August 9, 2024

Welcome Back Crew!

We are so excited to kick off a new school year together as Crew here at REMS

NEWS from Ms. Trena:

Dear Parents, 

As we begin this 24-25 school year, know that our staff are dedicated and beyond excited to welcome your child and family to our crew. This time of the year brings a wealth of possibilities, new relationships to forge and opportunities to engage in Expeditionary adventures together. 

 Enclosed are a few norms to ground us in our work for the year:  

- Communication is a healthy two way street.  We appreciate your willingness to follow the Channels of Communication first before escalating matters beyond our school.  Please reach out to your teacher first and then follow the channels for better results. 

- Let’s create a mutual agreement for respecting ‘family time’ outside of the school day. Our staff works extremely hard to “teach within the school day”. We do not assign homework unless, under special circumstances, a student may need additional support or continued instruction that was not completed during the day. Our teachers work beyond their contracts already; please give them evenings and weekends to spend time with their families. They will respond to you via email within 24-48 hours.

- if you are going on a vacation outside of REMS’ scheduled breaks, please give the office and your teacher advanced notice. As a reminder, we are not able to provide work for academic time missed. 

- Attendance is imperative. Our students thrive in safe classrooms with trusted adults, where consistency in routines are key. You can contribute to your child’s academic, social and emotional success by getting them to school on time every day! 

When should I keep my student home?

- Please refrain from sending your child to school sick for the sake of our entire crew. You can contribute to our healthy school community by staying home until the illness passes. 

-We want all of our students to be resilient problem solvers. We wish to hold them to high expectations. Please help us by allowing them to experience failing forward and learning from mistakes on their path to growth and development.  Out of our love for our children, it is instinct to want to rescue them from difficult situations.  In an effort to build resilient thinkers, we ask that you allow them to conquer hard things.  

-Please trust us as experts. We bring decades of experience in the field of education. Our intentions are always positive and serve the needs of the students at REMS. We want nothing more than to help you raise successful change agents for the future.

-Model our core values with your family. Our actions, intentions, and interactions within this community should reflect Crew- passion, perseverance, service, stewardship, courage and integrity. We are proud to be Mountaineers and our reputation in this community should reflect positive intentions for all arenas (social media, word of mouth, etc) 

Crew is a noun and a verb. We embody crew by serving our community and promoting our special school with positive presuppositions. We are crew when we put students at the center of our school. They are the drivers in their educational journey and we (parents, staff and community) are the champions who guide them on the way. 

Volunteers contribute to the success of our entire Crew and a better world. Anything helps and every ounce of stewardship matters. Please commit to completing your 40 hours of community service each school year. 

These norms are directly aligned to the DCSD Culture and Climate Norms to create consistency and offer a safe community for everyone. We are in this together and appreciate your unwavering commitment to Crew in the 24-25 school year. 

Thank you for choosing our incredible little school! to send your child(ren) to. We have truly appreciated such a positive and joyous start to our school year! 

   We are Crew! 

Arrivals/Dismissals Process:  Enclosed are our procedures (Kiss N Go Traffic Patterns) for arrivals and departures for school this year.  Parents are welcome to drop students off in the Kiss-n-Go lane or walk up to the front doors at 8:25 AM. The first bell rings at 8:30am and the final bell at 8:40 AM. Late students must check in with the office and receive a pass before heading to their classrooms..  It is imperative that you arrive on time so that your child does not miss important crew and academic content. 

During dismissals, parents may park in the school lot or at Metzler and walk up to the lawn or pick up in the Kiss-n-Go lane to retrieve their children. Staff will be supervising crosswalks and the departure lane to ensure safety. When you pick up your student, please make certain that they have notified their teacher that their parent has arrived. 

***Please place a sign in your passenger window with your student(s) name, grade level and teacher to assist us with delivering your student to you. 

With kind regards, 

NEWS from the Main Office:

School Fees:

Since REMS is a choice school our parents commit to paying the mandatory fees associated with the cost of Adventure Education.  These fees are essential in continuing to run our specialized programming and it is imperative that every family contribute their portion yearly in order for students to participate. 

You should have two invoices per student on My School Bucks:

REMS Voyage Fee (by Grade Level) and REMS Instructional Material Fee.

Additionally, you will need to go into the Renaissance Store on My School Bucks and add the REMS Supply Fee for each student enrolled. This fee provides classroom supplies that are traditionally purchased by families on a School Supply List.

NEW Students will also add the REMS Drum Order to their cart. This fee covers the cost of a drum that will follow your child through their time here at REMS as drumming is an integral part of our school culture.

Families who wish to purchase a yearbook will add the REMS '24-'25 Yearbook to their cart. This is an optional product, but be aware that we are unable to order yearbooks later on in the year as we have to pre-order them with our vendor.

NEWS from Our Crews:

Staff gathered on the playground for our annual First Day photo

Crews met their teachers on the front lawn on Wednesday

Students from Renaissance Secondary welcomed our Crews into the building with drumming, an integral part of our school's culture

NEWS from Parent Crew:

Get Ready for Back to School Carnival!

Track It Forward Sign Up:

We are so excited for a brand new year of building Crew with you! Please remember to take a few moments to sign up for our Track It Forward volunteer program. Even if you previously had an account, you'll need to re-register. Within Track It Forward, you'll see all of the upcoming volunteer opportunities (with more being added as the year progresses!). Get involved in ways that fit your family and schedule, and support your school crew at the same time. 

RAD Shirts:

If you did not fill out the form for your child's RAD shirt size yet, please do so now! We are ordering shirts soon. Here is a link to fill out your child's shirt size. 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeM8Yd3wQM9Y56TKxU1VGEynzm-_Xl6tjkK6wDN8NI8YyEu3Q/viewform?usp=sf_link