MONDAY MEMO
Dominic and Trevor enjoyed a painting project in art class today.
Greetings!

Here is this week's Memo. Note that the calendar now takes us all the way until the end of the year, and all the information for relevant events is explained below.

Happy Monday and Happy Spring!
Nelia
NOTES
ANNUAL SPRING CLEAN UP DAY
Thank you so much to the faculty, trustees, and family who joined us to lend a hand with campus work on Saturday. We cleaned, sorted, gardened, and fixed things. Riverside is in better shape this week because of you!
4-8 SPRING FIELD TRIP
We leave Wednesday morning for two nights in on the seacoast of New Hamshire! Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to come with us, helping to transport and supervise students. This trip would not be possible without you!

Accommodations: We will be staying at the Holiday Inn on Woodbury Ave in Portsmouth : 603-431-8000.

Emergencies: Students are not permitted to use cell phones on the Field Trip without faculty permission (see below). In case of emergency, parents at home may get in touch via the hotel number above or Nelia’s cell 802-535-1915 or Krystal’s cell 802-535-9996.

About Phones and other Digital Devices: Other than to take pictures, we will not tolerate students communicating or entertaining themselves with digital devices, even en route in the carpools.  We want to encourage students to interact with each other instead of being “plugged in.” Should a student need to make a call, s/he should ask a faculty member for permission to use his/her phone, and the adult will decide if it’s truly necessary or not. If a student is found to have used such technology inappropriately, it will be taken and held by a faculty member until the end of the trip.

Schedule:  Students should be at Riverside by 8:00 am on Wednesday morning. We will return to Riverside by 3:30 pm on Friday. 
  • Wednesday AM: travel
  • Wednesday PM: visiting Portsmouth Light and Fort Constitution.
  • Thursday AM: visiting Strawbery Banke
  • Thursday PM: visiting the Seacoast Science Center and class dinners out.
  • Friday AM: visiting the dry-docked submarine USS Albacore
  • Friday PM: travel

Fees:  Students must bring $25 to spend on their class’s dinner out on Thursday evening. We request that parents don’t send children with more than $10 of extra spending money for souvenirs or snacks; no one needs any extra money, and when some students have lots to spend it can be very uncomfortable for others.

Packing List:  As ever, students should be prepared for a variety of terrain and temperatures. Please encourage your child to pack lightly and to label personal items with his/her name (especially those outer layers and carried items that tend to be dropped like bags, bottles, warm layers, rain coats), both efforts will make life on the trip easier for all of us. In addition to what they wear on Wednesday, the following should be packed:
  • Two shirts
  • Shorts
  • Long pants
  • Two pairs of socks, underwear
  • Sweatshirt or fleece
  • Raincoat
  • Pajamas
  • Toiletries
  • Towel
  • Bathing suit
  • Shoes that are comfortable for exploring
  • shoes that protect your feet and can get wet (rubber boots or water shoes or sandals with a heel strap or an extra pair of old sneakers)
  • Backpack
  • Water bottle
  • Lunch for Wednesday in reusable container
  • $25 for Thursday’s dinner out
  • Optional: book for bedtime; game for car ride; camera; $0-10 extra spending money, please not more

Chaperones: You should've gotten lots of information from Nelia in an email on Friday and a follow-up today. We are preparing the final version of your Chaperone Packet and plan to hand it out before Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning. It’ll have everything you need to know, including detailed schedule, addresses and directions, phone numbers, room-, experience group- and carpool assignments.  We encourage you to browse the locations and research directions in your preferred method in advance, so that you’re not stressed when we’re departing from one venue to another.
ELEMENTARY PLAY
The PreK-5th graders will be presenting musical performances on Tuesday, May 15 at 6:00 pm at the Alexander Twilight Theater at NVU (LSC).

K-5th graders will be going to NVU (LSC) tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday, May 8 from 12:45-3:00 to rehearse (the space is not available during the day next week). They will take a bus up there after lunch, please plan to pick up outside the theater at 3:00 tomorrow . Any parents who can volunteer to help drive sets and props up at 12:45 and/or to assist back stage during the rehearsal are welcome.

The only prop donation still needed is a small cart that could be used as a lemonade stand.
ELEMENTARY SWIMMING
K-3rd graders will be swimming for the last time this week. Please remember to pick them up at the SJA pool at 3:15.
MAKE A PLATE FUNDRAISER
This is your last chance to order awesome, colorful plates of your kids’ artwork! You should have received a class specific email with a picture of your child's artwork. If you are having a hard time viewing the artwork, Polly would be happy to send you a picture individually - just email or call her! You don’t need to get payment in quite yet, but at least let her know if you would like to order the plates so that she can get them rolling for production. 
Here are a couple examples of the amazing artwork, one from each class (top left to right: Rory Ray, Raya Mirkin, Rylie Norton, Maggie Reeve, Molly Aeberhard, Izzy Butler, Koji Ebbett, Yofta LaRocque, Marin Giese, James Lamontagne).
7th GRADE ARTS DAY
Suzanne will be taking the 7th grade class to Arts Appreciation Day at St. Johnsbury Academy on Friday, May 18th from 8:30-11:00, where they will engage in two choices from a variety of arts electives. We would appreciate the help of parents who could carpool the class down to SJA and back. Please let PAG Parent Stephanie Giese know if you can drive students that day.
DAY CAMP AT RIVERSIDE
We will be offering three weeks of day camps again this year, during the month of June, for 7-14 year-olds. The cost is $175/week and the registration deadline is May 18. Detailed information about the schedule, programs and instructors, as well as the registration form, are available at our Day Camp at Riverside website .
June 11-15: International Cooking and Dance
June 18-22: Ukulele and Mask Making
June 25-29: Painting and Fiber Arts
RACE BACK TO SCHOOL
The steering committee (Mel Finn, Lilias Ide, Angela Norton, Madeleine Balcom) for our new summer fundraiser and community event at the Kingdom Trails met again last week to move forward with their plans.

On August 19 there will be a run-walk-bike-a-thon to raise money for technology for independent schools in the NEK. This event will be organized by the Riverside School and Kingdom Trails and include volunteer participation from other local independent schools. Competing students and adults raise will raise money for their own schools through pledges. There will be prizes for endurance winners, as well as for the top fund-raisers. This engaging, kid-centric event will build a stronger NEK student community. 

Stay tuned for promotional information to share with friends and an online volunteer sign-up to work the event.
SCIENCE AND PE TESTING
There is additional state-mandated standardized testing to be completed with students during the month of May. Stay tuned for more specific schedule announcements:
  • All 5th and 8th graders will be completing two 1-hour, computer-based sessions in sciences during the week of May 14.
  • Publicly funded 4th and 7th graders will be completing a few hours of physical testing to measure their aerobic capacity, abdominal strength and endurance, upper body strength and endurance, and flexibility.
PARENT ADVISORY GROUP
The PAG will have its last meeting of the year on May 17, at 5:00 pm in the library, with dinner provided for parents and children (thank you Angela Norton, Courtney Daffinrud and Renee Piernot). We will be reflecting on this year and setting goals for next year with regard to communication, community support, and fundraising. All interested parents are welcome to attend.
GRADUATION
Riverside's community celebration at the end of our school year is an official school day for all students in grades PreK-8 on June 2. We encourage families to join us for the ceremony, the many awards, the graduation of the Class of 2018, and the community potluck afterwards. The day typically goes from about 10:00 am - 1:00 pm.
SCIENCE CLUB
There will be Science Club today from 3:45-5:00. At this point students should be done with their experiments and be planning their presentations for the Science Club Fair which will be held on May 18 at 2:45 pm . Next Monday, May 14 will be the last Science Club.
KARATE
There will not be karate this week because Mr. G and many of the participants will be with us in Portsmouth.
LATIN CLUB
Latin Club is over for this year.
MOUNTAIN BIKING CLUB
Mountain Bike Club will meet this Friday to ride the trails. Students need to be at the Kingdom Cycling and Experiences Center on Darling Hill 4:00-5:30 pm, note the later end time. We appreciate parent volunteers to be with the group each week to assist in organizing the kids; if you can help please let Westerly know.
TEAM RIVERSIDE AT RELAY-FOR-LIFE
The Riverside School Herons are registered and working on getting donations. We are participating in honor of Peter Whitney, Audrey Rexford, Art Hunt, and other dear friends of this community who have battled cancer. Our fundraising goal is $1000. We have a drop bucket at school where a donation can be made, or one can go online to make a donation here .  No amount is too small!
SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES
CALENDAR
LESSON PLANS
30 Lily Pond Road, Lyndonville, VT 05851
phone: 802.626.8552
fax: 802.626.4156
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