A Message From The Principal
September 2017
Dear RKA Families,
2016-2017 was a great year for RKA! We made many academic gains, and I am so proud of the staff and the students.
By the numbers, we saw:
Although we still await our MS ELA and math scores, with a year like this under our belts, I am so excited about beginning my tenth year as Principal of the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy. I can’t wait to see where we go next!
Homeroom/ Activities
In order to maximize the human resources in the building more effectively toward making instructional gains, we have decided to move away from the homeroom structure. Instead of having homeroom responsibilities, staff will engage in common planning time for instruction or other administrative tasks about the building. I am excited about what we as a staff will accomplish with this additional time.
I also am confident that the tasks and communication that typically were accomplished through homeroom can be just as well managed through putting some new systems into place during the students’ lunch periods. Not only will I be sending daily emails to students with updates to their @RKA141.org accounts, there will be huge displays (including a digital screen presented to the school by the 8th grade class of 2017) in the cafeteria for them to refer to. Our activities staff, Ms. Roberts and Ms. Gordon, will be active participants in student lunch periods, distributing forms and collecting them back directly from students.
Efficient use of time will become even more important this year, so please be mindful of advertised deadlines. We cannot accept late materials, permission slips, and payments, and still expect to run the variety and number of activities and trips that we do. I hope families can understand this as a good life lesson for us all—especially our students. I know of no profession where employees are not expected to adhere to deadlines, so why not develop this habit now?
Morning arrival time will look a little different next year. The doors will open for students at 8:15 AM (with a warning bell). Students’ first period class will begin at 8:25 AM. Between 8:15 AM and 8:25 AM, students will have the opportunity to visit their locker, return library books, hand in forms or other paperwork, and other things that formerly were accomplished during homeroom time. Daily attendance will be taken in first period. Students will be marked late if they are not in their first period class at 8:25 AM.
Students will go about their day with 7 instructional periods plus lunch, with 3 minutes’ passing time between periods. At the end of the day they can return to their lockers. Lockers will be distributed to students in grades 7 through 12—on a first-come, first-served basis—online through a Google Form beginning September 11. Because there is already a great deal for our new 6th grade students to get used to, they will not be issued lockers. Instead, they will hang their coats in the coat closets of their first period class and go back there at the end of the day to retrieve them before exiting.
I am sure there will be some bumps along the way, but I am equally confident that we will work them all out for the improvement of the school as a whole!
Every summer, Ms. Prince and I take on the daunting task of creating the school calendar which includes consulting with all the relevant members of the school community, including the Riverdale Community Center, the RKA Parents’ Association, our activities coordinators, our administrative team, and people from the New York City Department of Education and the New York State Education Department. You will receive your “RKA Family Calendar” in the Opening Day Welcome packet your child will bring home after the first day of school. We try to make the calendar as complete as possible, though there will be events that cannot be finalized until later in the school year. We try to include as much as we can, but many events are still being finalized at this time. So, keep this one on your refrigerator, but know that it will be updated periodically on the school website, RKA141.org. You will also receive weekly school news via the emailed “RKA Notes.”
You may notice that we have changed our end-of-the-year awards a bit (May and June). I want to assure everyone that our students are still being honored—and while it may appear at first there has been a reduction, we have actually added events! See below how we have it divided up. While more students will be honored in more meaningful ways, it reduces the length of some of the awards events and graduations.
As the events come up we will be sending out invitations and updated communication. Please let us know what you think of these improvements at the conclusion of the school year!.
Curriculum Updates-
We have been working hard on adapting to new standards in Science and Social Studies, and we are also making headway and falling into a good “groove” with the recent changes in Math assessment. This year, you will see new curriculum in middle school Social Studies, Math through Technology, Algebra, and some of the high school Science courses. There will also be a new Global History Regents exam piloted this year. I will be inviting my Assistant Principals for Instruction to present at upcoming Parents’ Association meetings to cover some of this new information. I hope you can come out to these curriculum nights and learn all about what your children are learning so you can continue to support them at home.
ELA and Social Studies- November
Math and Science- December
Of course, I encourage everyone to attend the Back to School Night event on September 14, from 5:30 to 8:00. You will get to hear from all of your children’s teachers as you follow their program for the evening. You will receive the syllabus for each course and hear about curriculum, textbooks, and grading policies. It is an important night which you don’t want to miss (it’s also a lot of fun!)
We will also be holding an earlier meeting on September 14th for parents of 12th graders about this year’s the many great activities we have planned this year. That portion will begin at 5:00 PM in the auditorium.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Lori O’Mara
Principal
Dear RKA Families,
2016-2017 was a great year for RKA! We made many academic gains, and I am so proud of the staff and the students.
By the numbers, we saw:
- 95% on-time graduation rate
- 100% of our graduates accepted into a college, university, or the military
- 366 students inducted into the National and Junior Honor Society
- 9, 817 Hours of Community Service completed by our students
- 339 students named to the year-long Principal’s List
- 220 eighth graders Moving Up to 9th grade
- 33 acceptances into Specialized High Schools
- 5.8 million dollars in scholarships
- 712 middle school students introduced to coding in the new Math through Technology courses
- 2 new Dual Enrollment courses piloted with the College of Mount St. Vincent.
- 1 brand new Literary and Arts magazine “Write to Roar”
- 8 new clubs on campus, including an active GSA
- Major gains in Advanced Placement exam scores: 78% passing Biology, 80% passing Calculus, 65% passing English Literature, 90% passing Spanish Language, 74% passing US History
- Great Regents numbers: 80% passing Algebra, 67% passing Algebra 2/ Trigonometry, 68% passing Chemistry, 53% passing Physics, 87%, ELA passing 82% Global, 86% passing US History, 86% passing Spanish language
- 197 varsity athletes, with 60 playing 2 or more sports. 20 Scholar Athletes with GPAs over 96%.
- and 1 City Championship in Volleyball!
Although we still await our MS ELA and math scores, with a year like this under our belts, I am so excited about beginning my tenth year as Principal of the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy. I can’t wait to see where we go next!
Homeroom/ Activities
In order to maximize the human resources in the building more effectively toward making instructional gains, we have decided to move away from the homeroom structure. Instead of having homeroom responsibilities, staff will engage in common planning time for instruction or other administrative tasks about the building. I am excited about what we as a staff will accomplish with this additional time.
I also am confident that the tasks and communication that typically were accomplished through homeroom can be just as well managed through putting some new systems into place during the students’ lunch periods. Not only will I be sending daily emails to students with updates to their @RKA141.org accounts, there will be huge displays (including a digital screen presented to the school by the 8th grade class of 2017) in the cafeteria for them to refer to. Our activities staff, Ms. Roberts and Ms. Gordon, will be active participants in student lunch periods, distributing forms and collecting them back directly from students.
Efficient use of time will become even more important this year, so please be mindful of advertised deadlines. We cannot accept late materials, permission slips, and payments, and still expect to run the variety and number of activities and trips that we do. I hope families can understand this as a good life lesson for us all—especially our students. I know of no profession where employees are not expected to adhere to deadlines, so why not develop this habit now?
Morning arrival time will look a little different next year. The doors will open for students at 8:15 AM (with a warning bell). Students’ first period class will begin at 8:25 AM. Between 8:15 AM and 8:25 AM, students will have the opportunity to visit their locker, return library books, hand in forms or other paperwork, and other things that formerly were accomplished during homeroom time. Daily attendance will be taken in first period. Students will be marked late if they are not in their first period class at 8:25 AM.
Students will go about their day with 7 instructional periods plus lunch, with 3 minutes’ passing time between periods. At the end of the day they can return to their lockers. Lockers will be distributed to students in grades 7 through 12—on a first-come, first-served basis—online through a Google Form beginning September 11. Because there is already a great deal for our new 6th grade students to get used to, they will not be issued lockers. Instead, they will hang their coats in the coat closets of their first period class and go back there at the end of the day to retrieve them before exiting.
I am sure there will be some bumps along the way, but I am equally confident that we will work them all out for the improvement of the school as a whole!
Every summer, Ms. Prince and I take on the daunting task of creating the school calendar which includes consulting with all the relevant members of the school community, including the Riverdale Community Center, the RKA Parents’ Association, our activities coordinators, our administrative team, and people from the New York City Department of Education and the New York State Education Department. You will receive your “RKA Family Calendar” in the Opening Day Welcome packet your child will bring home after the first day of school. We try to make the calendar as complete as possible, though there will be events that cannot be finalized until later in the school year. We try to include as much as we can, but many events are still being finalized at this time. So, keep this one on your refrigerator, but know that it will be updated periodically on the school website, RKA141.org. You will also receive weekly school news via the emailed “RKA Notes.”
You may notice that we have changed our end-of-the-year awards a bit (May and June). I want to assure everyone that our students are still being honored—and while it may appear at first there has been a reduction, we have actually added events! See below how we have it divided up. While more students will be honored in more meaningful ways, it reduces the length of some of the awards events and graduations.
- 6th and 7th grade awards—Principal’s List, citizenship, and attendance
- “You Make a Difference”—Character Recognition
- Honor Society Induction—First-time inductees only, grades 7-12
- 8th grade Awards Night—Principal’s List, continuing Honor Society, subject-area awards
- 8th grade “Moving Up”—Special honors and awards
- Underclassmen Awards Night (Grades 9-11)—Principal’s List, continuing Honor Society, subject area awards
- Athletics Awards: Varsity Athletes, Scholar Athletes, special awards
- Senior Awards Night: Principal’s List, continuing Honor Society, subject area awards and special honors and awards
- 12th grade graduation- Extra-special honors and awards
As the events come up we will be sending out invitations and updated communication. Please let us know what you think of these improvements at the conclusion of the school year!.
Curriculum Updates-
We have been working hard on adapting to new standards in Science and Social Studies, and we are also making headway and falling into a good “groove” with the recent changes in Math assessment. This year, you will see new curriculum in middle school Social Studies, Math through Technology, Algebra, and some of the high school Science courses. There will also be a new Global History Regents exam piloted this year. I will be inviting my Assistant Principals for Instruction to present at upcoming Parents’ Association meetings to cover some of this new information. I hope you can come out to these curriculum nights and learn all about what your children are learning so you can continue to support them at home.
ELA and Social Studies- November
Math and Science- December
Of course, I encourage everyone to attend the Back to School Night event on September 14, from 5:30 to 8:00. You will get to hear from all of your children’s teachers as you follow their program for the evening. You will receive the syllabus for each course and hear about curriculum, textbooks, and grading policies. It is an important night which you don’t want to miss (it’s also a lot of fun!)
We will also be holding an earlier meeting on September 14th for parents of 12th graders about this year’s the many great activities we have planned this year. That portion will begin at 5:00 PM in the auditorium.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Lori O’Mara
Principal
Principal's Newsletters
| family_newsletter_may_june_2018.pdf |
| january_18_newsletter.pdf |
| december_2017_newsletters_final.pdf |
| newsletters_oct_2017.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_march_17_2017.pdf |
| feb_2017_principals_newsletter.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_nov__2016.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_oct_2016_final.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_march_2016.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_jan_2016.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_dec_2015.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_nov_2015.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_oct_2015.pdf |
| principals_newsletter_march_2015.pdf |