RCS returns to classrooms with renewed energy

Heath Grimes

RCS Superintendent

We are off to a great start for the new school year at Russellville City Schools and are already excited about what this year will hold for our students, teachers and administration!

Before school officially started back Aug. 8, our faculty and staff engaged in several professional development sessions and meetings aimed at celebrating the tremendous success and growth we had during the last school year as well as getting motivated and excited for the upcoming year. We are privileged to have such hardworking and dedicated educators in our school system who are truly excited to teach their students and help them grow, both academically and personally.

I’ve already seen such great motivation from our faculty, and I know that will continue in the months to come.

We are also excited about some of the changes taking place in our system – instructional changes, policy changes and personnel changes. We have several staff members who are taking on new or different roles this school year in an effort to make sure we are making the most out of the talents and abilities our educators have. We are constantly working to improve our instruction so that our students are always receiving the best education possible at our schools.

At RCS, we believe change and adaptation is a sign of a thriving system dedicated to doing what is best in regards to the education of our students as opposed to being stagnant, unchanging and unwilling to progress in a way that will be beneficial to everyone in or affected by our system. I am a firm believer that while change is sometimes tough, it is also necessary for us to remain a beacon of excellence for our students and our community.

While we have had so many exciting things taking place at our schools, one of the highlights this month was the solar eclipse Aug. 21. We were thrilled to welcome parents and community members to our schools to view this awesome event with us. We love being part of this strong and supportive community, and we love when parents play an active role in their children’s education! Our teachers worked hard to ensure this would be both a fun and educational event for all involved, and it certainly was. We are thankful to Connie Cole, whose generous donation allowed all of our students to have a pair of certified solar eclipse glasses and safely take part in something that I’m sure they will always remember.

Outside the classroom, we were excited to host our annual “Meet the Tigers” event last week and officially kick off our fall sports season. Our students who play sports or participate in our fine arts programs are so talented and always show such heart and determination with all that they do. Whether we win or lose, our students are learning important life lessons just by being part of the teams and organizations we have in our system. These lessons will carry them far beyond their time in our schools, and I fully believe in the importance of these values and lessons they will learn. I am looking forward to supporting them this fall and hope our community is, too!

There is so much more taking place within our system, and we would love for each of you to know about our events, activities and successes. If you want to keep up with what’s going on at RCS on a daily basis, make sure to follow our district Twitter (@RussellvilleK12) and Facebook accounts as well as the Twitter (@Russellville_HS, @RussellvilleMS, @ResElem, @Westatrcs) and Facebook accounts for each of our four schools.

As always, it’s GREAT to be a Golden Tiger!