September RBHS BRIDGE Communication
Rock Bridge High School Newsletter: September 30th, 2025
Rock Bridge High School Families,
We have just started the 7th week of school our school year, and even though the temperatures feel like summer, we are fully into the fall season! During October, we will will release our first interim progress report (IPR), and our Student Council will conduct the honored high school tradition of Homecoming Week (October 20 - 25). Make sure you read below for information regarding IPRs, details about specific academic support opportunities offered at RBHS, and Homecoming!
Below you will find information about the following.
- IPR and Report Card Dates
- RBHS Attendance Goal Update
- How do I report my student absent or late?
- 2025 Homecoming Dance Attendance Requirements
- Instructional Values Highlight (Outcome-Focused Instruction)
- A+ Scholarship Information
- Academic Support and Tutoring at RBHS
- AP Exam Registration
- Coach Alvis is MSHSAA Coach of the Year
- Performing Arts Happenings in October
- August RBHS BRIDGE Communication
- October Calendar
Thank you for your continued support of RBHS!
Sincerely,
Jacob
We will have our first Interim Progress Reports (IPR)available for families on October 17th. It is important to remember that these reported grades do not go on a student's transcript and are only a snapshot of a teacher's gradebook in a moment of time. The purpose of the IPR is for staff, students, and families to take a moment and review a student's current progress. Please make time to check in with your student after our IPRs are released on the 17th.
Last year, we had approximately 82.8% of students in attendance 90% of the time. This year we want to raise this number by 3% points moving our overall percentage of students who attend 90% or greater to over 85%.
A student would need to miss 25 days of school in single year to have attendance lower than 85%. We are confident that we can achieve our goal!
As you can see from the image above, we are a full percentage point higher this year than we were at the same time last school year. To keep this improved attendance going, we need your help. Please talk as a family about the importance of good attendance in school. When students are not in seat, they can fall behind in their learning. Help us keep your student(s) caught up in their classes by sending them to school every day. The start of the year is the best, and easiest, time to begin good attendance habits. Please reach out to your student's administrator or counselor if you have questions or need support for this purpose.
If your student is going to miss anytime during the school day at all, please notify their attendance secretary. You can email or call.
- Email or call (571-214-3103) Lynn Dann for students with last names that start with the letters A and S-Z.
- Email or call (573-213-3129) Christy Cunningham for students with last names that start with the letters B, C, E, F, & H.
- Email or call (573-214-3169) Amanda Sargent for students with last names that start with D and M-R.
- Email or call (573-214-3102) Leslie Richards for students with last names that start with G and I-L and student in Success Center.
In the August BRIDGE Communication, I shared our newly identified, RBHS Instructional Values. I plan to highlight each of these individually in the coming BRIDGE Communications. This month I'm sharing a little insight into our "Outcome-Focused Instruction" instructional value.
Outcome-Focused Instruction: Lessons are designed with clear objectives and/or essential questions, structured through backward planning, and differentiated to meet diverse learning needs. This includes consistent classroom routines and intentional teaching of organizational skills for personal and academic growth.
"Backward planning" is a phrase used in education that means we begin with the end in mind. Our "end in mind" is most often an end of unit assessment or performance, and our ultimate goal is that we have all our students prepared to demonstrate mastery on that assessment/performance. Of course, our unit assessments are based on our district and state curriculum standards. So, when teachers are designing lessons, those lessons are carefully created to prepare students for the eventual performance that will show what they've learned during that particular unit. Each lesson is focused to achieve a specific learning target/objective or answer an essential question. These learning targets, objectives, and/or essential questions are what make up the unit assessment.
Please consider spending some time soon talking with your student about our Outcome-Focused Instruction happening in their classrooms.
We want to make sure all Rock Bridge parents/guardians are aware of the A+ Scholarship Program. If your student is already enrolled, there is no need to read further.
The A+ Scholarship pays 100% of the tuition for students attending Missouri public two-year community colleges and career/technical schools. There are a limited number of four-year Missouri colleges that offer smaller financial incentives for students who earn the A+ scholarship. The University of Missouri does not offer an A+ Scholarship benefit.
The enrollment form to register for the A+ Scholarship is attached. It contains all the requirements needed to earn the scholarship. The deadline to apply is November 1st of your student's Senior year of high school.
If your student would like to join the A+ Scholarship program, simply have them complete the form and return it to the RBHS Counseling Office or email it to Rita Frazier, A+ secretary, at rfrazier@cps.12.org. Questions about the program can be directed to her or Jordan Alexander, Ph.D., Rock Bridge A+ Coordinator, at joalexander@cpsk12.org
Thank you,
Rock Bridge A+ Scholarship Program
Please remind your student regularly that they should be utilizing their AUT, Advisory, and/or Study Hall time to complete school work, refresh their understanding of content, or get assistance with work that is challenging.
As our year progresses and we get further into curricular content, it is inevitable that all students will need some level of academic assistance. Of course, students should check with their specific teachers to see if there is a day or time each week that they come early or stay late for the purpose of helping students.
Rock Bridge also provides our Tutoring Center for all students during each of the 8 blocks. Our Tutoring Center is staffed by Math, Science, and Studies certified teachers. 9th graders are able to access this assistance during their Advisory class period. They can also use their time in Advisory to seek assistance from their 9th grade peers, Advisory Mentor, and their Advisory Teacher. 10th, 11th, and 12th graders are able to access the Tutoring Center during any portion of their AUT.
- October 9: Early Release Teacher Work Day
- October 10: NO SCHOOL Teacher Work Day
- October 24: Homecoming Assembly
- October 25: Homecoming Dance 8:00 to 10:00 pm
- November 4: NO SCHOOL Teacher Work Day
- November 14: NO SCHOOL Teacher Work Day