Sept. 2 Update

We had a great turnout for Back to School Night; thank you to everyone who was able to come.  We had a great deal of information to share in a short period of time, and I know many of you still have questions about some of the changes we are implementing this year. To help provide you with information and offer you opportunities to share your thoughts, we will be pushing some information to you in print and digital communications and hosting a question and answer session.  

The first information that I want to pass along is a brief overview of what your child should be learning this year related to the Common Core State Standards.  A two page document created by the National PTA that is meant to provide you with an overview of the standards, focus topics for discussion with your child’s teacher, and suggestions for what you can do to help your child learn at is available at https://pta.org/parents/content.cfm?ItemNumber=2910.  To see all of the Common Core Standards for English-Language Arts, visit http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/.  For the Math Standards, visit http://www.corestandards.org/Math/.  You can also keep up to date by following the school on Facebook at facebook.com/raymondschool.  

Additionally, I will be hosting a question and answer session on Monday, September 8th, at 6:00 P.M. in the cafeteria.  At that time, I will be able to share our vision for student learning, answer your questions, and show you a current draft of student report cards for this year.  If you are unable to attend this session, but you would still like to have your questions answered, please feel free to give me a call at the school or send me an email at rjohnson@rkusd.org.  

Below are some important dates for your calendar. 

9/5: Volleyball & Football @ Coarsegold

9/8: Question & Answer Session in the Cafeteria @ 6:00 P.M. 

9/11: RKUESD Board of Trustees Meeting @ 5:00 P.M. in the library

9/12: Volleyball & Football @ Spring Valley

9/17: Constitution Night Presentations @ 6:00 P.M.  

9/19: Volleyball & Football @ Raymond vs. Rivergold

9/26: Volleyball & Football @ Wasuma

RKS Students Compete at Mountain Area Track Meet at YHS

On Friday, May 9, students from Raymond-Knowles competed in the annual Mountain Area Track Meet hosted at Yosemite High School.  As always, our students did a fine job of representing themselves and the school.  Congratulations to the following students for their achievements at the meet:

800 M: Cierra H. 4th, Hailey B. 5th, Isaac T. 4th, Isabella B. 2nd, Joe D. 4th
200 M: Delaeny S. 4th, Teresa D. 6th, Kevin R. 2nd, Kelsie W. 5th, Lauren M. 6th
1500 M: Cierra H. 1st, Emma G. 2nd, Hailey B. 3rd, Kylee M. 4th, Isaac T. 4th, Robert B. 5th
100 M: Delaeny S. 4th, Teresa D. 6th, Jose M. 1st, Kevin R. 3rd
400 M: Catalina R. 6th
4 X 100 M Relay: Teresa D., Delaeny S., Torie A., Cierra H. 2nd, Isaac T., Remi K., Chase C., Jimmy M. 5th, Kevin R., Shane M., Matthew D., Jose M. 4th
Shot: Autumn H. 4th, Remi K. 3rd, Robert B. 4th, Rebecca T. 5th, Alex R. 6th
Discus: Rebecca T. 5th, Matthew D. 4th, Seth U. 5th
Long Jump: Delaeny S. 1st, Teresa D. 3rd, Kevin R. 1st, Jose M. 2nd, D.J. W. 4th

Awards Assemblies Today

We will be having the 3rd quarter awards assemblies this afternoon.  The K-3 assembly will be at 1:30.  The 5-8 assembly will be at 2:00.  All are welcome to come and support the students.  Congratulations to all students receiving awards. 


Students receiving recognition in language arts (left) and  math (right) based on their quarterly assessment:

student	grade	student	grade
bridwell, warren	tk	bridwell, warren	tk
bryson, wyatt	k	dudley, john	k
east, brooklyn	k	east, brooklyn	k
hafkey, eliana	k	hafkey, eliana	k
harris, kierra	k	harris, kierra	k
o'brien, ruby	k	spurrier, hayden	k
steep, kaylee	k	townsend, madeline	k
townsend, madeline	k	barriga, zoe	1
barriga, zoe	1	borquez, ireland	1
borquez, ireland	1	bryson, levi	1
bryson, levi	1	dudley, thomas	1
dudley, thomas	1	flowers, madison	1
flowers, madison	1	kirk, cheyenne	1
roduner, cayden	1	roduner, cayden	1
smith, harper	1	smith, harper	1
terrell, gabriel	1	terrell, gabriel	1
miller, samuel	2	brown, shivam	2
o'brien, bella	2	miller, samuel	2
stevenson, daniel	2	stevenson, daniel	2
dudley, teresa	3	dudley, teresa	3
graham, emma	3	graham, emma	3
hogan, autumn	3	hogan, autumn	3
stevenson, delaeny	3	stevenson, delaeny	3
abrahams, gina	4	abrahams, torie	4
abrahams, torie	4	bradley, kennon	4
bradley, kennon	4	hafkey, erica	4
hafkey, erica	4	mccurry, james	4
townsend, isaac	4	townsend, isaac	4
brewer, salem	5	brewer, salem	5
upton, seth	5	dudley, matthew	5
mccurry, shane	6	murillo, jazmyn	5
murillo, jose	6	upton, seth	5
radder, kevin	6	murillo, jose	6
wasem, dj	6	radder, kevin	6
abrahams, tehya	7	townsend, rebecca	6
dudley, joseph	7	wasem, dj	6
radder, alexzandria	7	abrahams, tehya	7
wasem, kelsie	7	bethel, daisey	7
		dudley, joseph	7
		putman, hailey	7
		radder, alexzandria	7
		bethel, matthew	8
		burgeno, austen	8
		lopez, joseph	8
		richards, vincent	8

Genius Hour

Here at Raymond-Knowles, we are always eager to try a new idea, especially if it might result in increased student engagement and learning.  Our most recent experiment is just getting underway in the 7th and 8th grade classroom.  This idea, found and researched by Mrs. Townsend, is being conducted in various schools throughout the country. 

Genius Hour originates from an idea that is part of Google’s corporate culture.  Google employees are given 20% of their work time to pursue projects and ideas of their own choosing.  This time has resulted in innovations like Gmail and those lovely suggestions that pop up in the search bar once you begin typing. 

Genius Hour is intended to be Google’s 20% time in the classroom.  Students will get to spend about 20% of their work week on learning of their own choosing.  Students must maintain a blog that documents their learning along the way, and they will have to produce a final project that demonstrates their learning.  We are looking forward to seeing what our students learn and do with this time. 

For more information about Genius Hour, ask Mrs. Townsend, Mrs. Stevenson, or, best yet, a 7th or 8th grader. 

LCAP Survey Available

We are looking for feedback from our families about the eight state priorities that we must address in our Local Control and Accountability Plan.  To access the survey, please click on the link below.  The survey is only 15 questions and will help guide our planning and drafting. 

Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-BDRwYT0_T6kKcqtRc6upv7tm8hN0dZIBpv9QGjaLQI/viewform

Board Reports

Over the past couple of months my board reports have changed formats from a written document to more of a presentation with text, pictures, and video.  I hope this does a better job of capturing what is going on in our classrooms.  I will try to post these reports here on the blog so that anyone who so desires may see what's going on. 

March 13th Board Report:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yVufzlYOlQWJR1gI_1N6ek7mB_Pi1s6-MgKZC5Z9f5U/edit?usp=sharing