Raymond - Home of the Seagulls

Braces are a popular treatment among tweens and teens to correct bite abnormalities. Orthodontics are expensive and require a several year commitment. Unfortunately, children don’t like them and sometimes don’t comply with treatment plans.

Elastics are often used to realign the teeth. Kids tend to forget to wear or replace them. Keep elastics in a noticeable place in the bathroom so they are reminded to apply them each time they brush their teeth. Send a pack of elastics to school in their backpack so they will have extras to put in if one breaks.

Encourage compliance by reminding your child that the more they wear the elastics, the quicker the braces will come off. Let them know that after the braces are gone, their gourmet gift will be a meal of their choice that includes all the foods they like and haven’t been able to eat due to the braces.

Going from Middle school/Junior High to High school is a scary transition. Every 8th grader has heard horror stories about seniors stuffing freshmen in lockers and work loads keep teens up until midnight doing homework. No matter how brave your child is on the outside, they are apprehensive on the inside.

Help your teen through this transition by offering support and little gourmet gift baskets showing how much you care. Let them know you are there for them if they want to talk, but don’t pry. Let them begin the conversation. Another way to get them to open up is you and your spouse can begin talking positive about when you went from 8th grade to 9th and allow your child to join in the conversation.

Administrative Professional’s Day, formerly known as Secretary’s Day, is today, April 23, 2008.  This day is to honor all the administrative professionals and all the hard work they do to keep offices running smoothly.

School secretaries have one of the hardest administrative jobs.  Not only do they schedule meetings, and ensure that all the necessary paperwork is in order, they also know exactly where each child is at any given moment during the day. Our secretaries are some of the best in the business. Show how much you appreciate them by giving them a thoughtful little gourmet gift. They deserve it.

With the coming of warmer weather also comes small dangers, literally. Ticks are not only a nuisance, but can cause health problems also. Two of the most common ticks are the dog tick and the deer tick. Dog ticks are the huge ugly ones that look like a tumor when hanging onto the dog. They become this big size by engorging themselves with blood. These ticks also will be found crawling on us, but rarely attach. The deer tick, on the other hand, thinks we are tasty and are one of the primary sources of Lyme disease.  These ticks can easily be missed when they are young because they are so tiny.

The bacteria from the bite causes an infection. This infection is one of the first signs of Lyme disease and manifests as a bullseye rash that appears around the bite site approximately 1 to 2 weeks after the initial bite. Make sure your child wears light colored clothing while playing outside. Spray their clothing, particularly their lower legs, with a bug spray containing deet. Deet sprays should be used very sparingly on exposed skin. Check your child over when they come in for the evening.

Remove any attached  ticks by grasping it’s head as close to the skin as possible with tweezers, then quickly plucking it out. If your child does come down with Lyme disease, keep them well hydrated and well fed and  make sure they take all their medication.  You can also throw in a Get Well Gift Basket to help them feel much better.

Reading through summer will enhance your child’s skills. Have you thought of how you will implement your child’s summer reading? A good program will incorporate not just reading, but library usage and literacy skills. Start off by going on a trip to the library. This is often overlooked by parents today because of the Internet. Sign your child up for some reading programs. Older kids can even apply for a job at the public library.

Allow your child to set their own reading time and let them pick where. Last year my teenage daughter read for hours after lunch under the tree in our yard. After the book has been completed, listen to them as they talk about the story and ask questions. Have them write their thoughts in a journal or book diary. Give them incentive gifts - food gift baskets -  for a preset amount of books read.

Promote reading with your child. It is an important part of his/her future.  

Developing a strong parent/teacher relationship is paramount to getting the most out of your child’s educational experience. A reliable means of communication should be established and utilized each week, more if needed. E-mail is the easiest and quickest form of communication. Teachers can check their email account on their breaks and between classes. Parents can write and reply at work during lunch and/or in between job tasks.

Three or four times a month just jot out a quick note letting the teachers know everything is going well or ask question about how your child is doing. Remember that emails are notoriously bad about not portraying meaning behind the words so be clear and precise. If you are joking about something you can put (grin) or (hahaha) after the facetious sentence. Stay polite and non-blaming and be sure to thank them for a job well done.

When I was growing up, cursive handwriting was a required skill. Cursive was called writing and non cursive was called printing. Much emphasis was put on learning how to write our letters. Handwriting counted for a lot of our grade. Recently I have realized that my 14 year old struggles with reading cursive. How did this happen? Looking back, it dawned on me that she hadn’t had a lot of “writing” homework in the past 9 years. Yes, there was some, but not near the volume I had as a child. I asked a teacher why this is. I was told that now-a-days it is considered more important to learn programs such as power point and word. I can understand. There are only so many hours in a day and the children need to keep up with technology. To my delight, my daughter has decided to take it upon herself to learn cursive. This excites me to no end. Cursive is a skill I think all children should learn. Who knows when they will have to include a pretty handwritten note with a gift.  If you have time, promote penmanship within your family too.  Later in life, your children will thank you.

What are you doing for spring break? A successful adventure doesn’t have to involve a lot of pre-planning or a lot of money. 

Plan a family outing based on the age of your children. An outdoor Jimmy Buffet concert would not be a good choice.  Parks are always a winner, pack a  with lots of food and snacks! 

Consider science museums during increment weather. They are roomy and allow kids to run free and explore. Adults even enjoy the displays.
Remember the first aid kit. Nothing ruins a fun time quicker than not having the proper supplies for bee stings and scrapes.
Have fun, loosen up, don’t sweat the small stuff. A flat tire can be a great adventure and a learning experience at the same time.

Two or three days before spring break ends, get your children back on their normal sleep schedule in order to make returning to school a little less painful.

The weather is improving each day, but the nice temperatures bring the risk of broken arms, head injuries, and dehydration. Each spring, the incidences of injuries and sports related illnesses rise because children run wild outside after a long winter of being cooped up. We here at Raymond Schools care about your child’s well being.

Now is the time to remind your child to wear his/her helmet while skateboarding and riding his/her bike. Also reiterate the rules of the road. No one wants to spend their spring and part of their summer in a cast. If your little Rascal Randy or Rowdy Rhonda does end up with a broken bone, how about cheering them up with Warm Hugs & Kisses.  Children love these gift baskets because of the wide variety of items packed in them. They also find many uses for the backpack. One popular use is storing small toy parts. Please share some of your humorous stories of how your kids get creative with different boxes, containers, or baskets.

Raymondschools is now in the process of creating a healthier eating environment for our students.  Our goals are to invest in our kids future by providing them the best of foods and services through our schools.

In the calender year of 2009, our lunch menus will drastically change.  Our foods will consist of allot less processed foods and we will slowly incorporate more natural foods into our kids diets.  Their diets are extremely important to us and we will do whatever is needed to make a change.

We will provide allot more vegetables, fruits, wheats, and lean chicken.  We will work to eliminate greasy foods, fattening foods and high cholesterol foods.

We will also began to reward our students who participate in our upcoming “Eat to be Healthy” contest.  The details of this contest are coming soon.  The 1st place winner will receive one of our “A Cut Above” gift baskets that can be eaten anytime during school hours.

The Raymond’s School district will be increasing security throughout all premises. It is important to all of our faculty and staff that each and every student is safe and secure. School security is one of our top priorities.

On each High School and Middle School campus, there will be at least 2 security officers on campus during open campus hours. There responsibility is to handle monitor the outside and inside of the school and handle any escalated issues. There main goal is the make sure students are abiding by the law.

Students are expected to maintain cooperative behavior at all times. We strive on academic excellence and providing a secure environment for everyone.

One of the main things that Raymonds Schools are focusing on is increasing early childhood development.

Childhood development is one of the single most important catalyst to a child being successful later on in life.

If each child has the opportunity to receive exemplary education, in elementary school, then secondary school will be allot easier.

Raymonds schools are now putting together a proactive plan that will bring change to early childhood curriculum and education to a higher level.

We are looking for parental involvement and feedback.  Please get involved and help us make change a priority.

No gift can be better than the gift of education. Some wise men said, “If you give someone a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach someone to catch a fish, you feed him for a lifetime”. It is important for a child to attend school to get basic education that helps him grow everyday and make a better living in future.  

Every child has different needs and requires particular attention in their own problem areas. A good school is one that pays attention to the specific needs of a child and helps him learn in the most play-way manner. Good education means that a child is allowed to blossom in his own special manner under well guided discipline that does not break his spirits.

Education is one of the most important aspects to make a complete personality. If you are not properly educated, you definitely lack something very vital in your life. Most of the people complete their schools and carry on their studies through college to get a proper degree. These are the people who look out for good universities and colleges when they are in high school.

Some of the people drop out of the high school or are not able to carry out their studies due to several compelling problems of their lives. Distance learning education makes it possible for such people to take up their studies later in life or according to their schedule from their daily routine.

All those who want to earn while they learn opt for vocational studies like being a paramedic, a veterinary assistant, receptionist, language tutor, speech therapist, etc. Educational means have expanded exponentially, it is possible quite easy to pursue your preferences in today world of education. All you need is the will power and determination!

Policies

The pages to the left will help acquaint you with important district policies.

These include:

2022—Students and staff are to use the provided information network for educationally appropriate purposes.

2025—Students and staff must obey copyright laws.

2410—Requirements for graduation, including credits, work habits, service hours, culminating project, five-year plan, etc..

2421—Purpose of retention and specific steps required. Includes mandatory intervention steps as well.

3207—Behavior, by staff or students, that is bullying or harassing is not allowed. Includes specific definitions of such behavior and the steps for resolution.

5201—Employees cannot be at work under the influence of any intoxicating substance, nor traffic in such substances.

6512—Employees whose job makes it likely they will come in contact with infectious diseases will receive appropriate immunizations and training to reduce their exposure hazard.

6590—Sexual Harassment by staff or students is not allowed. Includes specific definitions and resolution steps.

Raymond Food Service

If you have any comments concerning the food service program, please direct them to Drew Rose, our food service director.

Menus on the right may be downloaded as a PDF file by clicking on them. They may then be printed.
Click here for a sample recipe.