The Oregonian Cup and More (September 16, 2011)

The Oregonian Cup:

Riverdale High School has been awarded a great honor this fall.  The OSAA has honored Riverdale with the Oregonian Cup for 2011.

The OSAA writes to us:
“The Oregonian cup is truly about everything we stand for as a high school activities association.  The Oregonian cup began in 1999 and recognizes overall school excellence in academics, activities, athletics and sportsmanship. 

This is the first time Riverdale has received this honor. 

This year’s award was predominantly won in the classroom for the Mavericks.  Fourteen programs finished in the top ten in the Dairy Farmers Academic All-State Award, with several programs finishing in the top three of the classification.  On the activities side, Riverdale had exceptional state performances in Boys Soccer and Girls Basketball.  With the combination of success in the classroom and on the playing field, Riverdale personifies the term “student-athlete.”

            
While each of these accomplishments are outstanding and the aforementioned awards are important in their own right, the OSAA believes that the Oregonian Cup stands alone in its importance.

            
In its truest sense this is a community award.  It seems appropriate to recognize a community that obviously takes tremendous pride in their school and its students.  The pride that teachers have in seeing their students succeed.  The pride that coaches take in guiding students to fulfill their dreams and the pride parents have in wanting only the best for their children.  Most of all this is the pride that you, the student, have in yourselves and each other to work together towards a common goal of excellence.

           

On behalf of the OSAA and the 290 member schools we are proud to present the 2A Oregonian Cup to Riverdale High School.  Congratulations!” (OSAA September 2011).

School Traffic: 
It is true that our drop off and pick up situation is less than optimal.  I am writing to remind you of our courtesy rule for facilitating the movement of traffic as smoothly as possible.  The courtesy rule is this: “When more than one car is behind you as you leave the school lot, turn right”.  If you have to turn right head up Terwilliger Blvd. toward Lewis and Clark, loop through the traffic circle and swoop back down Terwilliger and be on your way.  This choice is much safer for you as well as being helpful.

News from the Counselor: 
The college application season has begun for seniors.  Parents and students have been informed again about our reliance on a widely used computer program called Naviance as a resource to explore college options and to transmit recommendations and transcripts. Seniors should be familiarizing themselves with this program, and check to be sure that the information in their profile is correct and complete.  

Juniors and seniors have been given written instructions about college application procedures, and we have gone over them in Mr. Brown's class.  Next week, they will engage in a college essay workshop to clarify the characteristics of a successful essay.  The college application process will be explained to senior parents during a meeting in the library on Wednesday, September 21 and to junior parents on Tuesday, September 27.  Freshman and sophomore parent meetings will include college information as well.  

The College Center will be open at lunch on Wednesdays, and parents are welcome to come in with questions for Mr. Murray and our parent volunteers.  College visits have begun, and the schedule is on Naviance and announced in the Daily Bulletin.  Most seniors have decided on the colleges that they will apply to.  They should meet the representatives of those colleges when they come on campus.  Juniors should be meeting with representatives in order to explore options.

Dress Code:

The transition from summer fashion to professional student attire has been a tough one for many of our students.  The teaching staffs appreciate your support in checking your child’s choices prior to leaving home for the day.  The length of shorts, shirts worn with no long pants and dresses must be as long as or longer than the longest finger length on an extended arm.  Thank you for managing this, by doing so teachers focus is to manage the business of learning.

Parents Needed:

I am writing to recruit parent representatives for the School Site Council.  School Site Council is a requirement of the State of Oregon (OAR 329.704) designed for the purpose of improving professional growth for staff, improvement of instructional programs and implementation of programs.  The OAR’s require that the School Site Council is comprised of teachers, staff, administration, students and parents.  Currently we have no parents.  Our meetings are held monthly and are scheduled for the following dates:

Site Council - 4:00 pm. - 2nd Tuesday of each month

10/11/11, 11/8/11, 12/13/11, 1/10/12, 2/14/12, 3/13/12, 4/10/12, 5/8/12

2011-12 Senior Yearbook Portraits:

Deadline: end of Fall Term (November 18, 2011)

Students have received a goldenrod half-slip with specifications.  If you have questions that were not addressed on the “handout’ please email Ms. Finnerty at hfinnerty@riverdale.k12.or.us
  
School portraits will be used if you choose not to get pictures taken elsewhere, so do not worry; your student will be in the yearbook if your student received a student body card with a picture on it (by being present on picture day September 15^th).

We are off to a great year; many students have reported their excitement and happiness to be back to school.    Well, I have to go; the Green Club is at my door waiting to present a proposal…

Important Date Changes:  The District Calendar on the website is the most up-to-date calendar -- it reflects the changes that inevitably occur.
Wed. Sept. 21: Senior Parent Meeting in library

Mon. Sept 26: Frosh Meeting in library

Tues. Sept 27: Junior Meeting in library

Wed. Oct. 5: Sophomore Meeting in library