Connect Ed Messages

Jan 4 2022

Good Evening,

This is Caitlin Furr with Johnston County Public Schools calling with important updates in regards to COVID-19.

Our district is continuing to follow the guidance and recommendations from the Johnston County Public Health Department, the CDC, and the Strong Schools NC Toolkit, and we will now adhere to a 5 day quarantine period for students or staff members who tests positive for COVID-19. This is a change from the previous 10 day quarantine time.

If a student or staff member experiences symptoms of COVID-19 we strongly encourage them to be tested by a medical professional. Those who test positive must quarantine for 5 days. After the 5th day, if the person who has tested positive has been symptom free for at least 24 hours, they may return to the school site.

We understand that our families may have questions about all of the different variables and scenarios associated with these changes. For that reason - we have updated detailed information on our website. It can be found by visiting www.johnston.k12.nc.us/covid.

Several things, however, remain unchanged. We continue to require masks on all JCPS campuses and buses. We are continuing our deep cleaning and sanitization practices in all areas.

We also will continue to offer our Test to Stay Program, which allows those who are exposed to a COVID-19 case in the school setting to remain in school and be tested by a school health care professional, once the individual's parent or guardian has given explicit consent.

Public Health officials strongly encourage any individuals who are eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccine or their booster to do so. The Johnston County Public Health Department offers vaccines Monday-Friday from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, and until 6:00 PM on Tuesdays. No appointment is required, and the vaccine is free of charge to all individuals.

We look forward to welcoming our students back tomorrow and starting a strong and safe semester!

 

August 22 2021 

Good evening Riverwood Elementary Families!  This is your principal Mrs. White with a few reminders as we begin the school year! We are excited to begin the school year tomorrow, Monday, August 23rd for 1st-5th grade.  Students can enter the building at 8:25 am each morning and the tardy bell will ring at 8:55 am. The dismissal bell is at 3:55 pm and we will begin calling car riders at 4:00 pm. Walkers will exit the building at this time also. If you are a bus rider and have heard from your driver, please be at the stop 10 minutes before the designated time.  This time could vary slightly during the first week of school.  Please visit our website for additional information to include our “Here Comes the Bus Information” that will allow you to track your child's bus. Please plan to transport your child to and from school until otherwise notified if you haven't heard from the bus driver. Remember that at this time face coverings are required in all Johnston County Public School Facilities for students, staff, and visitors.  We look forward to seeing all of our students and families tomorrow and we are looking forward to an awesome school year!

May 19th, 2021

 Good evening Riverwood Elementary Families! This is your principal Mrs. White. We are so proud of our 3rd-5th graders for working so hard this week on their End of Grade testing! We will send home a hard copy of the 4th quarter report card on the last day of school. Along with the report card, 3rd-5th grade students will receive a letter detailing EOG information and scores. I am pleased to inform you that our RES Leadership Team has devised a plan that will allow parents to attend the End of Year Awards Ceremonies. The plan we have developed will ensure the safety of students, staff, and parents. In an effort to minimize unnecessary exposure, only two guests will be allowed to attend the Awards for each student. However, the class celebrations will only include students and their teacher. We appreciate your understanding with this. Your child's teacher will be emailing you a letter detailing the days/times of the Awards Ceremonies. We will also send a hard copy of the letter home with face to face students tomorrow. We are looking forward to celebrating the end of the year and we are so proud of our students, staff, and parents for the extraordinary efforts everyone has had this year. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

 

March 23, 2021

 

Good afternoon Riverwood Elementary families. This is your principal Mrs. White. Bus 608 is having mechanical issues and will likely be at least 30 minutes late this afternoon. Also, 3rd quarter report cards are now available in the Powerschool Parent Portal for parent viewing. As a reminder, we have a change in the schedule for this week. Tomorrow, Wednesday, is a face to face student day and this Friday is a remote learning day.  Spring pictures are re-scheduled for Monday, March 29th. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

Feburary 3rd 2021

Good Afternoon Riverwood Elementary School Families. This is your principal Mrs. White.

Today we were notified by the Johnston County Public Health Department of a positive case of COVID-19 on our campus last week. The individual was last on our school campus Friday, Jan 29th. The entire school building has been deep cleaned and disinfected. Common areas such as bathrooms have also been cleaned and disinfected.

Please know the individual who tested positive will self-isolate in their place of residence until they are fever and symptom free and at least 10 days have passed since the first symptoms appeared.

The Johnston County Public Health Department will lead the contact investigation. Individuals identified as close contacts will be contacted by the public health department. If an individual is not contacted by the public health department, the individual was not considered to be a close contact.

Remember the CDC defines close contact as anyone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 48 hours before the person began feeling sick until the time the patient was isolated.

While we do not have reason to believe that those who were not in close contact with the infected individual have reason to be concerned, we ask that you, as always, continue to watch for symptoms of COVID-19 and communicate with your doctor and/or visit NC Department of Health and Human Services website.

We will continue to closely monitor this situation and will provide additional information as needed. If you have questions, please contact our school at 919-359-6300. Thank you for your support as we work to keep everyone safe. Have a good evening.

November 23rd 2020

Good evening Riverwood families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. As a reminder, tomorrow, November 24 is a remote learning day for our students. Schools will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday from Wednesday, November 25 through Sunday, November 29. Also, the 2nd semester choice form is posted on the Johnston County Schools webpage and also Riverwood's webpage. It is very important that parents complete the Second Semester Choice form to choose either the Virtual Program OR face-to-face instruction for each of their students. Please complete this form by the end of the day on Monday, November 30. The sooner all parents fill out the form, the sooner I am able to make decisions in regards to any changes that need to be made to classes. And the faster I can make any necessary changes, the faster we are able to communicate that with families. As of this afternoon, about 60% of our families have completed the form. I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing holiday. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

November 11th 2020

Good Evening,

This is Dolores Gill, Chief of Operations and Communication for Johnston County Public Schools, with an important announcement related to school tomorrow, Thursday, November 12. Please listen to this message in its entirety as it includes much information for students and staff.

Due to inclement weather resulting in high rain totals and flash flooding, all Johnston County Public Schools, including Early College and CTLA, will not hold in-person classes tomorrow, Nov. 12. Instead, tomorrow will be a Remote Learning Day for all students. All students will participate in remote learning activities with their school and school staff tomorrow.

All School and Central Service Staff should only report if travel conditions are safe for them to do so. This includes nine month employees such as teacher assistants and school nutrition assistants. Teachers who are unable to report to their school due to road conditions will conduct learning remotely. If other staff are unable to report to work, they may submit appropriate leave or make up the day at times agreed upon by both the employee and supervisor.

Please communicate with your immediate supervisor if you have specific questions related to your job assignment.

No curbside food services will be provided. All afternoon and after-school activities are canceled for tomorrow as well. This includes athletic and after-school care.

This decision is being made out of an abundance of caution as JCPS staff and Johnston County Emergency Services have continued to collaborate during the evening hours.

November 10 2020

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal Mrs. White. I wanted to send a reminder that school will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday, November 11th in honor of Veteran's Day Holiday. Thank you to all of our parents who are active or retired military personnel for the sacrifices you've made for our country. Your service is very much appreciated. Also, we have a Fall make up picture day next Monday, November 16. Any student who hasn't had his/her picture taken this fall will have his/her picture taken at that time. Thank you and have a great evening.

 

September 28th

Good evening Riverwood Elementary families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. Quarter 1 progress reports will be sent home tomorrow unless your child's teacher has communicated a different day for progress reports. Instead of the traditional progress report this quarter, students will receive the beginning of the year MAP data results and a narrative on their progress so far this school year. Also, the Spirit Store is open through October 9th sponsored by our PTA. You can purchase Riverwood apparel and other Riverwood items at the spirit store. The items will be delivered to school and distributed two weeks after the store closes. You can find the link to the store on the PTA Facebook page and our school website. We will have a Family Morning Breakfast on Saturday, October 3rd with Brown Bag Bagels from 8-11 am at CE Barnes Store. Proceeds from this family breakfast will come back to our PTA and school. Also, I would like to extend a great big thank you to the PTA for purchasing a Riverwood Strong t-shirt and a water bottle for each of our students! These items will be coming to our students soon. Thank you PTA! Thank you to all of our parents for your continued support during these challenging times. We appreciate all that you are doing! Have a great evening.

PTA store link

PTA Store

 

September 15th 2020

 

Good evening Riverwood families! This is your principal, Mrs. White. As you may have heard, JCPS Board of Education approved the following plan for students to return to face to face learning for all students who chose this model prior to school beginning: Pre-K and  K-12 EC self contained  students return date of September 28th, Kindergarten students return on a 2-Cohort model beginning Oct. 12th, 1st - 5th students return on a 2-Cohort model beginning Oct. 19th. Our Virtual Program students will continue to remain virtual through the completion of the 1st semester. Our Fall Pictures are scheduled for September 21 and 24. Your child's homeroom teacher will send out details on how to sign up for an appointment time and also how to pre-order pictures. First quarter progress reports will be sent home on Tuesday, September 29th. In lieu of a traditional progress report this quarter, we will be sending home all of the beginning of the year benchmark data and a short summary of each students' progress so far in the school year. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

May 14th, 2020

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. I hope you are having a great week. We are in the final stretch of the school year and I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of our students and parents perseverance during this time of remote learning. We have set our end of year virtual awards for each homeroom class. Those dates and times are posted on our website, our social media, and our teachers have shared or will share those times with you as well. We are finalizing the end of year dates and times for pick up of student items and return of devices, library books, classroom books and will communicate this time to you within the next week. We are waiting for our yearbooks to be delivered to the school. As soon as yearbooks are delivered, we will have a Lifetouch pick up day in which parents can pick up and purchase yearbooks, class pictures, and individual spring pictures. 5th graders should have received a message from your teachers regarding signing up for 6th grade elective classes. You can also find the information on the middle schools websites.  I know this quarantine has been very challenging in so many ways and I want to thank you for your hard work through out this process. Hang in there and have a good night!

 

March 19th, 2020

Good evening Riverwood families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. I want to first say that we miss our students and look forward to the day we can return to school! As you know, our world and our country are in unprecedented times and unchartered waters right now. It seems that guidelines and directives are constantly evolving and changing at a rapid pace. Most important during these times is to make sure we are keeping our families safe and healthy. Your child's teachers will be communicating early next week to provide students with virtual resources they can access from home. If we are not back in school on March 30, your child's teacher will then begin providing daily activities and lessons for your child to complete. In the meantime, all students should be able to access Lexia, Freckle, and any other online program that students use at school. If your child doesn't know his/her password, reach out to his or her teacher to get the login information and password. We would like for our students to begin participating in a Reading Challenge. The reading challenge involves students doing different reading activities each day. We will post the reading challenge on our website and also send it out on our social media. I will post a video later tonight or tomorrow on our website and social media with more details for our students on the reading challenge. Thank you parents for your patience as we work diligently to make sense of our new and hopefully temporary norm. Please don't hesitate to email me at leighwhite@johnston.k12.nc.us if you have any questions. Thanks and have a great evening.

 

March 15th, 2020

 

Good Evening,

This is Dolores Gill, Chief of Operations and Communication, with an important announcement. As you know, Governor Roy Cooper issued an executive order that “all public schools close for students effective Monday, March 16, 2020, until March 27, 2020, unless extended beyond that date.”

Please note that all JCPS school and central office buildings will be closed to all staff on Monday, March 16th and Tuesday, March 17.

On Tuesday, March 17, principals will open the school buildings from  7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. for the sole purpose of students’ medication pickup and for staff and students to retrieve personal items if they wish.

According to DPI, there is no requirement for extended learning opportunities, and there will be no expectation for students to complete any instructional activities during this first week.  More information regarding instruction will be provided at a later date.

In order to continue to provide for our families, school nutrition will be  opening 11 school feeding sites for students to begin Wednesday, March 18th.  The list of these sites and the time for lunch service will be posted on the district website. We also appreciate the collaboration with our community partners to assist us with food donations at these sites as well and more information will be shared on this effort.

In closing, we have been assured the presumed positive cases (currently) in Johnston County are not students or staff of Johnston County Public Schools. If your child or a staff member has been exposed to a COVID-19 case, the Public Health Department would be in contact with the parent or staff member.

Additional information will be provided as we receive updates.

March 14th, 2020

Hello,

This is Dolores Gill, Chief of Operations and Communications, calling with an important announcement regarding the closing of Johnston County Public Schools. Johnston County Public Schools has made the difficult decision to alter our school schedule in response to the circumstances surrounding COVID(19) Coronavirus. Johnston County Public Schools will designate optional teacher workdays the week of March 16-March 20. March 23-27 will now be designated as the Spring Break week which was scheduled on the calendar on April 13-17. At this time, this will mean that students will return to school on Monday, March 30. A separate communication regarding Early College Academy and CTLA will be shared by those schools.

It is possible that the closing of the school system may extend longer as this is an ever- changing situation. Schools will use next week to plan for extended at-home learning opportunities in the event this closure is beyond March 27. If this is necessary, plans will be shared with you on how to access various learning opportunities during this closure. It is also in the planning stages to provide for school nutrition feeding sites at selected locations and this plan will be shared in the coming days.

It is important to know that we are in constant communication with our county and state health partners concerning the Coronavirus and are receiving guidance on any school closures from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The school system makes decisions based upon the best information we have at the time.

We do understand and know that this is an ever-changing and quickly evolving situation. Closing a school system is not a decision that we take lightly and we thoroughly investigate the many complex factors related to our students, families, and employees of the school system before any decisions are made.

 

March 12th, 2020

Good Morning,

This is Dolores Gill Chief of Operations and Communication for Johnston County Public Schools. This message is being sent on behalf of the Johnston County Education Foundation.

The Johnston County Education Foundation Board has made the difficult decision to cancel the Showcase of Stars event that was scheduled for this Saturday at Smithfield-Selma High School. This decision was made out of an abundance of caution for the health and well-being of the large number of students, families, and community members, especially senior citizens, who will attend this event.

All ticket sales will be refunded within thirty days, so ticket purchasers should keep their receipts from EventBrite or their actual tickets if they purchased them offline. The Education Foundation  is developing the plan for the refund process, and they will share that information as soon as it is finalized.

March 10th, 2020

Good evening Riverwood families! This is Mrs. White, your principal. This message is specifically for our 4th Grade families. Per Johnston County Public Schools, in coordination with the Johnston County Public Health Department, all educational field trips are canceled through Friday, March 13 due to concerns regarding the coronavirus.  This means the 4th grade field trip this Thursday is canceled.  At this time, I realize that you probably have more questions than I may have answers. It is our goal and intent to reschedule the trip when/if the field trip suspension is lifted. I assure you I will update you with any additional information I receive from the district. Thank you for your support and have a great evening.

March 9th, 2020

Good evening Riverwood Elementary Families! This is your principal, Mrs. White. This is a reminder that our first Food Lion Family Math Night for PreK-2nd grade is this week on Tuesday, March 10, from 5:30-7:30 pm at the Food Lion on Pritchard Rd., across the street from our school.  This is a floating event which means you can come anytime between 5:30-7:30 pm. Plan to spend about 30-45 minutes completing the activities with your child.  Your child will receive an awesome goody bag upon completion of the activities.  We will be raffling off several Food Lion gift cards. Please join us as we partner with Food Lion to show our students how math in the classroom comes alive in a real world setting!  As a reminder, this Friday, March 13th is a full student day. Monday, March 16, is a Teacher Workday and school will be closed for students. Please check your child's folder tonight for a letter from Dr. Williams, JCPS Interim Superintendent. Thank you so much for your continued support and have a great evening!

Febuary 24th 2020

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. We are looking forward to the PTA Family Dinner Spirit Night tomorrow night, February 25th from 4:30-9:30 pm at Venero's Restaurant in Clayton. Also, we are excited to celebrate Dr. Seuss and Read Across America week next week. Please be on the lookout for a flyer coming home this week with more details. Spring class and individual pictures are next Tuesday, March 3rd. Picture forms are coming home this week. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

Febuary 14th 2020

Good evening Riverwood families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. As a reminder, we have school this coming Monday, February 17.  It was initially a teacher workday but it is now a make up day due to inclement weather earlier in the year. The RES Talent Show will be next Friday, February 21st starting at 6:00 pm at Corinth Holder High School. We hope you will come out and enjoy the evening with us. The staff have been practicing hard and we are also excited to show off our talent! Our Riverwood Disney Raffle has gotten off to a great start. Thank you all who were able to come out to the Disney + Donuts Event. Please go to our school website under that PTA section to see how you can purchase your raffle tickets.Thank you so much for your continued support and have a great weekend! 

 

Febuary 6th 2020

 

Good evening Riverwood Elementary families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. I would like to commend all our school staff for the amazing job they did this afternoon during our dismissal process. They were instrumental in ensuring that our students remained calm and that we released students in the safest manner possible. I would also like to thank our students for being brave and doing an awesome job during dismissal. Thank you parents as well for your patience and understanding as we had to make last minute dismissal decisions today. Safety of our students, staff, and families is my top priority as your child's principal. I would like to remind all of our parents to use an abundance of caution in the parking lot during arrival and dismissal times. Please drive slowly in the lot and stop at all crosswalks. If your child walks to school, remind them often to stay on the sidewalks and to stop at crosswalks to check for traffic before they cross as they make their way to school. If you are on foot during arrival and dismissal times, please be sure to only use sidewalks and crosswalks. We cannot have parents walking through the carpool line during arrival or dismissal. Our children are precious and it is imperative that we are cautious at all times to ensure their safety and the safety of everyone else. One last reminder, Progress Reports will go home tomorrow. Thank you and have a great evening.

 

Febuary 6th

Due to the increasing severity expected for this afternoon's weather, all Johnston County Public Schools will now dismiss one hour early. Students will receive their lunches prior to departure from school. There are no activities after school and schools with after care programs will work with parents to ensure they can be picked up safely. There will be staff at the schools until all students are safely returned home.

 

Johnston County Career and Technical Leadership and Johnston County Early College Academy will still be dismissed at 3:00 pm. as previously announced. Bus riders at these two schools can expect buses to arrive for pickup between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm. Car riders at these two schools will be be allowed to dismiss at 3:00 pm.

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to get all students home safely during this severe weather event.

 

January 12th 2020

Good evening Riverwood Elementary families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. Report cards went home with students on Friday. As a reminder, please sign the envelope and send the envelope back to school tomorrow. We will be taking club pictures this week each day at 2:15 pm in the gym. We will remind students of their club pictures each day on the morning announcements. We have also sent out the club picture schedule on our social media. Strings and Chorus club pictures are scheduled for tomorrow. As a reminder, school will be closed next Monday, January 20, in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

 

November 21st 2019

Good evening Riverwood Elementary families! This is Leigh White, your principal.  I am calling you regarding a non-credible verbal threat made by a student after school hours involving our school and overheard by students. Our school administrative team investigated immediately and involved  law enforcement.  All students and staff were safe at all times. Be assured that your child’s safety is our top priority at Riverwood Elementary, and we reinforce that we are fortunate to be able to work closely with our local law enforcement.

The administration at Riverwood Elementary School takes these matters seriously and we investigate every report and rumor. We ask that you speak with your student about the consequences of making threatening types of statements whether they are speaking with other students or making comments on social media.  Additionally, I ask that you please reinforce with your student that if they see or hear something they feel is inappropriate, to share that information with the first adult in which they come in contact. This is exactly how we have been able to remain vigilant.  Please contact us at the school  with any questions that you may have.  Thank you for your continued support and understanding and have a great night.

 

October 16th

Good morning Riverwood Elementary parents. This is your principal, Mrs. White. I wanted to make you aware that our fire alarm went off unexpectantly this morning and we had to evacuate the building for about 15 minutes. The fire department came and assessed the situation and cleared us to re-enter the building. During the time while we were outside and after we deemed the building to be safe, we quickly moved students under shelter, into mobiles, and into the front entrance of Riverwood Middle School while waiting to be cleared to re-enter. Some of our students did get wet and those teachers will reach out directly if your child needs an extra set of clothes. All is well and we have resumed our day as usual. Thank you for your continued support and have a great day. 

October 14th 

 October 10th 2019Good evening Riverwood Families! This is your principal Mrs. White. We are excited for our PTA Family Dinner Night tomorrow night at Culver's Restaurant in Clayton on Highway 70. Family Dinner Night is from 5-8 pm. We look forward to seeing you all there! Also, as a reminder, we have an Early Release day this Friday, October 18 at 1:45 pm. Monday, October 21 was originally scheduled as a teacher workday. However, it is now a make up student day from the hurricane. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening!

 

October 10th 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families. Wow, I wanted to thank you all for all the gifts, cards, and most important, student hugs and smiles today for my birthday. I am truly blessed each and every day by our students, staff, and parents! Thank you so very much.  Also, our students had a blast today at the Apex Remix - Neon Glow Fitness Party. I think some of our teachers and parents enjoyed the fitness moves as much as our students!  Thank you parents for the awesome job you've done with helping RES with this PTA fundraiser.  We are only $1,500 short of our goal.  Pledging will remain open through Friday and we are so close to meeting our goal.  If everyone could get one more pledge, we will exceed our goal! Thank you again for your continued support and generosity and have a great evening!

October 3rd 2019

Good morning Riverwood Elementary families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. I am calling this morning to make you aware that temperatures in our building may be warmer today than usual due to the air conditioning not working at full capacity. One of our pumps is down and our district is working diligently to secure the parts to resolve the issue. Expected temperatures in the building today are between 75-80 degrees until the pump is fixed. Per our superintendent Dr. Jim Causby, you can choose to pick your child up from school without it being counted as an absence for your child if you feel that is necessary. We will continue to assess the situation and make further decisions as we have a more accurate idea of what the temperatures will be in the building as the day progresses. Thank you so much for your continued support.

October 3rd, 2019

Good morning Riverwood Elementary families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. I am calling this morning to make you aware that temperatures in our building may be warmer today than usual due to the air conditioning not working at full capacity. One of our pumps is down and our district is working diligently to secure the parts to resolve the issue. Expected temperatures in the building today are between 75-80 degrees until the pump is fixed. Per our superintendent Dr. Jim Causby, you can choos …

 

 September 23rd, 201  

Good evening Riverwood Elementary Families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. Tomorrow, Sept 24 is our Fall Picture Day. All students will have their picture taken tomorrow as this is our picture for the yearbook. Proofs will be sent home with students in the coming weeks. Also, we are getting excited and geared up for our fall PTA Fundraiser! Your child should bring home a newsletter regarding details of this year's PTA APEX fundraiser. This Friday, September 27th is an Early Release day. Our students will dismiss at 1:45 pm. Your child will also be bringing home beginning of year benchmark data this Friday as opposed to traditional progress reports. Please reach out to your child's teacher with questions and concerns. This Friday is also Spirit Day. Students should wear green or a Riverwood shirt to show their school spirit! Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

September 11, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Elementary Families! This is your principal, Mrs. White. We are excited for our Open House next week. You should have received a flyer last week regarding our Fall Open House Night. Open House is next Tuesday, September 17 from 5:30-6:30 in classrooms and then we will have a PTA General Meeting immediately following from 6:30-7:00 pm in the cafeteria. We will also have Book Fair Family Night that evening from 4-7:30 pm in the media center. Our Book Fair dates are from September 16-20 each day from 8:30-4:00 pm. Also, Spirit Wear sales end this Thursday. Order forms must be turned in by Thursday morning with your child's teacher's name or you can place an online order on our school website in the PTA section through tomorrow night at midnight. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening!

 

August 26, 2019

Good afternoon Riverwood Families! This is Mrs. White, your principal. We hope our students had a wonderful first day of school today. It sure did fly by. Parents, our buses are delayed by about 40 minutes today. Please be patient these first few days of school as our buses are delayed. As a reminder, students can enter the building at 8:20 am each morning. Please do not drop students off prior to this time as there is no supervision for your child. Our walkers need to time themselves so they arrive at school at 8:20 am each morning. The tardy bell is at 8:50 am. Carpool parents please follow the carpool line and/or park and walk your child to the flagpole or inside the building. Safety is our number one priority. Dismissal is at 3:40 pm each day. Please refrain from picking students up after 3:10 pm each day unless it is urgent or you have an appointment. We are excited to let you know that our Security Vestibule will likely be installed this week. This is one additional measure for safety for our school. As a reminder, our PTA is selling tickets for the VIP Carpool Raffle. How great would it be not to sit in carpool for a semester? Tickets will be on sale through Thursday, September 5th. The form should have come home with your child at Orientation. Please let your teacher know if you need another form or download the form off of our school webpage under the PTA section. Also in the PTA fundraising section of our website, you can order spirit wear.

 

August 15, 2019

Good evening parents and students! This is Leigh White, your Principal at Riverwood Elementary School. I am excited to call this evening with some important information about the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. Back To School Orientation is scheduled for next Thursday, August 22nd. Orientation for 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade will be from 4-5:30 pm and 3rd and 5th grade will be 6-7:30 pm. Please utilize our parking spaces, the middle school spaces in the front and their back lot, and also the Riverwood Athletic Club spaces. For the safety of all of us, please refrain from parking in the fire lane at the front entrance. Orientation is floating so feel free to arrive during any of those timeframes. You can find grade level supply lists on our school website and/or in the front office.  Postcards with homeroom teacher assignments were sent out yesterday. Please call the school if you haven't received your child's postcard by Monday afternoon. Thank you and have a wonderful evening!

 

July 25, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Elementary Families! This is Mrs. White, your principal. I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer! Back To School Orientation is scheduled for Thursday, August 22nd. Orientation for 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade will be from 4-5:30 pm and 3rd and 5th grade will be 6-7:30 pm. The Orientation is floating. Kindergarten orientation is on September 3rd at 6:00 pm. You can find grade level supply lists on our school website and/or in the front office. Orientation and supply list information is also on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Postcards with homeroom teacher assignments will go out August 14th! Also, our PTA is doing a Spirit Wear pre-sale at this time. You can visit the online store on our school website in the PTA section to order spirit wear. There are some awesome designs this year so check it out! The RES Spirit Store will be open through August 5th! Spirit Wear ordered by August 5th will be available for parents to pick up at School Orientation on Thursday, August 22. The shop will then re-open Monday, August 12 - Wednesday, September 11. We are looking forward to the first day of school on Monday, August 26th. Thank you and have a great evening!

 

July 23, 2019

Good evening Parents,

I am Dolores Gill, Chief of Staff, with Johnston County Public Schools calling with important announcements as we prepare for the new school year. As Chief of Staff, I will also serve as your communication contact this school year. 

 

A few reminders as you prepare for the opening of the year. First, school begins for traditional and restart schools on August 26. Back to school orientation dates and times are posted on the district and school websites at this time. Secondly, Check your school’s website for back to school supply lists and other important opening information. 

 

Finally, this evening, if you rode a bus with us last year and have not moved or changed addresses, you are all set on a route and can get bus information during your school’s orientation time. However, if you are new to our school system or have changed anything about how you need your student to be transported this year, we ask that you go to the homepage of our district website and click on the link for bus forms. You can also find this link on our social media outlets such as Facebook. This is where you will complete what is called a TIMS form. 

 

This is a new process for our schools, but don’t worry, we will continue to assist you at your schools during orientation and opening day. We will ensure all students are served. Preschool parents do not need to complete this form. If your child receives Transportation as a Related Services through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), please contact your child's school to make any needed adjustments.

 

Thank you and enjoy your summer. 

 

May 24, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal Mrs. White with several important updates. We have our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade awards ceremonies and field days next week. Please see our website for details. Our last student day for the 2018-19 school year is Thursday, May 30th with a 1:45 pm early release dismissal time. Report cards will go home this day. We still have a large amount of library books checked out. Please check your homes and bookbags this weekend and return any library books as soon as possible. We hope everyone has a terrific holiday weekend!  Schools are closed on Monday, May 27th for Memorial Day. Thank you for your continued support and have a great weekend! 

 

May 13, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. On Thursday, May 16, 3rd-5th grade students will take the Reading EOG. On Tuesday, May 21, 3rd-5th grade students will take the Math EOG. Fifth grade students will take the Science EOG on Thursday, May 23.  The EOG is an important measure of student learning and growth and our students have worked hard to prepare to do their best. However, it is not the only data point considered in measuring the progress of our students.  Your child’s progress has been measured throughout this school year in a variety of ways, and you have been notified via progress reports and report cards.  You may have also received information through phone calls, notes home, and parent conferences. All data regarding student growth is considered in making decisions for your child.  

In accordance with the North Carolina Read to Achieve legislation, 3rd Grade students who are not proficient on the Reading EOG will have other opportunities to demonstrate appropriate growth.  Parents of 3rd grade students who do not pass the Reading EOG will be contacted on Friday, May 17, about next steps for their child.  

Parents of all 3rd and 4th grade students will receive information about EOG scores in writing on Tuesday, May 21, or once their child has completed reading and math testing.  

Parents of 5th grade students will receive information about EOG scores in writing once their child has completed reading, math, and science testing. We anticipate being able to send the 5th grade parent letters home on Friday, May 24. 

Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening. 

 

April 30, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal Mrs. White. This is a reminder that Johnston County Public Schools will be closed to students tomorrow, Wednesday, May 1 as this day has been publicized as a teacher rally at the General Assembly and a large number of our school system employees have elected to take leave tomorrow. Also, this Friday, May 3rd is Spirit Day. Remind your child to wear green or Riverwood apparel to show their school spirit. Next week, the week of May 6th, is Teacher Appreciation Week. We are excited to celebrate our staff every week, but especially next week. Please show your teachers and the staff here at Riverwood how much they are appreciated! Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening. 

 

April 15, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is Mrs. White, your principal. I wanted to make you aware that we will have construction taking place on our middle playground behind the cafeteria over the next few weeks. Our school is slated to receive three new mobile units for next year. I have requested a tri-mobile, three classrooms in one unit. The new unit is slated to go behind the cafeteria at the end of the middle playground. Construction crews will begin digging the footings over the next couple of weeks. Please remind your child to stay behind the orange fence as the construction gets underway. Also, Friday, April 19th begins our Spring Break. Our school will be closed from April 19th through Sunday, April 28th. We hope everyone has a safe, restful, and relaxing Spring Break. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

 

April 8, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. As a reminder, we have an Early Release day tomorrow, Tuesday, April 9th with dismissal at 1:45 pm.  Fourth Quarter Progress Reports will be sent home with students on Wednesday, April 10th. We are excited that it is time for our Spring Book Fair. Book Fair Family Night is this Thursday, April 11th from 4-7 pm. Thank you to our PTA for setting up 3 food trucks for that evening as well. The RES PTA will also be onsite selling tickets to our May 10 Family Night at the
Mudcats! Tickets are $10 and 50% of the proceeds support the PTA!  The 5th Grade Arts night is also this Thursday at 6:00 pm. Please join us for a great evening this Thursday. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

 

April 4, 2019

 

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. As a reminder, our Chorus/Strings concert is this Thursday, April 4th. We also have a PTA meeting this Thursday night. Events will begin at 5:30 pm. Friday, April 5th is Spirit Day. Please wear your Riverwood apparel or green to show your school spirit. Next Tuesday, April 9 is an Early Release day with dismissal at 1:45 pm. Progress Reports go home April 10. The JCPS Panorama Education Survey continues through Friday, April 5th.  Please take time to use the link on our website to take the parent survey. This information will help our school and school system with our strategic planning for next school year and beyond.  Our school’s access code for the survey is rwes. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening! 

 

March 27, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is Mrs. White, your principal. We are looking forward to Spring Festival this Friday evening! Just a reminder that Riverwood Middle is hosting a transition night for our 5th graders on Tuesday, April 2nd for all rising 6th graders and their parents.  Families can attend either session (4:00-5:00 pm or 6:00-7:00 pm) in the cafeteria.

We are excited to announce Student Access, a new partnership between Johnston County Public Schools and the Public Libraries of Johnston County.   As part of this partnership, all students in Johnston County schools will receive a virtual library card.  This card will not replace any existing library cards your student may already have but will be in addition to it.  The Student Access library cards will enable students to access the many resources available through the public library system. If you do not want your student to participate in Student Access, please contact Mrs. West by Friday, April 12th. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening. 

 

March 18, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is your principal, Mrs. White. As a reminder, we have an Early Release tomorrow, March 19th at 1:45 pm. Third quarter report cards were sent home with students today. Please sign the envelope and send it back to school. You should have also found a letter with the important end of year dates enclosed. Parent Portal information was enclosed in the report cards for those families that have yet to establish an account. The JCPS Spring Survey information will be sent home soon with students. We would like to gain valuable feedback from students, parents, and staff as we look to continuously improve our school and our school system. The window for parents to take the confidential online survey opens on March 25th and closes on April 5th. The website link and your access code to take the survey will be on the information being sent home with your student. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

 

March 10, 2019

 

Good afternoon Riverwood Elementary families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. As a reminder, tomorrow, Monday, March 11th is a Teacher Workday. 3rd quarter report cards will go home on Monday, March 18th. Tuesday, March 19th is an Early Release day and we will dismiss at 1:45 pm. Congratulations to our Showcase of Stars students who performed yesterday. You did an outstanding job and we are so proud of you! I would like to extend a special thank you to our families for working so hard on the PTA Disney Raffle Fundraiser. Preliminary results indicate that we far exceeded the $10,000 goal and have raised almost $20,000. Funds raised will help with upgrading our playgrounds and new technology for our students. Thank you again for your efforts! Thank you and have a great evening! 

 

March 4, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal Mrs. White. We are looking forward to the Food Lion Family Math night tomorrow night, Tuesday, from 5:30 pm-7:30 pm for our 3rd-5th graders. Thank you to all of the K-2 families for coming out last week! We are very excited that Read Across America week is finally here. We have exciting activities planned for our school all week. It was wonderful listening to the guest readers today. Tomorrow is Top Hat Tuesday so students are allowed to wear a hat to school. Keep selling raffle tickets for our PTA Disney Raffle fundraiser. We have the rest of this week left before the fundraiser is over. This Wednesday, March 6th is spring picture day. Students will take individual pictures and also class pictures on Wednesday. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening!

 

February 25, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Elementary families. This is your principal, Mrs.White. As a reminder, tomorrow, February 26th is an Early Release day. Students will dismiss at 1:45 pm. We are looking forward to the Food Lion Family Math night tomorrow night, Tuesday, from 5:30 pm-7:30 pm for our PreK, K, 1st, and 2nd graders. Also, March Spirit Day is this Friday, March 1st. We are very excited that Read Across America week is next week, March 4-8. We have exciting activities planned for our school next week. A flyer will be coming home later this week with details. Keep selling raffle tickets for our PTA Disney Raffle fundraiser. We have just a couple weeks left before the fundraiser is over. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening!

 

February 17, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. As a reminder, Monday, February 18th is a student make-up day of school from the inclement weather day in December.  Friday, February 22 is the Riverwood Elementary Talent Show at Corinth Holder High School starting at 6:00 pm. We look forward to everyone coming out to support all of our students who are participating in the Talent Show. Please remember to turn in your Food Lion Family Math Night RSVP as soon as possible so we can update Food Lion with our number of participants.  February 26th is the PreK-2nd grade Food Lion night and March 5th is the 3rd-5th grade Food Lion Family night. Our PTA Disney Raffle has kicked off to a great start. Our school has raised $4,400. Keep selling those raffle tickets so we can exceed our goal of $10,000! Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening!

 

February 11, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. The PTA Disney Raffle Fundraiser packets went home with students today. Please review all of the information as it will answer many questions. On Fridays, return only raffle ticket sheets with the money attached in a separate envelope or baggie. Keep your manila folders with you each week throughout the fundraiser to continue selling. Visit the PTA section on the Riverwood Elementary website to get all the details and print more raffle sheets!! Also, we are excited for the Donuts and Disney event over the next two mornings. Families with last names beginning with A-L will attend tomorrow, Tuesday Feb 12 and M-Z will attend Wednesday, Feb 13 floating from 7:45 - 8:45 am. As you know, parking is limited so please arrive in plenty of time to park and walk. You can park in our lot, the middle school lot, or the athletic club across the street. Please only park in designated spots. As a reminder, we have a make up day next Monday, February 18th. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

 

January 28, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is your principal, Mrs. White. As a reminder, we have an Early Release day tomorrow, Tuesday, January 29^th at 1:45 pm. Also, Johnston County Public Schools is seeking your input regarding our district’s Standards-Based Grading/Reporting. We would like to know whether you agree that we are ready to take Standards Based Grading to the secondary school level next year. Please take five minutes to answer this confidential, four-question survey about Standards-Based Grading and Reporting by going to our school website or to www.johnston.k12.nc.us and clicking on the survey link. Also, we are hosting a parent informational night on Thursday, February 7^th in regards to Standards Based Teaching and Learning and Social Media/Internet safety. A flyer is coming home later this week with details. Also coming home this week is the Food Lion Family Math Night sign up. Detach and return the bottom portion of the form to school by this Friday, February 1^st to help ensure we have enough prizes for everyone. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening! 

 

January 8, 2019

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is your principal, Mrs. White. It was so great to see our students return back to school yesterday! 

As you may have heard in recent months, the NC General Assembly worked with State Superintendent Mark Johnson to launch the new School Safety Grants program, which created a funding opportunity for community partnerships. Thanks to this state-funded grant and a collaborative effort with Johnston County municipalities, Johnston County Public Schools has welcomed four new School Resource Officers into the school law enforcement ranks. A number of new officers will join JCPS as the grant is fulfilled in the coming months. Our school system has been working closely with the Town of Clayton to increase the amount of School Resource Officer support we have in the middle and elementary schools within the town limits.  We are excited to share that Clayton and Riverwood Middle Schools have Clayton Police Officers assigned to their schools serving in this capacity starting this week. The officers are based at the middle schools, but also serve elementary schools in our areas.  Therefore, you will likely see a Clayton Police Officer on our campuses each day during school hours.

Second quarter report cards will be sent home with students on Thursday, January 10th.  Please review the report card with your child, sign the report card envelope, and return the envelope to your child’s homeroom teacher.  Communicate with your child’s teachers if you would like to schedule a conference to review progress. You should find a letter from me with the report card with important upcoming activities and dates. 

Information regarding our 2nd semester VIP Carpool raffle will be coming home soon. Be on the lookout for that in the next few days. 
 
This Friday, January 11th is Spirit Day. Thank you for your continued support and have a wonderful evening! 

 

December 10, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. For the three-hour delay tomorrow, Tuesday, December 11th, all clubs in the morning are canceled. The early care program will begin at 9:20 am. The front office will open at 11:00 am. Students can enter the building at 11:20 am and the tardy bell will ring at 11:50 am. Please do not drop students off prior to 11:20 am or allow your children to walk to school prior to this time as there will be no one to supervise them at school. Thank you as safety of our students and staff is our main priority. The Holiday Shop will be open from 11:50 am-5:00 pm tomorrow. Also, tomorrow is plaid day for the 12 days of winter. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening. 

 

November 27, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is your principal, Mrs. White. I hope each of you had a restful Thanksgiving break. It was great to see all of our students back at school this morning!We wanted to send a reminder regarding our PTA Silver Graphics fundraiser. The PTA's Silver Graphics Art Fundraiser continues through this Wednesday, Nov 28th. That is the last day to place your online order if you would like to receive the items before the holidays. These products are customized using your child's artwork & make memorable gifts for family & friends. If you have misplaced your order form but would still like to order, you can find the order form on our school webpage in the PTA fundraiser section. Also, our Chorus will be performing this Thursday, November 29 at the Clayton Tree Lighting at 6:30 pm. We hope to see you there! Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening! 

November 9, 2018

Good evening Riverwood families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. I have several reminders for you. Tomorrow is Spirit Day. We hope all of our students and staff wear green or a Riverwood shirt to show their school spirit. Monday, November 12 we will honor and observe Veteran's Day and school will be closed for the Holiday. We will have the Fall Picture Make Ups on Tuesday, November 13. November 13 is also the PTA Family Night at Zaxby's. 2nd quarter progress reports go home on Wednesday, November 14. You should find a Spirit Wear form in your child's folder in the next couple of days. Orders are due by November 18. Fall picture orders are due by Tuesday, November 20. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening.

 

October 29, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is Mrs. White, your principal with a few updates. Report cards went home with students today. Please review your child's report card and send the signed envelope back to school tomorrow.  Fall picture proofs will be coming home this week. Make up pictures and re-takes will be on November 13th.  This week we are celebrating Red Ribbon Week. Tomorrow is tacky day so we are encouraging our students to wear tacky or mixed matched clothes. Thursday, November 1st is a make up day for students. The November Spirit Day is this Friday, November 2nd.  Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening. 

 

October 11, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is your principal, Mrs. White. I hope everyone remains safe during the stormy weather. Due to the 2 hour delay tomorrow, First Priority is canceled and Early Care will begin 2 hours later at 8:20 am. Also, we have decided to postpone the Fun Run as our kiddos have worked hard to help our school and we want to make sure they get the full enjoyment of the Fun Run experience. With that, the Apex team will be on campus tomorrow handing out prizes earned, completing class room challenges and spending more quality time with our students. We will assess the weather over the next few days and schedule a make up date for the Fun Run. In the meantime, pledging will remain open, additional prizes can be earned and an additional Apex challenge will be announced soon too! I am also looking forward to the principal challenge! Thank you for your patience and understanding as it appears Mother Nature didn't want to be agreeable this week. Stay safe and have a great evening.

 

September 17, 2018

Good afternoon Riverwood Elementary Families. This is your principal, Leigh White. We hope you have been safe throughout the storm over the last few days. We are happy to see the sun shining and hope to resume back to normal very soon. Fall Open House/Family Night Book Fair for Tuesday, September 18th is being postponed to Tuesday, September 25th. Times will be the same: 4-7 pm Book Fair Family Night-Media Center 5-6 pm K, 3rd, and 5th grade-Open House in Classrooms 6-6:30 pm PTA General Meeting-Cafeteria 6:30-7:30 pm 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade-Open House in Classrooms We will have Fall Open House in conjunction with PTA Family Dinner Night at Venero's on Tuesday, September 25th. Venero's Family Dinner Night will be from 4:30-9:30 pm. More details regarding the Book Fair will be sent home with students when we return to school. Stay safe and please let us know if there is anything we can do for you or your family in regards to recovering from the effects of Hurricane Florence. Thanks and have a great evening.

 

September 10, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is your principal, Leigh White. We have had an awesome start to the 2018-19 school year! We are super excited about the great things going on at Riverwood Elementary School! Please connect with us on Twitter and join our school Facebook page. Our 3rd grade students will take the State Administered 3rd Grade Beginning of Grade Reading Test tomorrow morning. We did not send individual letters home but have posted the district letter on our school website. This Friday, September 14th, is our first Spirit Day of the year. Students can show their spirit by wearing an RES shirt or a green shirt. Parents, you should have received a flyer last week with upcoming dates and also our Fall Open House scheduled for next Tuesday, September 18th. We are looking forward to Open House in our classrooms, PTA General Meeting, along with the Book Fair Family Night on September 18th. Please see flyer for details. Details are on our school website. Thank you for your continued support and have a great night!

 

August 27, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is Leigh White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary School. We hope our students had a wonderful first day of school today. It sure did fly by. As a reminder, our PTA is selling tickets for the VIP Carpool Raffle. How great would it be not to sit in carpool for a semester? Tickets will be on sale through this Friday. The form should have come home with your child at Orientation. Please let your teacher know if you need another form or download the form off of our school webpage under the PTA section. Also in the PTA fundraising section of our website, you can order spirit wear. Spirit wear orders have been extended through this Wednesday. Kindergarten parents, we are getting excited for our Kindergarten Orientation next Tuesday, September 4th at 6:00 pm. PTA will be selling spirit wear at Orientation.  This year, we will provide a pizza dinner to our families starting at 6:00 pm and this will be a time for parents and students to mingle with each other and their teacher before Orientation begins. Once we finish our pizza dinner, students and parents will be dismissed to go down to the classrooms for Orientation. I will send an email tomorrow just to Kindergarten parents asking for you to fill out a quick form letting us know if you will be eating pizza with us prior to Orientation. Thank you all for your continued support and have a great night.  

 

 

August 24, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is Leigh White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary. I hope you have had a wonderful week. It was so awesome to see all of our families at Orientation last night. We are looking forward to our first day of school on Monday, August 27th. As a reminder, students can enter the building at 8:20 am. Please do not drop them off prior to this time as we do not have anyone to supervise them. The tardy bell rings at 8:50 am. We will begin dismissal at 3:40 pm. Thank you in advance for your patience the first few days of school during dismissal. Our main priority is student safety so our procedures the first few days will be longer than usual. For cafeteria information to put money on your student's account and to access cafeteria menus, go to www.jcpscafes.com. Parents, if you came to Orientation and did not fill out the registration information in the Powerschool Parent Portal, please do so this weekend. There are many important components to this registration, one very important component is that students are not allowed to use technology nor are we allowed to take their picture until this process is complete. We will have our first Family Spirit Event after school on Monday, August 27th at Pelican's Snoballs in the Riverwood neighborhood from 3-9 pm. Also, please know that our Marquee Sign out front is not working at this time.  Please head out to Pelican's and support our PTA! Thank you for your continued support and have a great weekend! 

 

August 21, 2018

Good evening parents and students! This is Leigh White, your Principal at Riverwood Elementary School. I am excited to call this evening with some important information about the beginning of the 2018-19 school year. Back To School Orientation is scheduled for this Thursday, August 23rd. Orientation for 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade will be from 4-5:30 pm and 3rd and 5th grade will be 6-7:30 pm. Please utilize our parking spaces, the middle school spaces in the front and their back lot, and also the Riverwood Athletic Club spaces. For the safety of all of us, please refrain from parking in the fire lane at the front entrance. You can find grade level supply lists on our school website and/or in the front office. Students, if you completed the reading tasks over the summer, please bring your Ice Cream Reading Incentive sheet so you can enjoy a special ice cream treat at Orientation. The ice cream treats will be in the cafeteria. Remember to stop by the PTA table to become a member, stock up on your Riverwood spirit swag, and purchase VIP carline raffle tickets. This will all be located outside the cafeteria. Please follow us on Twitter @RiverwoodElem and be sure to check out our new Facebook page at facebook.com/riverwoodrams. We are all looking forward to the 1st day of school on Monday, August 27th. Thank you and have a great evening!

August 2, 2018

Good evening Riverwood elementary families. Students, I have loved the pictures and videos you have been emailing me this summer while you are reading!  Be sure to complete at least 30 reading tasks on your orange sheet if you want to enjoy ice cream at Orientation.  Also be sure to bring the orange sheet to Orientation to trade it for your ice cream. Even if you haven't started yet, you still have time.  You can find the ice cream reading incentive sheet on our website or in the front office. Mrs. White has read and enjoyed lots of great books this summer!  Back To School Orientation is scheduled for Thursday, August 23rd. Orientation for 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade will be from 4-5:30 pm and 3rd and 5th grade will be 6-7:30 pm.  Kindergarten orientation is on September 4th at 6:00 pm. You can find grade level supply lists on our school website and/or in the front office.  Classroom teachers will also have the supply lists at Orientation. Postcards with homeroom teacher assignments will go out August 15th!  Please follow us on Twitter@RiverwoodElem.  We post the morning announcements each day, important updates, pictures and videos throughout the day, and much more. We are looking forward to the 1st day of school on Monday, August 27th.  Thank you and have a great evening!

 

May 29, 2018

Good afternoon Riverwood Elementary parents and students.  This is Mrs. White, your principal. We would like to extend a huge thank you to all of our parents who came in to volunteer with testing over the past week. We are very appreciative of your help! 3rd and 4th grade EOG letters went home with students today. 5th grade EOG letters will go home with students tomorrow. I am very proud of our students' efforts and their performance on the end of year benchmarks. Parents, please look for a note coming home from my office this week in regards to a spring parent survey. We are asking that you complete a short survey so that we can have your feedback on how we have done this year. You can complete 1 survey for multiple children or you can complete 1 survey for each child.  End of year awards ceremonies and field days are quickly approaching. This Thursday, May 31st is our Kindergarten Awards ceremony at 9:15 am and then field day will follow the awards. 1st grade Awards ceremony is this Thursday at 1:30 pm. For afternoon events, please refrain from parking on the back bus road. Parking on the bus road in the afternoons prevents the middle school buses from being able to get through to run their high school and middle school routes. 1st grade field day is this Friday at 12:00 pm. This Friday is also Spirit Day. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening! 

 

May 21, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. A letter with important end of year dates and events was sent home today with students. For 3rd-5th graders, the Reading EOG is this Thursday, May 24th and the Math EOG is Friday, May 25th. For our 5th graders, the Science EOG is Tuesday, May 29th. Please reference the letter for all of the end of year awards and field days. All of our students will receive an award at the end of the year. The front door buzzer system was installed last week. As you approach the front doors of the school, you will press the buzzer to the right of the front door. Thank you for being patient with us as we implement this new system. Thank you for your continued support and have a great week! 

 

May 1, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Families. This is Mrs. White, your principal. As a reminder, tomorrow, Wednesday, May 2nd is an Early Release day. We will dismiss at 1:45 pm.We are excited for our Strings/Chorus concert this Thursday, May 3rd beginning at 5:30 pm.  Friday, May 4th is Spirit Day. Please wear RES spirit wear or the color green to support our school. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening!

 

April 24, 2018

Good evening Riverwood parents and students! This is your principal Leigh White. We are excited for the Spring Fling Carnival this Friday, April 27th from 5-8pm.

Flyers were sent home for advance purchase of wristbands for the bounce houses and must be sent in by Thursday for prepaid sale. Wristbands and tickets will also be available for purchase at the door. If you purchased in advance, your wristbands and tickets will be at the check in table for you to pick up. They will not be sent home in advance.

We will have tickets available for purchase as well that will be used for the following:
-cake walk    - PTA concessions     -staff pie face     -face painting
-silly string      - hair coloring

There will be a Silent Auction Baskets and Vendors in the cafeteria. We will be accepting credit card, cash and check for Silent Auction baskets. 

Food Trucks will be available for purchase directly from the food trucks. The trucks include Hot Chix, Southern Snack Shack and Kona Ice. Each truck will be donating a portion of the sale to RES PTA so please encourage everyone you know to come get dinner at the Food trucks even if they aren't participating in the rest of Spring Fling activities. Check out their menus and don't miss out on these great trucks.

A 50/50 cash raffle will be available as well to help raise money for the security needs of the school. All proceeds from the 50/50 raffle will go to this fund. Please help us to fund the needed security updates for RES.

Also, your child should be bringing home a letter with all of the important end of year dates. This letter will go home this week. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you this Friday! 

 

April 18, 2018

Good evening Riverwood families!  This is your principal Leigh White. We are excited for our Spring Book Fair sales to begin tomorrow. As a reminder, our Family Night Book Fair is tomorrow night from 4-7 pm. We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow night at the Family Night Book Fair!Please bring in pictures of your pets to display at the fair. Also, students can dress up as a pet on Thursday to go along with our Book Fair theme! The Book Fair is open through next Wednesday. The 5th Grade is also having their Arts Night tomorrow night. The Simpson team art displays will be from 5-5:30 pm with the performance at 5:45 pm. The Lytle team art displays will be from 6-6:30 pm with the performance at 6:45 pm. We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow night! 

 

April 9, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Elementary parents and students! This is your principal, Leigh White. I hope each of you had a relaxing and enjoyable spring break. Parents, you should find in your child's folder a PTA VIP Carpool fundraiser. This fundraiser is specific to raising funds that will enhance safety and security measures in our school. Specifically, the goal is to raise funding for a Front Entrance Safety Wall/Door that would be installed in the front entrance area. This safety wall/door would require that each visitor to our school be buzzed in the front office from the inside foyer. A goal for this installation to take place would be for the beginning of the school year next year. Please reference our School Website under the PTA Fundraiser page for a copy of the flyer and also pictures of a similar Front Entrance Wall/Door System. Please know that you can donate to this cause even if you are not interested in being a VIP Carpool recipient. Make all checks payable to Riverwood Elementary PTA. Thank you for your support in raising money for this fundraiser. Also, April Spirit Day is this Friday, April 13th. Please wear your RES apparel or green to support our school. Thank you for your continued support and have a wonderful week!

March 22, 2018

Good afternoon Riverwood Elementary parents! This is your principal Mrs. White. Today, near the end of the school day, several students found an unfired bullet on our school grounds and immediately turned in the bullet to their teacher. Our SRO was contacted and no one was ever in any type of danger at all. We commend our students for turning it in and reporting to their teacher immediately. This is exactly what we have asked our students to do in the event they see or find anything inappropriate on our campus. Again, this call is to inform you and to reiterate that at no time were our students in harm's way. Also, as a reminder, the Spring Fling that was scheduled for this evening has been postponed. The rescheduled Spring Fling date is April 27th from 5-8 pm. Next Wednesday, March 28th is an Early Release. Dismissal time is 1:45 pm. Spring Break is from Thursday, March 29 through Friday, April 6th. We will return to school on Monday, April 9th. Thank you so much for your continued support and I hope you have a wonderful evening.

 

March 19, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Elementary parents and students. This is your principal Mrs. White. Your child should have brought home a flyer today informing you that the Spring Fling scheduled for this Thursday night has been postponed. With the impending rain forecasted for this week and the cold temperatures, we have decided to postpone. Part of the Spring Fling activities are outside so we need for the outside grounds to be dry and without mud. The rescheduled Spring Fling date is Friday, April 27th from 5-8 pm. Also, we have an Early Release next Wednesday, March 28th at 1:45 pm. Spring Break is from Thursday, March 29th through Friday, April 6th. We will return to school on Monday, April 9th. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening! 

 

March 11, 2018

Good evening, this is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary School. As our district continues to seek ways to increase safety measures at our schools, Dr. Renfrow has given principals a directive to keep all school doors locked at all times, including the front door.  Effective Monday, March 12th, the front door will be locked at all times.  For now, we plan to utilize staff members at the front door to greet students and parents as we become acclimated with our new norm.  Please email Jean Johnson at jeanjohnson@johnston.k12.nc.us if you are a Level 2 volunteer and would like to volunteer to be a greeter at the front door.  May 16th is the expected date of installation for the controlled access front door buzzer system for our school. Although the front office is typically open very early in the morning and usually stays open past our office hours, the office hours are actually from 8:00 am-4:45 pm. We will not have a greeter at the front door prior to 8:00 am or after 4:45 pm. Please don't hesitate to call the front office if you need assistance outside of the office hours and a staff member is usually there. Until the buzzer system is installed, teachers will meet you at the front door if you have a scheduled AM conference or meeting. For students in AM clubs, your club sponsor will be at the front door to greet students prior to the start time of the club. Please do not leave students outside the front entrance with the assumption they are going to get into the building anymore. Wait to see the doors open or walk your child in. This also pertains to our students who attend the Before Care Program. A staff member will greet you at the side door of the cafeteria. Please do not let your child out of the car and drive off. Parents, I ask for your patience and understanding as we navigate through this new opportunity while still working diligently to provide the excellent customer service that you are used to getting at Riverwood Elementary. As always, thank you so much for your continued support and entrusting your children to us each and every day. It is my privilege to serve our students and families. Have a great evening. 

 

February 26, 2018

Good evening parents and students! This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary with some very important updates. In the coming days, I will be speaking with all of our students to review school and bus behavioral expectations.  We will also discuss safety protocols and expectations for fire drills, lockdown drills, and evacuations.  Please remind your child to  take safety drills serious and listen and follow teacher directions at all times. As our Superintendent has emphasized in his recent messages, we will continue to listen, act, and assure you of our continuous efforts to maintain and strengthen safety measures taken at our schools to protect students and staff.  Please rest assured that safety is our main priority and we will take every precaution we can to make sure your child is safe while attending school. Feel free to contact the school with any questions or concerns that you may have.  As a reminder, Read Across America is this week. We are excited for the upcoming activities. You can find details on our website or on Twitter. The PreK-2nd grade Food Lion Family Math Night is at Food Lion on February 27 from 5:30-7:30 pm. We look forward to seeing you there! Class and individual spring pictures are March 1st. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening. 

February 13, 2018

Good evening parents and students! This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary. This call is a reminder that we have our Pastries for Parents tomorrow and Thursday of this week from 8:00-8:45 am. Tomorrow's breakfast will be all students with the last names starting with letter A-M. Thursday's breakfast will be for our students with last names beginning with N-Z. Also, yearbooks are still on sale. The deadline to pre-order yearbooks is this Friday, February 16th. You can order yearbooks online at ybpay.lifetouch.com. As a reminder, our next Early Release day is next Monday, February 19th at 1:45 pm. The next PTA Family dinner night is next Tuesday, February 20th at Fiesta Mexicana from 5-8 pm. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening!

 

February 5, 2018

Good evening parents and students! This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary. Report cards go home this Wednesday, February 7th. Please know that there have been statewide issues with the report cards over the last several weeks. Contact your child's teacher if you have specific questions or concerns about the report card. Parents, you should have received a flyer for the Pastries with Parents that is coming up next week. The PTA is excited to invite parents in to enjoy pastries with our students. Also, our Family Math Night at Food Lion is quickly approaching. This should be a fun filled night that will include lots of learning.  Family Math Night at Food Lion for PreK-2nd grade will be Tuesday, February 27 from 5:30-7:30 pm. 3rd-5th grade Family Math Night at Food Lion will be Tuesday, March 6th from 5:30-7:30 pm. Please send the forms back in as soon as possible for both Pastries with Parents and the Food Lion Family Math Night so we can plan each event accordingly. Thank you for your continued support and have a great evening. 

 

January 22, 2018

Good evening parents and students. This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary School. We are excited to be back in school and looking forward to having warmer weather stick around for a bit. Losing additional school days due to winter weather has required us to change the calendar by extending the semester until January 29th and redesignating some days in order to make up lost instructional time.  This change means Thursday, January 25 and Friday, January 26 will now be regular school days. Report cards will now go home on Wednesday, February 7th. Friday, February 2nd is our February Spirit Day. Please have students wear RES attire or dress in green to show their school spirit. Thank you for your continued support and have a wonderful week!

 

January 12, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Elementary parents and students! This is Mrs. White, your principal.  Tomorrow, Friday, January 12th is our Spirit Day for the month of January. It was re-scheduled for tomorrow due to school being closed last Friday. We would love for all of our students to wear Riverwood Elementary apparel or the color green tomorrow to show their school spirit!  Monday, January 15th is the Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday and there will be no school. Our K-3rd grade students are currently taking their middle of year MClass benchmark and next week all K-5th grade students will begin their middle of year IReady benchmark.  Please encourage your child to do their very best and show what they know! Thank you for your continued support and have a wonderful night! 

 

January 2, 2018

Good evening Riverwood Elementary families. This is your principal, Mrs. White. I would like to wish you a Happy New Year!  I hope each of you were able to enjoy the break and spend quality time with loved ones. Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 3rd, is now an early release day for Johnston County Public Schools due to the potential for inclement weather in the afternoon hours. We will follow our usual early release schedule and dismiss at 1:45 pm. If you plan to pick your child up from school tomorrow, please do so in the car pool line so we can eliminate any unnecessary activity in the office area at the end of the school day. After School YMCA is canceled tomorrowafternoon.  We will arrive at school at regular time in the morning so please dress warmly.  Students, please remember to bring in your signed reading incentive sheet tomorrow if you participated in the incentive.  Thank you for your patience tomorrow as we take every precaution we can to ensure the safety of our students and staff. As always, thank you so much for your continued support and we look forward to an awesome 2018!

 

December 13, 2017

Good evening parents and students. This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary School. Progress reports went home with students today. Please check your child's folder for his/her progress report. Students received information today in regards to our Winter Reading Incentive. Please ask your child for the letter and chart that came home today. We would love for our students to do some reading over break if possible. If students complete the Winter Reading Incentive, they will be able to attend a special story time with hot chocolate and cookies in January. I'm looking forward to the special reading time and snacks! As a reminder, we will dismiss at 1:45 pm on Friday, December 15th for the Early Release.  Christmas break is from December 16-January 2 for students. Students return to school on Wednesday, January 3rd. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break! 

 

December 4, 2017

Good evening parents and students. This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary School. Your child should have brought home information regarding the PTA Holiday Shop.  The Holiday Shop will be open beginning tomorrow  morning through this Friday, December 8th.  Each class has a designated day/time to shop. We are looking forward to our students shopping at the Holiday Shop this year. Progress Reports will go home next Wednesday, December 13th. Next Friday, December 15th will be an Early Dismissal day for students at 1:45 pm. The Christmas break is from December 18th-January 2nd for students. Students will return to school on Wednesday, January 3rd.  Thank you so much for your continued support and have a wonderful week!

 

November 8, 2017

Good evening parents and students. This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary School. First quarter report cards will be sent home on Thursday, November 9th with students.  Please review the report card, sign the report card envelope, and return the report card envelope to your child’s homeroom teacher.

Johnston County Public Schools are closed on Friday, November 10th for Veterans Day.  Our school system is honoring our local veterans with a special Veterans Day Holiday celebration at Smithfield-Selma High school on Friday, November 10th at 11:00 am.  Visit the school system website for more information about this program.  Our Thanksgiving break will be from Wednesday, November 22 through Sunday, November 26.  
 

Thank you for your continued support!  Have a terrific evening!

 

October 30, 2017

Good evening parents and students. This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary School with several updates.  We want to thank you for supporting our Red Ribbon Week activities last week! Students and Staff alike showed their school spirit!  Tomorrow, October 31st is an Early Release day. Dismissal is at 1:45 pm.  Several students have asked if they can wear their Halloween costumes to school tomorrow. Students are not allowed to wear their costumes to school.  Wednesday, November 1st is a Teacher Workday.  2nd quarter begins Thursday, November 2nd and report cards will go home next Thursday, November 9th.  This Friday, November 3rd is Spirit Day. Please remind your child to wear an RES shirt or green.  Next Friday, November 10th is Veterans Day. Schools will be closed in honor of the Holiday. Thank you for your continued support and have a wonderful week! 

 

October 5, 2017

Good evening parents and students! This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary.  We had an exciting week with the launch of our Apex Fun Run program on Tuesday! The Apex Team has been at our school working with our students on leadership lessons, like be Unique, No Excuses, Inspire Others, be Teachable, Empathize, and Do Your Best. Ask your student what they learned today! We are looking forward to the Fun Run on Thursday, Oct. 12th!

Students are gathering pledges from sponsors to help raise money for technology, playground equipment, and classroom resources. They will be running on a track that is 1/16th of a mile long. On average students run between 26 and 36 laps, with 36 being the most they can get credit for. To donate, please check out your students “apex lanyard” that was sent home earlier this week. All instructions are inside. Go to www.apexfunrun.com and use your student’s special “access code” printed on their lanyard to log in and enter your pledges. If you cannot find your code, just email info@apexfunrun.com. Thank you so much for your support of our great school and have a wonderful evening!

September 21, 2017

Good evening parents and students. This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary. I would like to remind you that we have an Early Release day tomorrow. Early Release is at 1:45 pm.  Also, the Fall Book Fair will end tomorrow morning at 10:00 am. Monday, September 25th is our Fall Picture Day. You should have received the picture day flyer with details.  Students, help our school earn cash this school year! Every Box Top is worth 10 cents, and they add up fast! Next week is National Box Tops for Education Week, and we’re celebrating with a clipping drive.  Please ask friends, family and neighbors to clip Box Tops. Then add them to your collection and drop them in the marked bin outside of the media center. Be sure to include the student's name, teacher and grade to earn credit for our current contest. The fall contest ends October 20th! Have a great night and thank you for your continued support! 

 

September 12, 2017

Good evening parents and students. This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary.  We are excited to invite you to Open House next week! Fall Open House is next Tuesday, September 19th. Your child should have a flyer with all of the details of the night. We will begin the evening at 4:30 pm in the cafeteria with a representative from the Curriculum and Instruction Department to give a presentation on Standards Based Grading.  Please come for that presentation so you can learn more about standards based grading in Kindergarten-4th grade. Open House in the classrooms for kindergarten, 3rd grade, and 5th grade will be from 5:00-5:45 pm.  The general PTA meeting will be in the cafeteria at 6:00 pm.  Open House in the classrooms for 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 4th grade will be from 6:30-7:15 pm. The Kona Ice truck will be here selling their icees outside of the cafeteria. Also, we are looking forward for our Fall Book Fair to kick off on September 19th.  The Book Fair will be open at Open House until 7:15 pm.  This fall's Book Fair theme is a wild west theme. We are encouraging our students and staff to dress like they are in the wild west next Tuesday, September 19th. Feel free to wear a cowboy hat but leave all wild west weapons at home.  We look forward to seeing everyone next week! 

August 31, 2017

Good evening parents and students!  This is Mrs. White, your principal at Riverwood Elementary School.  Students, thank you so much for such a wonderful start to the school year!  You have done an excellent job learning and following expectations this week. Tomorrow, Friday, September 1st, is our 1st Spirit Day of the school year. Students, remember to wear green or your Riverwood Elementary apparel to show your school spirit!  Monday, September 4th is Labor Day.  There will be no school Monday in observance of the Holiday.  Kindergarten Orientation is Tuesday, September 5th at 6:00 pm.  Kindergarten parents, please plan to meet in the cafeteria at 6:00 pm for a general meeting.  Thank you for a successful 1st week of school and we look forward to a great school year ahead!

 

August 22, 2017

Good evening parents and students! This is Leigh White, your Principal at Riverwood Elementary School.  I am excited to call this evening with some important information about the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.  Back To School Orientation is scheduled for this Thursday, August 24th. Orientation for 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade will be from 4-5:30 pm and 3rd and 5th grade will be 6-7:30 pm.  You can find grade level supply lists on our school website and/or in the front office.  Classroom teachers will also have the supply lists at Orientation.  Feel free to bring supplies to school the night of Orientation. Students, if you completed the 30 reading tasks over the summer, please bring your Ice Cream Reading Incentive sheet so you can enjoy a special ice cream treat at Orientation.  Please follow us on Twitter @RiverwoodElem. We are all looking forward to the 1st day of school on Monday, August 28th.  Thank you and have a great evening!

August 3, 2017

Good evening Riverwood Families! This is Leigh White, your Principal at Riverwood Elementary.  I am excited to call this evening with some important updates and to welcome you to a new school year! Please come out and support the Fill The Bus event hosted by Khloe Gupton at C.E. Barnes store in Archer Lodge. The event is August 12th from 9:00 am-1:00 pm. We will accept any and all school supplies such as bookbags, pencils, paper, crayons.  All items collected will benefit students at our local elementary schools.  Students, I have loved the pictures you have been sending me this summer while you are reading!  Be sure to complete at least 30 reading tasks on your orange sheet so you can enjoy ice cream at Orientation.  Also be sure to bring the orange sheet to Orientation to trade it for your ice cream. Even if you haven't started yet, you still have time.  You can find the ice cream reading incentive sheet on our website or in the front office.  Back To School Orientation is scheduled for Thursday, August 24th. Orientation for 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade will be from 4-5:30 pm and 3rd and 5th grade will be 6-7:30 pm.  You can find grade level supply lists on our school website and/or in the front office.  Classroom teachers will also have the supply lists at Orientation. Postcards with homeroom teacher assignments will go out August 16th!  Please follow us on Twitter@RiverwoodElem.  We post the morning announcements each day, important updates, pictures throughout the day, and much more. We are looking forward to the 1st day of school on Monday, August 28th.  Thank you and have a great evening!