Letter to Families and Staff

Your opportunity to meet with your students’ teachers, principals, and non curriculum staff, and hear about the building’s curriculum, goals, and expectations is coming up soon! Each school will host its Open House on different days in the coming weeks.

• A.W. Becker will host its Open House on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, for Grades 1-5 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Communications was sent home to families about times of classroom presentations. Read the latest A.W. Becker News here for more details. A.W. Becker strongly recommends carpooling with a friend or neighbor to allow ease of parking. Both Elementary schools want to thank you in advance for making childcare arrangements for their open houses.
  
  

• Pieter B. Coeymans will have its Open House next week from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 19, 2024 for Grades 1-5. Pre-K and Kindergarten parents & guardians are welcome to attend during the scheduled time to meet PBC non-classroom teachers, as well as visit the PTO book fair. Both Elementary schools want to thank you in advance for making childcare arrangements for their open houses.

• RCS Middle School Open House will be on Thursday, September 26, 2024, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. View the schedule for the evening here.

• RCS High School will be the final host for the district open houses on Thursday, October 3 from 6:00 p.m. - 7 p.m. They will be following a meet-and-greet style where you are welcome to grab a coffee and refreshments and visit your student's teachers at your leisure.

As our students are getting back into classrooms our buildings have taken a moment to review this year's expectations and kick off a year of creating positive and respectful learning environments.

At the RCS Middle and High School principals reviewed school safety, the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), and code of conduct topics with students. As well as ways to express RCS Pride and respect for one another to create a better learning environment for all students.

At both elementary buildings, students reviewed building expectations and reinforcing positive behaviors in the classroom, and throughout the building. Teachers and staff have been reviewing the school-wide PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) program with students over the course of the first few days of school. This collaborative effort ensures that students understand what is expected of them and helps them feel supported in meeting the expectations in all areas of their school day.

Please take a moment to speak with your student(s) about these assemblies and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to reach out to your building’s principal.

The Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District is announcing the transition back to our former student data management system SchoolTool. SchoolTool allows students, families, and staff access to information such as student schedules, attendance records, assignments, and more! We encourage all families and students to log in to SchoolTool to view your student data and contact information.

For more information about SchoolTool you can visit our website: SchoolTool - Monitor Your Child’s Progress.

Some Helpful Tips to Log in:
Parents and Guardians who previously used SchoolTool before the 2023-2024 school year still have access to the Parent Portal. If you forgot your password you can reset it on your own. You must try logging in at least three times in five minutes to be able to reset your password with the forget password link. From there follow the prompts to reset your password.

Parents and guardians who want to acquire a Parent Portal account will need to complete the Parent Portal Account Request and User Agreement. Please note setting up a parent portal account may take a few business before it is active.

Students in grades 6-12 do not need to request an account. A Student Portal account is created using the student’s school Google login information. If your child cannot log in to their school Google account, they may need to reset their network password by logging on to a school network computer. If your student currently does not have a school issue Chromebook at this time they may contact the help desk at (518) 756-5200, ext. 2200, or helpdesk@rcscsd.org to help reset their password.

The safety of your student, and every individual in our school community, is critical to us. To maintain a safe environment, we must practice our emergency response procedures by conducting drills.

We are very excited to be starting our new chapter as the RCS Ravens! When we started this journey in May of 2023, we wanted the decision to be a true community effort. Thank you to our students and community for being a part of the 18-month process and embracing this new phase of our RCS history as we become the Home of the Ravens.

As our new mascot the Ravens takes flight around RCS we want you to be aware that we are still in the final phase of our rebranding process. If you have visited our buildings you will see our new branding greeting you. If you watch our teams play this season you may see jerseys and helmets with our new mascot proudly being on display. There are a few items and spaces around our facilities that are still in the process of being retired as this will be a transition year. The final updates to our facilities will be completed by the beginning of the 2025-26 school year like the athletic fields, pool, and gym floor which are scheduled for updates via regular maintenance, replacement, or construction projects. Some of these areas are already scheduled for update or replacement by 2025. Any update that needs to be completed prior to the end of their expected, useful life will either be subsidized by funds given to the District through PILOT programs (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes) or by funds given to the District by Holcim. As a reminder, these rebranding efforts will not be paid through the District’s general budgetary fund.

For the history of the RCS Rebranding Process please visit our website.

With the start of the new school year, the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District welcomed new staff to our buildings. The District held a new teacher orientation at the end of August to welcome 18 teachers who will be joining us for their first full school year at RCS! Also, RCS welcomes new assistant principal, Brian Garrity for the RCS Middle School and interim assistant principal, John Thorsen to the High School. To read more about our new staff click here.

RCS welcomed Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 6th Grade students and their families on Thursday, August 29. Students had the opportunity to find their classrooms and meet their teachers before the start of the new school year.

RCS High School welcomed incoming 9th Grade students on Wednesday, September 4, to walk their schedules and meet their teachers before their first day of high school.

The first day of school is always special as it marks new beginnings and the opportunity to meet new and familiar friends. Here are a few pictures from our first day. Welcome back, RCS!

Students at Pieter B. Elementary played on their new playground during recess their first week back. The playground was under construction for spring 2024. A review of the new equipment was, I like how fast you can go down the slide, from a PBC 2nd grader. The top games played during recess were tag and pirate ship.

This week marked the 23rd anniversary of a day that changed the course of history in our country and the world. Throughout the RCS School District, each building took a moment to pause and reflect on the events that took place on September 11, 2001. Read more here: https://www.rcscsd.org/article/1759373