River Dell Elementary School

During the week of December 4th-8th, students will shop at the Merry Grinchmas Holiday Shop. This provides students the opportunity to shop for family members and friends.

In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, all JCPS campuses will be closed Wednesday, Nov. 22 - Friday, Nov. 24. 🦃

Your voice matters! JCPS is partnering with Research Triangle Institute to help create our new strategic plan and we need YOUR INPUT to shape our vision for schools, students, and families! Today is the last day to make your voice heard! Complete the community questionnaire here: https://bit.ly/3Qr6Z46

JCPS wants to thank all Johnston County veterans who have served in the US Armed Forces! We are forever grateful to you for your unwavering commitment and dedication to the United States. Thank you!🇺🇸

Your voice matters! JCPS is partnering with RTI to help create our new strategic plan and we need YOUR INPUT to shape our vision for schools, students, and families. Click here to complete the community questionnaire: https://bit.ly/3Qr6Z46

Did someone say Trick or Treat?! It's Halloween, and we want to make sure everyone has fun, while staying safe . Check out these tips!👻

A reminder to all families of the importance of emailing Nichole Elliott in our front office if there are any transportation changes for your child. We want to make sure that everyone knows that this is the procedure we use schoolwide at River Dell to ensure everyone - students, teachers, and office staff, are aware of any changes in how your child is going home. Please email her at nicholeelliott@johnston.k12.nc.us with any updates. We ask that you do this rather than sending a message to the teacher, as Ms. Elliott will let the teacher and student know. Our classroom teachers are very busy teaching during the day, and may not have time to let office staff know. Thank you for following this process so we can ensure everyone is alerted of these changes and your children get home safely. Along with this, we want to remind parents that if they ever see a student at a bus stop in the morning that has missed their bus pick up, or a student in the afternoon waiting by themselves without a parent present, we ask that you please call our front office at 919-553-1977 so that we can get in touch with family members ASAP. Thank you for helping us keep our River Dell Racers safe at all times. This week has been going really well so far. Students are getting so excited for our Fun Run event on Friday. They look forward to hearing class and school progress each day. Each day has a leadership and character focus word, and students have been watching daily videos about these focus words. So far, students have learned about Kindness and Empathy, Wednesday they will learn about Respect and Thursday they will learn about Inclusion. Red Ribbon Week is also going great. Students have enjoyed the different theme days. Wednesday is "Turn Your Back on Drugs" and we are encouraging students and staff to wear their clothes backwards. Thursday is "Hats off to being Drug Free" and we invite everyone to wear a hat to school that day!

If you have not connected with your child's teachers on the Rooms app, or if you are having difficulty connecting, reach out to them through email or call to leave a message and they will get back with you to assist you with this. A reminder to stay in the right carpool lane on the curvy driveway through 8:15 or 8:20 each morning so that our teachers, staff, and JCPS staff can enter the parking lot to park each morning. Thanks for your cooperation with this. Another reminder that students will not be able to be checked out after 3:15 each day. If you arrive at or after 3:15, you should wait in the carpool line for pick up. Also, if your child is absent you are more than welcome to send an email to their teacher sharing reason for the absence. On that email please also include our data manager Mrs. Kayla Williams. Her email address is: kaylawilliams@johnston.k12.nc.us. This will ensure that the absences are coded correctly as quickly as possible. If you have received a doctor's note for your child's absence, you can take a picture of it with your phone and email it to them as well.

Students are getting ready for Red Ribbon Week® 2023, Oct. 23-27! This year’s theme is "Be Kind To Your Mind. Live Drug Free." JCPS believes in a drug free future for all of it students! Here are some fun activities the celebration going all week long, as we encourage everyone to pledge to live drug free! https://bit.ly/3tKyRc8 #BeKindToYourMindLiveDrugFree #RedRibbonWeek

Llamando a todos los héroes: ¡En NSLW celebramos el poder del almuerzo escolar! En la búsqueda del éxito académico, las investigaciones muestran que los almuerzos escolares saludables brindan a los niños la ayuda que necesitan para sobresalir. #NSLW23 #SubedeNivelconelAlmuerzoEscolar

Today is the first day of National School Lunch Week! This year the School Nutrition Association and JCPS are celebrating the power of school lunch! In the quest for academic success, research shows that healthy school lunches give kids the stats they need to come out on top. 🥗🍞 #NSLW23 #LevelUpWithSchoolLunch

It's a brand new week and we're still celebrating our principals! First up is Ms. Jenny Durko, Principal at River Dell Elementary! Ms. Durko is racing into her third year as a River Dell Racer, and has great enthusiasm and expectations for the school. Her passion for education makes her a strong advocate for her students and staff. We celebrate you Ms. Durko! 🏇💙💚#NationalPrincipalsMonth

Our Book Fair is under way and it looks really amazing. We are still in need of volunteers to help out at the book fair. Sign up to volunteer at: https://linktr.ee/rdepta. All volunteers receive 10% off too. Grandparents Week started today as well. We are so happy to welcome grandparents and special friends into school each day. When grandparents arrive they should head to their grandchild's classroom, then they can walk with them and enjoy lunch together in the cafeteria. After lunch, they are welcome to visit the book fair with their grandchild. Your child's assigned day for Grandparents Day is also their assigned day for the Book Fair. Even if they don't attend with a grandparent, they will go that day with their class during enhancement time. Please make sure to send any money in an envelope or baggie with your child's name and the amount written clearly on it. Thank you to all carpool families for using the curvy road as the only entrance in the morning and afternoon. We would like to request that anyone arriving in the morning before 8:15 to please stay in the right lane so that any staff arriving by 8:15 can head into the parking lot using the left lane. Thanks for helping us out with this! Also, a reminder that afternoon carpool ends at 4:15 each day. Please be on campus by 4:15 to pick up your students. If you need to speak with or meet with your child's teacher, we ask that you email or message them to see what time is available before or after school, or during their daily planning. Teachers are engaged in wonderful lessons during the day, and we don't want to interrupt learning for students during the day. Also, just a reminder that students should be walking into the building each day on their own now. We are so proud of how responsible and independent our students have been, even our youngest Racers! Also, in addition to staff positioned throughout the hallways, we have additional 5th grade Safety Patrol officers posted around school to help any students if they are in need of assistance. All transportation changes need to be communicated with our receptionist, Ms. Nichole Elliott, by 3:00 each day. That gives her plenty of time to alert the teacher and your student about these changes. Lastly, there is a brand new Volunteer Approval process in JCPS. Please visit https://myvolunteer.com/jcps/volunteer/login to get approval to be a volunteer. Even if you have previously gone into jcsvolunteers.com, they are asking that you add your information to this platform for updated approval, as it will be used for the remainder of the year. This new system will also send out a reminder each July to renew your volunteer status for the upcoming school year. The link can be found on the JCPS website and JCPS app.

Let's make some noise for our teachers on #NationalTeachersDay!!! Teachers don't just teach the students of JCPS, they inspire, motivate, mentor, and coach them. Our teachers pour their hearts and souls into their students each and every day. Teaching is a calling, and we are forever grateful to those who have answered that call, and have chosen JCPS to fulfill their purpose! THANK YOU TEACHERS!!!💝👏

We are excited to be hosting River Dell Curriculum Nights this week. These are important nights for parents to come and hear about what is going on in the classrooms, including any assessment information, curriculum updates, and important things to know regarding how you can help your students be successful. Curriculum Night for PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades will be on Tuesday Night from 6:00-7:30. Curriculum Night for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades will be on Thursday night from 6:00-7:30. Each night there will be 2 offerings of the same session so that parents with children in multiple grades can attend both sessions. The first session will be from 6:00-6:40, there will be transition time from 6:40-6:50, and then the second session will be from 6:50-7:30. Please plan on attending to hear important information and updates. Childcare will be provided by the YMCA in the gym. Food trucks will be on campus both nights as well, so come hungry! This week is Deaf Awareness Week and there will be many activities throughout the week commemorating the week. Fourth and fifth grade families… the RDE battle of the books team is forming soon. Interested fourth and fifth grade students are invited to take the title/author matching quiz this Friday morning, September 29 in the media center anytime between 8:25 AM and 8:55 AM. All the necessary information can be found in the informational flyer that was given to 4th and 5th grade homeroom teachers. Be sure interested students ask their teacher for the flyer if they have not already received it. Another reminder to all RDE families to refrain from entering the parking lot through the "no entrance" driveway. Law enforcement has informed us that they will begin ticketing anyone entering that driveway. Thanks for your cooperation with this.

There is no school for students on the JCPS traditional calendar on Friday, September 22, 2023. This is a teacher workday.

There is no school for students on the JCPS traditional calendar on Friday, September 22, 2023. This is a teacher workday.

JCPS CLOSED FOR ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF THURSDAY, AUGUST 31 Due to the impending inclement weather conditions caused by Hurricane Idalia, Johnston County Public Schools will be closed for all students, staff, and visitors tomorrow, Thursday, August 31. This includes all after school activities on Thursday. The district will operate under Condition 1 of our Inclement Weather Procedures. Weather Conditions can be found online by visiting www.johnston.k12.nc.us/weatherconditions. This decision has been made out of an abundance of caution and per the guidance of local and state emergency service officials. We hope that all of our students, staff, and families stay safe, and we thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we navigate this severe weather event.

We had a wonderful first day back to school and want to thank all of our students, staff, and families for working together to make today a success. We want to share a few reminders to keep things running smoothly in the days and weeks ahead. In the first few weeks of school, it’s typical for our bus routes and carpool lanes to run a bit slower than normal. Our drivers are getting used to new routes, there are more drivers on the road, our students are getting into a routine, and most importantly - we are focused on keeping everyone safe at all times. We ask that you keep these things in mind if our arrival and departure procedures are moving more slowly than we anticipate. If your student is a bus rider, we encourage you to download the EduLog Parent Portal App, for real time information on where your student's bus is on their route. We also want to remind our families that the majority of our schools are offering free breakfast and lunch this school year. All schools, with the exception of Clayton High, Cleveland Elementary, Cleveland High, Corinth Holders High, and Powhatan Elementary, will offer free breakfast and lunch through the Community Eligibility Provision. Families with students attending non-qualifying schools are encouraged to complete a Free and Reduced meal application to receive benefits for this school year. This form, which can be found on the district website, assists our schools in many other services throughout the year, and can be beneficial for our families and students. Lastly, please be reminded that all of our school campuses now have a weapons detection system in place at the entrances of our school. All students, staff, and guests will be expected to pass through the system upon arrival to our campuses. This first week of school is a busy time, with a lot of excitement for our students. Please be reminded that attendance will be taken daily. However attendance calls for students who are marked tardy or absent will not resume until next week. We thank you in advance for your help in making this a great school year.

Just one more sleep until we welcome our students back to school!! We hope all of our students get a good night's rest and are excited to take on the day tomorrow! We can't wait to see you in the morning! ❤️📚🍎