Hello Huskies!
What a great week of connection we had! Whether it was spending time with the REACH community at their parent mixer, at our Tuesday morning Coffee with parents from all three schools coming together, or our RHP and Ren students and faculty engaging in their outdoor education we were really connected as a community this week.
Something you may not know about me is that I am a voracious reader, podcast listener, and webinar aficionado. I love to continue to seek out different perspectives and the latest research on a number of topics. This week I was able to attend a webinar via the NAIS Keynote Series called The Science of Active Inclusion. The webinar was led by the NeuroLeadership Institute, which is focused on bringing a science-based approach to support organizations and leaders in developing soft skills. Soft skills are hard to measure but often make the largest impact in many areas of an organization. “If you're not actively thinking about including you’re probably accidentally excluding.” This was something that was shared that really got me thinking about how actively including everyone in our community is a big and necessary task. Feeling included allows the brain to be ready to receive information such as listening to another person’s perspective and being ready to engage in academic learning. If you have the time (around 90 minutes) it is well worth watching.
Another great NAIS resource is their Independent School Magazine, and as I read the Fall issue this week, I was reminded that all great schools are a work in progress. What I mean by this is that although each school has key foundational practices and special programs, really strong schools continue to evolve and iterate in intentional ways. This theme really defines our schools, where our rich historical traditions and teaching practices are integral to who we are while at the same time we continue to iterate using an intentional forward-thinking approach.
Lastly, I always think it is important to thank our community for giving us the gift of time to learn professionally together. While our students will be enjoying an extra-long weekend, the faculty and staff will be doing some professional learning together on Tuesday. I will be sure to report back on our accomplishments in next week’s Friday letter.
Enjoy your long weekend Huskies!
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Amy Hollinger
She/Her/Hers
Head of Schools
Pictured Above: 11th Grade boys put teamwork to the test during their on-campus outdoor education day by successfully completing a challenge provided by their group's guide. A rope was placed to create a boundary line and Nate G. '23 laid on his back with his feet touching the rope and his arms outstretched to place his water bottle an appropriate distance from the rope. The group was then required to retrieve the water bottle without stepping past the rope, leading to the image above.
This was one of many activities contained in our outdoor education week and we look forward to sharing more images and updates soon!
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We are pleased to announce that Kelly's Korner will resume service to our schools, starting October 13, and we are keeping choicelunch as another option as well. Families who are interested in ordering from Kelly's Korner will have to set up a family billing account with them directly and they have asked that all orders are placed a minimum of one day in advance. We will be providing additional information for other ways of ordering in the near future, but for now, we encourage calling Kelly's Korner directly to set up your account and placing orders by phone.
You may view the Kelly's Korner school lunch menu by clicking the button below. Additionally, this menu will be located on both the "Current Parents" and "Current Students" pages of the website for the foreseeable future.
Kelly's Korner Phone Number:
(310) 541-2234
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Grandparents' and Friends' Day has been a long-honored tradition at RHP & Renaissance Schools. Due to COVID-19 protocols, this year again we will be hosting a virtual program for the safety of our families. While we are disappointed to miss this opportunity to see our grandparents and special friends on campus, we are pleased to offer this virtual experience on Friday, November 5, at 1:00 PM PST. We look forward to welcoming our families back to campus next year for this special event!
This event is for grandparents and special friends in your student’s life. Please register your student’s grandparents and special friends for this event via the link below. Your guests will receive a confirmation invite email containing information about the details of this zoom event. We are asking for our families to supply pictures of your students with their grandparents or special friends for this event. Please submit your favorite photos via the link below or you can email a digital copy of the photos to Jennifer Hoffman at [email protected].
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REACH is having their second annual virtual Grandparents' and Friends' Day on the same date, lookout for more information to come! |
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Our enrollment team is hard at work launching the admission cycle for the 2022-2023 school year and we will be hosting an Open House on Saturday, November 13. Referrals from school families are always appreciated and you may share an open house video linked below, the flyer shown above (a link to the downloadable PDF can be found below), or you may encourage your contacts to visit our registration page:
Thank you for helping us grow our community!
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Parent Coffee with Amy
Tuesday, October 12 | 9:30 AM
Hosted Virtually on Zoom
Each Tuesday, our Head of Schools, Amy Hollinger, hosts a recurring parent coffee session to address various topics relating to our schools, programs, and the safety of our students.
No RSVP is required for these parent coffees, but we will provide a question form each week in the Friday Letter to allow families to ask questions in advance. Click the button below to ask questions for next week's session.
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Tuesday, October 12 | 3:30 PM
Varsity Girls' Volleyball vs. CAMS - Senior Game Honoring Graduating Players
Oak Street Gym
1780 Oak St, Torrance, CA 90501
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Tuesday, October 12 | 3:00 PM
Cross Country Meet
Cheviot Hills Park
2551 Motor Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90064
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Thursday, October 14 | 3:30 PM
Varsity Girls' Volleyball vs. New Roads
Oak Street Gym
1780 Oak St, Torrance, CA 90501
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Family Association - First meeting 10/13 and Volunteer Signups: Calling all volunteers! There are many opportunities to get involved with the Family Association at Rolling Hills Prep, Renaissance and REACH Schools. The Family Association works in partnership with the Schools to support our mission, and all parents and guardians are automatically a member. Even though parents are not physically on campus at this time due to COVID, there are many ways to connect and get involved. We welcome and encourage you to attend meetings and participate in whatever capacity works for you and your schedule. Volunteering is a great way to get to know the Husky community and your involvement in our events and activities, no matter how much time you are able to give, is greatly appreciated. Please let us know your area of interest by completing the volunteer form below.
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The first Family Association meeting of the school year will take place Wednesday, October 13 at 5 pm on Zoom. An invite will be sent an hour before the event starts. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Sue Mathews at [email protected].
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Midsummer Night's Dream Field Trip: On Thursday, October 14, all Theatre and Technical Theatre classes, 8th Grade, 7th Grade Ren and select Arts Diploma students along with the RHP/Ren cast and crew of A Midsummer Night's Dream will be going on a field trip to Theatricum Botanicum to see A Midsummer Night's Dream. Please visit our "Announcements and Events Page" for more details regarding field trip attire, timing, and other important information.
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Sign up for COVID-related updates from LACDPH: The LA County Department of Health recently launched a new mailing list for parents of school-aged children. You may sign up for the mailing list by clicking the button below.
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Access Books Volunteer Opportunity: RHP and Renaissance will be volunteering to help refurbish an elementary school library. Students can help to catalog books or paint the library (if you would like to paint make sure to bring appropriate clothing).
The October 9 event is at Park Western Place Elementary, starting at 8:30 AM with an end time between 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM.
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Fall Selective College Admissions Night - 10/14: Join Eliza Powers, Senior Assistant Director of Admission at Stanford University and Dara Norwood, Associate Director of Admissions at Yale University for this virtual session. During the event, you will learn more about the holistic admissions process and how to put forward the strongest application for any selective college. Stanford and Yale Reps will also discuss opportunities at their institutions.
Please click the button below to RSVP by Wednesday, October 13th. A zoom link will be sent on the day of the event.
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Purchase your yearbook and ads today - Early bird pricing ends 12/18: Don't forget to purchase your yearbook and yearbook ads from Balfour, the company that handles our printing. Books cost $90 until December 18 and prices will increase after that date. Additionally, you may purchase class rings and other items from their website.
Seniors - your yearbook is included in your Senior Package! If you would like to purchase a senior ad, please visit the link below.
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Service Learning: While students are not required to complete service-learning hours for the 2021-2022 school year, we still encourage them to participate in activities in which they can help others. Our service-learning webpage will be updated with events as they become available, and students should contact Rachel Rubin ([email protected]) if they find additional events that interest them.
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Weekly advisor letters are taking a different route this year and will be presented in the form of grade-level announcements in the Friday Letter each week. Please click the buttons below to see the general advisory update document and grade level updates. |
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Each year, we release our annual report to highlight our fundraising efforts and acknowledge the generosity of our community from the previous school year.
Appropriately titled Husky Strong, this report recognizes the resiliency of our community throughout a challenging year. As with most independent schools, our tuition does not cover the cost of our programming and the donations from our community help close that gap and ensure our schools' ability to educate radiant minds for years to come.
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Rolling Hills Preparatory and Renaissance School | RollingHillsPrep.org | RenaissanceSAS.org |
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