Eagle Eye
A Biweekly Publication of Rock Creek Valley Elementary
September 11, 2015
What is Happening?
September
30 - Silver Diner Night
5:30- 8:30 p.m.
th
October
2nd- Early Release Day at
1:15p.m.
6th- PTA Meeting
10th- RCV Yard Sale
16th- No School for Students
30th- 1st Marking Period
Ends
From the Administration
The 2015-16 school year brought new policies to the
elementary school day. The elementary school day
has been extentended by ten minutes, which was to
be used during lunch or recess. Our leadership team
worked hard in developing a master schedule and
tried to come up with creative ways to balance
instuction with the need for students to move
throughout the day.
We began the year by providing students two twenty
minute recesses to offset the longer day. During the
first three weeks, we gathered feedback from staff and
students to evaluate whether our creative
programming was being successful. From the majority
of the staff’s perspective, the number of transitions
and bathroom/water breaks, were impacting valuable
instructional time. Students were split down the
middle. Some liked the two recesses but wished they
had longer time to play games. Others thought one
recess would be good for them.
As a leadership we examined the data and made a
decision to adjust the recess time to one forty minute
period. In addition, each teacher is providing students
an additional ten minute break throughout the day.
We value the need to provide our students with those
mental and physical breaks throughout the day and
feel we have a schedule that accomplishes that need.
It is not our desire to change schedules, however, with
the new policy, we felt it was our obligation to
evaluate the effectiveness and make adjustments early
in the year.
As you know, please don’t hesitate to ask us questions
or clarification.
Kevin Burns and Gregg Baron
Important Information
Communication
We are always looking forward to improving our communication to ensure accurate
information is being communicated between school and home. If you have a question or
concern, please reach out to us to us so we can be clear in our messages. If you are unsure
about something, please ask us
Expectations
Our expectation is that we are making the best instructional decisions for every student in our
school. We gather evidence on what a student knows and is able to do, and adjust our
instruction to meet each individual child’s needs.
PTA News
Silver Diner-Run the Diner night is Wednesday, September 30th from 5:30-8:30pm.
Please bring your EWDW rewards card and help support the RCV PTA.
Menchie's fundraiser event will be Friday, October 2nd from 11am-10pm. Come and enjoy a
delicious treat with friends and family. *15% of all purchases will go back to the school.
5th Grade Families
The application materials for the middle school magnet programs at Takoma Park Middle
School and Eastern Middle School will be available online by October at
www.montgomeryschoolmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms All fifth graders are eligible to
apply. These are exciting opportunities for interesting and challenging experiences in middle
school. The program at Takoma Park Middle School focuses on math, science, and computer
science. The program at Eastern Middle School focuses on humanities and communication
arts.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
7:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m. (A-M)
7:00 p.m. (N-Z)
Eastern Magnet meeting at Eastern MS
Takoma Park Magnet meeting at Takoma Park MS
Please try to attend the session corresponding to your
last name.
Application deadline, postmarked or delivered
Please also visit www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/msmagnet for information about the
Middle School Magnet Consortium (MSMC) programs at Argyle Middle School, Loiederman
Middle School, and Parkland Middle School. The Choice Form is due November 6, 2015.
September 24, 2015
7:00 p.m.
MSMC Parent Information Meeting at Richard Montgomery HS