Welcome to Riles Middle School, Home of the Huskies! I am looking forward to a great year for you and your child.
Our school motto is “Success – the only option!” During our welcome back assemblies in August, I explain to students that this motto has many meanings and that success is everywhere. I share with students that they demonstrate success when they: come to school on time, help out a friend, complete and turn in their class work and homework, join a club, athletic team or tutoring session, complete their chores at home without reminders, and ace that tough test or complete a big project that at one time seemed impossible. I let them know that my job as principal is to work with students, teachers and staff everyday to make sure we are all creating, and taking advantage of, successful opportunities.
Our school goals, including our Single Plan for Student Achievement and our Title One Plan, focus on the ABC’s – Academics, Behavior, and Culture.
Academics: Riles focuses on high quality instruction and student learning. Our GATE Academy is in it's second year. As an AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) National Demonstration School, we are continuing to expand the AVID methodologies school-wide. These include Cornell note-taking, Socratic seminars, Interactive Notebooks, and Costa’s levels of questioning. This year, we are pleased to offer Math Support and English Support courses, as well as our Husky Period, and our newly refined after school Husky Help Hours. All students, after school on any Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, can find a teacher in the classroom for extra help and support, not to mention a quiet place to do homework! Please see our website for each department's Husky Help schedule.
Behavior: We continue to implement our school-wide positive behavior plan while implementing new ideas from the RtI (Response to Intervention) model. Students are to follow our school-wide expectations everyday, including entering the classroom quietly, starting the warm-up activity and being on task and courteous at all times. Students and all staff are expected to use our “Words for Success” each day. They are: Excuse Me, Please, Thank You, You’re Welcome, and I’m Sorry. Using these words at home each day will support our efforts at Riles.
Culture: Our culture committee is dedicated to finding ways to make all students feel connected and safe at Riles. Some of the traditions at Riles the help create a safe and inclusive environment for our students are: the daily Words of Wisdom, after school clubs, Husky Paws Applause Fridays, spirit days, lunch rallies, the Honor Roll breakfast, PTA events, 100 merit awards, student recognitions, 8th grade ballroom dance event at CSUS, our conflict mediator program, and our fundraising efforts including Pennies for Patients and the PTA sponsored jog-a-thon.
I have been the principal of Riles since it opened seven years ago following two years as principal at Center Junior High School. Having been a member of the Center District for 19 years, I can truly say that this is a great place to be, and I am proud of the students, families, teachers and staff of Riles. I know that by working together and keeping the best interests of our students as our focus, we will have a successful year.
As we say each day at the conclusion of our Words of Wisdom, “Make it a great day, or not, the choice is yours.”
Sincerely,
Joyce Frisch, Principal