Principal’s Newsletter

Progress Reports: It is hard to believe we are almost to the middle of the first quarter. Student progress reports will be sent home on Thursday, September 21 for students that are struggling with their school work.

Senior Lunch Downtown: These will continue this year. This will take place on the third or fourth Friday of each month. To participate, students must return the permission form sent home. The next lunch is September 22.

.Homecoming Activities: Homecoming is scheduled for Friday, October 6.  

• Spirit Week
• Monday- Tie Dye Day
• Tuesday- Barbie vs. Blackout (Sparkles or black)
• Wednesday- Neon Color Wars

Grade 6 – pink Grade 7 – yellow Grade 8 – orange

Grade 9 – green Grade 10 – pink Grade 11 – orange  Grade 12 – yellow

• Thursday- a day in the 80’s – I Love Rock and Roll
•  Friday- Elker Pride -Maroon and White wear your Elker gear
• Wednesday, October 4 – The Snake Walk & bonfire, the walk moves at 6:45 from the Ace Hardware lot.
• Friday, October 6 – Pep assembly at 1:15 in the gym
• Glow in the Dark – Homecoming Dance is scheduled for October 7, 2023 in the cafeteria
• 
  

Schoology: Our teachers will be using Schoology again this year as a means to manage classwork and grading. Parents, this is the best way to stay current with student classwork and grades. All passwords for students and parents will remain the same. To log into your account go to https://rasd.schoology.com/. If you forgot your password, you can use the “forgot parent login” option at the site, or call the school & we will send the information home.

Senior Research Project: Mrs. Schaut has been working really hard on updating and modernizing the senior project format. I am attaching the link for reviewing these new and exciting changes.

September is Suicide Awareness Month: This year DCI, Inc. will be providing our students with the Signs of Suicide Program for our seventh and ninth grade students. They will also be providing a new program, Signs of Self Injury to our Grade 6 kids. The letters have come home for you to review, thank you for your cooperation.

Fall Student Testing: Along with the new year comes student planning for after high school, all checks are payable to RHS.  

• PSAT testing is scheduled for October 17th & 18th.  
• SAT testing is scheduled for October 11, 2023. (There will be another SAT on March 1, 2024)

Career Cruise on October 9: The tenth graders who currently have Career Education will be participating in the career cruise. If your child has this class, permission slips are due.

College Cruise on November 6: The local colleges will be visited on this day, these include: NRPC, CCCTC, LHU Clearfield, PSU DuBois, BC3. Permission slips are due by October 26. All students in grades 10-12 are invited to attend.

College Fair & Financial Aid Night on September 26: This will be held at the St. Marys Area High School with an evening college fair in the cafeteria from 3:30-6:00 PM. Following this portion of the event, PHEAA (Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency) will provide a financial aid session for parents on how to navigate options to pay for college beginning at 6:15 p.m. At 7:15 PM they also will assist parents with creating their FAFSA ID to get them ready for the new FAFSA application that is coming out in December. 

Lockdown Drill: As with everything in life, practice helps to develop a skill. On October 12, we will have our first lockdown drill at the school. I am letting parents know in case students come home with questions. Our teachers work hard to process this experience with them after the fact, but often they will have questions that they may voice to parents. Please talk to your child if they have concerns and remind them that we have this type of drill to keep them safe.

PAYS Survey: Our school is taking part in the 2023 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) sponsored by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs on October 23 & 24. The survey will ask questions about the behaviors of students in the 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades, including questions about school climate, violence, depression, bullying, and substance abuse. The survey is completely voluntary, it is designed to protect student’s privacy and will help to prevent adolescent drug use and other behavioral problems. More information will be coming home soon.

Dates to Remember

September

21-Deca/StuCo field trip to JCC

22- Sr lunch downtown

25- SOS 9th grade during remediation Chamberlain homeroom

26- SOS 9th grade during remediation Chamberlain homeroom

26 – Elk County College/Career Fair at St. Marys High School

           3:30-6:00 – College-Career Fair

           6:15-7:15 – Financial Aid Night

           7:15 – FAFSA ID Workshop

27- SOS 9th grade during remediation Dyne homeroom

28- SOS 9th grade during remediation Dyne homeroom

28-HS Gifted to Pitt-Bradford

October

2-SOS 9th grade during remediation R. Schaut homeroom

3-SOS 9th grade during remediation R. Schaut homeroom

5-MS Gifted to Sinnemahoning

2-6 – Homecoming Spirit Week

4 – Bonfire

6- Homecoming

7-Homecoming Dance in Cafeteria

9 – 10th grade career cruise Q1

10 – Winter sports Sign Ups

11 – SAT 7:30 am in room 204

17 – PSAT group 1 (stay tuned for details)

18 – PSAT group 2(stay tuned for details)

18-Powder Puff

20 – Sr Lunch Downtown

23-27 – Red Ribbon Week

23 – PAYS Survey grades 12 & 10

24- Model UN to University of Pittsburgh(Oakland)

25 PAYS Survey Grades 6, 8 & 12 (if missed on the 23rd)

25- HS Gifted to RIT/Science Museum

26 – field trip to local colleges – 10th – 12th graders who sign up

27 – no school Act 80

30 – no school

Sports Competition Leave Time: In order to keep everyone up to date on away competition leave times, I will be including them as an attachment on each newsletter email. These are subject to change. I encourage all parents to review the letter attached to the schedule and sign up for “Notify Me”. This will provide you with any changes in scheduling that may occur including time changes and date changes.