CSRMS Family Newsletter!

Raven Families,

This week we’ll be celebrating Veterans Day, and we would love to recognize the veterans in our Raven family! Veteran family members of CSRMS students are invited to RSVP using the link in this newsletter and join us during morning arrival. It’s a small way for us to say thank you for your service and honor you as we start our day.

8th Grade Families: If you're beginning to think about high school options, be sure to check out the School Choice Expo at Cypress Creek High School this Tuesday. It's a great opportunity to learn about the different high school programs and opportunities available before School Choice applications open in January.

Also, if you have a friend, neighbor, or family member with a student who will be choosing a middle school for next year, let them know they can stop by and visit the CSRMS booth at the Expo as well! We’ll also be hosting Open House events in December, and you'll find information about those events in this newsletter.

Looking ahead, our next newsletter will include the December testing calendar, including PM2 state assessments, mock End-of-Course exams, and district finals for semester courses. As we approach the end of the semester, attendance in December will be especially important. Students will be participating in testing, receiving important instruction and review, and completing assessments that impact their grades as we close out both quarter 2 and semester 1.

Come out on Friday or Saturday to see out theater department put on their Alice in Wonderland performance! More information is in the newsletter!

Finally, this is the last few days of our food drive the support Rushe families for the holidays! We would love all donations by Wednesday. Please see the flyer in the newsletter for donation examples and drop off directions.

• Great American Teach In: Wed, Nov 18th
• Recess Reloaded Field Day: Fri, Nov 20th
• Thanksgiving Break: Mon, Nov 23- Fri, Nov 27
• Winter State Testing (PM2): Dec 1-18- Schedule Coming Soon
• School Choice Open House at CSRMS: Wed, Dec 2nd
• Center for Gifted School Choice Open House at CSRMS: Wed, Dec 9th

The Pasco Pathways Expo is just a few weeks away. Save the date for the 2026 Pasco Pathways Expo, where you can meet school representatives, explore programs and learn more about school choice opportunities for your child.

CSRMS will be at the Tuesday event! If you have friends or neighbors who are considering Rushe for the fall, tell them to visit us at Cypress Creek High School on Tues, Nov 10th at the Expo! We will also be holding Open House Events for School Choice families at CSRMS in December!

Monday, November 9
Gulf High School | 5–8 p.m.

Tuesday, November 10
Cypress Creek High School | 5–8 p.m.

Each event will offer information sessions on Pasco Pathways and school choice, dual enrollment, and early childhood programs.

Registration is open! Please visit pasco.k12.fl.us/expo to see which schools will attend each event, explore the details and sign up. See flyer here.

At CSRMS, we are proud to honor the men and women who have served our country. This Veterans Day, we invite all veterans who are family members of CSRMS students to join us for a special morning recognition as we express our gratitude for your service and help our students understand the importance of honoring those who have served.

📅 Veterans Day Celebration
🕖 Arrive: 7:00 AM
🎖️ Recognition Ceremony: 7:15 AM

To ensure we can include you in our schoolwide morning announcements and recognition, all veterans should:

✅ RSVP using the link
✅ Check in through the Front Office between 7:00 AM and 7:10 AM

From 7:10 AM to 7:15 AM, we will recognize our veteran guests during morning announcements as we kick off the school day with our students.

Veterans may bring one guest with them.

Thank you for your service, sacrifice, and commitment to our nation. We look forward to recognizing and celebrating you as part of our CSRMS family.

Do you have a neighbor, friend, or family member with a current 5th, 6th, or 7th grader who is considering middle school options for next year? Please share our December Open House flyer with them! Our Open House events give prospective families the opportunity to visit Rushe, meet our administration team, and learn about our academic programs, clubs, athletics, and other opportunities available to students. With School Choice registration opening in January, these events are a great way for families to explore all that Rushe has to offer as they make their school choice decisions.

🎭 Join us for an evening of outstanding student performances at the CSRMS Thespy Showcase and One Act!

Mark your calendars for:

📅 Friday, November 13

📅 Saturday, November 14

🕖 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM

📍 CSRMS Cafeteria

Come support our talented Ravens as they take the stage and showcase their hard work, creativity, and passion for the performing arts. We can't wait to see our community come together for two unforgettable nights of theater!

Links for tickets are available in Rycor.

The holiday season is a wonderful time for our Raven community to come together and support one another. In another section of this newsletter, you'll find information about how families can reach out if they are experiencing financial hardship and may need holiday assistance.

To help support these families, our Builders Club and School Counseling Team are teaming up to collect non-perishable food items that can be used to create holiday meal baskets for families in need.

📦 Collection Dates: November 1-11
Students can drop off items from the flyer in the atrium each morning during arrival beginning next week.

🎁 Coming Soon: Holiday Giving Tree
We'll also be setting up a Holiday Giving Tree in the front office, where families can "adopt" a Raven family by purchasing a holiday gift for a student in need.

Thank you for helping us make sure every member of our Raven family feels supported this holiday season. Be sure to watch upcoming newsletters for more details and ways to help!

As we welcome November, the month of gratitude, we invite families to help us celebrate the incredible staff members who make a difference every day. Throughout the month, you can submit messages of appreciation for any CSRMS staff member who has gone above and beyond to support your child or family. Your messages will be shared directly with the staff member and are a meaningful way to recognize their impact. Feel free to submit as many shout-outs as you'd like using the gratitude form: https://csrms.pasco.k12.fl.us/mform/view.php?id=66104

Students will attend a field trip to the Holocaust Museum and the James Museum with their ELA teacher on one assigned date: January 7, 8, 11, or 12.

Payment Information:

• Cost: $33.00 per student
• Includes admission and transportation
• Payments must be made through Rycor
• Payment window: November 9 - December 4

Lunch:

• Students may bring a lunch from home or order a cafeteria lunch.

This educational experience will provide students with valuable opportunities to connect classroom learning with history, culture, and the arts. Please contact your students ELA teacher if you would like to chaperone.

Supporting student success continues to be one of our top priorities at Rushe this school year. To provide additional academic support and opportunities for students to improve their grades, we will be offering two Academic Saturday School sessions this quarter.

The first session will be held on November 14 and will be invitation only based on student academic needs. Teachers will identify students who would most benefit from additional support and will prepare specific make-up work, reassessments, and grade recovery opportunities for those students. Because the activities will be individualized and prepared in advance, families will not be able to sign students up for this session independently. Priority will be given to students with failing grades in core academic subjects that are required for promotion.

Our second Academic Saturday School session will take place on December 12, near the end of the quarter and semester, providing another opportunity for students to receive support before final grades are posted.

We encourage all families to regularly monitor grades through the parent portal, check in with their child about academic progress, and stay in communication with teachers throughout the quarter.

We are thrilled to launch this year’s National PTA Reflections program at Rushe! This year’s theme, “What My Culture Means to Me,” invites students to explore and celebrate their heritage, family customs, and personal identities through creative expression.

Students can submit original work in six categories: Visual Arts, Photography, Literature, Music Composition, Dance Choreography, and Film Production.

Every student who participates will receive a special medal and be invited to our PTSA awards ceremony. The first 10 submissions will receive a special prize!

Top submissions will advance to District Finals, with the opportunity to move on to State Finals and Nationals for a chance to win an $800 Young Artist Scholarship!

Entry forms and official guidelines are available by scanning the QR code on the Reflections flyer or visiting our Linktree: https://linktr.ee/RushePTSA

Submission deadline: Friday, November 13, 2026

For questions, please contact Kerri Nuccio, Rushe PTA Reflections Chair, at Rushe.PTSA.Secretary@gmail.com.

Please encourage your child to participate! We can’t wait to see how our Rushe Ravens share their culture, stories, and creativity.

If your family may need support for a holiday meal for Thanksgiving, or gifts for children and a meal for the winter holidays, please reach out to our school counselor, Denise Ferguson, dlwolfe@pasco.k12.fl.us.

CSRMS like many Pasco County Schools has an ABC (Assist, Believe & Care) program. In Pasco County Schools, this is a district initiative that provides limited, confidential assistance to students and families experiencing financial hardship or crisis.

The program relies on voluntary donations from school staff, families, local businesses, community groups, and annual drives by local county organizations. Once we know what the need is at Rushe, we will be seeking support from the community to provide holiday assistance to some Rushe families experiencing hardship.

We recently received certificates from the state recognizing students who earned perfect scores on the May FAST assessments. This week, those students will receive a special invitation to a recognition celebration on Friday, where they will be honored with their state certificate, enjoy a photo opportunity, and celebrate with a sweet treat!

We are incredibly proud of these outstanding Ravens for their hard work, dedication, and academic achievement.

At the beginning of the school year, we included attendance reminders and procedures from the Student Code of Conduct in several newsletters to help families navigate attendance expectations. For families who joined us later in the year, or for anyone who may have missed those reminders, we'd like to share them again.

Regular attendance is critical to student success. It's important to understand that submitting an absence excuse through the Parent Portal does not automatically make an absence excused. Whether an absence is excused or unexcused is determined by the reason for the absence and the frequency of absences, according to the guidelines outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.

Below is the attendance guidance we follow based on the Student Code of Conduct:​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

All elementary, middle, and high school students who are absent will be marked “unexcused” (U) until the parent/guardian notifies the school in writing and justifies the absence with one of the acceptable reasons as defined

below:

• Failure to do so within three (3) school days will cause the absence to be recorded as “unexcused”.

• In the case of excessive or extended absences, which are claimed to be due to illness, upon request of the principal or designee, a parent must provide documentation (doctor’s statement) of a student's illness.

• Excessive or extended absences are considered three (3) consecutive days, five (5) in one calendar month, or ten (10) in a 90-calendar-day period.

• A history of excessive absences per period as defined in Student Consequences for Unexcused Absences. Absences that meet this threshold as defined above will require a doctor’s note. If doctor’s notes are not provided, absences will be marked as unexcused.

For the purposes of attendance, the following definitions apply:

• Major Illness is defined as any life altering accident/diagnosis.

• Immediate family includes but is not limited to, parents, child, siblings, legal guardians, caregiver, or a member of one’s own household.

Reasons for acceptable (excused) absences include but are not limited to:

• Illness of student.

• Major illness in the immediate family of the student. (a member of their household)

• Death in the immediate family of the student.

• Religious holiday of the student’s faith (including Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Epiphany, etc.).

• Religious instruction (including Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Confirmation, etc.).

• Religious institutes, conferences, workshops, provided that the principal or designee approves the absence in advance.

• Absences for trips or other parental requests. Requests must be approved in writing by the principal or designee, at least one (1) week in advance. Only 5 days per year will be excused.

• In-school or out-of-school suspension.

• Subpoena or forced absence by any law enforcement agency, a copy of the subpoena or court summons must be submitted to the school.

• Issues and occasions specific to military families.

• Jessica Maus- Principal-

• Dr. Eshonda Swackard- Assistant Principal- eswackar@pasco.k12.fl.us
• Edward Doychak- Assistant Principal- edoychak@pasco.k12.fl.us