Fall 2022

Dear River Grove School Community,

Welcome to the 2022-23 school year! I hope you had a wonderful summer and spent time having fun with family and friends.

RGS welcomes our next principal, Mrs. Christine Trujillo and six new teachers to the River Grove School family. Please see the picture and information on our website and give them a warm Royals welcome when you see them! You may be aware of severe teacher and educational staff shortages. We are pleased to note that both River Grove School and Rhodes bus service are fully staffed. Staff shortages in schools have caused the combining of classrooms with high numbers of students in classes, a lack of ability to provide special classes such as art, and a lack of ability to provide buses. I celebrate the fact that we are fully staffed and I thank the community and school for truly being the “Village of Friendly Neighbors”. People have choices. River Grove is a wonderful place to live and work because of the kindness and respect we show each other and model for our children.  #WeAreRG!

The River Grove School District 85.5 Board of Education is committed to continuous improvement.  A community survey was sent to all staff, families and community members. Thank you for completing the survey! The Board is working to analyze the responses, and this information will be shared with the community soon. In the meantime, we are always striving to improve the building and opportunities for students.

Here are some accomplishments:

• Building and Grounds- I hope you have seen the beautiful new concrete, asphalt and curb painting surrounding the school. We thank the Village of River Grove for helping with funding for our new sidewalks and safe crosswalks. New exterior doors, lighting and updates to landscaping create a beautiful and safe property. We also continue to update heating and air conditioning within the school for a comfortable learning environment.
  
  

• Teaching and Learning- This year, we’ve adopted a new K-5 social studies curriculum, new K-8 music and band resources, and new 6-8 health materials. Additionally, we’ve purchased new phonics materials for teaching our youngest learners how to read and supporting those that struggle to read. Teachers have begun to receive training on how to use these materials to enrich students’ learning, and this training will continue through the year. 
  
  

• Technology-We continue to support a 1:1 environment where every student has an iPad or Chromebook to use at school and at home. Using a new federal grant, Promethean Boards, large white boards that students and teachers can write on and manipulate content on, similar to a room sized iPad, are in place in all K-3 classrooms and teachers received training on how to use them to improve learning outcomes for their students.
  
  

• Safety-We are working closely with our Police and Fire Departments to be sure we have safe practices in place and are prepared for a variety of events. We have automatic locking doors and we are reminded to be diligent in keeping external doors closed and locked. We have a crisis plan and a new evacuation plan in case of any need to leave the building. We meet regularly with our police and fire department partners to review and plan for a safe school environment.

The Board of Education accomplished these improvements and updates without overspending and ending the fiscal year in the black.  Because we are a small district receiving  limited state and local resources, a balanced budget is not an easy accomplishment. I congratulate the Board on their fiscal responsibility and dedication to the students, families and tax payers of River Grove.

Finally, communication with families and our community is very important to us. The school calendar, school updates, student and staff celebrations, lunch menus and a warehouse of all of our important documents are found on our website. It is regularly updated, so please bookmark www.rivergroveschool.org and visit it often! Please follow us on instagram with the handle rgs.855 and on facebook by searching “River Grove School District 85.5”. Our twitter feed is easily viewed from the main page of the website. Please follow us @rivergrove85_5, #rgroyals, #WeAreRG. The Royal Revolution newspaper, written by students and staff, is delivered to all River Grove addresses each December and May. It is also linked on our website, so please take a look! Finally, ParentSquare our communication app, as well as Teacherease are used by staff and families to message, call or email each other. As you can see there are many ways to communicate and keep up with RGS.

I look forward to seeing you at one of our fall family, fine arts or sporting events!!

All my best,

Dr. Rashid

#WeAreRG!

To view archived messages, you can view them here!