UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday, January 17
5 p.m. Variety Show Dress Rehearsal
Friday, January 18
5 p.m. Variety Show at Richard Montgomery HS
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HELPFUL LINKS
How are we doing? Have Comments? You can send an anonymous survey to the PTA or school, click here.
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2012-13 PTA Officers and Board of Directors President - Eric Williams |
A BIG THANK YOU TO...
- The 53 families who participated in the Give A Gift program. This program provides holiday gifts to some of our RPES families who might not otherwise be able to participate in the gift giving traditions of the holidays due to financial hardship. We are so lucky to be a part of such a generous school community.
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Loyalty Card Programs
School ID: 58180
(school 6557768)
(school 7852)
(school 00762 Rockville)
(school 219478)
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Donation to Sandy Hook Elementary
As parents of elementary school children, we are all heartbroken over the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School last week. The National PTA has informed us that the Connecticut PTSA is accepting donations to provide ongoing support to the community. In an effort to offer our condolences, the Ritchie Park PTA is donating $100 to the Connecticut PTSA "Sandy Hook Fund." As we all give thanks for our healthy children, lets keep these families in Newtown in our hearts.
Staff Appreciation Committee UpdateThe RPES PTA Staff Appreciation Committee has been working hard to honor our wonderful RP staff. In October the committee planned a staff breakfast and in November they held staff lunches. In December they hosted at staff holiday lunch where teachers and staff received a delicious Italian lunch, along with a gift card and home baked cookies as thanks for all they do for our children. More events are planned for 2013. Please contact Neha Parikh ( nehagparikh@gmail.com) if you would like to get involved with this committee.
Lego Afterschool Class for Grades K-2 Registration Open The registration for the winter LEGOŽ class, brought to you by Play-Well TEKnologies is now open. This class is for students in grades K-2 ONLY. The class will be after school on Wednesdays from 3:30-5pm in room 210. The class runs for 8 weeks and begins on Jan. 9. PLEASE NOTE: If you sign your child up for the class, you will be required to provide an adult volunteer to help moderate one class. If you can help with more than one class please let us know. Here is the registration link:
An Early Elementary Spanish Class is Coming to Ritchie Park! Starting in January, Language Stars will be offering an early elementary Spanish program on Tuesday from 3:15-4:15 p.m. at Ritchie Park. This class will be open to children in grades K-3 (note that it is geared towards the younger children, but it is fine for 3rd graders to enroll). Language Stars offers a high quality language program that benefits families and students. The class will run for 18 weeks and tuition is $376 for the semester. A 10% sibling discount is available. To enroll in the class, visit languagestarsatschool.com or call 866-557-8277. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the PTA Coordinator for this class, Joana Conklin. |
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS
RM Cluster Community Day and Town Hall is an opportunity for Dr. Starr to spend a day meeting with staff, visiting schools, and hearing from parents. The RM Cluster Community Day will be Jan. 28. It will culminate with a Town Hall event at 7:30 p.m. at Richard Montgomery High School, where the parents and others in the school community can ask questions and share thoughts and ideas. Free childcare and interpretation services will be available at the Town Hall meetings.
Math Curriculum Information Night will be Wednesday, Jan. 30 from 7-9 p.m. at the Carver Educational Services Center auditorium. You will learn about what's new and how the math curriculum 2.0 reflects the new Common Core State Standards adopted in Maryland and MCPS, math instruction and homework expectations in elementary and secondary Curriculum 2.0, and how acceleration, challenges, and support are implemented within the 2.0 framework. More info on the flyer.
Barnes and Noble Bookfair will be held on Mar. 10, 2013. This was not on the PTA Calendar that was sent out at the beginning of the year.
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WAYS TO VOLUNTEER
The Variety Show is also a good opportunity for middle school children to earn SSL hours. We are also looking for Adult Volunteers. We need a stage crew for both the dress rehearsal and the night of the show. Please contact Tonya Greenspan.
Upload Photos for the Yearbook for 2012/2013 school events that you already took or will be taking. This will be done through a community upload site reserved for our school for which you only need to create an account and upload the pictures you want into the appropriate folder. The site is https://community.lifetouch.com/ and the "Community Image Upload Site Access Code" is NGJCME.
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FUNDRAISING FORUM
 Remember to log onto Box Tops for Education when you are shopping on the internet during the holidays. A certain number of pink squares are credited to the RPES account. Here is the list of the OVER 250 participating stores.
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ADVOCACY CORNERThe proposed FY 2014 $2.217 billion operating budget for MCPS was announced by Superintendent Starr on December 11th. The budget focuses on three key areas: managing growth, focusing on the achievement gap and investing in our staff and our future. According to MCCPTA President Janette Gilman, "Dr. Starr delivered on his promise to look critically at our school system, assess strengths and areas for improvement, and spend taxpayer dollars carefully. His recommended budget recognizes the county's fiscal realities along with the needs of our children, and balances cuts and realignments with a very modest increase in spending, just $10 million, or less than one-half of one percent over MOE. Parent concerns on mathematics instruction are addressed head on by the proposed increase in teacher development and staff positions; and parents long concerned about the arts will be heartened by the addition of several positions for instrumental music teachers.
RM Cluster testimony will be presented to the Board of Education on issues in the operating budget important to our schools on Thursday, January 17th. If you have any comments about the priorities in the budget, particularly math instruction or teacher development, please let Jennifer Young, one of the RM Cluster Coordinators, know.
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