Wednesday, March 22 

Riverdale Grade School News

Hello Falcon Families,

This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending PTC’s Annual Auction. It was inspiring to see our community come together for one purpose, our children. Thank you to the auction chairs and the PTC for putting on such a lovely event. “How lucky we are” to be able to provide our students with a safe and rich learning environment full of programs and curriculum to support all of our learners.

Our 1st and 2nd graders had their first-ever music performance last week, singing familiar and new songs, ending with the Riverdale Grade School Song, created by our talented music teacher Mr. Herron. We are excited for many more concerts and events coming this spring, including some new and old traditions. More information will be coming soon.

I wish everyone a safe and fun spring break full of family and hopefully sunshine. We are in the home stretch and will see you when we return in April.

With hopes for sunshine,

- Jen McDonald, RGS Principal

Oregon Battle of the Books Competition

Battle of the Books is a competition in which students compete against each other using their understanding of the selected books. In the past year, over 600 teams and 2,700 students competed for 1st place in each category.

Congratulations to ALL OBOB Participants and Coaches in our 3rd-5th grade and 6th-8th grades levels!! A very special thanks to Katy Tibbs for organizing battles and coordinating with coaches. Team members met for months, reading some of the best books available to prepare for school battles and then the winner at each level moved onto regional battles - and most importantly everyone had fun with friends.

It was standing room only as the 3rd-5th grade teams battled to determine which team would move onto regionals. The winner of this competition was Slay the Book Away and for 6th-8th, the winning team was Ally Cats. Both went to regionals, meeting and competing with students from all over Portland. I was not able to join the 3-5th at regionals, but was able to volunteer and join in the fun as our 6-8th grade team competed at Lakeridge Middle School. I overheard the winning team say they would have to watch out for RGS students next year. The top 4 teams were: L'Etoile Rip City Readers, Richmond Book Destroyers, Rieke Karaoke Potatoes and The Riverdale ALLY Cats.

During competitions, I observed both students and coaches showing positive RGS sportspersonship and enjoying the competitions.  

A sign up form will be on our library website for the 23-24 OBOB competitions toward the end of the school year. If you would like to know more, visit the OBOB Website.

Again, congratulations to our RGS Teams!

- Ms. Becker

Valentine’s Day with Doernbecher

For our leadership passion project this past Valentine’s Day we wanted to make a difference for the kids at Doernbecher children’s hospital. Thanks to contributions made by a local toy store, Thinker Toys, we were able to give 19 kids a special Valentine’s day gift to bring hope in challenging times. The gifts were sorted by age, and contained multiple toys such as books, puzzles, games, and stuffed animals. Each gift also had a handwritten card attached that contained a short encouraging message.

This leadership passion project which we chose has taught us so much about the power of giving back and was such an eye opening experience. Oftentimes we overlook the privileges we take for granted everyday, and this drive made us realize how lucky we are. We hope everybody had a great valentine’s day with the people they love!  

- Pearl M. and Harry S.

Eighth Graders RGS

Read the full message on this poster. 

Kids Heart Challenge Update

Hey Riverdale!

Our kids heart challenge has come to a close….but the fun still continues!

All of the extra prizes and gifts that you purchased online are being ordered up and will hopefully get to the school the week after spring break. Once he receives them, he will package them up and pass them out to classroom teachers.

The fun still continues as mentioned above! We will have our incentive pieing to Mr. Anderson and Mr. Street at our next all school assembly, so stay tuned! :) 

- Mr. Anderson

Attendance Matters

As a whole, the school's chronic absence attendance has improved. 6th grade attendance has improved the most - way to go! Other grades still have some room for improvement in getting to under 10%. 

According to state standards, a student is considered chronically absent when they have missed more than 10% of the school year - roughly two days per month. Some of our grade levels continue to struggle to meet this percentage goal.

For those families having difficulty getting their children to school, we are here to help. Please do not hesitate to ask for our support! 

Every Day Matters here at Riverdale. Our goal is to have every student attend 90% of calendar school days. Research shows, it’s easy to see the truth in those three simple words: Every Day Matters.

Event with Award-Winning Author Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Last Tuesday, we were fortunate to have Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai join us at the high school to kick off the book tour for her latest novel, Dust Child. Students in grades 7th-12th were in attendance, as well as community members.

RHS students Kendra M. and Mathilde F. introduced Dr. Nguyễn and spoke about the limited representation of Asian stories and Asian identity in Western media. Dr. Nguyễn shared about her personal story, her writing process, discrimination, and the importance of people telling their own narratives. It was a moving and impactful event. 

- Abby Rotwein (she/her), Director of Equity & Inclusion

REMINDER

Our electronics policy has been updated to include smartwatches as many have the same capabilities as cell phones. Garmins/Fitbits and other watches that are electronic devices need to be used as watches only during school hours. Students will continue to be able to call home if necessary using the front office phone. Caregivers are encouraged to call the school office when needed.

Students who need electronic devices for medical reasons can contact the school.

Electronics Policy - UPDATED to include smartwatches

Cell phone, smartwatch, headphone, and AirPod use is prohibited during the school day. This includes in classrooms, restrooms, locker rooms, hallway, at lunch, and during recess. During the instructional day, all items listed above must remain in students' locker and in silent mode.

The only exception is if a teacher explicitly allows it for an assignment during their class period only or if a student has an accommodation to use electronics during class.

First and second offenses: The cell phone/device is taken by the teacher and placed in the office until the end of the school day. Students may pick up their device at the end of the school day.

Third offense: Referral; The cell phone/device is taken to the office by the teacher and a parent/caregiver must pick it up from the office. 

REMINDER: April Sessions

National Honor Society Tutoring for Grade School Students

Riverdale High School's National Honor Society chapter will host after school tutoring for 5-8th grade Riverdale Grade School students. 

The Riverdale District bus comes to the high school after it drops all the grade school students after their school day, which allows for easy convenient transportation to the high school.

Grade School students need to be picked up at the High School by a caregiver no later than 5 p.m. Please choose time slots using by clicking the green button. 

FINAL REMINDER

Register for Spring Sports

Make sure to register through FamilyID, submit your athlete’s physical and pay the sport fee through SchoolPay. The deadline to register for RGS is Sunday, April 2 with the first practice for RGS on Monday, April 3.

All students MUST complete the FamilyID online registration, have an up-to-date sports physical and pay athletic fees by the deadlines in order to participate in school sports.

Find all registration information here. Please email Coach Gibson if you have any questions. 

REMINDER

Claim Lost & Found Items

Please claim any lost and found items before spring break! The L&F rack is in the RGS main lobby under the stairs for easy collection access. We appreciate your help in clearing the rack. 

LAST CALL

Input Needed: K-2 Curriculum Adoption at RGS

Riverdale Grade School has been involved in an extensive vetting process for instructional materials in English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. K-2 is completing the adoption by piloting two programs that are aligned with brain science reading practices.

Here are the two programs we are piloting and reviewing for K-2:

• EL Education/Imagine Learning
• Wit and Wisdom/Geodes

We are seeking public input on EL Education/Imagine Learning and Wit and Wisdom/Geodes to help us finalize our decision. Please complete this Google Form before April 1. 

Important Dates

• March 27-31 - Spring Break
• Monday, April 3 - RGS Track Practice Begins
• Friday, April 14 - Inservice Day (no school)
• April 20-21 - Virtual Conferences (no school)
• Wednesday, April 26 - District Arts Night
• Friday, April 28 - Special Friends Day for K-4 students

View the 2023-24 School Year Calendar PDF on our website.