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Dear River Bend Community,
River Bend CUSD #2 is planning to update our strategic plan. A strategic plan provides guidance and sets goals for the Board of Education as they endeavor to lead and grow River Bend Schools.
The Board of Education would like to invite all community members who have an interest in working through the process to join us for an informational meeting on Tuesday, October 15th at 6:30 in the Fulton Elementary School Conference Room.
Our initial meeting will cover the need to update our strategic plan and outline the steps the District will utilize during the strategic planning
If you are unable to attend our overview meeting and would still like to take part in the strategic planning
Gratefully,
Darryl Hogue
River Bend Families,
Fulton Police responded to a 911 call at Fulton High School concerning a shooting event. The report was not accurate. The police are investigating the details of the event and clarifying why the false report was made to 911. We are extremely grateful for the police responding and clarifying the false report.
I hope this clarifies any misinformation that might have been shared.
Darryl Hogue
Dear River Bend Families and Staff
Each year I like to provide a quick summary of the new items that River Bend has added since the previous year. In this summary I include building and ground additions, staffing, curriculum, and other items that might be of interest. This year is not different from the past, the teachers, administrators, and the Board have been working hard planning and doing our best to help our schools and community improve.
New to Fulton Elementary School
Staff- While all our other new items are important, they do not compare to the value of our staff. FES is excited to be welcoming the following to our family. Some of the staff are new to our family and some are moving to a new area within the building. Join me in welcoming Kearston Norman and Candi Kuehl to third grade, and Abbey Vandendooren to the special education department. Travis Hartman and Samantha Whitney will be moving out of the classroom to a special education position. Along with the new teachers, we are also welcoming paraprofessionals Jared Dickman, Kari Green, Teegan Germann, and Angela Lopez to the FES family. Making sure our spaces look amazing Carter Mulderink has been added to the custodial staff. We are excited to have a great staff to start the year.
Four additional classrooms - Our enrollment has grown over the last few years and we have added staff to address the growth and with the addition of staff meant we gave up some of our important spaces. A decision to add four classrooms to Fulton Elementary School seemed like the best place. Some consideration was given to adding the classes to the middle school and move 5th grade to the middle school. Ultimately, the best impact for the cost and the space was to add the four classrooms to FES and move teachers to gain the classes that we lost. Along with the additional classrooms, we are able to add a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) room as we expand STEM instruction for all the grades. A dedicated STEM room will allow the district to better prepare students for STEM learning in the future. A conference room is also being added for building and district meetings. Bi-County Itinerant staff will also be able to conduct testing and host meetings in the conference room. A teacher work area is being added so that teachers have a shared space for supplies, equipment and a space to eat lunch. The two kindergarten classrooms will be remodeled and used for the conference room and the STEM room. Teachers are still in the process of shifting classrooms as the construction project comes to an end. We look forward to sharing the new spaces with our students and families. Thank you for being patient as the construction was completed.
Additional 50 parking spaces- As many of you know parking at Fulton Elementary School was a premium and as we grew, it became impossible to find a space once the school day started. As we considered the needs at FES it became apparent that additional parking was needed. About 50 new parking spots will be added to the current parking lot. This will mean we may need to adjust the drop-off and pick-up schedule. Mr. Hoese and Mrs. Parsons will provide the necessary plans to keep our drop-off and pick-up safe.
Safety boulders and bollards- After attending a school safety training, I spoke with Mr. Hoese, Mrs. Parsons, and the school board and asked that they consider adding an additional layer of safety around the building. Officer Leitzen and myself reviewed each of the building's structural protections against a moving vehicle. FHS and RBMS both have solid buildings or natural barriers that protect them. FES does not have the same structural safety as you approach the building. To add an extra layer of protection boulders will be used along the sidewalk and bollards will be placed in front of the entrance blacktop. The extra protective boulders and bollards will protect the students from moving vehicles.
Swing set and Gaga pit location- As we evaluated the impact of the construction project, the old swing sets needed to be moved. We could have recycled the swing sets, but felt that the students would enjoy new swings. Two sets of eight swings will be added to replace the old swings and provide a better/safer swing set for the students. The gaga pit had to be relocated as well and thankfully, we were able to save the structure and will be moving so that students can enjoy using the pit during recess.
Social Studies Curriculum- Kindergarten through second grade will be using a new social studies curriculum called Social Studies Weekly. The curriculum is organized thematically to the strands of civics/government, geography, economics, and history. A periodic format along with online learning will provide a robust social studies experience. Students will complete interactive hands-on activities that are spiraled and scaffolded for each grade level. The curriculum also supports and aligns with English Language Arts standards.
Third through fifth grade students will be using Savvas Social Studies curriculum. The Savvas curriculum is an inquiry-based social studies curriculum utilizing the C3 social studies standards. C3 standards combine College, Career, and Civic life to promote and strengthen social studies instruction by building critical thinking, enhance the rigor of social studies curriculum, apply problem solving skills and encourage students to become engaged citizens. Both in class and online resources will be used with the new curriculum.
New to River Bend Middle School
New to Fulton High School
Staff- Fulton High School will be welcoming both new staff and staff that have transitioned to new positions. Ray Borgman will be joining Mr. Parsons as the new assistant principal and athletic director. Mr. Borgman is a Fulton graduate and excited to be coming back to his hometown to help lead the Steamers. Sam Howard will be moving back to Illinois to teach biology and natural science courses. Sam has worked for Northeast the last several years and we are excited that he joined our Steamer team. Zach Osborn will be teaching 9th and 10th grade math classes. Zach has subbed for us for a while and coaches swimming in Morrison. We are hopeful that he can connect students to swimming opportunities through a swim-cooperative. Our media publication and extra curricular event production will be led by Sydney Schutte. Ms. Schutte will also be covering art throughout the first quarter at the MS and HS. Jennifer Smith will be joining FHS as a paraprofessional. The FHS cafeteria will be welcoming Shane Malone and Shauna Manon will join the evening custodial crew. We are excited to have the new staff at FHS and look forward to their years as a Steamer.
Weight Room Expansion- Thanks to a very generous donation from the Eric Ottens Memorial Foundation to upgrade the weight room with some new equipment, the district determined that it would remodel the space to make room for the new equipment. The basement hallway was removed to add extra space as well as closets adjacent to the hall. The new spaces will be used to add assault bikes, treadmills and other cardio equipment. An ice bath and training/recovery room will be added to provide additional space for personal care of our athletes. The District and athletic staff are very grateful to the Eric Ottens Foundation for the donation to purchase the extra equipment.
Culinary Arts Room Upgrade- With the addition of our FFA agriculture programming Mrs. Meurs found grant money to upgrade the kitchen space to make it a fully commercial kitchen. This means that the FFA and culinary students can offer additional food items when catering events. They will also be able to consider different catering events. In addition to the catering, the students will be able to obtain kitchen/food handling preparation certifications.
Additional FFA Program- We have had a very robust construction classroom program lead by Mr. Jason Snyder. He worked with the state FFA coordinators to become certified to offer his programs through FFA. This means students will have an expanded selection for FFA programming related to various construction fields. We are very grateful for Mr. Snyder’s support of this program and the opportunity it brings the students.
Transitional Work Studies Coordinator- Jen Pepper will be moving out of the science department to head up the work studies program full time. Ms. Pepper will be overseeing and expanding upon the work study program for seniors. Community Involvement was started by Mr. Luker and has provided seniors with an exceptional opportunity to learn about careers that interest them while in high school. Ms. Pepper will be expanding upon the program Mr. Luker started and providing new and additional work study programming. FHS is excited to see this program grow and provide students with great learning opportunities connected to career interests.
Classroom Furniture- With the movement of several teachers, some of the classrooms at FHS will be getting new furniture. Three years ago the district committed to new furniture throughout the district with these additional rooms getting new furniture and our upgrades will be complete.
Education Pathway Dual Credit- Fulton High School already offers in-person dual credit taught by our staff in chemistry, 10 hours, Statistics, 3 hours, welding up to 6 hours, and will be adding an education pathway course for students who want to become teachers and want to take a college preparatory class. If your son or daughter wants to become teachers please encourage them to enroll in this opportunity.
New to the District
The 24-25 School year will be exciting and bring many new opportunities for our students, staff and families. I am excited to be starting year eleven in this great District and continue to grow our Steamers. As the year begins, the District is also hoping to engage students, families and our staff in a strategic plan that will provide guidance and vision for our future. As plans are unfolded for the strategic plan, please consider responding to various surveys, or joining a focus group as they are determined.
Excited and grateful for another Steamer school year,
Darryl Hogue
12:30pm - 3:30pm
4:00pm - 6:00pm
River Bend Middle School BKB B MS Away Erie Middle School (EP Team)
4:00pm - 7:00pm
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Fulton High School VB G V Away OPEN (IHSA Volleyball Sectionals)
100 S. Union Ave. Polo, IL 61064
8:00am - 11:00am
12:00am - 3:00am
Time: TBA -Fulton High School BKB B V Home OPEN (Boys Basketball Practice Starts)
1207 12th Street Fulton, IL 61252
12:00am - 3:00am
Time: TBA -Fulton High School BKB B SO Home OPEN (Boys Basketball Practice Starts)
1207 12th Street Fulton, IL 61252
12:00am - 3:00am
Time: TBA -Fulton High School WR B V Home OPEN (Wrestling Practice Begins)
1207 12th street Fulton, IL 61252
12:00am - 3:00am
Time: TBA -Fulton High School VB G V Away OPEN (IHSA Volleyball Super-Sectional)
2255 Sullivan Road Aurora, IL 60506
4:00pm - 6:00pm
River Bend Middle School BKB B MS Away West Carroll Middle School ( Mt. Carroll - WCMS)
4:00pm - 6:00pm
River Bend Middle School BKB B MS Home Riverdale Middle School
7:15pm - 10:15pm
8:00am - 11:00am
12:00am - 3:00am
Time: TBA -Fulton High School GLF B V Home OPEN
20727 Cattail Rd. Fulton, IL 61252
2:30pm - 5:30pm
12:00am - 3:00am
Time: TBA -Fulton High School VB G V Away OPEN (IHSA Volleyball -State Finals- Nov. 15th & 16th)
4:00pm - 6:00pm
7:00pm - 10:00pm
5:00pm - 7:00pm
4:00pm - 6:00pm
River Bend Middle School BKB B MS Away Rock Falls Middle School
8:00am - 11:00am
6:30pm - 8:30pm
6:30pm - 9:30pm
4:00pm - 6:00pm
River Bend Middle School BKB B MS Home Morrison Junior High School
7:00pm - 10:00pm
7:00pm - 10:00pm
12:00am - 3:00am
1100 13th Street Orion, IL 61273
12:00am - 3:00am
1100 13th Street Orion, IL 61273
5:30pm - 8:30pm
Fulton High School BKB G SO Home Newman Central Catholic HS
1207 12th Street Fulton, IL 61252
5:30pm - 8:30pm
7:00pm - 10:00pm
Fulton High School BKB G V Home Newman Central Catholic HS
1207 12th Street Fulton, IL 61252