W E L C O M E T... P R I N C I P A L ’...

JLG-RICA
SEPTEMBER 2014 ~ VOLUME 4 ISSUE 1
P RIN CI PA L’S
N E WSL ET T E R
MICHELLE SCHULTZE
SPECIAL POINTS OF
WELCOME TO RICA SCHOOL!
 September 1 - No
Welcome to the 2014-2015 school
School
Labor Day
INTEREST
 September 4 - BackTo-School-Night 6:308:00
 September 24 - Early
Release 1:00
 September 25 - No
School Rosh Hashanah
 September
26
School Portraits
-
 October 13 - Open
House Columbus Day
 October 15 - PSAT,
10th graders
 October 17 - No
School, Teacher
Convention
 October 30 - Marking
Period 1 ends
year at JLG-RICA! We have gotten
off to a great start, with students
quickly getting back into the school
routine. The school staff and I are
excited to be working with you and
your child this year as we live out
our school motto to “Work Hard,
Be Kind, Be Safe, and Dream
Big”! Each day we work very hard
to provide a safe, engaging and rewarding educational program for
every student. This school year
promises to be a successful one as
we continue to make strides in
helping students reach their fullest
potential. Parents and guardians
are partners with us in preparing
children for the demands of the 21st
century and when we work together
success is sure to follow. Communication is a central component of the
home-school partnership, so please
look for monthly updates from me
on our website on the “Principal’s
Page” and please do not hesitate
to contact me or my staff with any
concerns or compliments you
may have. We recognize that in
order to be successful in school,
our children need support from
both the home and school. We
know a strong partnership with
you will make a great difference
in your child’s education. As
partners, we share the responsibility for our children’s success
and want you to know that we
will do our very best to carry out
our responsibilities. We ask that
you guide and support your
child’s learning by ensuring that
your child attend school daily
and completes all homework assignments. We look forward to
working together this school
year! We are happy to welcome
Mr. Joshua Munsey to RICA as
assistant principal. He joins us
from Clarksburg High School
where he was the Resource
Teacher for Special Education.
PLEASE COME!
The On-Call
Therapist/
Emergency Contact
for day students
number is:
1-800-637-4897
Please join us at Back-ToSchool-Night on Thursday, September 4, 2014
to learn more about our
program and meet the
school staff. Parents and
guardians of students
in the 5th - 8th grades
and students enrolled
in Health Education in
High School have the
opportunity from 6:00
- 6:30 p.m. to review
and examine materials
from the Family Life
and Human Development Program component of the MCPS
Health curriculum, and
speak with Mrs. Erin
Thornes, Health Instructor.
PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER
KNOW THE RICA RULES ~
All electronic devices
(e.g., cell phones,
iPods, MP3 Players,
video games, etc.)
must be turned off and
out of sight during
school hours, with the
exception of during
lunch for high school
students. Consequences
for Infractions:
 1st offense of either
having phone/device
out or using phone/
Page 2
ELECTRONICS
device-Critical incident, lunch detention
and phone call home
to parent by the homeroom teacher.
 2nd offense-critical
incident, lunch detention and phone call to
home by program
specialist.
3rd and any other
offense- critical incident, lunch detention,
phone call to parents,
phone/devise confiscated and a meeting
scheduled with
parent. Students may use
cell phones after leaving the school building
at dismissal.
RICA assumes no responsibility or liability
for lost, stolen, or confiscated devices or for
the unauthorized use
of any such device.
MCPS EMERGENCY INFORMATION
How to Receive Emergency Information
from MCPS
MCPS parents can receive
emergency information
from the school system in a
variety of ways including
MCPS QuickNotes, Alert
MCPS, Twitter, the MCPS
website, MCPS TV, and a
recorded telephone information line. Please visit
www.montgomeryschools
md.org/emergency for more
information on how to keep
in touch with Montgomery
County Public Schools and
stay informed in times of
emergencies.
Cómo Recibir Información de Emergencia
de MCPS
Los padres de estudiantes
de MCPS pueden recibir
información del sistema
escolar en casos de emergencia de varias maneras
incluyendo MCPS QuickNotes, Alert MCPS, Twit-
ter, el sitio de Internet de
MCPS, MCPS TV y la
línea de información con
mensajes grabados. Para
más información de cómo
mantenerse en contacto con
Montgomery County Public
Schools y mantenerse informado durante emergencias
visite
www.montgomeryschools
md.org/emergency.
Check out the School
Lunch Menus on our website for weekly menus!
We are what we
repeatedly do.
Excellence ,
then, is not an
act, but a habit.
~Aristotle
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Delayed Opening
If schools are closed or
delayed, the
announcement is
made no later than
5:00 a.m. (or the night
before if possible).
Schools may open two
hours late, and all operations, including bus
transportation, are delayed by two hours
from the regular
schedule. Field trips
and other activities
and programs that
begin at 10:30 or earlier (such as the Thomas Edison High School
of Technology) are
canceled.
Early Dismissal
If schools are clos-
ing early, the announcements are
made by
11:00 a.m.
S choo ls m ay b e
c los e d 2. 5 hour s
ear ly - RIC A
di sm is se s at 1: 00.
September’s
Character Trait
SEPTEMBER 2014 ~ VOLUME 4 ISSUE 1
Page 3
WE ARE FOCUSING ON GROWTH MINDSET!
This year we are redoubling our focus on
“Growth Mindset” with
our students. We believe
that success is due to
perseverance and hard
work and that all children are capable of great
things
“Mindset is a simple idea
discovered by Stanford
University psychologist
Carol Dweck in research
on achievement and success—a simple idea that
can make all the difference.
In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic
qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They also
believe that talent alone
creates success—without
effort. Dweck’s research
proves they’re wrong.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their
most basic abilities can
be developed through
dedication and hard
work—brains and talent
are just the starting
point. This view creates a
love of learning and a
resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great
people have had these
qualities.
Mindsets are beliefs
about yourself and your
most basic qualities.
Think about your intelligence, your talents, your
personality. Are these
qualities simply fixed
traits, carved in stone
and that’s that? Or are
they things you can cultivate throughout your
life? People with a fixed
mindset believe that
their traits are just givens. They have a certain
amount of brains and
talent and nothing can
change that. If they
have a lot, they’re all
set, but if they don’t...
So people in this mindset worry about their
traits and how adequate
they are. They have
something to prove to
themselves and others.
People with a growth
mindset, on the other
hand, see their qualities
as things that can be
developed through their
dedication and effort.
Sure they’re happy if
they’re brainy or talented, but that’s just the
starting point. They understand that no one has
ever accomplished great
things—not Mozart, Darwin, or Michael Jordan—
without years of passionate practice and
learning”. excerpted from:
http://indsetonline.com/
Diet and
Academic
Performance
Eating a healthy
breakfast is
associated with
improved cognitive
function (especially
memory), reduced
absenteeism, and
improved mood.
Taras HL. Nutrition
and student
performance at
school. Journal of
School
Health 2005;75:199–
213.
STUDENT PLANNERS
We believe that organization is a key to school
success. Each student
was given a Student
Planner on the first day
of school to keep in
their binders. Students
should use their Planners daily as an organizational tool to record
assignments and plan
ahead. The Planner
includes school policies and procedures,
assignment pages,
study skills templates, and academic information. Hall
passes are also included in the Planners and students
need to have their
Planner with them in
order to use the hall
passes.
School is a place of business and we expect
students to dress
accordingly! No hats!
Follow the Principal on Twitter
MichelleSchultzeRICA@schultze_e
RICA SCHOOL
MISSION
Stay in touch with updates,
news, and photos about RICA
As educators who respect our
students and their diverse
backgrounds and needs, we
will work to help them:
happenings!
GET READY….by supporting
them with a safe, structured
behavioral program to address
social/emotional concerns.
GET SET….by providing a
rigorous academic environment for learning.
GO….to less restrictive schools,
to higher education, to the
world of work.
EDLINE
HOMEWORK HOTLINE
Homework Hotline
Live! (HHL) is back for
its 28th
season,
offering
students in
grades K12 free
homework assistance
from MCPS teachers.
Students can call, send
text messages, or email
questions on Mondays,
Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
and Thursdays from 4
to 9 p.m. Questions received by phone are
answered between 4
and 6 p.m.; all other
questions are answered
up until 9 p.m.
[email protected]
Students can ask questions by: Calling 301279-3234
Homework Hotline Live!
can be viewed on MCPS
-TV (Comcast 34, Verizon 36, RCN 89) and on
the
Web
at
www.montgomeryschool
smd.org/departments/
itv/hhl/
Visiting the HHL website
askhhl.org
Sending a text message
to 724-427-5445
Emailing ques-
Keep abreast of your child’s
Posting a message to
effort and
Facebook
achieve(facebook.com/AskHHL) ment by
Posting a “tweet” to
using EdTwitter (@askHHL)
line, the
internet portal which gives
you access to grades, assignments and more. A link
to Edline is on our school
web homepage. If you have
any questions, please contact Ms. Brenkus at the
school.