RILEY REMINDER - September 5, 2025

SEPTEMBER 5, 2025

Thank you for choosing to enroll your children at Riley Street Middle School! The staff and I value our relationship with parents and desire to work in partnership with you during these crucial middle school years.

Today, we’ve reached the 3-week mark in the 2025/26 school year. We appreciate the support of our parents as we focus on educating, challenging, and inspiring the nearly 700 students who call Riley Street Middle School, their school. It's been a great start to the year and we look forward to getting into better rhythms of learning in the coming months.

We have a few updates to keep in front of our parents and want to remind you of our first Teacher Team Time this coming Wednesday. More specific details are listed below as students will be dismissed at 2:20pm. Our regular monthly Riley Reminder will be sent out at the end of each month.

Highlights This Month

NEW FOR 2025-26:

Teacher Team Time (PLC) (Students dismissed at 2:20pm on select Wednesdays)

We have been working diligently as a staff toward improving our Professional Learning Community (PLC) process with our teaching staff. This is a nationally recognized process that many schools around the country, and locally, have also been implementing for years. The process requires that teachers have time to work together to review student work, gauge progress, and have an opportunity to discuss instructional practice with one another to ensure that all students have the best possible experience. Our SOAR district strategic plan includes a goal around this PLC process, and for this upcoming school year we have built in time for teachers to engage in this work.

We will have approximately two Wednesdays each month where students will be dismissed at 2:20 p.m. This coming Wednesday, September 10th will be our first.

As a parent, you are welcome to pick up your child(ren) at this time in our parent loop or have your child walk/ride bike home. Bussing will be provided in the same manner as it would be at the end of the school day starting at 2:45 PM. Supervision between 2:20 PM and when buses are dismissed will be provided in common areas.

Upcoming Teacher Team Time Dates

Sept 10 & 24

Oct 8 & 22

Nov 5 & 19

First Early Release is scheduled for Friday, September 26 with dismissal at 11:15am.

On the early release days, transportation will be provided in the same manner as it would be at the end of the school day only beginning at 11:15am instead of 2:45pm. A sack lunch will be made available to students who would like to bring one home on the bus. Students must preorder these lunches and the deadline for ordering a lunch is 9:30AM on the day of each early release day.

Week at a Glance

With six teachers and multiple schedules to try and juggle, we have found it easier to have one spot where you can find and locate what your child is responsible in the week ahead from all of their teachers. Each Grade Level has collaborated around a similar format that will be updated every week. Please check out the link in the navigation bar to see what's coming up for your child(ren).

Title 1/31a Para Professionals

At Riley Street Middle School, we are committed to making sure every student has the support they need to succeed. Our Title I and 31a para-professionals work hard and will be working closely with students in a variety of ways. They will be...

Pushing into classrooms to give students extra support right where they are learning.
Pulling small groups of students for focused instruction in core subjects.
Offering before/after school and lunchtime help sessions for students who need a little extra time and guidance.

We are excited to have this team in place to help students build confidence, strengthen skills, and experience success in school. They may be reaching out to you as they work with your child this year.

Meet Our Title 1/31a Para Team

Mrs. Schoen

6th Grade

Mrs. Deemter

6th Grade

Mrs. Ihle

7th Grade

Mrs. VanderBaan

7th/8th Grade

Mrs. Gardner

8th Grade

Alternative Learning Center (ALC)

At Riley Street Middle School, we are committed to helping students grow not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. This year, we are focusing on teaching and reinforcing positive behavior through SOAR lessons (be Safe, Own it, Act responsibly and be Respectful) and our PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) systems. While our focus is on positive behavior, we know that students are learning and growing — and sometimes mistakes happen. When they do, our response is designed to encourage reflection and problem-solving and to foster growth and independence. Student discipline is about accountability for their actions in order to learn from the mistake(s) made.

Students may spend time in our Alternative Learning Center (ALC) to reflect on and grow from their mistakes. This is where students go if they are not ready to be in their regular classroom. The ALC is staffed by a consistent individual who will help students pause, self-reflect, take ownership of their behavior, and repair harm with those who were impacted. The ALC staff will also support students in completing any missed classwork. Our goal is for students to leave the ALC and return to class ready to learn. The last few years we have had something very similar in our Responsible Thinking Center. The main difference this year is the name; we made this change to have consistent language with other secondary buildings in our district. Student learning and growth — both academic and behavioral — is our top priority.

Please reach out to Gabe Buzinski with any questions or concerns about our Alternative Learning Center, SOAR lessons, or our PBIS systems.

EAGLE RENAISSANCE:

BLUE & GOLD LEVEL STUDENTS

Last Thursday, we announced the new Blue & Gold Level qualifiers for our RMS Eagle Renaissance Program. We had over 126 current 7th & 8th Graders qualify for Gold and another 88 qualify for Blue. That's almost 50% of our 7th and 8th graders with a GPA of 3.5 and better, minimal amounts of absences, life skills proficient or better, and no behavior referrals! Check out all the names, how to qualify, and rewards they receive on our Renaissance website.

We look forward to welcoming our 6th graders into this program after Quarter 1 is complete.

GOLD RENAISSANCE:

BUSINESS OF THE MONTH

Every Gold Level student will receive a Business of the Month Punchcard with their name on it on Tuesday, September 2. It is good for the next 9 months and entitles each student to something free or at a discount from our local Hudsonville area businesses.

Each month is different but we first and foremost want to thank these businesses for supporting and recognizing our students. You can check out all of these businesses on our Renaissance Website.

SEPTEMBER

Action Water Sports

Free 2 hour wake pass & rental

Bring your ID & Punch Card

Riley Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

We know it takes a village to support our students and we appreciate how our parents and families surround the work we do at RMS daily. We have a couple new initiatives we'd like to try out this year and would love your help. This year we'd like to formalize parent efforts around an official PTO at Riley Street to coordinate, celebrate, and enhance our school culture. If you'd be interested in being a part of the PTO, please contact our Admin Assistant Amanda McCreight for more information and sign up using our Parent Volunteer Form.

Over the past 12 years, we've used the framework of Josten's Renaissance to build a comprehensive system to recognize student achievement, improve morale, and create a thriving culture. Coupled with our district initiative of PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support), we aim to recognize students who "do what's right" through SOAR awards, Student of the Month, Renaissance Blue and Gold Level Rewards, and Student/Staff Competitions.

We'd like to expand some of the work we are doing and could use your help. If you would consider donating, we'd really appreciate it. You can sign up through the SOAR Store Donations link; any donated items will go directly back to our students. If you'd like to make a gift card donation to Amazon or Meijer for us to use to purchase items, that is greatly appreciated as well. Please drop any items off in the main office for PBIS/Kailey Schrauben.

Thanks for partnering with us as we help all our students SOAR throughout the year!

Information to Know & Upcoming Events

Upcoming Dates

District Calendar Link

September 26 Early Release Day (Students dismissed at 11:15 AM)

October 10 Picture Retakes

October 24 End of Quarter 1

October 31 No School for Students - Professional Development

November 14 Early Release Day (Students dismissed at 11:15 AM)

November 18 & 20 Parent Teacher Conferences

November 26-28 Thanksgiving Break

STUDENT ILLNESS:

We request that parents call the office (616) 896-1920 or email rmsattendance@hpseagles.net to report student absences. When leaving a message or emailing, parents are asked to leave the reason for their child's absence along with brief symptoms. Please reference the When to Keep Your Child Home From School document for guidelines regarding illnesses and school attendance. If a student becomes sick at school or begins to display symptoms of illness, a parent will be required to pick them up. Sick students will not be allowed to ride the bus home.

HAND TO HAND

Hand2Hand delivers nutritious food to students over the weekends (placed in students lockers on Fridays) and on extended school breaks.

Hand2Hand sign up is digital. If this is a resource your family would like to receive, please complete this Google form: Hand2Hand Permission Slip.

Feel free to reach out to Amanda McCreight amccreig@hpseagles.net with any questions.

RMS LIBRARY COLLECTION & BOOKS

At all grade levels, literacy is a central focus in our classrooms. One of our highest priorities is to provide a solid foundation upon which our students can grow and develop as lifelong readers. We make every effort to provide all students with opportunities for the practice they need to establish and maintain reading lives. To that end, we work to develop school library collections that contain a wide variety of texts to support all readers. School library collections include a broad range of books regarding issues, topics, styles, genres, and readability. We strive to have interesting, relevant, challenging texts for all readers in order to provide students at varying levels the ability to scaffold their skills.

Please read more about our process for helping all kids enjoy the love of learning by clicking here.

EAGLES OF EXCELLENCE GALA – NOVEMBER 3

Presented by Gemmen’s, our annual gala returns to the Pinnacle Center with heartfelt celebrations. We’ll induct outstanding alumni into the HEF Hall of Fame and honor students who exemplify excellence in the classroom. Information about the evening, sponsorship packages, and individual tickets is available HERE.

HUDSONVILLE EDUCATION FOUNDATION EVENT @ GVSU OCTOBER

The Hudsonville Education Foundation has partnered with GVSU for a tailgate and football game event on Saturday, October 18! It will be a BIG game as GVSU takes on Saginaw Valley. Each ticket purchased at gvsulakers.com/hef will send $5 to the foundation. Get your tickets early, this is sure to be a packed rivalry game! These funds have a direct impact on our classrooms, as the HEF fulfills many teacher grants and student scholarships each year. For more information, please visit this site, and check out this promotional video.

If You Haven't Yet...

1 TO 1 DEVICE INFORMATION

Tech Fee

There is a $25 tech fee for each middle and high school student. See this guide for more information about what the fee covers and how charges are assessed for breakage and repairs. There are two options for payment:

Pay fee online with credit or debit card
- directions for laptop or desktop
- directions for mobile devices
Pay fee with check or cash in person at your child’s school

Families only have to pay for 3 students ($75 max) in grades 6-12.

Report abuse