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RCMS Newsletter
RCMS Newsletter
August 17, 2025
August 17, 2025
GREETINGS RCMS Community!
SCHOOL STARTS THIS WEEK!!! Ready or not, here we go! Throughout the year you will receive this newsletter every Sunday evening. Please check often to stay informed of upcoming events and to celebrate highlights of recent happenings and celebrations. We will continue to send this newsletter out every Sunday evening. We also now have a live link on the RCMS Website homepage so it is available to check at anytime.
This week features (click on the title to jump to the section):
Changes in the RCC Parking Lot
Changes in the RCC Parking Lot
Safety, patience, and civility, please
Please refer to the map above while you carefully read the following protocols for the parking lot. We have made some adjustments in an effort to maximize safety and efficiency.
Please arrive at a time appropriate for your program’s dismissal – Not too early, please. MVA Elementary is released at 1:45 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 11:30 on Wednesdays. Montessori is released at 2:30 pm on Mondays/Tuesdays/Thursdays/Fridays and 12:02 on Wednesdays.
Incoming: Do not turn left at the top of the driveway. Please get into line or drive straight ahead to park.
The middle parking aisle is now one way only. When exiting the middle aisle, move south only and turn left to enter the "inside lane" for through traffic only.
If in the curbside pick up line, please pull forward as far as possible (the first three cars should be north of the crosswalk at the three lone zone signs). On Wednesdays, early RCMS folk should park to the right on the south side and allow MVA families to move through for pick ups.
If you park in the northwest parking “pocket” to exit please drive forward and move through the inside lane to merge and exit.
Students will be loaded into cars only at the curb in one of the four loading spaces (marked by the large signs).
When we begin matching children and cars, it only takes 15 minutes to empty the lot.
When exiting the parking lot you may only turn right onto Ramona Street.
Thank you for choosing Ramona Community Campus schools for your student! We want everyone to get home safely each day. Check out the pictures below for clarification.
It is a RIGHT TURN ONLY when exiting the parking lot.
When crossing Ramona Street as a pedestrian, use the flags provided to increase visibility. After crossing, leave the flag in the bucket on the other side.
The INSIDE LANE (viewed below on the left) is for Thru Traffic ONLY. Students may NOT enter cars in this lane.
The OUTSIDE LANE (viewed below on the right) is for immediate pick up only. If your student is not waiting on the sidewalk, please park to wait for your student.
The middle parking aisle is now ONE WAY only. Please exit at the south end and turn left into the through traffic only lane.
At the south end of the parking keep to the right if you are picking up curbside (outside lane).
Keep to the left if you are exiting and driving through (inside lane).
SCHOOL STARTs TOMORROW! Monday, August 18th
SCHOOL STARTs TOMORROW! Monday, August 18th
Please note!!! Our Hours are slightly different this year, they are…
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday school hours
8:00 am - 2:30 pm
Wednesday school hours
8:00 am – 12:02 pm
Class rosters are opened for viewing in Powerschool Parent Portal. If you need a review for accessing Powerschool, check THIS out. Our campus gate will be unlocked on the weekend before classes for your family to self-tour, if you wish.
TK and KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION Recap
TK and KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION Recap
If you were not able to join us on Friday, August 15th for the TK and Kinder Orientation, here is a summary:
AM Arrival/Drop Off - please enter at the front of the campus (where the US map is) and walk around the MPR to the Kinder Cove. Wait with your child outside of the the Kinder gate on the blacktop area. Please do not enter the play area. The teachers will come out of gate to meet and line up students. All goodbyes will be said outside of the gated Kinder area.
Breakfast is available between 7:45-8:00
PM Dismissal/Pick Up - all TK and K students will be escorted to the front of the school where all of our student line up, by classroom. TK and K classes are lined up on the grassy area under the trees. You may meet your student on the grass or drive up and pick up your student at the curb (teachers will escort your student to your car).Please keep your pick up sign on your dash every day to help pick up lines run efficiently.
We have several students this year with very severe nut allergies. The cafeteria will not be serving foods with nut-based ingredients. Please consider, whenever possible, packing lunches and snacks for your child that do not pose a risk to those with nut allergies.
We welcome classroom volunteers - but a little later in the year. In these first months, we will be working to establish routines, procedures, and habits with our students - Dr. Montessori called this period of acclimation: "normalizing". Until then, we will not be inviting guests and volunteers into our classrooms or at our lunch times.
PREPARING FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR
PREPARING FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR
Students of all ages (and their parents!) can benefit from some preparation for the school year for these last couple of weeks of summer.
Re-establish bedtime and wakeup. Elementary and middle school students need 9-12 hours of sleep. High school students do best with 8-10 hours. Keeping technology out of the bedroom can assure good sleep.
Practice morning routine. Choosing clothes, packing lunch and snack, organizing backpacks can all contribute to a sense of control for students of all ages.
Visit campus. Students will feel more confident the first day when they know the location of their classroom. Our campus gate will be unlocked on the weekend before classes for your family to self-tour, if you wish.
Sign up for 1-2 after school activities. Extra-curricular activities can increase motivation and attention in school, and build a stronger sense of belonging to our community.
RCC PTSA
RCC PTSA
Our PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association) is already planning and preparing for lots of fun and opportunities to connect with each other through a slate of monthly events:
October 10: Fall Carnival,
November 14: Tie Dye Night,
December 5: Craft Night,
January 23: Family Game Night,
February 20: Family Movie Night,
March 20: Pasta Dinner Fundraiser
Events are open to all students and their families. Your membership helps underwrite these events, assemblies and other supports to our classrooms. Parent volunteers are needed to also make the events successful.
SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL – Parent representatives needed
SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL – Parent representatives needed
Our School Site Council (SSC) guides RCMS’ goals and expenditures in line with our district goals and action plans of the RUSD Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). For this school year we have three parent representative positions open. Our SSC meetings are open to anyone and we value all voices.
SSC will meet on Tuesdays at 4:00pm throughout 2025-2026 on the following dates:
Sept. 23, Oct. 28, Jan. 13, Feb. 17, Mar. 17, Apr. 14, May 19
If you are interested in serving our RCMS school community as an SSC parent representative, please email Mrs. Sawada (csawada@ramonausd.net) with a 1-2 sentence statement about why you would like to participate.
SCHOOL BREAKFAST AND LUNCH
SCHOOL BREAKFAST AND LUNCH
Food Services continues to offer FREE breakfast and lunches this year for all students. Breakfast is served from 7:45-8 am. Students are always welcome to bring a lunch and snacks from home. If you plan to have your child eat breakfast, please arrive in time for the student to finish eating before the start of class.
See below for the School Breakfast and Lunch Menus.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS
PARENT VOLUNTEERS
We are so very happy to welcome volunteers to our campus.
Level One volunteers must go through a clearance process which includes: photo identification, negative tuberculosis test, the clearance process takes a few days. Pick up a volunteer packet in our main office if you are interested.
Level Two volunteers also require a physical and fingerprint clearance.
Not all classrooms use parent volunteers, and our Montessori teachers typically prefer to wait until classroom cultures are normalized before including other adults in the mix.
ATTENDANCE
ATTENDANCE
We cannot emphasize too much how important it is to their success for students to be at school, on time, for the whole day of instruction.
Please Note - Students leaving Early
Please Note - Students leaving Early
Due to the traffic congestion and the busyness of the end of each day, students needing to be picked up from school early, need to be checked out from the front office before 2:00pm (at least 30 minutes prior to dismissal). Please plan accordingly when your student needs to leave school early for appointments.
Arrival and Dismissal - Efficiently & Safely
Arrival and Dismissal - Efficiently & Safely
Please take a moment to review the protocols below to ensure that we keep all students safe and maintain maximum efficiency.
It is no secret that our parking lot can be a challenge during drop off and pick up times. As we share the campus with our sister school, Mountain Valley Academy, we have strategically timed our RCMS and MVA arrival and dismissal times in order to minimize the traffic as much as possible. Please show extra grace and courtesy during the busiest times in the parking lot and follow these protocols:
NEW THIS YEAR: we have adjusted the middle row in the parking lot to be one way (southbound) only. If you pass through the middle parking row, please exit at the south into the inside lane for flowing traffic.
The inside lane is for flowing traffic only - students may not enter or exit cars from the inside lane, only the outside lane (curbside).
The school-side curb is for IMMEDIATE loading and unloading ONLY.
If your student is not in front of the school ready and waiting for pick up, please park in an available parking space to wait for their arrival.
Please abide by all traffic laws. Do not enter the parking lot using the exit lane, and do not turn left when exiting the parking lot.
Pedestrians, please use the blue crosswalk in the parking lot to enter and exit campus. Do not walk in-between cars in the pick up line. This is not only dangerous for you and drivers, this also slows down the flow of traffic.
If a friend or family member is picking up your student, please make sure they are aware of and follow the parking lot protocols.
Please review the complete Ramona Community Campus Parking Lot Protocols HERE
Ramona Community Flyers
Ramona Community Flyers
Miss Ramona Flyer.pdfGirl Scouts flyer.pdfRHS Song Clinic flyer.pdfRAS 2025-26 Flyer.pdfThe Gym Ultimate Athlete flyer.pdfRUSD Parent AI and Technology Webinar Series 2025-26.pdfAugust Cafeteria Menus
August Cafeteria Menus
RCC - August Menus.pdfRCMS Bullying Prevention and Reporting
RCMS Bullying Prevention and Reporting
We encourage our students to be up-standers and if they "See Something, Say Something" to reduce bullying on our campus. We investigate all instances of bullying that are reported to our school site. If there are any concerns please email our counselor, Ms. Bishop or Principal, Mrs. Sawada, and/or complete the bullying reporting form: Online Bullying Reporting Form (If you are a parent assisting your child with completing the form, you must be signed in to their student email.)
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