The Riverside Roar – February 1, 2021
The Riverside Roar is our weekly newsletter to inform our families of all the great things happening at school. Newsletter is personalized with information from your child’s teacher.
Download The Riverside Roar for the week of February 1, 2021 (PDF)
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Thank you for trusting us with your children every day. Like every school, there are things we do well and things we need to improve. What makes Riverside different then? We use data to make our decisions, and we embrace change when it needs to be made!
With that in mind, we truly hope that your children will return to Riverside next year. Early re-enrollment provides us the data we need to purchase supplies and alter staffing to meet our students’ needs. To encourage early re-enrollment, we are providing a long-sleeved Riverside T-shirt which can be worn to school for every student that re-enrolls and provides proof of residency by March 3, 2021. Parents and students who re-enroll by the deadline will be entered into a drawing for great prizes.
The re-enrollment form is included in this mailing. The form and your proof of residency may be mailed or brought to the main office between 9:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M.
As always, if you have questions, please call the office at 513-921-7777.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth A. Lucas
Principal
Grab and Go Meals
Hybrid students will bring meals home every Wednesday.
Online families may pick up meals by pulling up to the kitchen door on the east side of the building. Pick up is on Thursdays from 12:00 P.M. to 1:30 P.M.
Upcoming Events
February 4 – Progress Reports Distributed
February 5 – Professional Development – No School for Students
February 15 – Presidents’ Day – No School
February 25 – Parent-Teacher Conferences
February 26 – Parent-Teacher Conferences – No School for Students
Kindergarten and First Grade
Miss DeLong
vdelong@acariverside.com
My name is Miss DeLong. I am your child’s new Kindergarten and first grade teacher. In Kindergarten your child will focus on the letter K. We will read Koala and Kangaroo. Ask your child to practice reading this book to you! In math, your child’s focus number is 16 and they will work on story problems with the number six. In 1st grade, your child will work on the long e sound, ey and y words such as money, and bunny. In math, your child will continue to focus on subtraction. We learned two-digit subtraction last week!
Ms. Zwirgzdas
azwirgzdas@acariverside.com
I hope you all enjoyed the snow day we had yesterday! I know as a kid I always thought snow days were truly magical. This week both first graders and kindergarten worked on finishing their informational text writing. The topic was about ocean animals that have adapted to survive in the ocean! This topic came from a book we read this week in class. The title of the book was, “ Is It Alive?”. Students got to choose which animal they wanted to write about, and make a water color portrait to hang next to their writing. Which will hang in our hallway for the month of February!
Second Grade
Ms. Patton
lpurvis@acariverside.com
Hi, this is Ms. Patton. I have been teaching at Riverside Academy this year as a Title I Teacher and have recently been asked to teach second grade.
We are off to a great start! The students are transitioning well, and we have been working hard on reading daily the scholastic readers. We also are focused on sentence structure, parts of speech, and our writing skills. For math we are learning to write the different forms of three-digit numbers — the standard, expanded, and word form. We are also mastering three-digit addition and subtraction problems. We have enjoyed learning new vocabulary words daily and we also have been learning about Christopher Columbus and his voyage to the new world during our Social Studies time. I look forward to watching your child grow academically over the next few months.
To help you partner with me I will be sending home a regular communication (every week or so) — these are “think sheets” to keep you posted on “positive” classroom behavior and to ask for your help in areas that need improvement. I use DOJO as well for class related communication and post often and will respond promptly to messages if you need to contact me. I look forward to meeting and connecting with you as I teach your child in the coming months.
Have a great day!
Third Grade
Mrs. Apperson
wapperson@acariverside.com
Hi! I’m Mrs. Apperson. It has been great to learn about each student in our 3rd Grade classroom! We just finished a combined Art/ELA project using adjectives to describe ourselves in an art and writing project. In math we’re mastering subtraction with and without regrouping, and we’re beginning multiplication and geometry. In social studies we’re learning about laws and U.S. symbols. In science we’re learning about vertebrates and invertebrates. Our spelling test over new vocabulary words is always on Friday. I look forward to meeting and connecting with you on DoJo, through sending home Student Behavior Evaluations, and by phone and e-mail.
Fourth and Fifth Grade
Ms. Kenner
akenner@acariverside.com
This week 4th and 5th graders are working on Black History Month Research Papers. They are writing 5 paragraph essays about Black men and women throughout American History. This is due Thursday! In Science, both grades are learning about light! In Social Studies, 5th grade is learning about Spanish Expansion and 4th grade is learning about the consequences of the Revolutionary War. In math, 5th graders are working on multiplying whole numbers by fractions, while 4th grade works on angles and measurements.
Middle School
English Language Arts
Ms. Brents
adbrents001@acariverside.com
This week in English class we are continuing to reexamine citing evidence from the text to support our claims when writing responses. We’ve had minimal small group work in a traditional sense this school year, as I was trying to figure out how to navigate groups in the safest, and most engaging way. This week we will forge forward and work together in small peer groups in the safest way possible! The students have shared with me a couple great ways to accomplish this, and I’m excited to try out their methods! Sixth grade is working on standard R.L.6.1, seventh grade R.L.7.1, and eighth R.L.8.1.
Math
Mrs. McConnell
mmcconnell@acariverside.com
This week in middle school math. We are well into the third quarter and this year is flying by. Students have been doing well adapting to all the changes this year has given us and the first two quarters were really focused on getting adjusted. At this point in the school year, now that we are familiar with canvas and how to submit work, you may have noticed more assignments in Math. That is not a mistake. I am definitely expecting more from everyone this quarter. There has been some great progress this year and we still have far to go, but we can do it! Riverside Academy was able to get every student a calculator to borrow and I have assigned everyone a calculator to use. Thank you Riverside! Thank you Mrs. Lucas! These calculators have really come in handy and I’m so glad everyone has one without needing to share and worry about germs. Calculators are labeled and expected to stay at the school. I will be collecting them at the end of the year and awarding prizes for calculators in great condition.
On another note, with cold winter weather and the heaters being on, the school air can be very drying. Students have been asking for drinks during the day, but the school water fountains are turned off for health safety reasons. We do not have bottled water to offer to students. Please consider sending your student to school with a bottle each morning. It would greatly help!
Social Studies
Ms. Charley
mcharley@acariverside.com
This week in social studies, the 6th grade started learning about cartography. Next week we will be learning about bias in maps. In the 7th grade, students continued to learn about the middle ages. The 8th grades started their standard on the American Revolution. Everyone has had a great week and I’m looking forward to continuing through history!
Science
Mr. Voegele
SMVogele001@acariverside.com
Half way to the end of third quarter. I hope everyone has taken their test on Canvas. 6th and 7th grade had assessments in their canvas and the 8th grades were in mastery. I am very proud of the traditional 8th graders. They showed me they are doing a great job of understanding and retaining the material we are learning. I can say that now it is my time to help them look at state testing questions so they can do even better. You guys rock! With that on to the next week 6th grade matter and how it changes. 7th grade ocean currents and a thing called the Coriolis Effect. 8th grade radioactive dating (unlike absolute and relative dating). Also reminder there is an in-service on Friday and I will be out next Wednesday. BTW I am typing this at home and my sons say hello to you all. Have a great weekend and stay safe.
Intervention Specialists
Hello parents and guardians, students at Riverside have recently taken a Reading Mastery Assessment. The tests show our students need to increase their vocabulary. A great way to help increase your child’s vocabulary is to read to them or listen to audio books. E-books and audio books can be downloaded through the Cincinnati Public Library. A library card is free. Along with books, you can download magazines, movies, and games. The special education team every student to be successful and increasing their vocabulary will help them in high school and beyond. We are hope you are staying warm and safe during this blustery week.
Mrs. Bruner mbruner@acariverside.com
Mr. Springer tspringer@acariverside.com
Mrs. Frohlich cfrohlich@acariverside.com
Music
Ms. Sargent
hsargent@acariverside.com
This week in Music class, students in grades 2-8 took a trip to Russia to explore the country’s music and dance. They also met the famous musician, Freddie Mercury. Kindergarten and first grade students got to learn about the Harp this week. Next week, students can look forward to learning about the highly requested rapper, Tupac.
Parent –Teacher conferences will be held on two days. We will be available on Thursday, February 25, from 4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M., and on Friday, February 26, from 11:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. All conferences will be held remotely. Look for information next week about signing up and how to connect with us.
