RVA Newsletter

Important Dates

  • January 6 School Resumes
  • January 20 - No School - MLK Day observance and Teacher Inservice

Group on Fridays

Counselors from Arbor Circle will be coming to RVA on Fridays to offer a therapy group. Coping skills, adulting, and other student-initiated topics will be covered. Here is a link to the Arbor Circle website if you would like more information.

Early Release Days

  • February 5
  • February 26
  • March 12
  • March 26
  • April 23
  • May 7

Students will eat lunch at school and dismissal will be at 12:17 pm on those days. Please plan ahead for transportation changes.

RVA Staff

RVA Team - A caring group of educators dedicated to meeting students where they are and helping students grow and succeed!

Phone Caddies

Phone caddies will be used to support productive learning during class time. Students will be assigned a number in the classroom phone caddy, correlating with their assigned seat. As they enter a class, they will place their phone in their assigned pocket. Students will still be able to see their phones and access music with wireless headphones. Students may check their phones during passing time and lunch.

Daily Schedules

Our school day will begin at 7:45 and end at 2:18. Here is a look at the class time schedule:

2024/2025 Daily Schedule

How can I make this year successful?

With Rockford's trimester high school system, students are expected to complete 2.5 credits (5 classes) each trimester, for a total of 7.5 credits each year. Trimester 2 ends on March 7. While March 7 seems like a long way off, trimesters are about 12 weeks long, so each week, students should be completing about 10% of each class, to finish on time. Completing this work will require students to make progress on assignments and activities in every class, every day!

Setting goals and making action plans is a key part of earning credit and graduating on time! Students will meet with their assigned teacher/advisor to set long-term and short-term goals for completing classes by March 7!



January Menu

January 2025 Meun

Lunch IS FREE this year. Although lunches are free for the 24-25 school year, many services to students and funding, in general, derive from Free and Reduced Lunch applications. Please click on "Apply for Benefits".

How do I know how my student is doing from day to day?

RVA courses are run through either Schoology or Edgenuity. Schoology courses are RPS teacher created and directed. If you want to know how your student is doing in these classes, log in to Schoology. If you need help getting in to Schoology, use this How to Cheat Sheet. Using a parent log in, parents can see messages and course information. However, if you want to see what your student has completed and what grades they have earned so far in classes, the best way to do that is to log in as your student. Students have access to the course gradebook which includes a list of assignments that need to be completed, showing scores earned on work that has been turned in.


Edgenuity courses offer parent updates. If you would like to be signed up to receive these, please complete this form. When the form has been processed, you will receive directions for signing up for the Parent Portal along with an access code. You will receive daily updates. If you want specific information on how your student is doing in Edgenuity, ask your student for their login information. If you log in as the student, you can see a more detailed report.


Good questions to ask your student include:

1. Are you attending all class sessions?

2. Are you completing at least one assignment in each class session?

3. About how far in each course are you?

4. What are you doing well?

5. What can you do better?


Parents and schools are partners in educating students!


Health Room Information

Call the office for all illness related absences. Your students needs to be Fever Free (without medication) and stomach Illness (vomit) Free 24 hours before returning to school.

If your student is in need of medication during the school day, please refer to the attached link below. Nursing services has all the required documentation. A physician signature and parent signature are required for all distributed medications. 

Nursing Services – Rockford Public Schools


How are you doing? People care and want to help!

Hand 2 Hand can help with food and toiletry needs.


RVA has an amazing staffsocial worker, and mental health liaison who can listen and connect you to resources!


Ele's Place is a community based organization with the mission to create awareness of and support for grieving children and their families. Please find a very helpful guide for parents - how to support teens, as well as a handout titled, How to Help Yourself: For Teens below.


Area Resources

North Kent CONNECT: Clients | North Kent Connect (nkconnect.org)

Mobile Food Pantries: https://www.feedwm.org/findfood/

Assistance with housing, food, utilities: contact 211 by phone or text (800-877-1107), text your zip code to 898211

Youth in need of shelter: The Bridge 616-451-3001 or 877-275-7792 the bridge - Arbor Circle


Follow Us on Facebook

Student Absences

Absences MUST be called into the office 616.863.6324.

Please leave a message if you are calling after hours. Whether you are reporting an absence on our voicemail or speaking with Cecily, we need to know the following things:

  • Student's name
  • Reason for Absence - if it is an illness we need to know the symptoms of the illness - vomiting, coughing, fever, cold, diarrhea, lice - whatever the reason may be

Medications Taken at School

All medication, including over the counter medication, must have a signed doctor's note in the office before office staff can give medication to your student.

If your child:

  • Has an epi pen we need a FARE - Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Emergency Care Plan filled out by the doctor.
  • Has asthma we need an Asthma Action plan filled out by the doctor.
  • Has seizures we need a seizure care plan filled out by the doctor.

Medical services provided & forms


Please reach out with any questions you may have or if there is anything you need!

Email: jthompson@rockfordschools.org
Website: http://www.rockfordschools.org
Location: 350 North Main Street, Rockford, MI, USA
Phone: 616-863-6324
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rivervalleyacademy
Twitter: @academy_river


More News & Events



Hoops for Haiti

Dear RPS Family,

The boys' and girls' varsity basketball teams will be playing East Kentwood on Friday, January 10 in our annual Hoops for Haiti basketball game at RHS. Funds raised will support the Haiti Foundation Against Poverty (HFAP), a non-profit organization that we have served alongside since 2010.

Our most recent fundraising efforts have focused on Harvest Preschool in Southern Haiti. In January 2023, the funds raised at Hoops for Haiti were used to finish building Harvest Preschool. That fall, Harvest Preschool welcomed its first preschoolers, all of whom were dressed head to toe in Rockford orange! Go Rams!

Hoops for Haiti Video



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