Greetings Riverview High School,

I hope you have all been enjoying your extended summer vacation and that you are rested, relaxed, and ready for the new school year. During your time away, please know that the administrative team and office staff have been hard at work in preparation of your arrival. From creating five lunch periods to contacting over 2600 families about their options for learning, this extended summer has given us all time to process and generate the safest plan for our staff, students and families moving forward.

As we all embark on our journey back to Ram Nation, we head into uncharted territory. Our School Board is still building policy to make our schools safe while staying within the governor’s mandate.

Their commitment has led to policies that include allowing remote learning (30% of RHS families chose this option), face masks at all times, various sanitizing opportunities throughout the day and analyzing county data to determine if a shutdown is needed per the Department of Health.

Due to CDC regulations, our school year will look different. At this time, no visitors or volunteers will be allowed on campus. We are asking all students to not enter the campus until 7a.m. Bus riders will need to register on www.sarasotacountyschools.net to get their scheduled pick up and drop off times. No lockers will be used in Building 5 or PE. We encourage students to bring their own water bottles to campus since only bottle fillers will be available. All students will also be required to wear IDs (which they will receive the first week of school on an RHS lanyard) and face masks must be worn on campus.

Although we did not have a chance to have our Student Orientations this year, please check out our first RHS Student Orientation Video on our Facebook page or website. The video highlights portions of Ram Nation that we can’t wait for our students and families to experience in person. Schedules come out August 24^th on the Parent and Student Portal. Please reference your email to locate the Student Scheduling Form if you need/want a scheduling change for your student. (If you are not receiving our weekly Ram Nation updates, verify your parent email in the Parent Portal to ensure you get the most up to date information.)

Since we did not have Student Orientations this year, we are encouraging new students and families to walk the campus throughout the week on the following days: August 25th - Seniors (3p.m.-5p.m.), August 26th - Juniors (3p.m.-5p.m.), August 27th - Sophomores (3p.m.-5p.m.),August 28th - Freshmen (Last Name A-L) 1p.m.-3p.m., August 28th - Freshmen (Last Name M-Z) 3p.m.-5p.m. and August 30th - Makeup (11a.m.-1p.m.). All visitors and students must wear a face covering on campus. 

The first major event of the new school year will be our annual Open House via Zoom, which is scheduled for September 23rd from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. We are very excited for the upcoming year and look forward to seeing you soon. Enjoy the final days of your summer break!

Sincerely,

Erin del Castillo, Principal