Look What We've Accomplished in 14 days!

We've had an outstanding and productive beginning of the 2009-10 school year. Here are a few notable events that we've accomplished in our first three weeks of school:

• First day of school
• Back-to-School Night
• Schedule changes for recess, lunch, and Grab and Go
• High Heat/Smoke From Fires (no recesses as a result!)
• Student Council officers installed

• School Site Council organized
• First ELAC Meeting
• RSP and Speech Classes Began
• Library open and serving students

With the extended effort from our parents as well as all of our 69 staff members (office staff, custodians, cafeteria staff, before school/noon supervisors, teachers, and site administrators) we have had an outstanding beginning of school! We appreciate the fact that you have entrusted your children to us for this school year.

We held a staff meeting last Wednesday and teachers spent time analyzing language arts and math data from the last three years. Looking closely at our trends, we set new goals for this year. We expect all of our subgroups to attain a minimum increase of 15% proficiency over last year's results. All teachers have identified their students by name and by need so that they can differentiate instruction for students who are experiencing achievement gaps as well as those needing to be challenged. At Rivera, every student counts!

We are looking forward to our first HOWL Awards Assembly on Monday, September 14. Our first Book Fair also begins next week. We have an awesome PTA this year and they have great plans for our school. They are launching a Capri Sun recycle campaign next week so please remind your children to put their empty Capri Sun pouches in the recycle container. Our first PTA meeting is next Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the Rivera Library and I encourage you to attend. The meetings run approximately one hour. You will learn a lot about the exciting plans our PTA has for our school.

Welcome to the 2009-10 School Year

The kids are back and all is well at Rivera! After many hours of preparation of interactive classrooms, analyzing data and preparing rigorous standards-based lessons, the staff at Rivera has kicked off the new year with a bang! I was able to visit each class both Monday and Tuesday and here's what I saw: teachers enthusiastically teaching students and setting goals with them, students highly engaged in learning, and a genuine sense of happiness on the part of the teachers and the students.

We began our year with some celebrations. Although the data released by the California Department of Education are only preliminary estimations, we are fairly confident that Rivera met our Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for all subgroups and showed gains in closing the gap between the subgroups. In addition, the preliminary information reflects that we raised our Academic Performance Index (API ). As is the case with most celebrations, we quickly realized that we continue to have work to do to increase the achievement level for each student at Rivera. So our work has begun again and the staff at Rivera are prepared for the challenge that the new year brings.

Mrs. Setzler, SDC teacher, received new "wiggle chairs" that were donated by a parent. They come from VS Furniture in Germany. They have been researched using body heat imaging to show increased oxygen to the brain and thus increased attention while learning! They're really cool! Kids can wiggle from side to side, front to back, and swivel. I could use one in my office!

Please plan to attend our Back to School Night this Thursday, August 27, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. You will have the opportunity to meet your child's teacher and listen to them present information regarding their goals for the school year. Their first presentation will be from 6:15-6:45. They will repeat the presentation from 7:00-7:30. This will allow parents who have more than one child at Rivera to attend more than one presentation.

Our PTA will begin our evening at 5:45 with a general meeting. Our outstanding PTA board has arranged for the following community members to be at our Back-to-School Night to share information about the services available to our Rivera families: Rivera PTA; RUSD Nutrition Services; Altura Credit Union; Orange Terrace Community Center; Orange Terrace Library; The Little Gym of Riverside; My Learning Studio; Boy Scouts; Girl Scouts; and the Woodcrest Pacers 4H Club. Each of these groups will have a table set up in the quad beginning at 5:45. You will have the opportunity to visit the various tables before and after the class presentations.

Please check my blog from time to time as I will update it as news occurs and time allows.

ELD Academy for 4th-6th Grade English Learners Ends ~ and Summer Vacation Begins!

We had another fantastic week for our English Learners. Mrs. Flores-Bertrand held the English Language Development Academy this week for 15 of our 4th-6th grade English Learners. She was assisted by two of our teachers; Mrs. LeeAnn Thomazin, 4th grade teacher, and Mrs. Beth Hollenhorst, 2nd grade teacher. This was a great week for our students and, like last week's academy, all students had perfect attendance for the week.

We had a few visitors stop by to observe how we run our ELD Academy. Mrs. Lari Nelson, Principal at Victoria Elementary School and her Title I Coach, Hans Kaufhold, visited for an hour and then met with Mrs. Flores-Bertrand to "pick her brain" about best practices she has found most effective with this group of learners.

This summer I have been inspired by the professional educators I have the privilege working with each day. During the past few weeks, I've had opportunities to meet with Earhart Cluster principals Russ Bouton, Jackii Hall, Randy Caudill, and Vivian Lee, to have reflective dialogue about the past year and the upcoming year. I also met briefly with Assistant Superintent Judi Paredes to share some of my goals for next year. Lari Nelson, principal at Victoria, and I have met to do some planning together. Since she and I have a long history of working together, it is nice for us to meet every once and awhile to bounce ideas off of each other.

Now it is time for some rest and relation and time to regain some balance in my life. As I head out for a few weeks of vacation, the first stop is Portland, Oregon, for a week of fun with my son and his wife and my precious 5-month old grandson. I will definitely be "stopping to smell the roses" at Portland's infamous Rose Garden ~ an awesome sight (and smell!) Then I will be spending a few weeks in Newport Beach which will be a nice relief from the heat of Riverside.

I will back in the office on August 10. I am looking forward to the RUSD Leadership Symposium on August 13-14. Dr. Rick Miller, our Superintendent, has provided the managers with some "homework" to complete prior to the symposium. Yes, even managers have homework! We are reading books, listening to podcasts, and viewing videos. I've found these "assignments" informative, inspirational, and refreshing.

I am excited about the upcoming school year and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our students. The Rivera community is fortunate to have such great students, parents, teachers, and support staff. Together, we will make it a great year for our kids!

Congratulations to Rivera's Students for Completing the ELD Academy!

We are so proud of our 14 English Learners who completed a week of Rivera's English Language Development (ELD) Academy! Each of these students attended three hours of school every day and received instruction in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Instruction was particularly focused on language development and reading comprehension. Thanks to Mrs. Flores-Bertrand for her careful attention to differentiating instruction for these first, second, and third grade students. We appreciate Mrs. Setzler and Mrs. Atwood for assisting Mrs. Flores-Bertrand this week. Also, a huge thanks to the parents who made sure that their children had perfect attendance this week!

Next week we will hold the ELD Academy for our 4th-6th grade English Learners. Stay tuned!

July 9 Update

Summer continues to bring opportunities for students to learn at Rivera. This week, Mrs. Adela Flores-Bertrand is teaching an English Language Development (ELD) Academy for 14 of our first through third grade English Learners. The students are excited about the opportunity to attend the academy which is evidenced by the fact that all 14 of them have been here every day!

Assisting Mrs. Flores-Bertrand with the academy are Keri Atwood, our Assistant Principal's Secretary, and Karen Setzler, our 1st/2nd grade Special Day Class teacher. Next week the Academy is being held for our 4th-6th grade English Learners. Mrs. Thomazin, a Rivera 4th grade teacher, will assist Mrs. Flores-Bertrand next week.

Mrs. Alicia Grissom, RUSD Program Specialist, spent the morning at Rivera gathering data for the Special Education Annual Report. It's always nice to see familiar faces on campus during the summer as it can get v-e-r-y- quiet around here at times! Not that I'm complaining! :)

Our custodians, DeShaun, Joe, and Gabe are busy deep-cleaning the entire school. In addition, RUSD painters are on campus this week re-painting all of our doors, ramps, and railings. Our students and staff can look forward to returning in August to a sparkling-clean school!

Freida and Char at the Pearson Math Training

I stopped by Mark Twain Elementary School this morning to see how the Pearson math training was going and found Mrs. Freida Coe highly engaged in learning about all the teaching tools available in the enVision math program. I wasn't surprised to find that she had already created a sample product to help her students learn geometry terms. Her students will love making the product and will be able to use it as a reference tool to enhance their learning. She is anxious to share her learning with the Rivera teachers at their first staff meeting. Very exciting things continue to happen during the summer months. Stay tuned!

A Busy First Week of Summer Break

Just because the students are gone doesn't mean that the Rivera Staff have left! Some of the work that occurred in the first week of summer vacation includes the following:

• Our second and third grade teams spent a half day of collaborative planning for the upcoming year. Other grade level teams have scheduled their collaborative planning sessions throughout the summer.
• Mrs. Coe and I participated in a Summer Planning Committee that was comprised of teachers, principals, and district staff. The committee was led by Judi Paredes, Assistant Superintendent, Renee Hill, Director of Elementary Education and Educational Accountability, Janie Rhoades, Director of Program Improvement, and RUSD support staff Christy Ekman, Ellen Parker, Dawn Smith and Patti DeRobles. Outcomes from this planning committee will be shared with principals and teachers prior to the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.
• Many teachers are attending RUSD Standards-Based Planning training that is being offered in July and August.
• We are holding an academy at Rivera for our English Learners during the weeks of July 6-17.

Please be assured that the Rivera Staff is continually working to improve the service we provide to our students, parents, and community at large.