July 5, 2012

Dear Rio Vista Families,

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year at Rio Vista Elementary School! I am excited about having your child(ren) at our school. Our motto for this year is “Raising the bar to excellence”. We have worked tremendously hard to improve the quality of instruction to improve learning and to create a positive partnership with all school stakeholders to support our commitment to literacy. My goal is to create an atmosphere that is centered around scholarly achievement.

It is extremely important for me as the administrator, our support staff, and all of Rio Vista’s teachers, students, and families to make learning the priority in all that we do for our students. Reading is truly the key to our student’s future.

Please assist us by making sure that your child comes to school with a readiness of mind, proper rest, and an understanding that their success is our primary goal. All scholars need to embrace the concept of being: respectful, responsible, and being safe.

I’d like to share specific principles that will drive the school wide mission at Rio Vista Elementary:

1. We will provide an enriched and affirming learning environment, one that is safe and orderly and promotes inclusion for all students.
2. Using District procedures, I will select highly qualified teachers who have the passion, compassion, and skills to provide your children with an excellent education. These teachers will be highly trained in the most effective instructional practices.
3. We will build powerful family and community engagement to draw support for student success.
4. We will provide challenging standards based curriculum, with an emphasis on differentiation, so that all students can succeed. The curriculum will promote higher order thinking with integration of math, science, and technology. It will also foster bilingualism and multiculturalism.
5. We will provide high quality standards-aligned instructional resources that provide equitable access to core curriculum and prepare students for the demands of the 21^st century.

I look forward to working closely with all in hopes of making Rio Vista the very best school in the District.

Sincerely,

Charles A. Brown Jr.

Principal