Republic Middle School
Family Newsletter
Empowering Leaders to Grow and Serve
RMS Families,

Happy December!
In this newsletter, you will find many things we are excited to celebrate here at RMS as well as information on upcoming and recent events.

We also want to bring your attention to previous communication regarding this year's patron survey. Republic School District invites parents and guardians of our seated students to complete the applicable short survey found at the link below by December 7. Your feedback allows us to see at what level we are meeting the needs of our students, families, and community at large. Preparing each student for a successful future is our mission, and the information gathered through these surveys provides us a measure to see how well we are achieving this goal. 

The surveys should take approximately 10 minutes to complete and are open November 29-December 7. Thank you in advance!



Thank you,

Allison Dishman, Principal
Tonia Herbold, Assistant Principal
Curt White, Assistant Principal
Michael Wright, Assistant Principal
Enrollment

6th grade: 392
7th grade: 391
8th grade: 407
Total: 1190
Lead
One of our 41 LEAD teams, "Updates from the Den," has the mission to provide updates and information about all of the different LEAD teams to our school and community. Part of their process includes interviewing students about their LEAD team and sharing their stories through school communication platforms. Check out their most recent interviews below. (all graphics are created BY students)
RMS Student Lighthouse Team
Our RMS Student Lighthouse Team met for the first time with its newest members! We now have 23 students representing 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Students spent last Monday's Lead Team time participating in a few team builders to build trust and get to know each other better. The team plans to move forward by creating focus groups in the areas of leadership, culture, and academics to help bring new ideas and positive change to our building. 
Classroom Spotlight
In Medical Detectives class, students dissected and labeled sheep brains. They are currently working on learning the parts of the brain and their functions so that they can correctly diagnose neurological issues based on symptoms happening outside the body. Students will soon be given a case file and will be required to propose a diagnosis and will then perform an autopsy on another brain to see if they were correct. 
RMS Counselor Corner
Major Saver
The 2021 Major Saver Discount Card campaign benefitting the Republic Community Foundation along with Republic School District will take place November 30th-December 13! Please consider purchasing a Major Saver card from a Republic EC, elementary or RMS student! You can also purchase at https://www.majorsaver.com/cards/ or through the Major Saver app. The cards are only $15 and are loaded with tons of great local offers!
Optional Student COVID19 Vaccine Status
To help our nurses and our administrators with the efficiency of future contact tracing (as you can imagine, these can be very time-consuming), we're asking our families to share student COVID19 vaccine statuses with us by completing the form at the link below. Completing this form is completely voluntary and not required. However, by sharing your student's proof of vaccine with us, we'll be able to quickly determine that if your student is exposed to a positive case they will not need to quarantine as long as they are symptom-free instead of having to gather evidence during contact tracing.

This will be very helpful information, but it will be kept confidential and for district purposes only. This will also allow us to be able to determine our overall student vaccination rate, which can assist us in how we monitor future trends of COVID19 in our buildings.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this voluntary form and to upload your student's vaccine card, if he or she has been vaccinated. This form will be available throughout the year to complete as vaccines are received. Contact your school nurse or Health Services Director, Natalie.Botkin@republicschools.org if you have questions.

December

12/1
Stu-Co Mtg. 7:15 or 2:55
Major Saver kick off virtual assembly

12/2
Girls B-ball vs. Neosho, home 5:30
Wrestling @ Lebanon 5:30

12/4
Wrestling Tourney @ Seneca

12/6 - 12/13
Major Saver Fundraiser
Wrestling @ Branson, 5:30
Girl's B-ball @ Carl Junction, 5:30
Boy's B-ball vs Branson, home 5:30

12/7
Wrestling @ Marshfield, 5:30
Winter Choir Concert, 6:00

12/9
Boy's B-ball vs. Bolivar, home 5:30

12/13 - 12/17
Stu-Co Spirit Week (12/13-12/22)
Girl's B-ball 7th grade tourney @ Joplin
Girl's B-ball 8th grade tourney @ Branson

12/13
Boy's B-ball @ Nixa 5:30

12/16
Boy's B-ball vs. Ozark, home 5:30

12/20
Girl's B-ball vs. Willard, home 5:30

12/21
Christmas Band Concert, 7:00


Communication
It is vital to student success that all RMS families have updated contact information. You may contact the RMS office at any time to update your information or use parent portal to do so. Be reminded that communication with building teachers and administrators is always available and important. Below you will find many of the communication tools you may access:

  • Website: republicschools.org and republicschools.org/rms
  • District Twitter: @republicschools
  • District Facebook: Republic School District
  • Building Facebook: Republic Middle School
  • Building Instagram: repmo_rms
  • Email/phone
  • Peachjar E-Flyer Service: Weekly optional email with school-related and approved e-flyers to keep them informed of district and community information
  • Tiger Talk e-newsletter: Sent on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month during the school year. Parents who have provided an email account are automatically signed up. Others can sign up on our website.
  • Mobile App
  • Voice calls and text messages at the building and district level (All numbers provided will receive these notifications, there is no longer a need to opt-in as in the past. However, opting out is still an option.)
  • Canvas


Important Links