Hi 6th grade families! We are enjoying working with your 6th graders and helping prepare them for junior high! We started our conversation about junior high at the end of last October and are officially in the time of year where your 6th grader will be choosing their classes for 7th grade. We know there are a lot of different feelings happening with preparing for this transition, but we love the excitement the kids are showing in choosing their classes. There is A LOT of information in this newsletter to help you know what is currently happening to help prepare your 6th grader and what is coming soon. Please reach out to us with any questions you have. We are happy to help! Our e-mail addresses are paige.pendery@risd.org and ashley.konkle@risd.org. Our phone number is 469-593-4332. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions you might have. If we don't know the answers, we will find out for you!

Over the coming weeks, quite a bit of information will be coming home. Please take a moment and make sure that your address, email, and phone numbers are correct in FOCUS. This way, no matter how the information is shared, you will not miss important events, reminders, and decision or results information. If you need help with your FOCUS account, please reach out to our campus data specialist, Sadaf Ramzan, at Sadaf.Ramzan@risd.org.

Anytime we send home paper copies of information with our 6th graders, we will also send electronic copies through the Talking Points app. Let us know if you need help getting connected to us through Talking Points so that you are receiving all of the information we are sharing with your 6th graders.

January 13th-17th

• West JH interviews have been taking place for students who applied for West JH's Visual Arts and Theater Arts magnet programs. Good luck to our 6th graders who applied!

January 16th

• We enjoyed our visit to Westwood JH! Students took a tour of the school, got to ask questions to current students about things they are involved in, met the administrators and several staff members, participated in signing a banner showing their commitment to working hard to reach their high school graduation in 2031, learned about the AVID elective, and got a little taste of what life is like in junior high.

January 22nd

• The counselors from WWJH will visit 6th grade to talk about class options for 7th grade. They will be given a practice course card to fill out and start thinking about what classes they want to take in 7th grade.

January 29th

• Students will continue learning about their transition to 7th grade during our counselor lesson, will have time to practice filling out a draft course selection card, and will have an opportunity to ask questions about what classes they should take next year. They will be encouraged to bring these home to share with their parents/guardians to help with the conversation of which classes to take in 7th grade.

February 7th

• Letters are expected to be sent home showing the following information:
• Magnet School Acceptance (for students who applied)
• Spanish Placement Exam results (for students who took the test)
• AVID acceptance (for students who applied)
• Course Selection Cards will be sent home

February 13th - Course Selection Cards are due to homeroom teachers

March 17th - Course Verification Letters will be sent home

March 21st - Course Verification Letters due to classroom teachers

The junior high/middle school program of studies is a great resource for finding out about the different courses offered. Each course has a course description, giving information about what you will learn, as well as if there are any pre-requisites. Some courses are only be offered at a particular campus. This will be noted in the description as well. Click on the blue box below to access this resource!

Starting on February 2nd, your student will bring home a course selection card. The card will be used to choose courses for the 2024-2025 school year. Please spend time going over this with your student. Once you have reviewed the options and made selections, please sign the course card and return it to your child's teacher by Thursday, February 8th. Their teachers and we will review each course card to make sure they are complete and ready to go. We will also meet individually with each 6th grader to finalize their course selections and then will share their choices with their junior high counselors.

AVID is one of the electives our students have an opportunity to apply to take in 7th grade. To learn more about the AVID elective and to get the link to apply, click on the video and the blue boxes below. The deadline to apply for AVID is January 24th.

If your student chooses to participate in athletics for the 2025-2026 school year, you will need to submit a physical form to the junior high. Please be looking for more information about an opportunity to get a low-cost physical through the school district later this spring. You may also visit your own primary care physician to obtain a physical, but you must use the UIL Athletics Physical form. Each physical is only good for one year, so please wait until later in the spring to have this done. The required form will be shared with you and your student this spring.

Course Verification Letters will be sent home towards the end of March. This letter will include a list of the courses that you and your student have chosen for the 2024-2025 school year. This will be your opportunity to review the courses chosen earlier, and make changes, if needed. After this time, you will not be able to make changes to course cards. Please review these letters carefully, and sign and send them back to your child's teacher.

Students may choose to take PE in the summer (for a fee). Once information is made available about the dates, requirements, and cost, we will share that information with you. All students must take either PE or Athletics in 7th grade, unless they fulfill this requirement in the summer.