Greetings from Julie Craven

Dear RAUC Families,

I hope this newsletter finds you relaxed and enjoying the summer with family and friends. If summer has brought challenges, I hope that you have had people to support you as you face them. I had the good fortune of traveling to the Netherlands for 10 days, which was a welcomed mix of museums, windmills, good cheese, and biking along canals and dykes--and cheering the U.S. Women's National Team on to their World Cup victory!

I will be honest--I love summer away from school, but I also miss the joy and adventure of interacting with young people every day. So as August winds down, I find myself looking forward to welcoming students, families and staff back to school.

The return to school also brings a question that has become all too common for educators: how can we foster a welcoming, inclusive community when there continue to be divisive, hateful language and actions directed most particularly at black and brown members of our community? This is a question that I have asked all our staff to keep in our hearts and minds as we plan. Two of our core values are to seek unity and have compassion. We believe deeply that everyone belongs at our school, we recognize that not everyone feels this sense of belonging equally, and so we are committed to creating a positive school year for all.

This August newsletter provides information to help you and your student feel prepared for the first day on Tuesday, September 3rd: schedule information; grade level supply lists; reminders of summer math and reading work; a sneak peak of the first week; a list of RAUC dates; and links to district policies and forms. For those of you new to RAUC, you can expect a weekly RAUC newsletter once school starts to keep you informed and connected.

I invite you to reconnect before school starts at our Welcome Back Pot-luck Picnic on Wednesday, August 28 at 5PM at the front of the school. Please bring a dish to share. This event is a wonderful RAUC tradition, a time to say hi to familiar folks as well as meet new members of the community. There will also be information available:

• Our Middle School Network community partners will have information about school year activities for students;
• Our wonderful Families of RAUC (FRAUC) officers will have information about FRAUC and how to get involved;
• Family Partnership Coordinator, Taraneh Ahmad will give a school tour at 5:30 for new families.

Info on Student Schedules

• Please note that students can now access their schedules in Aspen.
• For families new to RAUC, information is being mailed to you on how to open an Aspen account (Aspen is the district online student data system where you can find student schedules and eventually grades). If you do not receive anything in the mail by August 26, please call the school (617.349.4060).
• Please rest assured that teachers will make sure to explain the schedule to students on the first day of school and there will be lots of folks to help students who are not sure where to go!
• If you have pressing concerns about a student’s schedule, please email our assistant principal, Teresa Sanchez, or call the school (617.349.4060).

Grade Level Welcome Letters & Supply Lists

Teachers are very excited to meet their incoming students and have prepared letters and supply lists. We hope that you already received these when they were sent out with the June newsletter. In case you didn’t, here they are! You can also find them on the RAUC website.

• 6th Grade
• 7th Grade
• 8th Grade

Reminder About Summer Reading & Math Work

Students were all asked to read twenty minutes every day, and to aim for reading five books this summer. You can find links to recommended readings as well as links to summer reading logs on our website if you need a replacement. Or you can just record the book titles and authors on a piece of lined paper. You can also find summer math work on the district math website.

Sneak Peak of the First Week!

We start school with a big focus on building community. While students will meet with their core academic classes each day, the First Four Days schedule includes:

• An extended advisory on the first day to allow time to get to know your advisory group, gather forms, and review schedules and key information (Advisory is a smaller class of 14-16 students with typically two teacher-advisors and is the group students start school with each day.)
• A grade level assembly on the first day to meet Head of School Julie Craven, Assistant Principal Teresa Sanchez, School Nurse Anita Barandao, and other important staff members
• An adjusted schedule throughout the week to allow for continued community building and exploration of our school core values
• A whole school assembly on Friday to wrap up the week and celebrate some of the week’s activities.

Welcome to Our New Staff Member

Shahidah Ahmad will be joining us as a .5 math interventionist. Ms. Ahmad will share the math coach/interventionist role with Sara Helmes (formerly Carhart) to allow Ms. Carhart to spend more time with her young son. Ms. Ahmad is returning to CPS where she had worked at the Fletcher Maynard Academy as a middle grades math teacher; she also has many math years in Boston and as a consultant under her belt. We are excited to have her on-board!

RAUC Events & Announcements

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