RHMS Monthly Parent Bulletin

It’s official–21 school days to go, but who’s counting?!?! As is always the case, this time of year is extremely busy. But I don’t want to miss the opportunity to share what amazing humans we have on this campus and to appreciate them (and you!).

As I reflect on the year, I realize how lucky we are to call this place home during the day. So much happens every day and we don’t get to celebrate every event, but what we get to witness in terms of growth is amazing. I always say at 6th grade orientation that they come in wearing Hello, Kitty and they leave wearing make up, and here we are in May witnessing this transition yet again. We’ve had great academic successes in the classroom and out of it–growth on iReady diagnostics, narrative essays that are book worthy (and a published author in our midst!), Quiz Bowl team champions (two teams!), BoB county champions, GATE rockstars fighting the Costco development. We have artists, thespians, and cooks. We have talent with our students and our staff and Mrs. Young’s rendition of “These Boots Are Made for Walking” rocked, but I especially loved what she said before she sang: “I was always afraid in middle school to take a chance, and I’m up here to let you all know not to be afraid.” What a role model! We have athletes galore–some trying a sport for the first time, others who have been playing since they could walk. We have performers playing the piano with renowned orchestras. We have clubs after school, organizing events to benefit those in need, and sometimes they’re just playing video games together–and each of those is important. The list goes on, which is why I’m so very proud to be a Bengal and share their joy! There really is no place like home, and I’m glad this is mine!

Though we are not in school on the 4th of July, we do not want to miss the opportunity to celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary. To that end, we have two events to honor this momentous occasion:

1. Military Appreciation–May 14. Inviting all active and retired military members and their families to a breakfast honoring them! RSVP by May 11 to sgallagher@buckeyeusd.org

2. 250 Care Packages via Rolling Hills Blue Star Moms–As our country prepares to celebrate its semiquincentennial, we’d like to support the Rolling Hills chapter of Blue Star Moms (perfect coincidence!). Here’s how:

1. Cash donations link Goal is to collect enough money to ship 250 packages at about $10/package, which would be $2500

2. Link to list of wanted items Bring items to RHMS and drop in library, office, or select classrooms by May 8

Now, hold on to your hats for all that’s coming in those 21 days! Deets below…

6th and 7th grade parents: Mark your calendars–Monday, June 1 is a LATE START day for RHMS only because of the promotion ceremony. School starts at 9:50 for 6th and 7th graders and they will be dismissed at 2:04. “Brunch” is being served from 9:50-10:25, so if students just want to arrive for their first class, they should arrive at 10:25.

The 8th graders should be at ORHS small gym by 7:30 am on Monday, June 1st, as the ceremony starts promptly at 7:45.

Tuesday, June 2 is a regular minimum day for the whole district (Buckeye District elementary and middle schools), with a 7:50 start and 11:30/12:00 dismissal (depending on if lunch/bus needed).

Also EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for current 6th graders: TDAP vaccinations are REQUIRED before your child can start school in August 2026. If they have already had the booster, PLEASE bring that documentation into the health clerk’s office asap, but for sure before the school year ends. Your child CANNOT start 7th grade without this vaccination! If you’ve already submitted this documentation, THANK YOU! You may email a copy of the vaccination record to our health clerk at bchau@buckeyeusd.org or send a hard copy of it to the office.

We have many activities planned for our 8th graders as they head to high school. Please make note of all the important dates that are included in this bulletin. Of utmost importance is the promotion ceremony, which starts promptly at 7:45 am on Monday, June 1. Extended family and friends are welcome to attend, but we ask families to limit attendees to no more than six people. Space will be VERY tight, but it’s so much better in the gym, and we’re hoping families will be cognizant of the space limitations. Though there will not be tickets, we respectfully ask that you work around this limit. Doors to the gym will open at 7:00 am. A letter about activities and the SunSplash permission slip were already sent home (click here). If your child is attending SunSplash, permission slips were already due; please contact Mr. Gallagher (sgallagher@buckeyeusd.org) to see if we still have space available. Thank you for answering my call (plea!) for help with the 8th grade party, as we’ve had many sign up to help. We do have some options available still; please click this link for availability: SignUpGenius

Finally, please remember that if you have moved or are moving, we need your new address to confirm that it is still within our boundaries. We are extremely impacted and I would hate to have a student forced to move once the school year has started. Please be sure you check your address if you move and want to continue at RHMS. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. We are making more home visits to confirm residency and those are not fun for anyone.

Thank you for a wild ride of a school year. Because of all the chaos, we’re trying to celebrate staff with some relaxing energy for appreciation week. Feel free to shower them with the love they deserve!

Thank you for a fabulous school year, Bengals!

Debbie

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CJSF Info and Forms

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2025/2026 CALENDAR is available on our school website and is included in this bulletin.

FACEBOOK: This is a fun way for us to share photos from day to day activities and other events. RHMS Facebook

Battle of the Books (BoB) County Championship: The Rolling Hills BoB teams traveled to the Placerville County Library on Thursday, April 9, to compete against the best BoB teams in our area. Our 6th grade team, the Exploding Minions, won 1st place in their age level, and also won the All-Around Championship. The 7th grade team, the Word Warriors, won 1st place in their age level, and 2nd place in the All-Around. The 8th grade team, Liberty Mutual, won 2nd place in their age level. Congratulations to these amazing students!

March “Book” Madness Update: After four rounds of voting, our students chose the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins as the winner of March “Book” Madness. Congratulations to Zoey M., a 6th grader, who was the lucky winner of a free book of her choice.

Bengal Book Fair - I am excited to announce that we will be having a Scholastic Book Fair on Thursday, May 21 from 5-7pm in the RH Library. The Book Fair is the same night as Open House, so please come to visit the classrooms and the library. It’s a great time to stock up on summer reading, and profits will go toward a great cause - purchasing more library books for our students!

End-of-Year Dates & Deadlines: As the last few weeks of school wind down, please

keep in mind the following dates and deadlines. All Library books are due back to the RH Library on or before Friday, May 15. Textbooks need to be turned in anytime during the week of May 18-22. 8th grade Chromebooks & Chargers should be turned in during Social Studies classes on Friday, May 22. 7th grade Chromebooks & Chargers will be turned in on Wednesday, May 27 during Science classes. 6th grade Chromebooks & Chargers will be turned in on Thursday, May 28 as the teachers direct. If your student has lost any library materials, please contact me as soon as possible.

Any questions about the library? Please contact me at lleszinske@buckeyeusd.org. As always, the library catalog is available for browsing here, and students may request a library book by filling out the Book Request form. Don’t forget to follow the library on Instagram @rhmsreads. Happy Reading!

We have had a great year! Hopefully you are in the process of building a rocket. We have one final build day at school today, May 1, in room L6 from 2:10 - 3:15pm. We will launch the rockets on Thursday, May 7, 2:10 - 3:30 on the upper blacktop. This will be the final meeting of the year. GATE parents, please join us!

As we wrap up the year, we want to thank all of our dedicated and hard working CJSF scholars here at Rolling Hills. We are so thankful for your drive and effort both academically and within our community. Keep up the amazing work. We are so proud of you!

Gold Seal - 8th Graders Only:

8th graders are eligible to receive the CJSF Gold Seal on their Promotion Certificate if they qualify for CJSF a minimum of two trimesters during 7th AND 8th grade. If students have any questions about whether they have qualified for the Gold Seal, please contact Mrs. Miller.

3rd Trimester Qualifying Process:

Current 6th and 7th graders will apply for CJSF for the 3rd Trimester of this 2025/2026 school year when they return to school in the Fall of 2026. Any questions about this? Please contact Mrs. Miller or Mr. Crowson

Volunteer Hours:

Volunteer hours completed over the summer can count for the 3rd trimester of the 2025/2026 and/or 1st trimester in the 2026/2027 school year. If they are using it for both trimesters, they will need 4 hours. They cannot use the same 2 hours for both trimesters.

A gentle reminder that community service hours need to be documented and have a signature from the outreach lead that you are supporting. If you are not sure if what you are doing is going to count as community service, please reach out to Mrs. Miller OR Mr. Crowson BEFORE you complete the hours and BEFORE the end of the trimester. We want to make sure what you are volunteering for will work and allow you to meet the CJSF requirements.

Final Campus Clean Up Date:

Campus Clean up is down to its last two, 30 minute service meetings. May 7th @ 2:15 and May 21st @ 2:15 will be the last meetings of the year. Come early to J4, get your gloves, your picker and…. Get Your Clean ON!

We are looking forward to next year!

Take a look at this months news! Find information on the Student Council webpage!

⭐ Want to start a club? Click here for more information. ⭐

Celebrate a Birthday or Half Birthday!

Google Birthday Form

We are down to the last month of the year. . .

Teacher appreciation week is May 4th through May 8th. A request for items for the staff luncheon was sent out. We appreciate everyone helping to make it a special event. In addition, per request the staff have listed some of their favorite things here.

We appreciate your support and the teachers do too!

If you purchased a tile for the tile wall, your child will be called in at lunchtime to paint it. Once all the tiles are completed they will be put up on the wall. We can’t wait to see it completed.

FORH is always accepting donations for all the activities we have during the school year.

If you would like to make a donation, please use the QR code to donate directly to FORH.

Please reach out with any questions – FORHmiddleschool@gmail.com

Do you have an 8th grader that will be promoted to high school this year? Jenny’s Leis has agreed to give a portion of the proceeds to FORH for purchases made through our fundraiser.

We would like to invite you to the FORH monthly meeting on May 14th at 12:45pm in classroom L1! Come see off the current board members and meet the new incoming board.

Wednesday May 13th - Stop by Steve's Pizza. Our school will get a 20% donation from your order.

If you cannot attend but would like to contribute, please use the QR code to donate directly to FORH.

Youth Making A Difference

Meetings will be Wednesday, May 13th, 1:15pm-2:00pm in Mrs. Robert's Room - J1. Our Club is currently full with a waitlist and not taking any applications at this time. Check out more information about Hands4Hope on our website and the Rolling HIlls Club page.

LATE ARRIVALS TO SCHOOL: Students arriving to school after 7:50 am, for any reason, need to sign in at the office and obtain a pass to class.

CHECKING YOUR STUDENT OUT EARLY: Students may only be checked out early by an adult whose name is listed on the student’s contact tab in Alma. An identification card must be shown since we will not know every adult listed in Alma as a contact or an emergency contact. Please allow enough time to follow this procedure as it will not be waived because people are in a hurry.

ABSENCES: If your child is absent, please call the school at 916-933-9290, extension 4 or by using the on-line absence form (Bookmark this link), first thing in the morning. Please know that students are considered to be chronic absentees if they are absent more than 10% of the school year to date, whether absences are excused or unexcused.

INDEPENDENT STUDY CONTRACTS: The state of California requires that Independent Study Contracts may only be set up for students who will be out of school for three (3) or more CONSECUTIVE days not to exceed 15 days per year. Please note you must give the school a minimum notice of five (5) school days to take out a contract! We thank you for planning ahead. Please be aware that contracts cannot be taken out due to illness, and interdistrict students do not qualify for contracts.

Rolling Hills Middle School

Asst. Principal: Sean Gallagher

Main Office: 916-933-9290

Dana Lee (contracts, ext 3003),

Danielle VanderVeen (attendance, ext 3002)

Website: RHMS Website
Location: 7141 Silva Valley Pkwy, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
Phone: 916-933-9290
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063610507614