Mustang News

may 7, 2021 edition

A Message From the Principal

As Teacher Appreciation Week comes to a close, I want to reach out and personally thank our PTSA, students, and parents who went above and beyond to make our staff feel extremely appreciated all week! The outpouring of love and support from our community was felt wholeheartedly by our staff. Many of you reached out and sent members of our staff emails expressing your gratitude. We can all agree that this has been a difficult year, so please know that your kind words mean more than you will ever know. As the leader of RVHS, and on behalf of my staff, I thank you! We recognize how incredibly fortunate we are to work in such a wonderful community!

Quarantine & Graduation

We wanted to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding our efforts to ensure students are not quarantined for graduation. Per CDPHE, if a student is exposed to a positive COVID case, they will be placed in a mandatory quarantine for a minimum of 7 days. A student in quarantine may take a COVID test on day five to show they are negative, but must complete the minimum 7 days of quarantine.

With graduation exactly two weeks away, our goal is that every graduating senior walks across the stage. Therefore, we want to make sure we are all on the same page regarding potential student quarantines. We have thoughtfully and intentionally scheduled the last in-person day for seniors on May 13th. We have also tightened our timeframe for student events to cut down on the likelihood of a student being placed in quarantine for Senior Finals, AP Tests, and Graduation. This ensures that if anyone is placed in quarantine through attending in-person class, they may still attend graduation. We know this year has been difficult and that our seniors are excited to celebrate their accomplishments by attending gatherings outside of school. Attending such gatherings increase the risk of graduating students being placed in quarantine. Our intent with this communication is to support you in understanding the guidelines regarding contact tracing and quarantine procedure; so that your senior is not impacted by quarantine and may participate in our graduation ceremony. Please consider the following information:

  • Per CDPHE, indoor events where high-risk activities for COVID transmission occur require most, if not all, people in attendance to quarantine if a positive individual is in the same room. When presented with a positive case, contact tracing is required. Students participating in high-risk activities where the positive individual was in attendance will require those students to be placed in mandatory quarantine.

  • Seniors that enter quarantine on or after May 14th, will not be eligible to come out of quarantine until after graduation. They will also not be allowed to participate in any other school-related activities, including graduation, or athletics during their time of quarantine.

Our message regarding this topic is intended to ensure that our community is informed regarding requirements we are obligated to follow. Our Seniors have missed enough over the last 15 months, please help us keep them out of quarantine!

FREE - In-person Summer Credit Recovery Program

Ralston Valley will be holding a FREE, in-person summer credit recovery program from June 1- June 11. Students will recover credits on Edgenuity for core classes that they have failed. Students will attend these 9 weekdays from 8:00 am-12:00 pm daily. Please review this information sheet and sign up here. If you have any questions, please contact Jill Kline (jill.kline@jeffco.k12.co.us)

Senior Ribbons - Paint Arvada Blue!

Support the RVHS Class of 2021 by

PAINTING THE TOWN BLUE this May

NHS is giving away 1000 blue striped ribbons to display around Arvada this May. This ribbon symbolizes the unity of the RVHS community and the celebration of the graduating class of 2021! We encourage you and your neighbors to display this ribbon on your front porch, house window, car window, or front yard! Let's see how much of Arvada we can turn blue with support! Ribbons are available in a box outside the NHS display case - have your student take a handful to distribute to your household, to grandparents, and to neighbors! Alternatively, hang up your own ribbon in RVHS colors to show your support! THANKS, and GO MUSTANGS!

Finals Schedule

  • Teachers are expected to administer a semester final. No early finals will be given. The only exception is when conflicts with AP testing occurs. Please contact Mark Litzau if such a conflict occurs.

    • Senior Finals:

      • Wednesday, May 12 - White Day Finals

      • Thursday, May 13 - Blue Day Finals

      • Friday, May 14- Make-up Finals (By appointment only)


    • Underclassmen Finals:

      • Wednesday, May 26 - White Day Finals

      • Thursday, May 27 - Blue Day Finals

      • Modified Schedule

Block Time

2, 1 7:40 - 9:30

4, 3 9:40 - 11:30

6, 5 11:40 - 1:30

Yearbooks - UPDATE

The yearbook is happening and we expect to be sold out before distribution! BUY NOW while supplies last. Ready to order? Purchase today on Jeffco Connect.

If you've already purchased a yearbook, thank you! Contact Erica Fulton with questions. efulton@jeffcoschools.us


Yearbook Pickup

  1. Seniors: May 19th from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. with cap and gown distribution

  2. Grades 9, 10 and 11 - (In-person students) Distribution will take place during 5th block on May 20th

  3. Grades 9, 10 and 11 - (Remote only students) distribution information will be released next week.

Self-Report Positive COVID-19 Cases

Student Positive Self-Report: During remote learning periods, families can use this form to report a positive case of COVID-19. If you have specific questions, please reach out to Christy LeBlanc, RVHS District Registered Nurse at christy.leblanc@jeffco.k12.co.us.

Health-Related Information

Please contact Ralston Valley’s District Registered Nurse at christy.leblanc@jeffco.k12.co.us for any health-related issues or diagnoses, including COVID positive students, diabetes, seizures, asthma, allergies, and any other health updates for your student.

Seniors

Seniors - Jeffco Exit Survey

Jeffco requires ALL seniors to take the "Jeffco Senior Exit Survey" in Naviance. Part of the survey includes indicating which college a student's final transcript should be sent to. Directions to take the survey are in the Senior Counseling Google Classrooms and the deadline for completion is today, Friday, May 7. Students should reach out to their counselor if they have any questions.

Seniors - Take Time to Move Your Google Files

Seniors -- chances are there is something in your Jeffco Google Drive that you’ll want to refer back to down the road, so use Google Takeout to easily move all your Google files to a personal account before you lose access to your Jeffco account on June 15th. Simply sharing the files with your personal account won’t work, and you will lose those files when your Jeffco Google Account becomes inactive (around June 15th). Google Takeout can transfer all your files in a few simple steps.

Lots of Information for Seniors!


Material Collection

  • In-person Seniors:

    • Seniors attending in-person should return materials to their teachers no later than the day of the final.

  • Remote Seniors: Material collection for remote seniors will occur at RVHS on Friday, May 14 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Distribution of Caps/gowns, etc. – May 19

  • Distribution of caps/gowns, tickets, ceremony attendance waivers, honor stoles, department awards, etc. will take place in the cafeteria on Wednesday, May 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

  • Remember: All financial obligations must be satisfied before receiving a cap/gown.

Fees-Other

  • Please log in to Jeffco Connect to determine if any outstanding fees exist on your student record.

  • If your student has book fines from a prior year/semester, please return the book to the teacher/department that issued the fine and remind them to notify the Finance Office. If the book has been returned and a fine is still shown; email the teacher and include Shari.Dumont@jeffco.k12.co.us as a recipient.

  • Caps/gowns will not be distributed to students with outstanding financial obligations.


Information: Baccalaureate – May 18

  • The Baccalaureate ceremony (a school-supported, but not sponsored event) for the Class of 2021 will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18 at Storyline Fellowship Church in Arvada.

  • Complete this form to RSVP to the ceremony.

The Main Event - May 20, 2021

We are excited to formally invite you to an RV Seniors Only Celebration on Thursday, May 20th 2021! We are combining the best of Prom and After Prom under one roof for one last hurrah.

Seniors have the opportunity to get dressed up in traditional formal attire a to join us for a night of fun activities, including:

  • Dancing

  • Bowling

  • Laser Tag

  • Billiards

  • Obstacle Course

  • Casino Fun

  • Prizes

  • etc....

Please see this invite with all the details (the invite is also attached here: Knock-Out 2021 @ The Main Event Invite). We can't wait to celebrate this amazing class with lots of music, lots of fun, and a TON of prize giveaways!

Senior Traffic Jam - Announcement


Come join us on Graduation Day, May 21st at 2:00 p.m. for our second Senior Traffic Jam!


All Seniors and their households are encouraged to decorate a vehicle, don a cap/gown, and come to RVHS for one final send-off to the summer through the RVHS Parking Lots. With only four guests per graduate allowed at graduation, this is your opportunity to include other family members in the celebration.


A parade route has been designed to allow a vehicle from all 450 Senior households to spend a half-hour or so cruising the parking lot, listening to music, seeing teachers and coaches, and most importantly...celebrating each other!


Specific information regarding the route and other details will be shared at Cap/Gown Distribution on Wednesday, May 19th.

Senior spotlight

Paris Walker Nissen - Class of 2021


Paris' greatest memory of her time at RV is the first bonfire her freshman year. Her favorite class during her four years was Psychology and the teacher, Ms. Ingrid Newson, is her favorite teacher. She was her favorite because she doesn't play by the rules and loves nothing more than to teach the students about the world around them. Mr. Donaldson, her Sociology teacher, had this to say, "Paris is very intelligent and has a bright future. I can't wait to see what she accomplishes. Good luck!" Paris is planning on going to CU-Boulder to study Business or Psychology and plans to get her real estate broker's license.

If you would like your Senior to be featured in our Senior Spotlight, please be sure to fill out this form: Senior Spotlight

Seniors - Another Way to Shine!

Some of our local newspapers (Arvada Press, Golden Transcript, Jeffco Transcript) are looking for some RV seniors to highlight in a special section of their newspapers and websites. They are asking students to tell them a little about themselves – what activities they participated in and what their post-graduate plans are – and then answer three questions:


1. What memorable moment during the pandemic instilled a key value in you?

2. What three adjectives describe your outlook going forward?

3. What do you see as your graduating class’ mission to better the world?

If you are a graduating senior and you are interested, the form is located here: https://forms.gle/uxq2pTwsw4N7GEYn8

Please know that all submissions will be forwarded to the editors of the local newspapers who will be making the final decision regarding publication.

aCTIVItiES update

Musical

Congratulations to the cast and crew of the Spring Musical "The Addams Family". Whether in-person or online, we were all treated to a great show.

eSports

Congratulations to our eSports Teams that have qualified for the State Competition. Good luck to the following e-thletes:


Rocket League Regional Qualifiers:

Draminators: Toren Kochman, Cooper Brasen, Wyatt Coulter

Cream Cheese: Darrian Aguirre, Liam Wilson, Jude Lee

VOID: Braden Wilson, Kirin Kawamoto, Evan Dozon


Our State Rocket League team starts their playoff run on 5/10.

Sid3flip Tact: Brock Mast, Ben Helmrich, Nick Kembel


Our State League of Legends team starts their playoff run on 5/10 as well. Hardstuck: Drew Haselgren, Kalea Meyer, Will Liefer, Zhuoyi Wang, Sam Stoehr and Ethan Woessner, Jack Smith

athletics update

By this time next week, we will know the outcome of the CHSAA 5A State Volleyball Tournament. By winning Region 3 last Friday night here at RV, our Mustangs are poised to make a run at a state championship down in Colorado Springs on Wednesday and Thursday. Go Mustangs!!

We are still seeing positive cases and quarantines affecting our athletes. In an effort to keep our athletes healthy and competing, we are again restricting spectators for Season D, just as we have been doing for the entire sports year. Two adults and an additional two family members are OK to attend stadium contests in all sports except track and field. Because there are hundreds of athletes at track and field events, and because the competitors use the bleacher areas to stage, only TWO spectators are currently allowed at track and field meets. At school sites, for varsity baseball, tennis, and lower-level contests in other sports, we are asking that only two adults come as spectators. Thanks for your understanding as we work to get a complete season in for our Season D athletes and coaches.

For the second year in a row, we will not host our annual Athletic Awards Program in-person. Instead, just as we did last spring, we will be posting our 2020-21 Athletic Awards Program on our website to recognize the accomplishments of many of our athletes this year. With Season D not ending until June 26, this will be a fluid, online program that will be updated as athletic honors are determined throughout the summer. We will be distributing awards to students who are in-person learners over the last few weeks of school as those awards arrive at RVHS. Again, Season D awards will not even be finalized until late June, so those plaques and certificates will be distributed at the start of the next school year.

Athletes Who Have Tested Positive for COVID

If you are trying out for a sport, and have tested positive for Covid-19 at any time since the beginning of the pandemic, you will need to go through a return to sport protocol with our athletic trainer, Lindsay Anderson, before you can try out. This is required even if you have been involved in athletics since your positive test. More information is available under the Athletic Trainer quick link on the RV website under Athletics/Activities, or by contacting Lindsay at lindsayandersonatc@gmail.com

Counseling Department

Concurrent Enrollment

To help inform and prepare our students for participation in Concurrent Enrollment for the 21-22 school year, Jenn Edgar (Jeffco Career Specialist) will be holding three opportunities for students and their families to watch a presentation about how they can prepare to participate in Concurrent Enrollment at their home high school during the 21-22 school year. Topics to include:

  • What is Concurrent Enrollment (CE)

  • How to find out what CE opportunities are at their home high school

  • How to apply to RRCC and ACC

All three presentations will be held on Wednesday, May 12th at the following times:

3:00-3:30 PM: https://jeffco-k12-co.zoom.us/j/86790311642?pwd=MTR3bllwNFppaUZURnFFTDBZSkhXZz09

4:00-4:30 PM: https://jeffco-k12-co.zoom.us/j/81874704970?pwd=a0VlcDZKRGxPRDliTmtLUHZUdStkdz09

5:00-5:30 PM: https://jeffco-k12-co.zoom.us/j/83681891662?pwd=c0pHMTQrU1p4c241WGgrNEd3eFViUT09

AP Exams

Ralston Valley High School AP Exam Schedule


The College Board changed the format of this year’s AP exams to a mix of in-person and online options. Schools were given the flexibility to choose their plan for delivering tests within the boundaries outlined by the College Board - based on the current Covid-19 conditions in each locality. In order to balance the needs of our community, we have created a plan that meets the current health protocols and provides students added flexibility with testing.


Students who are approved for accommodations will be given the same accommodations whether testing in person or digitally. All students planning to take digital exams will receive practice and technical support in preparation for their digital tests so that they may take them at home. We will have overflow space at school to support bandwidth concerns for digital exams on Wednesday and Thursday, May 19th and 20th.


The listed exams (In-Person and Digital) are the primary exam dates/times/environments for each test. There will be options for make-up testing to accommodate extenuating circumstances (ex: Covid-19 concerns).


Any concerns regarding testing environments, testing conflicts, or concerns with testing should be directed to Scott Merkel - AP Coordinator - scott.merkel@jeffco.k12.co.us.


In-Person Exams:

All in-person exams (1) will be held at the Fellowship Covenant Church: 5615 W. 64th Ave


All in-person exams (2) will be held at Christ Community Covenant Church: 6757 Simms St


Please access the assessment times and locations here.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is elevating the theme of "You Are Not Alone" for this year's mental health awareness month.

To help cultivate awareness in our community, below are some facts and resources from NAMI.

  • 1 in 6 U.S. youth (aged 6-17) experience a mental health condition each year, but only half get treatment

  • 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24

  • Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10–34 and the 10th leading cause of death overall in the U.S.

Common Warning Signs of Mental Illness Infographic

We are always here to support your student(s), and if they are interested in connecting with us, please go to the Counseling website.

students at rv this week


Cadaver Lab from Anatomy/Physiology class at Red Rocks Community College

Mental health

Mental Health Support

Did you know that there is a robust collection of mental health resources on the Counseling Department’s website? To find them, go to the RVHS homepage, click on Counseling & Registrar, and select Social/Emotional Resources.

In addition to the resources on the Counseling website, it is also the best place to locate Counselors' contact information. On the homepage, you will find our phone numbers, emails, and how to set up an appointment with us. Our doors are always open virtually and in-person.

  • Colorado Crisis Services:1-844-493-8255

  • The Trevor Project:1-866-488-7386

  • Safe2Tell:1-877-542-7233

  • Click here for more crisis lifeline numbers

  • Visit Jeffco's suicide prevention page here

Technology resources & Help

End-of-Year Chromebook Return

All Seniors who checked out a school Chromebook need to return their devices after their last final (May 13th for most students). Seniors who are Remote can return Chromebooks on Friday, May 14th from 1:00-3:00 during the supply drop-off event.

All current 9th-11th graders planning to return to RVHS in the fall may keep their devices over the summer for use next school year.

Need Tech Assistance?

Visit our Remote Learning Tech Help Page to view the status of our core tools, access how-to, and troubleshooting information, and find out how to get in touch with someone ASAP for tech help.

Please encourage your students to reach out to us for tech help right away so we can get them connected ASAP. It's generally easier to troubleshoot over the phone as opposed to email, so have your student call the school at 303-982-5600 so they can be connected to someone who can assist.

Quick Reference

Administration

  • Principal - Ms. Buenning, (303) 982-5600

  • 12th Asst Principal - Mr. Litzau, (303) 982-5611

  • 11th Asst Principal - Mr. Ackerman, (303) 982-5595

  • 10th Asst Principal - Mr. Pergola, (303) 982-5604

  • 9th Asst Principal - Ms. Kline, (303) 982-9378

  • Athletics Director - Mr. Hynes, (303) 982-3563

Calendar

Counselors

  • A - Da: Ms. Siegert, (303) 982-5639

  • Db - Je: Mr. Merkel, (303) 982-5602

  • Jf - Mi: Ms. Belmear, (303) 982-5680

  • Mj - Se: Ms. Weber, (303) 982- 5597

  • Sf - Z: Mr. Giese, (303) 982-8110