Dear Parents and Guardians, 

As a follow-up to our Back-to-School Night program, I wanted to share these important district updates with you. In addition, the links in this document should assist you in accessing information and school resources.

I’ll start by reviewing some upgrades to the instructional program. Our guidance department and school leadership did a great job creating a master schedule for 2023-24. Average class size in most core areas is 20 or less. We’ve also extended the times when teachers are available to provide extra-help for students. This year, most teachers are being released from one study hall period per week to provide tutoring for their students during the MOD periods. Details on additional extra-help times and locations can be found here. These improvements were put in place to ensure that all students can receive direct assistance from their teacher whenever it is needed. Please take advantage of this support.

The district is also expanding the use of a number of assessment tools to monitor student progress and provide families and teachers with timely feedback. Starting this year, grade 9 students will be taking the CogAT assessment to measure reasoning abilities and assist us in identifying students for enrollment in advanced coursework and participation in enrichment activities. Please see these links to find more information about the Pre-AP assessments in ELA 9 and 10 and the MAPs benchmarks in Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2. Additional information about assessments can be found on the RBR Assessment Information Website. 

One of our district goals for this year is to strengthen school/community links and a number of programs have been planned for the fall. A “meet and greet” session will be held at the Red Bank Primary School on October 12. In addition, NFL football player and ESPN analyst Ryan Leaf will kick-off the The SOURCE’s “Raising Awareness-Inspiring Action” series on October 24. Our “Spotlight on Excellence” news briefs will resume in October and I will be sending out an invite to my Saturday/Evening coffee sessions soon. 

To assist you in finding people and information, we have updated the Family Quick Resource Guide. For families who are new to RBR, here is the presentation shared with freshman parents on Back-to-School Night. As was mentioned, Mr. Clark’s “Community Week at a Glance/C-WAG” is an important source of school information and is usually sent on Fridays.

As our partners, we greatly appreciate your support and interest in our programs. Success in school can be promoted by encouraging students to attend extra help sessions when needed. Families can support RBR by setting high expectations, maintaining clear behavioral boundaries at home, and encouraging involvement in extracurricular activities. If you have any questions, concerns, or are facing an obstacle, please reach out.  We are here to help. Have a great school year everyone!