Volume 10 | October 18, 2020
Upper School News
Hello Upper School Families -

Shockingly, 3:30pm Friday marked the official end of first quarter. To be honest, I was not expecting us to still be able to have in-person classes this far into the school year! Teachers will be hard at work this weekend completing grade reports. A few important notes for you about these reports:

-Next week, all families will receive one electronic report that includes the quarter grades and teacher comments for every class.

-Roycemore's Upper School operates on a semester basis, so these quarter grades, while important, are not the final grades that will be recorded on a student transcript. Transcripts indicate semester grades only, and these grades are comprised of two quarter grades and the final exam. Percentages may vary slightly from teacher to teacher, but semester grades are typically calculated at roughly 40% per quarter and 20% for the final exam.

-Only these semester grades count towards GPA.


When I first came to Roycemore, I was so impressed with our grade report system. Having the opportunity to write comments for each of my students, as opposed to simply giving them a letter grade, was wonderful. It is so important to be able to tell students, and their families, about specific accomplishments and areas of improvement...happy reading!
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Carnival is Coming on October 30th!


















To our great joy, we ARE having our annual Carnival celebration this year, albeit a bit differently than normally. All Upper School students have already been hard at work setting up this wonderful event, which is staged by the Upper School students for our younger Griffins. I am proud of the work they have put in, and look forward to seeing the final results! Carnival will take place between the hours of 9am-3pm on October 30th.


Important NEW Guidelines
Please note that when a student stays or goes home with any COVID symptoms he/she/they cannot return to school until:

  • We have received a doctor's note stating it is safe for the student to return.
OR
  • We have received verification of a negative COVID test.
OR
  • 10 days have passed since the onset of the symptom.


Virtual Admissions Open House
On October 25th from 1:00-3:00 pm, Roycemore will host a virtual fall open house. This event will showcase all Roycemore has to offer for prospective families looking for a school for the 2021/22 school year and beyond, or for mid-year enrollment this year. If you know anyone who may be interested in Roycemore, please encourage them to attend this event. For any questions, please contact our Admissions Director Amanda Avery at aavery@roycemoreschool.org.


Parent-Teacher Conferences-SAVE THE DATES!
We will hold virtual parent-teacher conferences on November 5th from 2-7:30pm, and November 6th from 8:30-3:30pm. Please be on the lookout for sign-up information and instructions, coming soon! Please be sure to get your responses in ASAP as times fill up fast (in particular Thursday evening and Friday early morning). Please note there is no school for students on Friday the 6th.



Music Club!


Hi, everyone! I am Owen Xu from Roycemore Music Club. The mission of the club is to provide a stage to the world for Roycemore musicians. To achieve our mission, we are looking for the musicians at our school and subscribers who love music.

We will host online video concerts every month. The complete concert is around 40 minutes long and we will also make a short version including the most amazing part of each performance, which will be 5 minutes. There are different themes for each concert. We will write the article about the theme and the musicians will write a 50-word article relating to the theme that will be presented as subtitles when they perform. 

We will release our videos on the YouTube and send them via email to our subscribers. After appreciating the performance, we sincerely hope you might donate between $2.99 - $9.99 to Roycemore School or MSF. (Doctors Without Borders) We want to make the world a better place.

If you are interested in being either the audience or musicians, please read through the article attached below and communicate with us.

Music Club supervisor: 

Music Club president: 

Music Club customer service and co-founder: 
huz@roycemoreschool.org (Henry Zhang) 

When you contact each of the persons listing above, please also cc the other two. It will help us give you quicker responses and confirmation.


Young Women of Color in Independent Schools Symposium:
Call for Workshop Proposals

The Young Women of Color Symposium is a leadership conference for 7th-12th grade, self-identified young women of color in the Chicagoland area. There are far too many spaces where women of color are not as celebrated or respected as they should be. In order to protect, support, and empower young women of color, Loyola Academy and Francis W. Parker School have partnered together to create a space for conversation, connection, and community. This symposium is one step on the path to changing the narrative and encouraging the resilience of our voices.

The symposium will take place virtually on Saturday, March 20, 2021. The day will feature workshops, affinity group sessions, and activities geared toward providing brave and necessary spaces for participants to explore and celebrate their identities, to develop skills for self-advocacy, and to form lifelong connections and community. The goal is to provide a collaborative environment and experience that promotes opportunities to learn, inspire, and empower participants.

The Young Women of Color Symposium is accepting proposals for 45-minute breakout sessions. There will be separate workshops geared for our middle school and high school participants. We are also accepting workshop proposals for the adult track segment of the symposium. Workshops will be chosen based on relevance to the conference theme: "Stand Out, Step Out, Speak Out," creativity & innovation, and the overall impact of the topic.

Proposals should be submitted by November 30, 2020. Submit proposals HERE.  Presenters will be notified by December 13, 2020. Please email ywocis@gmail.com with questions.

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Reminders
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Virtual Leadership Opportunity through IHSA
Students from both the IHSA Student Advisory Committee and the Special Olympics Illinois Youth Activation Committee have worked together to put this program in place. We are offering it free to all students, with and without disabilities. Upon completion, your students will earn a Youth Leadership Certificate. This is a valuable item for them to include on their resumes and college applications! The registration link is: https://forms.gle/jUAdg9i24feiGRwW6. Please see the flyer below with more info.

Yummy Soaps and More!
Did you know that our very own, Senior Alex O'Koon, runs his own business? In case anyone wants to order some awesome soaps, lotions or salts/sugar scrubs...please visit his website: thesudsygoatbathco.com

Hand Cut Foods
IMPORTANT! If you opted in to Hand Cut Foods-you MUST order your lunch each week. If you do not place an order, they will NOT automatically prepare a meal for you. Today is the deadline to do so! If you have not done so already, please go to your Roycemore email and follow the instructions sent by Hand Cut.

Literary Magazine
Our Lit. Mag. is up and running! Students-please send any and all submissions to litmag@roycemoreschool.org. Stories, photos, artwork, etc...all submissions are welcome!

Attendance
If you know your student will be absent on an upcoming day due to a medical appointment, college visit or other needed reason, please be sure to email: attendance@roycemoreschool.org. Students who will miss school should also take a form to their teachers for signatures and to get information on any classes they will miss. Forms are available in the Upper School office.

Calendar
To view all events please visit our calendar at the following link: roycemoreschool.org/calendar.