MAY 17, 2024 EDition

As the senior year draws to a close, my heart swells with excitement at the thought of honoring our graduating seniors this upcoming Friday.  Witnessing their journey over these past few years has been nothing short of inspiring. Their leadership, school spirit, and dedication to community service have positively impacted our school and have also set a standard for others to aspire to. 


With the weight of finals now lifted, the upcoming week holds a special significance as we come together to celebrate our seniors. From the senior farewell assembly to graduation day, each event will be filled with an abundance of love and pride. 


As a mother to a senior myself, I find my heart caught in a whirlwind of emotions. While I am brimming with pride and anticipation for my daughter’s future, there’s an undeniable pang of bittersweet nostalgia as I watch her prepare to spread her wings and soar. It’s a delicate dance between rejoicing in her accomplishments and grappling with the inevitable tug of letting go. 


As parents of seniors embarking on this journey together, let’s not forget to embrace every precious moment, to revel in the joy of this milestone, and to hold onto these memories tightly. For these remarkable seniors, with their courage, resilience, and unwavering determination are poised to leave an enduring mark on the world. 


Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t express my deepest gratitude to all of you, our parents. Thank you for your partnership over the years and for your continued support. Together, we have provided our students with an exceptional educational experience.


With gratitude and respect, 


Mica Buenning

Field Lights

We are exited to share that this spring work has begun for the installation of field lighting on the turf field and will benefit students involved in our schools athletics and activities programming. This project, funded by the 2018 capital improvement program, is designed to support the Jeffco Schools Equitable Start Times and will positively affect all 16 high schools within Jeffco Schools.  Please take a moment to read this letter from Ralston Valley and Jeffco Schools to learn more. 

Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week - THANK YOU!

Thank you to our wonder PTSA and RVHS parents for providing an amazing lunch, treats and gift cards to to our staff. 

To learn more about our amazing PTSA or if you are interested in joining please click here.

We would also like to extend a heartfelt "Thank you" to both Storyline Church for providing ice cream, and to Pacific Dental Services of Arvada for bagels and coffee. 

We feel loved and appreciate all of the kindness and support.


Hazel Health

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.  Hazel Health will continue services over the summer. 

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

Drop Off and Pick Up

It is a great time to remind everyone to be thoughtful of our neighbors during drop off and pick up.  We must keep the right of way clear for emergency vehicles and through traffic.  With only one road to enter and exit a building this size, with this many people, the roads at the school will always be congested.  There are a few things we can do as a Ralston Valley community to help make these busy times of day run as smoothly as possible.  

Main Entrance - Please be sure to pull as far forward as you can in the loop at the front of the school when dropping off or picking up your student.  This helps to alleviate backups in the roundabout and get as many cars off of 80th Ave. as quickly as possible.  

Roundabout - The roundabout is part of the road.  Please do not park in the roundabout while waiting for dismissal time.  This blocks the flow of eastbound traffic and prevents traffic exiting to the east from leaving campus as well. Please do not stop and pick up your student in the roundabout or on 80th Ave.

Fire Station - As traffic backs up on southbound Alkire, please be sure to leave room for our first responders to exit the firehouse safely and without obstruction.  Do not block the exit of their garage.

82nd Ave. - Please pay attention to posted road signs along 82nd Ave.  There are multiple speedbumps on 82nd Ave., making it necessary to go the speed limit or slower to ensure safe driving and prevent damage to your vehicle.  There are also multiple No Parking signs along 82nd Ave. next to the school's property.  Please do not park there to pick up your student.

Thank you for your continued diligence when driving in and around Ralston Valley.

For additional resources, click here. 

activities 

A huge thank you to our PTSA for organizing and staffing After Prom this year at Urban Air!  Thank you also to all of the parents who provided food, drinks, gift cards, and/or raffle items!  We appreciate the work done to provide nearly 350 students with a safe place to have fun following prom!  The students had a great time!

athletics 

Soccer -  Ralston Valley defeated Grandview 3-0 on Monday night to qualify for the State Semifinals.  The semifinal on Wednesday was a classic.  Ralston Valley battled top seeded Mountain Vista to a 0-0 score at the end of regulation.  Margot Mulhern played out of her mind at goal to keep the Eagles from scoring through the first 15 minute overtime.  Eventually, Mountain Vista found a way to score to win the game 1-0.  Despite the loss, the girls have a lot to be proud of this season.

Swim and Dive - The boys swim and dive team had a fantastic weekend at State!  Eleven swimmers and one diver qualified for the event.


All three relays made it to finals, placing 19th in the 200 IM (swimmers: L. Marschner, R. Frie, A. Yousse, and L. Dantinne); 18th in the 200 Free relay (swimmers: C. Pride, W. Hendricks, C. Wall, L. Dantinne) and 18th in the 400 Free relay (swimmers: C. Pride, C. Wall, R. Frie, and L. Marschner).  The team ranked 22nd in 5A, earning 39 points.


Robbie Frie (pronounced Free) qualified in the individual 100 breast, placed 17th overall and now holds the RV school record of 59.67 seconds!


Alex Kreidler, the team diver, made it to state and finished 4th overall, with 495.05 points!

Girls Golf - Ralston Valley took second place on Monday at Regional Golf.  Led by Regional Champion Addi Hines (1 under), the Mustangs qualified as a team for state.  Lily Grau, Taylor Redman, and Isabel Ekborg, will join Addi in representing the Mustangs at the State Championships.  Good luck.

Baseball - The Mustangs capped off three straight wins in the Jeffco End of Season Tournament to win the championship last Saturday.  They finished off a 1-0 victory over Arvada West in the championship game with a play at the plate on a sac fly attempt - Cole Pfiefer with the catch, Logan Madden with the relay, and Laird Jones with the tagout at the plate to complete the double play and end the game.  The Mustangs will head to regional tomorrow at Fossil Ridge.  Good luck!

Track and Field - The teams are competing at the State Track meet this weekend.  They are have been doing great.  A few early highlights:

Congratulations Mustang Girls Tennis!  They defeated Cherry Creek on Tuesday and they are the 2024 5A Girls Tennis Champions, the first time in RVHS history, way to go!

Ralston Valley 24th Annual Athletic Awards Celebration

A big thank you to all who have made this year a huge success.  We couldn't have done it without the athletes, parents, coaches, marching band members, volunteers, booster members, the RVHS staff, officials, and the Mustang fans!

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 

May 20 - May 24, 2024

Monday, May 20th - Blue Day

Tuesday, May 21st -  White Day

Wednesday, May 22nd -  Blue Day

Thursday, May 23rd - Blue Day Finals

Friday, May 24th  -  White Day Finals, last day for students

Counseling Department

Jeffco Summer School

If students failed a course and need to make it up over the summer, Jeffco is offering free credit recovery at five different sites, including Arvada West HS and Jeffco Virtual Academy.  Students must enroll for classes through Enroll Jeffco and classes will run from June 3-28.  Click here for a flier.

ROAR Summer College Search Series

The Regional Officers of Admissions of the Rockies (ROAR) is a group of college admissions professionals who specifically serve high school students in the Rocky Mountain region. This summer they are offering college search programming at local libraries that include a panel with college admissions experts and a college fair.  This is a perfect opportunity for current juniors, but all students and caregivers are welcome to attend.  One of the programs is listed below, but click here for a flier with additional dates and locations.

Date: Monday, June 10, 2024

Time: 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

Place: Arvada Library

 Advisement Corner 

Advisement 

Thank you Mrs. Braketa for the engaging and thoughtful Advisement lessons this year! 

We appreciate you.

 ralston valley HAPPENINGS

Breakfast in German I 


Frau Blum's German I students enjoyed a traditional breakfast of fresh rolls, ham, cheese, jellies, and Nutella on Monday.  In order to be able to compare cultural aspects of breakfast in the U.S.  with breakfast in German-speaking countries, they all had the opportunity to experience a German breakfast!

Seniors in Spanish End Year on a High Note

Seniors in Spanish earned their Seal of Biliteracy, and here they are inducted into their honor society, La Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica.

Chemistry Classes Determine Energy in Food

Juniors in Chemistry burned four types of snack foods and used data collected such as mass of food burned and temperature change of water in calorimeter in order to determine the quantity of energy in each food.

Farewell Assembly in the RVHS Gym for the Class of 2024

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