June 3, 2020









Upcoming Important Dates

Thursday, June 4
Last Day - Acorn, Oak, Magnolia EC Classes

Friday, June 5
Last Day - Grades Classes
11:30 am - End of Year Gathering

Monday, June 15, 6:00 pm
FOCUS GROUP: Early Childhood

Tuesday, June 16, 6:00 pm
FOCUS GROUP: Grades 1-5

Wednesday, June 17, 6:00 pm
FOCUS GROUP: Grades 7-8

Saturday, June 20, 10:00 am
8th Grade Commencement

Friday, June 26 by 5:00 pm
End of Year student reports released to parents
in BigSIS portal
Messenger At A Glance

Weekly Bulletin:
  • High School Placements - Class of 2020 
  • Summer Sessions for 8th Grade Students
Administrative Announcements:
  • Enrollment Updates
  • Note about Payment Plans
  • Contractual Terms for 2020-2021
  • RWS COVID-19 Focus Groups
Community Bulletin:
  • Parents Association Update
  • Clare's 8th Grade Project - Yearbook
  • Gratitude
  • Welcome Baby Girl Horton
  • Waldorf 101 Course, July 5-10
End-of-Year Gathering this Friday, June 5 at 11:30 am
NOTE: This will be instead of our normal gathering at 9am.
Join us this Friday, June 5 for our End of Year Gathering with some special recognition to our 8th graders. Please note that start time for this gathering is 11:30 am . See you there!
Meeting ID: 797 3906 8554
Password: 5ewMh4
Weekly Bulletin
High School Placements for the RWS Class of 2020
Congratulations and Best of Luck!
Logan Amey , The Steward School
Cyrus Bullington , Richmond Community High School
Nina Kelly , Thomas Jefferson High School
Qasim Jafari-Busuulwa , Henrico High School
Aaron Jernigan , Matoaca High School
Tegan Lafland, The New Community School
Clare Maury , The New Community School
Jude McCall , Richmond Community High School
Axel Nevarez Carrillo , CodeRVA Regional High School
Carter Nieman , Appomattox Regional Governor’s School
Sarah Starr Redwine, Richmond Community High School
Daphne Rowan, Hermitage High School - Center for the Humanities
Aiden Young Vick, Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School
Malakai Wiley, Hermitage High School - Center for the Humanities
Summer Sessions for 8th Grade Students
We are pleased to offer 3-week long summer sessions in Spanish, Algebra, and Latin for our graduating 8th grade students who wish to prepare a bit more for placement tests or freshman level courses. Time will be spent in review and intensification of key concepts. The sessions will be conducted via distance learning. Please sign up and find dates of each session below!

Administrative Announcements
Enrollment Updates
Tuition agreements are due in TADS by July 31, 2020 . We will require that all families complete the contract / payment plan through the TADS portal by this date. Following the July 31 deadline, the enrollment fee will increase to $350 . No exceptions. We appreciate your commitments as we identify our enrollment, class rosters, and our budget for next year's operations.

Thank you!
Note about Payment Plans
Tuition payments are beginning this month, June 2020. If you are already set up in TADS, you can log into TADS to see your payment schedule and amounts. 

We want to make parents aware that by beginning payments this month, parents can spread the tuition payments across 12 months (June 2020 - May 2021). We know this is important for some of our monthly payers. If you wait until July to set up your tuition agreement, please keep in mind that TADS will consolidate your payments into 10, slightly larger payments (August - May). All tuition for next year should be paid by May 31, 2021. 

Reach out to Valerie Hogan if you have any questions. You can also contact TADS directly or log into your TADS account for details on your tuition agreement.
Contractual Terms for 2020-2021 Forthcoming
Many of you have asked about adjustments to the contract with distance learning and social distancing looming into next year. Thank you for your patience as we consider the impacts of COVID-19 on our school and our families. 

We anticipate announcing our decisions very soon, before our Focus Group Town Hall meetings the week of June 15. Stay tuned,and please come to these Focus Groups for an opportunity to share your voice and hear others. 
RWS COVID-19 Focus Groups / Town Hall Follow Up
There has been a lot of movement and decision making happening at RWS, and yet still unknown circumstances for next year. Your school's leadership has been hard at work to address your questions and anticipate the best path forward for the Fall school year. Join us for updates from school leadership and an opportunity to share your voice, ask questions, and follow up on many of the topics we discussed in our last town hall. Our hope is for smaller, more specific conversations, and we hope for a dialogue and updates of our plans.

EARLY CHILDHOOD Forum - Monday, June 15 at 6:00 PM

GRADES 1 - 5 Forum - Tuesday, June 16 at 6:00 PM

GRADES 7 - 8 Forum - Wednesday, June 17 at 6:00 PM

Focus Groups will be moderated by the 19-20 PA Co-Moderators, Lindsey Kirchmier and/or Derek Redwine. Please join us, or share your voice in advance if you cannot!
Community Bulletin
Parents Association Update & Volunteer Interest Survey
As we transition to the summer months and preparations for the 2020-2021 school year, the PA asks that every parent take a moment to fill out the Parent Volunteer Interest Survey for next year. It takes a village to run the school and there a variety of tasks, committees, and events you can support.

The PA is also excited to announce the election of a new leadership team for the 2020-2021 school year. 

Moderator - Nicole Randall
Secretary- Maddie Kolenich
Treasurer - Catherine Dougherty  
Historian - Erica Childress

Have a safe and fun summer and be on the lookout for the possibility of some PA sponsored, socially distanced, social activities!

Outgoing Co-Moderators of the PA
Clare's 8th Grade Project - Yearbook
For her 8th grade project (overseen by Mrs. Pollard), Clare Maury is creating an 8th grade yearbook!

In order to help offset the cost, she is selling ad space.

The yearbook will be 8 1/2" x 11", and each ad will be a quarter page. Each ad will be $25.00. These ads can obviously be for a business or a service, but they can also be a great way to send a message to an 8th grader that you love! As an example, when Clare's mom graduated from high school, she put an ad in her yearbook wishing her younger brother good luck with the rest of his high school years. Send Clare and and her mom Heather ( claremaury@gmail.com and hsmaury@gmail.com ) your ideas. If you have artwork, send that also.

Any questions, contact Clare directly! Thanks everyone. You can Venmo the $25.00 to Heather at hsmaury70 . (Any money exceeding the cost of the project will be donated.)
Gratitude
I miss everyone and just want to say thank you so much to all the families and classes as a whole who sent flowers and cards to me and the Aftercare team during teacher appreciation week!

Alicia Robinson, Aftercare Lead Teacher
Welcome Baby Girl Horton!
Please join us in congratulating Catherine Chen, Seth Horton, and Issa Horton (of the 3rd Grade) who all welcomed Celesse Yu-Lin Horton on Thursday, May 21 at 9:44 p.m. Celesse weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 20.25 inches long. Both mother and baby are home now and healthy!

Anyone interested in bringing meals for the family can contact Robert Schnettler at rschnett@gmail.com or click the below link to sign up.


Center for Anthroposophy - Waldorf 101 Course
During the week of July 5-10, The Center for Anthroposophy will be offering:

Waldorf 101: A Course for Early Childhood and Grades Assistants, Parents, Grandparents, Board Members, and Friends of Waldorf Education