RALSTON VALLEY NEWS

December 15, 2023 EDition

Dear Mustang Families,

Approaching the end of 2023, I want to convey my sincere gratitude for your collaboration and support. At Ralston Valley, we take pride in delivering exceptional educational experiences and nurturing relationships that foster a sense of belonging for our students. Your partnership is vital in cultivating a supportive culture for our students, and we deeply appreciate the countless hours you've devoted to caring for and supporting them. Whether it's attending school events, participating in booster organizations, contributing to PTSA, or joining accountability meetings, your involvement is invaluable. Your voice, engagement, and support play a pivotal role in shaping extraordinary student experiences. Together, we form an outstanding school within an exceptional community. I eagerly anticipate the opportunities and achievements that 2024 will bring for our students. Thank you for your unwavering dedication. 

Wishing you a safe and joyous holiday season!

Warm regards, 

Mica Buenning, Principal 

Panorama Education is a company that conducts student and family surveys in schools and districts across the country.  Ralston Valley High School will be giving students the Panorama student survey in the coming months.    

Content. The Panorama student survey gathers information on the following:  

You may review the survey questions by visiting this link.

The results are compiled into aggregate-level school climate reports. These reports are used by district leaders and school staff to help maintain the positive aspects of our schools and to address individual student needs.

It is Voluntary. Your child does not have to take the student survey. Students who participate only have to answer the questions they want to answer and they may stop taking the survey at any time. 

It is Confidential. No students will be identified in any public reports or publications.  Individual student information (name, student number, school and grade) will be uploaded into the Panorama system.  District staff will have access to the data file. Responses are confidential and identifiable. Individual student data may be shared with school staff to provide instructional and social emotional support.

Timing:  The survey will be administered January 16 - February 23, 2024. It will take about 30-45 minutes.

Opt - Out: If you do not want your child to participate in the survey, please complete this Google form by January 12, 2024. 

Mental, social and emotional wellness of students is a priority that we share with our community and one that we are addressing with layers of support including school counselors, social emotional learning specialists, school psychologists, social workers along with partnerships with outside agencies like Hazel Health. 

This year, we continue our partnership with Hazel Health’s Telehealth services to provide a free telehealth extension of mental and physical health support for Jeffco students enrolled at district-managed schools accessed at home with a parent/guardian. 

Parents/guardians may access these services on behalf of your student by visiting this webpage and following the instructions for – Steps to Access Care. 

activities 

Ralston Valley PTSA - Gift Cards for Teachers and Staff

This holiday season we would like to gift our teachers and staff with gift cards. Gift cards will be delivered to teachers and staff on 12/19.  Gift cards can be donated to the office letting them know that it is for the holiday distribution.  Monetary donations can also be made to Venmo @marcia-guadagni.  Please have all donations in by 12/18.  RVPTSA thanks you for all of your generosity.  

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508054BA4AA2BA20-46552646-gift

Student Government Treats Staff to Coffee Cart

Student Government members took time to hand deliver coffee to our exceptional staff all across the building as they hosted  Zado Coffee Co. They also showed off their baking skills by bringing in homemade treats as a way to spread some holiday cheer! 

Make-A-Wish 2024 

Student Government is excited to announce Wish Week 2024: January 19th -26th. Please see the community letter below which outlines opportunities for our community to enhance the fundraising efforts through business and silent auction donations. More information will follow after Winter Break. 

 Community Letter 

Thrift for Wishes

 

In honor of Wish Week 2024, Ralston Valley is hosting our second annual clothing drive, Thrift for Wishes. The clothing drive starts Monday, January 15th and items will be accepted until January 26th! Students can bring lightly worn teen and young adult clothes, jackets, etc to their Math classroom, where they will be sorted, and Acceptable Items will be taken to Plato’s Closet. Plato’s Closet is a consignment store that offers cash for used brand-name clothing and accessories. Your donations could potentially result in cash for our Make-A-Wish efforts 2024. All items not accepted by Plato’s Closet will be donated to Jeffco Action Center. Thank you for your support! 

Operation Gratitude in National Honor Society

NHS students wrote letters of gratitude to deployed military personnel and veterans in cooperation with “Operation Gratitude “ to brighten days in these dark months.  

Speech and Debate Club

Speech and Debate have been very busy this fall! Here are some highlights:

November 18 - Students competed in the largest tournament of the season so far, at Eaglecrest High School.  The team saw serious 5A competitors getting ready for Varsity season.

December 2 - Strive Prep Smart Academy

Pragna Yalavarthy 12th Place Original Oratory (of 45+ competitors)

Daniel Harness- Lincoln Douglas Debat 2-1 (W/L record)

December 5 - Congress at Cherry Creek High School

Daniel Harness - 2nd place in Chamber 6

Holden Hanou - 2nd place in Chamber 2

Eden Wagonlander - Top Speaker Finalist Chamber 6 


Ms. McDowell says that she and Lucie Fortman did not intend to match but were very happy that they did!

December 9 - Jefferson County Sweepstakes 

Pragna Yalavarthy - 2nd place Tournament Champion

Holiday Music at RV

The RVHS Winter Music Concert performances this week were a great success!  Band, Orchestra, and Choir rang in the season, a wonderful end to their first semester.

athletics 

Athletic Updates

Dance qualified for the finals for the first time since entering 5A and came away with a 3rd Place finish at the CHSAA State Spirit Competition last weekend.  Congratulations on an amazing competitions season.

Girls Basketball opened up their 2023-24 home schedule this week with wins over Legacy (52-30) and Monarch (62-46).  Their last game before the new year will be next Tuesday at Arapahoe.  Sitting at 6-2, the Mustangs are looking strong heading into break.

Boys Basketball went 2-1 at last week's Ralston Round Up Classic.  Friday night's 62-52 win over Cherry Creek capped off a great three days of basketball.  Three more home games for the Mustangs before break.  They play United HS (TX) tonight at 6:00PM.  Next week they host Rangeview (Tues 7:30) and Broomfield (Thurs 7:30).

Girls Swim and Dive had a great weekend of swimming last week.  They'll be out at VMAC tomorrow for their first big test of the year at the Colorado Coaches Invite.  Good luck this weekend!

Wrestling finished 5th out of 17 schools last weekend at Lewis-Palmer.  Lincoln Gregerson was awarded the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.  Today and tomorrow the team is in Greeley for the always tough Northern Colorado Christmas Classic.

Hockey took down Resurrection Christian Wednesday night 4-2.  They have a big game tonight at Big Bear against Chaparral.  Good luck at Chaparral tonight and next week at Lewis-Palmer. 

Hometown Ticketing - All Jeffco events have gone cashless this year.  When attending games at our schools or stadiums, save yourself time by purchasing your tickets ahead of time by using the link below.  You can also purchase punch passes to use for your entire family.  Punch passes will save you money on processing fees.

HOMETOWN TICKETING BOX OFFICE

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 parents/guardians. 

If your 10th grade 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 The week 

December 18, 2023 - January 5, 2024

Monday, Dec. 18th  - Blue Day Finals

Tuesday, Dec. 19th -  Finals Make Up by Appointment Only

Wednesday, Dec. 20th - Wednesday Jan. 3 - Winter Break - No School for Students

Wednesday, Jan. 3 - Staff Development Day

Thursday, Jan. 4th - White Day

Friday, Jan. 5th - Blue Day

Counseling Department

Transition to College Student Panel

Recent RVHS Alumni will  return to RV to speak to current students and answer questions about college life.  Students who are interested in attending need to register here.

Date: Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Time: 8:15-9:00 a.m.

Place: RVHS Auditorium 

Updated FAFSA Information

The updated FAFSA for the 2024-2025 school year will launch on December 31, 2023.  Updates can be found on the official FAFSA website, studentaid.gov.  If you will have a student enrolled in college next fall and would like to apply for any type of federal student aid (loans, grants, work study, etc.) colleges require completion of the FAFSA.  Most families will need to complete it early in 2024 (January/February) so it will be helpful to check the Student Aid website regularly for updates.  

Girls Lead the Way Conference

Colorado School of Mines is hosting Girls Lead the Way - STEM & Leadership Conference for High School Girls for students interested in being a leader in STEM.  Participants will engage in a day-long interactive lab and classroom-based conference hosted by the Society of Women Engineers.  For more information and to register, click here.

Date: Saturday, January 24, 2024

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Place: Colorado School of Mines, Green Center, Golden

UNC Future Teacher Conference

On February 2, 2024, the University of Northern Colorado is hosting a FREE conference to help aspiring teachers learn more about the field, connect with peers and gather insights through presentations and workshops.  For more information and to register, click here.

Summer Transportation & Construction Career Week for GIRLs

The HOYA Foundation is offering a FREE one-week summer camp for females aged 13-23 interested in a career in transporation and construction.  There are four seperate sessions, each a different week in June.  The deadline to apply is March 29, 2024.  Click here for more information and to apply.

 Advisement Corner

This Week in Advisement 

The theme for 9th and 10th grade Advisement this week is Preparing for Finals! Student will also take a quick survey which gives them the opportunity to provide feedback about how  Advisement class has served them this semester. 


Thank you to all of our 9th and 10th Grade Advisement classes and beyond for making our Annual Toy Drive a success! A huge shout out to the Football Team for their work. Because of such a generous community we were able to donate over 150 toys to Children’s Hospital and Jeffco Head Start! 


To wrap up 1st semester Advisement, our 9th and 10th graders prepared for finals and decorated cookies or gingerbread houses.



 ralston valley HAPPENINGS

Cupcake Wars in Baking and Pastry Class

Baking & Pastry students competed in the annual cupcake wars competition. This year the students voted to compete with the theme of “Holidays” and each group had to create a cupcake flavor, filling, icing, and decoration to fit into their choice of holiday. The ultimate winner went to the group who made a Valentine’s Day strawberry shortcake cupcake which was filled with a strawberry compote and topped with a whipped vanilla frosting. The edible glitter on top made it shine above the other competitors! It was a job very well done by the entire class.  

Holiday Party in Significant Special Needs Classroom

Our SSN students and their guests had an awesome time at their annual holiday party.  Santa showed up for a visit!

Math Classes Stretch Their Thinking

Mr. Busch's Algebra II students move about the room stretching their legs and their thinking as they learn all about complex numbers.

Boys Basketball Community Service Project

Mustang Boys Basketball adopted two families for the Holiday Gift Program.  The boys brought in and wrapped over 75 presents for their families.

Construction in Geometry Students Visit Colorado School of Mines

Mr. McGeary and Mr. Rasmussen brought their Construction in Geometry students to the Colorado School of Mines campus for a field trip.  Students had designed and built floor trusses and conducted a strength test.  The winning truss held 1300 lbs. per square foot.

Mustang Musicians Honored at Board of Education Meeting

Shout out to Senior Jack Schwartz and Junior Lexi Smith, shown below with Assistant Principal Mr. Litzau, who were recognized at the December Jeffco Board of Education meeting.  They were the only Colorado students selected to participate in Macy's Great American Marching Band, and to have the amazing experience of marching in the historic Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Great job!

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