Community Norms during RCDS@home

Community: We are a community, and we are here to support one another through challenging times. Members of our community have vastly differing needs right now. You will find the support you need in this community. Flexibility, support, and compassion are vital right now. 

Communication: During RCDS@home, communication and self-advocacy will be even more important than usual. Please communicate directly and respectfully. Please check your e-mail several times a day and be responsive. As always, RCDS expects that community members be respectful communicators.

Handbook Rules are Still In Effect: The RCDS student handbooks still apply during RCDS@home. Violations of the School's policies will still be subject to disciplinary action, just as if school were conducting classes on campus. We ask parents/guardians to partner with faculty to ensure that our students understand the School's expectations while participating in distance learning.

Attendance: If a student is unable to attend to RCDS@home responsibilities on a given day, families should email:

• Lower School - mary_staudmyer@ryecountryday.org 

• Middle School - MiddleSchoolOffice@ryecountryday.org and the grade level dean.

• Upper School - vicki_druehl@ryecountryday.org and emily_russo@ryecountryday.org 
   

Keep it simple and keep it doable: During RCDS@home, there is not much of a distinction between “school work” and “home work.” Instead, we will be thinking about work in terms of the amount of time it takes. Teachers, students, and families should closely monitor and communicate about how much time work is taking, and we should all make sure we’re making time to take care of ourselves.

Keep a schedule: Teachers in each division will post their planned synchronous meetings, along with Zoom links, on their Haiku pages. Create a schedule that works for your entire family.  Please keep a calendar at home to help you keep track of these meetings. Google Calendar is a great tool for this for older students.  More specifics on scheduling for each division can be found in the Quick Start guides.

Be patient. We will all get the hang of it, and it will take time. If you cannot get on a Zoom or cannot get into Haiku, do not panic!  Check the status page, and then ask for help. 

Monitor your screen time and social media use: Adjust and communicate family expectations around social media use. Encourage social time with friends via technology, and set clear boundaries for when it can happen. Consider whether cell phones should be present while attending to RCDS@home learning.

Practice self care: Acknowledge feelings. Maintain structure. Stay physically active. Celebrate successes and growth. More help for this can be found in the Quick Start guides for each division. 

School rules around how we treat one another are the same in a virtual classroom as in a regular classroom. Please conduct yourself in the same way that you would in school.  Be kind. Again, our handbooks still apply. 

Who should attend class? As much as is possible to maintain classroom dynamics, we ask that students attend synchronous classes without their parents/guardians. We want to keep the engagement in the 'classroom' between teacher and students. In the younger years, we understand that parents/guardians may need to help with accessing Zoom meetings. 

Recordings and Privacy: Do not make public any recording or image showing a member of the RCDS community.  Zoom recordings will only be posted to Haiku by faculty members, and therefore should only be accessible to members of the RCDS community. If you have something you would like to share via social media, please send it to the RCDS communications team.

This is a list of applications that our teachers may use and the links to their privacy policies.  This list will be augmented when needed, and kept updated here.

 Embrace the RCDS@home mindset:

• Character - React and adapt with resilience to challenge and change.

• Knowledge - Meet and enjoy challenges that require the application of knowledge to novel tasks and real-world situations.

• Skills - Engage in the active process of making choices that lead to physical and emotional wellness. (You may note that “leverage technology effectively” is an attribute in the skills section of the RCDS Portrait of a Graduate, and indeed we intend to do just that during RCDS@home. But, much more important now is our collective focus on our physical and emotional wellness.)

• Citizenship - Aspire to make a meaningful and positive difference in the world.