august 26, 2022 EDition

I love my job! What a wonderful start to our school year this has been!  Our halls have been buzzing with energy as our students and staff have been busy getting to know each other and reconnecting. The energy in the building has been incredibly positive and student-centered. 


As I’ve said many times, I truly believe it takes a strong partnership with our community and families to ensure our students have the best possible high school experience.  Thank you to our parents, guardians, staff, community members, volunteers, PTSA, Booster Clubs, Mustang Mentor Student Leaders, Student Governments, RVTV, National Honor Society, Dance, Cheer, and many, many more people for making this such an amazing start to the school year. Your time, commitment, and love for RV is apparent and appreciated! Thank you! 


I look forward to partnering with you and your students throughout the upcoming year. 

Mica Buenning, Principal 

Summer Newsletter

Our Summer Newsletter is chalked full of Back-to-School information and was emailed to families on August 3. Click here to view it. 

Come Feed Jeffco Kids!


Jeffco Schools is hiring Kitchen Managers and Kitchen Staff. View their flyer for more information.  Food Services are also hiring students, they can work during their free period.  Here is the student flyer. 


TechforEd Chromebook Distribution - 9th Graders

As part of Jeffco’s TechforEd program, all 9th-grade students are issued a new Lenovo 300e Chromebook to use for the next four years. Ninth graders will receive Chromebooks on August 16th as part of orientation.  Students in grades 10-12 who are new to Jeffco schools will also receive a Chromebook to use throughout their time at RVHS. Returning students in grades 10-12 should continue to bring and use the Jeffco Chromebook they were issued in 9th grade or upon transfer to Jeffco. 


All students should bring their charged, school-issued Chromebook to school daily. District Chromebooks have specific apps and firewall protections to help provide our students with safe and appropriate learning devices. 

athletics 

After this weekend all of our Fall Sports will be in full swing.  Today, Cross Country and Football get their seasons started.  Cross Country is at the D'Evelyn Dash and Football opens their season at the NAAC against Cheery Creek.  Tonight is a great doubleheader at the NAAC with Soccer playing Chaparral at 5:00 and Football playing Cherry Creek at 7:30.  Softball is at the Broomfield Tournament.  Tennis has their first tournament of the year with Varsity at Boulder and Varsity 2 at the Centaurus Tournament.  Volleyball went 2-0 this week with wins over Rocky Mountain and D'Evelyn.  Golf is currently in 1st place at the midpoint of their league season.  They are in a tight battle with Valor for the Jeffco Crown.  Last but not least, a huge shoutout to our Cheer and Dance teams for rocking it at the Freshman Orientation Assembly and for their support at our sporting events.  

One more thing: Thursday's student section for volleyball was awesome!  The students were dressed out for jersey night, loud, energetic, and treated our officials and opponents with respect. 

Pictured here, is one of our officials taking a photo as our student section posses to celebrate the home opener.  Our official was very impressed with our student's behavior.  This is the type of relationship we love to see between our students and officials.  Well done Mustangs! 

Activities

Annual Club Fair

At RVHS, we truly value the whole child.  With that in mind, if students are able to connect with other students with common interests, they will be more successful at school.  One opportunity for our Mustangs to connect is to join a club!  

We are happy to announce that we will have our annual Club Fair on Friday, September 2nd, during both lunches in the Main Lobby.  This is an opportunity for all of our students to check out the different club opportunities that Ralston Valley has to offer.  Please encourage your child to attend to learn more! 


PTSA

Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year!  The Ralston Valley PTSA is looking forward to another great school year supporting the students and staff at Ralston Valley.  Please take a moment and register for the PTSA by going to the PTSA website (rvptsa.digitalpto.com) and using the link on the right side.  By registering we will be able to contact you to let you know what is happening with the PTSA.

In addition to registering for the PTSA we are looking for volunteers to serve this year and hopefully beyond.  We have positions that may be ideal for parents of freshman students as they can serve for the entire time their student is at RVHS.   Please look at the Board page to see if there are any open positions that interest you. If so, please email the PTSA at rvptsa@gmail.com and we can get you in touch with the previous person to get you trained and pass along the needed information.

Our meetings will be held in person at school.  Throughout the year, we will update the website with any changes to either the meeting date, time, and/or location.  By registering, we will have your email address and we will contact you should things change.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the PTSA at rvptsa@gmail.com.  I look forward to seeing and/or meeting you throughout the school year.

Scott Cochran, PTSA President 

Parking Passes on sale

Parking Passes will continue to be on sale next week for Juniors during ICE. 


All registration requirements must be met before obtaining a parking permit (see page 1 for the steps to complete).

1. Access school website (ralstonvalley.jeffcopublicschools.org) and complete the parking registration form that is linked to the website – the form will automatically be submitted directly to campus security

2. Parking passes will be available for purchase in the lobby during I.C.E. on August 30th and September 1st for juniors.

3. Check for $125, or exact cash, to RVHS will be collected in the cafeteria.

All concerns regarding parking passes should be addressed with campus supervisors.


Parking will be enforced and tickets issued for vehicles not properly tagged beginning on Tuesday, September 6th.


Parking Passes will be on sale for Sophomores beginning September 5.  At this time, Sophomores are asked to complete the above steps, and should only visit the security desk during their off block in order to purchase a pass.

off campus policy

Due to the nature of our campus, we do not allow students to walk off campus during the school day.  


9th-grade students are not allowed off campus at any point during the school day unless they leave with their parent/guardian. 


If your 10th grader student is driving, they may leave campus with parental permission.  They are expected to follow local and state driving laws.  Please click on this FORM to give your sophomore child the ability to leave campus with your permission.  


Our campus is not closed to our 11th and 12th-grade students and they may leave campus. 

Schedule for week of 8/29

Monday, Aug. 29th - Silver Day

Tuesday, Aug. 30th - White Day

Wednesday, Aug. 31st - Blue Day

Thursday, Sept. 1st - White Day

Friday, Sept. 2nd - Blue Day

Advisement Corner

Ninth Grade Advisement

The Ninth Grade Advisement program is off to a great start with team building activities led by their MMP upperclassmen mentors!  This past week, students learned important tips for using their required planners and how to use their planners for non-academic activities/responsibilities in addition to school responsibilities.  Advisement teachers also outlined expectations for work time.  The last 20-25 minutes of Advisement will be used as a time for students to study, work in small groups, and/or meet 1:1 with their Advisement teacher.  

As a reminder, Ninth grade students enrolled in seven classes will participate in Advisement on Thursday mornings from 7:25 to 8:00 a.m. 

Please click HERE to view the syllabus for additional information regarding the Advisement program.  To be eco-friendly, we will not send home paper copies with students.  

Counseling Department

RVHS Counselors (Assigned by first letters of student’s last name)


A-Ci, Ma: Ms. Siegert

Ali.Siegert@jeffco.k12.co.us


Cj-G, Mb-Mj: Mr. Merkel

Scott.Merkel@jeffco.k12.co.us


H-L: Ms. Belmear

Sarah.Belmear@jeffco.k12.co.us


My-Sm: Ms. Chicklas

Meredith.Chicklas@jeffco.k12.co.us


Sn-Z, Mi-Mx: Ms. McGlone

Lori.McGlone@jeffco.k12.co.us 

Financial Aid Night


This event will provide valuable information on financial supports available to students seeking higher education. Topics include completing the FAFSA (and the changes to it this year!), types of financial aid, eligibility, and an open question/answer session with a college financial aid representative.


Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Time: 7:00pm

Place: RVHS Auditorium

Senior Seminar


All seniors will participate in Senior Seminar where they will discuss college applications and learn about multiple post-secondary pathways. Successful completion of Senior Seminar earns students 0.25 credit on their transcript.  The first Senior Seminar session will be in mid-September.  Seniors will be notified when and where their first session will be held.

Upcoming College Rep Visits


Representatives from the following colleges will be in the RVHS Counseling Office on these dates and times:

Thursday, Sept 1 11:30am University of Alabama

COLLEGE PREPARATION EXAMS


SAT/PSAT

While there have been shifts in the landscape around testing and college entrance exams, the SAT still plays a large role in measuring student success. For many of our students, their performance on the SAT will allow them to fulfill the Post-Secondary Workforce Readiness component of the recently amended graduations guidelines set forth by the State of Colorado. Students can demonstrate college and career readiness in English by scoring a 470 or higher on the Evidence Based Reading and Writing section and a score of 500 would meet the same benchmark in Math. 


As a comprehensive high school, Ralston Valley continues to help students reach these benchmarks by providing rigorous courses and multiple levels of intervention. Additional opportunities are provided each fall for all students in grades 9-11 when they take the PSAT. Top performing 11th graders are eligible for scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). Students will also take the PSAT-9 as freshman and the PSAT-10 as sophomores. Each of these tests provides benchmark data for our students and teachers to use in creating and implementing interventions in the classroom. 


Advanced Placement Exam Information 

AP Exam registration for 2022-23 will again take place in the fall. This means that all students interested in taking an AP exam for a year-long course will need to register for the test by November. Students will learn more about this new process from their instructors and how it impacts them once classes have started.

ralston valley happenings

You're never too old to play with playdough.  Our staff participated in a kinesthetic team-building activity during our professional development.  Seeing how others think and work is a learning experience all in itself.  Very proud of the hard work our staff put in to get ready for our students. 

Freshman Orientation Day was a blast!  On August 16th, we welcomed over 480 members of the Class of 2026 to Ralston Valley.  We had over 100 upperclassmen give up their last day of summer break to help make this a successful day. Thank you Mustangs! 

National Honor Society (NHS) having a lot of fun with various team building activities. 

"El Cis y los estudiantes. ¡Por fin es viernes!"


Conceptual Chemistry students learning about gas safety (left picture)!  On the right, Mrs. Martin is demonstrating Chemistry's "Element of the Week", hydrogen!

In July,  senior Lauren Guo and  Frau Blum went on a scholarship to Hamburg, Germany,  to attend the world’s biggest German language competition, the Internationale Deutscholympiade (IDO).  13 million students learn German worldwide.  Of them, only 107 students were selected to compete.  Lauren represented the USA, along with Chelsey Gilbert from Wisconsin.  Lauren writes, ”I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to visit Hamburg, experience another culture, and meet people from around the world.” Danke schön, Goethe-Institut Chicago, and the IDO team in Hamburg for providing them with this experience.

23 graduates and current Ralston Valley students traveled to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Berlin for a leadership conference put on by EF Tours. The theme of the trip was Sports and Wellness. During our travels not only did we learn about the cities' history and culture but also their approach to wellness through mindfulness. 

Students took what they learned during their travels to the leadership conference in Berlin to work in innovation groups to solve real-world problems around the trip's theme. They used the design thinking method developed by Stanford University to identify a problem using empathy, design a prototype to solve that problem, and create a 60-second pitch. From there, the top 10 groups are chosen to present their prototype to the entire Summit of 600 students plus 100s of teachers and EF staff. Then, from those top 10 groups, a winner is chosen. 

The winning group gets to have their prototype put on display at the Nobel Peace Prize Museum in Stockholm for a year. This is a huge honor! Here's the best part: Augden Tacha was in the winning group! This was so exciting!

RVHS Remodel Project—School Year 2022-23

This year Ralston Valley High School will continue to undergo a major remodel made possible by the passage of the 2018 Bond. Construction began this summer and will extend through the entire school year and into Summer 2023. The upgrades and improvements include a new chiller, library, nine classrooms, Geometry & Construction workshop, training room, and new front-entrance security vestibule.

Due to the construction in front of the school, our front loop will be closed for pick up and drop off between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. every day. We apologize for the inconvenience, but this will allow for the construction vehicles to move freely and safely. If you need to pick up your student any time between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. we ask that you pick them up in the west lot by the athletic/gym doors.

Parents, the Arvada Police Department School Services Unit is offering The Parent Academy: Drug and Substance Abuse. Please click here is the flyer. 

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