Weekly News & Updates

January 15, 2023

Administration

Dr. Robert Compton

Head of School

Ms. Erica McCray

Elementary Principal

Dr. Christina Dempsey

Secondary Principal

6 - 9

Mr. Richard Ball

Secondary Principal

10 - 12

Ms. Dwana Tillman

Assistant Principal

K - 9

Other Contacts

Ms. Kathryn Carr
School Counselor
K - 6

Ms. Caroline Menges
School Counselor
7 - 12

Ms. Christine BornProgram Coordinator/ College & Career Counselor
10 - 12

Mr. Chris Carroll
Dean of Students

Ms. Shenelle Mabey
Student Information

Ms. Katie Robinson
Front Office

Nurse Donna
School Nurse

Ms. Kelly Burns
Food Services
K - 9

Riverwalk Academy App

Download our Riverwalk Academy app to see updates, announcements, and other resource:

Happy Sunday, Pride!

I hope each of you have had a great weekend and that you enjoy your extra day away from school as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

There's a quote from Dr. King that I absolutely love and it's one that I've referenced a few times.  Before I share this quote with you, I'd like to take a moment to encourage everyone to familiarize yourself with two things, if you haven't done so already:

I have a Dream Speech - Most of us have heard/seen the segment of Dr. King making his "I have a dream speech."  Many people can recite a few lines of that speech.  Probably the most famous line is this:  "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  Those are some powerful words.  But if you want an even more powerful experience, you should consider watching/reading that whole speech.  

Letter from Birmingham Jail -  Many say that Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is arguably one of the most important documents from the civil rights era.  This letter stands as a reminder of how far we have come in our nation in living up to the ideals of justice and equality for all.

In 1947, Dr. King wrote an article for his college's student newspaper.  Here's an excerpt from his article titled The Purpose of Education:
  
"Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.  The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.  Intelligence plus character; that is the goal of true education."

I love this . . .  weigh evidence, discern the truth and facts from fiction, think intensively, think critically . . . sounds a lot like what a project based learning school should be teaching.  

Pride, I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.

Have a great week, Lions!

In Strength and Blessings, 
~Dr. Compton

Photo of the WeekWe are so thankful for our Safety Patrol and how hard they work to serve our Pride. Great Job! 

Support our Team

The New Student Lottery Application for 2023-2024 is now available on our website. This in for NEW students that are not currently enrolled at Riverwalk. Information regarding the Intent to Return Form that you will need to complete for your student that is currently attending Riverwalk will be sent out in January.

School Lunches (K - 9th Grade)
 
The new menu for January has been uploaded to our website. 

Lunch Menu

ImageForNews_721710_16599712842538987 image

COVID

Pride, we adjusted our COVID-related protocols to be more inline with the latest DHEC recommendations (which were updated on 8/15/22). The latest DHEC guidance can be found here.

If your child tests positive for COVID, please use this form to communicate this to Nurse Donna. If you have any COVDI-related questions, please contact Nurse Donna.

A Note from Ms. Carr 

        
Greetings,

What do you do when your life does not go as planned? Do you get upset? Do you yell and scream or sit quietly and cry? Sometimes, I do all of these things. Just like children. This past week was one of those times. Life did not go as planned. I got sick. My children got sick. Ms. Teague got sick. We did not get to have our lessons. We did not get to start small groups. We had to reset. We had to take a step back and accept that things were not going to go as planned. I took a lot of deep breaths. Ms. Teague took a lot of deep breaths. And we moved forward. 

This is something all of us are challenged with. Our children, now more than ever, especially since the pandemic, social media and the digital world, are challenged with. They do not know how to reset. They do not know how to take deep breaths and accept when things do not go as planned. They lack self-regulation. They lack social skills. We all do. But we can all help each other. We, the counselors, can teach the children. You, the parents, can teach the children. We can all learn to reset together. 

We found two articles with more about resetting:

Pressing the reset button…
20 Ways to "Reset" When the Kids Are Having a Hard Day

Please let me know if you would like more resources and information on this topic or any others. We are here for each other.

Hugs,

Ms. Carr and Ms. Teague

Elementary Yearbooks
﻿Just wanted you to know that you can go ahead and purchase the yearbook for this school year if you want to get a head start.

﻿

Order Now

A Note from Dr. Dempsey

        
Hello PRIDE!! 

This week your student should have received their report card, if your student did not, please reach out to their teachers. We have several activities the planning stages for the Spring semester that we are excited about. 

This past week, we had our Caregiver 101 session regarding MAPs data. 

Riverwalk will have a team for the Polar Plunge to support the Area 11 Special Olympics, please see the graphic in the newsletter for more information. 

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?" -Martin Luther King, Jr. In honor of MLK day, my family chooses to participate in a random act of kindness. In the past, we have filled blessing boxes at area churches, made donations to a charity organization or just participated in a random act of kindness in our community. As we pause to celebrate this Monday, please consider having your student and/or family participate in a random act of kindness.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns you may have. 

Warmly,
﻿Christy Dempsey

A Note from Ms. Menges

        
Hello Everyone!

I hope you're having a great long weekend. As the semester starts back up, we have many things going on around our school. From testing to IGP meetings, things have started off busy around here. I think we finally have everyone settled into their classes and I look forward to this new semester with everyone!

Here's what we have going on this week... 

Things to note: 

-9th graders, IGP (individualized graduation plan) meetings began this past week. Parents, you should have received an email where you could have signed up for a time slot to meet about your student. Please do this if you haven't already! Link to sign up is here.

Quote of the Week:
“ Whatever life may send your way - make the best of it. Don't waste your time and energy worrying about it. Instead, find a way to do something about it. Learn from it, adjust to it, be strong, be flexible and be your best in every situation.” 
-Les Brown

Sincerely,
Ms. Menges

Middle/High Yearbook
Just wanted you to know that you can go ahead and purchase the yearbook for this school year if you want to get a head start.

Order Now

RiverTech Students

(a catchy-name for our 10th-12th grade students)

A Note from Mr. Ball

        
Hello, 

﻿It was great getting to see our students back on campus this week. I hope they have settled into their new classes and creating habits that will allow them to be successful.

Report cards were sent home with students this week. If your child did not bring one home please reach out so I can try to assist you in getting a copy.

I want to take a moment and thank you for working with us in limiting your students phone time in class. I have seen a big difference as I have gone into classes this week.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

﻿Richard
803-981-7061

11th Grade Students: Save the Date

Wednesday, March 29th for the South Carolina Career Ready Test which all 11th graders MUST take. This will take place at 8:30 on York Tech's campus. Those taking dual enrollment courses will need to prepare to make arrangements with their professors for this test. Reach out to Ms. Menges or Ms. Born if you have any questions.

Rivertech Information

Construction/ Road Closures

Due to road development around York Tech's campus, the entrance closest to the D and C buildings has been closed until further notice. Please consult the yellow arrows on the map for alternate routes to the D Building and N2 parking lot. If entering from Anderson Road, drivers should use the West Entrance by the A and ST buildings.

Dual Enrollment Students

I hope you all had a great first week back! I'm sorry I wasn't able to see you all last Monday- I was down with the flu all week. Please note that the add-and-drop period for the first 8 weeks has now passed. If you wish to drop a course for this first 8 weeks, it will remain on your transcript with a "W" listed.

﻿Don't forget to check your course calendars in D2L and your York Tech email frequently for due dates and updates from your professor. Though we do not have class on Monday for MLK Day, you may still have assignments from your professors!

Senior Announcements

        
       
Seniors! Please save the date for our next Senior Meeting!

Sophomore Announcements

Sophomores- Save the date for your first class ring meeting!

PadLet Don't forget to check the Riverwalk Academy Padlet daily for updates on scholarships. Opportunities are uploaded frequently, so don't miss your chance to earn some cash for college!

Padlet

Middle/ High Yearbook
Just wanted you to know that you can go ahead and purchase the yearbook for this school year if you want to get a head start.
﻿

Order Now

Thank you to our athletes and coaches that helped with our community service project at Eastview Baptist Church last Friday.

Upcoming events:

January 17 - 5:00/8:00 - Basketball at Great Falls High School (JV/Varsity)

January 19 - 6:00 - Basketball vs Comenius (Varsity) @ RH Events Center

If you have any questions regarding athletics at Riverwalk Academy please contact Mr. Ball at rball@riverwalkacademy.com

or 803-981-7061.

Monday: 01/16/23
No School - MLK Day

Tuesday: 01/17/23
Basketball at Great Falls - 5:00 pm JV & 8:00 pm Varsity

Wednesday: 01/18/23
No Scheduled Events

Thursday: 01/19/23
Student Council Meeting - 3:15 pm
Basketball vs Comenius - 6:00 pm (Rock Hill Events Center)

Friday: 01/20/23
No Scheduled Events

Pride Believe. Pride Achieve.

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