September Bulldog Bytes

Welcome back to Rolla High School and the new year! As you are planning visits to the building, please note that we have three entrances to help best serve your needs.

** Main Office Entrance -- Located near the Fieldhouse, this entrance should be used if you wish to visit with assistant principals Dr. Grisham, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Kolbe, or the Counseling Center.

** Attendance Office Entrance -- Use this entrance in the lower parking lot to visit with Principal Dr. Corey Ray or the school nurses, and to check students in/out of school.

** Athletic Office Entrance -- Located on 10th Street, this entrance should be used for all things athletic related.

For additional safety of our students and staff, please press the call button and wait to be admitted into the building.

We look forward to seeing you!

We are off and running at Rolla High School. We have had a great couple of weeks of school and are looking forward to the momentum continuing.

There are several changes taking place at Rolla High School this year. The first change is getting Chromebooks in the hands of our students through the 1 to 1 Chromebook initiative. It was quite the undertaking to distribute Chromebooks to 1400 students. However, with the hard work of the RPS technology department, RHS faculty/staff, and your patience and cooperation, we were able to achieve our goal. Things have gone well with the initiative. Students are being very responsible with their Chromebooks and they seem appreciative of having their own device.

I have a Principal’s Advisory Committee that I meet with on a regular basis. This committee is made up of students elected from their 4th hour class. There was a common issue that was brought up time and time again throughout the year. Students just did not feel safe in our restrooms. Therefore, we made an adjustment to help address this issue. Teachers have been assigned restroom supervision responsibilities during passing time. The administrative team walks the hallways and are readily available should a teacher report an issue.

In addition to improving the supervision of restrooms, we have implemented a pass system called SmartPass. Students are to ask their teacher to leave the classroom. If the teacher grants the request, students fill out an electronic pass on their Chromebook. This pass has a timer on it for which the student displays toward their teacher during their absence. This system will allow us to track instructional time lost and patterns in student behavior to help address student needs and curtail potential issues in restrooms throughout the building.

We are working hard to create a safe environment for everyone at Rolla High School. This effort will continually be a work in progress, but everyone’s cooperation and support will yield the improvements we are seeking.

Have a great September,

Corey Ray, Ed.D.

Principal

Rolla High School

573-458-0140

Monday, September 2 - NO SCHOOL, Labor Day

September 9-13 - Club Fair, RHS Cafeteria during the lunch shifts

Monday, September 16 -- NO SCHOOL, PD Day

Thursday, September 26 - RHS Homecoming Parade SEE THE FLYER BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Friday, September 27 -- PRIDE Night and Homecoming Football Game, RHS Football Field

Saturday, September 28 - "Disco Lights, Homecoming Nights" RHS Homecoming Dance, 8-11 p.m., RHS Field House TICKETS ARE $20 AND WILL BE ON SALE IN THE CAFETERIA BEGINNING 9/23

Monday, October 7 -- NO SCHOOL, PD Day

The RHS Administration Team welcomes you and is ready to serve Rolla High School for the 2024-25 school year.

From left: Mr. Josh Smith, assistant principal O-Z; Mrs. Lacie Kolbe, assistant principal A-G; Dr. Corey Ray, principal; Dr. Stephanie Grisham, assistant principal H-N, and Mr. Mark Caballero, athletic director.

To contact the assistant principals, please call 573-458-0140 or use the Main Office entrance; to contact the principal, please call 573-458-0140, ext. 14002, or use the Attendance Office entrance. To contact the athletic director, please call 573-458-0149.

RHS Counseling Team, from left to right: Dr. Sarah Kaelin, S-Z; Mr. Rodger Bridgeman, F-K; Registrar Ms. Alicia Pace; Mr. Zach Rogers, L-R, and Mrs. Amber Hendrix, A-E.

Please call 573-458-0141 to contact the Counseling Center.

During this edition of the Parent Information Series, we will share this important information with parents of seniors such as testing opportunities, military entrance information, college admissions guidelines, scholarships, campus visits, the A+ Program, and many more tips and tricks for navigating senior year with your child. We will also share a calendar of important dates.

Group size will be limited, so sign up early.  There will be two offerings of the same content; one will be in-person and one will be virtual.   

IN-PERSON OPTION:

Tuesday, September 17th - RHS Lecture Hall - 5:30-6:30pm

Enter through the Main Office entrance.

VIRTUAL OPTION:

Wednesday, September 18th - Google Meet - 7:00pm

 An hour before the meeting is to begin, you will receive an email with the link required to join.

Sign up at:  https://bit.ly/SurvivingSeniorYear

As a learning organization focused on building a strong school culture that accounts for safety and security, we are pleased to announce that we will begin using SmartPass - a digital hall pass system that replaces traditional hall passes such as sign-out sheets, wooden blocks, passbooks, and lanyards.

The benefits of introducing SmartPass include (but are not limited to):

• Improved classroom management through seamless, one-touch pass approvals

• Reduced foot-traffic in hallways during instructional time

• Centralized management of building “hotspots” that are known to be problematic, such as bathroom meet-ups and unmonitored areas

• Real-time insights on student movement, which is essential during emergencies, weather alerts, and other incidents

SmartPass does not utilize or support GPS tracking; there is no ability to pinpoint a student location. That said, the system does give our administration, faculty, and staff better insight into whether students are in class or have been approved to be elsewhere.

Over 1,000 schools in six different countries using SmartPass have reported noticeable improvements in overall culture, student self-direction, and classroom management. Our team is very excited to introduce this system on our campus.

For more information about SmartPass, please visit their website: www.smartpass.app.

The 2025 Growler yearbooks are on sale now! Scan the QR code above to place your order. Books are currently $60, but the price will raise before the end of the year. Click now for savings!