Snow Make-Up Day
SCHOOL OPEN
Friday, May 7
NOON DISMISSAL, NO EXTENDED CARE
Friday, May 21
Field Day
NOON DISMISSAL
Friday, May 28
NO SCHOOL,
Memorial Day
Monday, May 31
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, EC-4th Grade
Thursday, June 3
Sixth Grade Graduation
Friday, June 4
10:00 am in the MAC |
Annual Rummage Sale
This
Saturday
The Annual Rummage Sale Extravaganza will take place in the MAC this Saturday from 8:00am to 1:00pm. Thank you to everyone who has already donated items. If you have any house cleaning to do, your last chance to donate items is on Thursday afternoon, April 15th between 3:00 and 5:00. You can also donate items anytime during Friday, April 16th. Spread the word, and we'll see you there!
RGS Bookfair Next Week
The RGS Book Fair will be held on Monday, April 19, through Thursday, April 22, from 8:00 a.m. through 3:30 p.m., in the Media Center. As usual, the book fair will offer an amazing selection of books. There is a special "Parents Only" morning on Tuesday, April 20, from 8:00 to 9:30, with coffee and other treats provided. Prepaid orders need to be turned in by the end of the day on Thursday, April 22, and orders will be filled within approximately three weeks time.
RGS' Summer Solution Registration Well Underway!
The end of the year is closer than you may think, and spots are filling up for each week of the Summer Solution. With extended day options, and art integrated into the regular day camp schedule, this is a summer you won't want to miss! For any questions you may have, please email Neal& Kate,or check out the registration form, which has all the information you'll need to know to plan for your summer. |
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