January 30th

Good Evening Roberto Clemente family!

This is your proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, writing with activities for Monday, January 30th through Friday, February 3rd.

Thank you very much to those families that came out to our Parent Focus Group Series of meetings.

This week we will continue to complete the MAP-R testing through English classes. We will also be compiling the results of our Practice MSA on Thursday and Friday of last week. We have officially begun the registration process for next school year. Our 6th and 7th graders will have counseling services visit their science classes to discuss the registration process and our 8th graders had visits from the high schools last Thursday. Please look out for those registration cards to come home this week.

On Monday, we will accept the last of the book donations for the book swap. Teachers will participate in department meetings after school.

On Tuesday, the 6th and 7th graders will participate in Town Hall Meetings in the gymnasium and dance studio. The media center will host the annual Book Swap from 6:00 until 9:00 in the cafeteria.

On Wednesday we will distribute report cards during an administrative homeroom at the end of the day.

On Thursday, we will have basketball contests against Baker Middle School and the NAACP Mentoring program will take place in the evening.

On Friday the 8th grade registration cards are due to counseling services. Please be sure that both the student and parent have signed the registration card!

Thank you for reading and have a great evening!

To listen to the above message, you will need audio software and speakers on your computer.

January 17th

Good Evening Roberto Clemente Middle School family!

This is your Proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, calling with activities for Tuesday, January 17th through Friday, January 20th. Before I list the activities, I would like to congratulate the winners of the RCMS Geography Bee. Henry Maindidze took 3rd place, Jack Ahrens took second place and Anardh Ganasan took first place. All three students are in the seventh grade. Also, 8th grade parents should have received information about incoming 9th grade parents meetings in preparation for high school registration.

On Monday, schools are closed in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.

On Tuesday, we will have final exams during periods three and six. Mr. Nelson will conduct a Coordinator’s Coffee in the conference room from 8:30 until 10:00 a.m. and Quince Orchard High School will host the incoming 9th grade parent night.

On Wednesday, we will have final exams during period seven and begin our make-up exams. We will also host the first of four nights of Parent Focus Groups from 7:00 until 8:00 and Seneca Valley High School will host their incoming 9th grade parent meeting.

On Thursday, we will have make up final exams. We will host the second of four parent focus group meetings from 7-8 in the cafeteria and classrooms. Mr. Nelson will host the PAC meeting in the media Center.

On Friday, we will have make-up final exams and we will end the second marking period.

Thank you for listening and have a great evening.

To listen to the above message, you will need audio software and speakers on your computer.

December 12th

Good Evening Roberto Clemente Middle School family!

This is your proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, calling with activities for Monday, December 12th – Friday, December 16th. Parents please be sure to have your children dress appropriately for the weather each day. If you are in need of a winter coat, please let the counseling services department know as we do have a limited number of winter coats available.

On Monday the staff will have department meetings after school and will participate in checking for understanding staff development.

On Tuesday we will have Instructional Council after school and a PTSA meeting at 7:00 in the media center.

On Wednesday Clemente Music Rocks will perform for the County Administrators, Supervisors and superintendent at the monthly A & S meeting and our math team we will participate in the County math meet.

On Thursday we will host the instrumental music concert in the cafeteria.

On Friday, the staff will participate in the holiday party.

Thank you for listening and have a great evening.

December 5th

Good Evening Roberto Clemente Middle School family!

This is your proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, writing with activities for Monday, December 5th – Friday, December 9th. Before I begin, I would like to remind our 8th grade families that permission slips and fees will be collected each day at lunch for the Smithsonian field trip.

On Monday the faculty and staff will be attending a faculty meetings during team time.

On Tuesday we will have make-up pictures during the school day, our monthly Achievement Steering Committee meeting from three to five and the Winter Choral Concert in the evening.

On Thursday the Humanities Program will host the Utopian Visions Museum.

We are still collecting items for the SOAR Holiday Store.

Thank you for reading and have a great evening!

November 28th

Good evening Roberto Clemente Middle School family!

This is your proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, writing with activities for Monday, November 28th – Friday, December 2nd. Before I begin, I would like to remind our entire school community that there are approximately 14 weeks until the March administration of the reading and math MSA. Each day, our goal is to prepare students for proficiency on these assessments while teaching students to think critically for success in high school, college and beyond. Please be sure to check your child’s binders each evening to discuss academic progress toward meeting and exceeding daily indicators for success across the curriculum.

On Wednesday the fundraiser items will be ready for pick up.

On Thursday the NAACP will host the mentoring program in the evening.

Lastly, the SOAR school store is looking for donations of holiday items for students to purchase with Clemente bucks. If you have items you would like to donate, please bring them to the main office any time this week. Items can be new or gently used. This opportunity was a huge success last year and students were excited about the opportunity to be able to purchase items for loved ones. Please consider supporting this effort. If you have questions, please contact Ms. Nero our SOAR Coordinator.

Thank you for reading and have a great evening.

November 21st

Good Evening Roberto Clemente families!

This is your proud Principal, Khadija Barkley writing with activities for Monday, November 21st through Wednesday, November 23rd. As you know, this week is an abbreviated week as we observe the Thanksgiving holiday.

In saddens me to have to report that in the last two weeks we have experienced three incidents of students attempting to solve conflicts with physical aggression. This is a significant disruption to the learning environment and we all need to work together to be sure that we are treating one another with respect and dignity at all times. One of our core values include having respectful interactions. This is very important and I ask for support from parents and students to be sure to make adults aware of any situation that may adversely effect our learning environment. We cannot do this alone, and we need all stakeholders to come together and protect the learning environment each and every day. I thank you for your continued commitment to having a safe and secure school community.

On Monday we will celebrate our honor roll students with honor roll assemblies.

On Tuesday we will have our monthly Achievement Steering Committee Meeting from 3-5 in the media center.

On Wednesday, students will be dismissed from school at 12:10 and the school offices will close promptly thereafter.

Thank you for reading and have a great evening.

November 14th

Good Evening Roberto Clemente Middle School family!

This is your proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, writing with activities for Monday, November 14th – Friday, November 18th. Before I begin, I would like to thank the staff, students and families that came out to our first attempt at arena style parent conferences. Overall, most parents and staff appreciated the new format. If you did not fill out the feedback form, please share your feedback via email to Cheryl Schecter in the main office.

On Monday the Humanities 6 student will visit the National Gallery of Art. All 8th grade students will participate in the annual high school fair to receive information about their high school's home school programs.

On Tuesday students will participate in the American Mathematics Competition and our instructional leaders will visit Seneca Valley High School to discuss vertical articulation.

On Thursday our 7th grade students will go on a field trip the Medieval Times during school. In the evening, our parents are invited to an information session about the Spring Break Trip to Costa Rica and the NAACP will continue the mentoring program. We will also celebrate Thanksgiving during all three lunches with a traditional meal.

On Friday students will be presenting their work during the Gyotoku Art Show.

Lastly, we are hosting a family portrait FUNdraiser through our school photographer on Saturday November 19th from 8-4 in the multipurpose room. The $10 sitting fee will go toward RCMS. Packages are reasonably priced. Please go to our website for more information.

Thank you for reading and have a great evening and I look forward to seeing our students tomorrow morning.

November 7th

Good Evening Roberto Clemente family!

This is your proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, writing with activities for Monday, November 7th – Friday, November 11th. Before I begin, I would like to thank the staff, students and families that came out to celebrate our diversity for International Night last week. This week marks the second week of the second quarter. We will be distributing first quarter grade reports this week and are planning our honor roll assemblies for the next week.

On Monday Ms. Nero will take her students on a field trip to the Newseum and our staff will participate in a faculty meeting that includes staff development on explicit vocabulary instruction after school.

On Tuesday we will have instructional council after school and our monthly PTSA meeting will have a special presentation from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Come out and be informed!

On Thursday students will be dismissed at 12:10. We will distribute first quarter grades and host parent conferences from 12:45 until 6:30p.m. Beginning at 3:00 all parents are invited to come speak to teachers in an arena style conference setting in the gymnasium and cafeteria. No appointments are necessary after 3:00p.m. More information will come home with students this week.

On Friday students will be dismissed from school at 12:10.

Thank you for reading, have a great evening and I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday and Thursday of this week!

October 24th

Good Evening Roberto Clemente family!

This is your proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, writing with activities for Monday, October 24th – Friday, October 28th. This week marks the final week of the first marking period and we will celebrate with an SGA sponsored SPIRIT WEEK. As we celebrate the final week of the quarter let’s remember that our core values of safety, organization, always being respectful and being responsible are always first on our agenda. Please be sure to finalize any outstanding assignments or assessments this week as teachers will be computing first quarter grades on Monday, October 31st.

On Monday we will show our spirit with PAJAMA DAY and staff will participate in staff development department meetings after school from 3-4.

On Tuesday we will show our spirit with TWIN DAY.

On Wednesday we will show our spirit with WACKY TACKY DAY.

On Thursday, we will show our spirit with JERSEY DAY.

On Friday, we will show our spirit with CLASS COLORS DAY where our 6th graders should wear green, our 7th graders should wear red and our 8th graders should wear blue. We will end the week with an SGA sponsored Costume Dance from 3-5 in the cafeteria.

Ticket sales for the dance will be conducted each day during lunch and first period teachers will be taking tallies to see which grade has the MOST SPIRIT. I believe it will be the OUTSTANDING staff! I guess we will see.

Thank you for reading and have a great evening.

October 9th

This is your Proud Principal, Khadija Barkley, reading with activities for Monday, October 10th – Friday, October 14th. We would like to welcome our 8th grade math, science, computer science students back from the Boston trip.

On Monday parents are welcome to visit classrooms from 8:00 until 2:30 to see our instructional program in action. During team time, you can visit the teacher’s lounge to meet and greet the teachers. Parents, please check in at the main entrance and pick up a capture sheet so that you can share your comments as you depart.

On Tuesday we will have an evening open house from 5:00 until 8:30. There will be five 25 minute presentations by content areas and a Principal/PTSA President presentation at 7:00p.m. Please join us for another opportunity to learn about our instructional program.

On Wednesday students will take pictures during PE classes. We have contracted with a company that is committed to customer service, so please let us know your thoughts about the new price structure. We are hoping that everyone will select a package of photographs to capture the 2011-2012 smile.

On Thursday and Friday, we will have a regular bell schedule.

I look forward to meeting and greeting our parents this week.

Thank you for writing and have a great evening.