Dear RBS Family,
In any elementary school, some weeks are filled with harder moments – new curricular challenges, tricky times on buses, who knows what else?! But some weeks are start to finish experiences of joy, and that, happily has been true here at RBS lately! We kicked off this week with a ribbon cutting for our gorgeous new primary-grades playground – both our K and PK were able to ‘open up the playground’ – and they did so with laughs, smiles, LOTS of running around, and just seeing the fruits of a lot of years of labor come together to create a beautiful set of experiences for our little ones! If you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, stop by – and outside of school day, please feel free to have your kids use it!
The joy continued on Wednesday, where after our students headed home, we met together as a whole school for our Professional Development afternoon. This is invaluable time for our teams to work collectively around our new math programming; refining our efforts and actions on the student support continuum from our RBS Student Assistance Team all the way through our 504 and IEP processes; and coalescing around a year-long focus on promoting collaboration and impendence on the part of our learners. Any time we change schedules, we know that can be a challenge, and as such, I want you to know how appreciative we are to have that time to productively move forward the great work taking place here at 30 Old Wheeler.
And we’re wrapping up this week with an assembly to kick off “Blazer’s Dash!” I am so excited to share that our PTO has launched a "homegrown" fundraiser called the Dash to support much-needed renovations to our school's courtyard. This event is entirely organized by our amazing PTO volunteers, with all proceeds going directly back to the school. Our courtyard is in desperate need of transformation, from resurfacing all 16,000 square feet to adding a pavilion for outdoor learning during rainy days, a small stage with seating, and other engaging features. We are aiming to create a space where our students can learn, play, and grow in a safe and inspiring environment and we want to start this project as soon as possible.
Blazer’s Dash kicked off today with an all-school assembly where students got a sneak peek at the exciting prizes they can earn through their fundraising efforts. Your child will be coming home with a flyer and a link to sign up for the event. Remember, signing up is free and comes with no obligation to fundraise—it even enters your child into a raffle for an iPad! Throughout Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we will be sharing daily empowerment phrases with our students to help them focus on being present, being courageous, and thinking possible. Each day, your child will receive a bracelet with that day’s phrase to serve as a reminder of the powerful mindset we discussed.
We appreciate your continued support as we work together to make this event a success. If you are available, we would love to have you join us as a volunteer on the day of the run to help cheer on our students and make the day even more memorable. Thank you for being part of this effort to give our courtyard the makeover it deserves!
Enjoy this gorgeous ‘last blast of summer’ weather, and we’ll see you back here next week!
-Noam, Liz, and whole RBS Team