New book bags, freshly sharpened pencils, and new wardrobes filled RMA hallways on Monday, the first day back at school. Student were not only excited about another year, but there were lots of great new additions including: 60 new students, 4 new teachers, 5 teachers with changing roles, and a brand new software program.

The new students, 14 of which are high school students, are already making a nice addition to the RMA family. The  high schoolers are freshman: Mary Marshall Martin, Ben Tucker, Eliza Myers, Tom Qian, Griffin Wingfield, and James Varnell, sophomores: Kayla Miller, Gabby Hickman, Nathan Varnell, juniors: Thomas Newton, Renate Ma, Jillian Lavely, John Henry Wirman, and senior: Parker Ferebee. Everyone is super excited about the new additions to high school that has allowed for the largest student body population in years at 440.

Along with our new students, RMA is welcoming 4 new teachers as well! Mrs. Angela Langley will be joining Mrs. Green in 3rd grade, teaching the mathematics and science sections. The 3rd graders are all very excited to learn from Mrs. Langley as she helps our lower school transition to Math in Focus. Mrs. Rhonda Meszaros also joined the staff as a middle school language arts and history teacher. Mrs. Meszaros and the middle school teachers are already having their students involved in an online program tying all their different classes together through Harvard University. Mrs. Martha Marin joined the RMA community as an upper school Spanish teacher, following Mrs. Watkins’ retirement. Mrs. Marin is from Columbia and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. She brings a new level of excitement to foreign languages, focusing on more interactive speaking in the classroom as well as the Spanish culture. Her high energy level and bubbly personality have the high schoolers excited about Spanish class this year! Mrs. Dawn Whitehurst is coming to RMA as a drama teacher. Students are especially excited about Mrs. Whitehurst’s arrival due to the fact that we have never offered a drama class before. Mrs. Whitehurst aims to put on two school productions a year in addition to teaching the drama class each day. With Mrs. Whitehurst’s and the drama students’ success in the play Godspell last year we are all sure the productions will be a hit this year too.

As well as our new faculty members we have 5 teachers changing roles this year. Mrs. Elaine Jones and Brenda Mills will be having their own PK class in order for our PK students to have the best RMA experience. Mrs. Davis will be switching from middle school teacher to instructional technology chief. She will be overseeing the technology instruction for all grades along with teaching technology classes to lower and middle school students.  Her goal is to keep them up to date on the best ways to use technology efficiently and helpfully. Dr. O’Brien, our beloved middle school English teacher, is taking on more of a high school role this year, teaching all levels of 11th grade American Literature, which is only fitting since this is what her doctorate is in. However, Dr. O’Brien will continue to teach English to the 8th graders. Mrs. Ashley Barry has been and will continue to be the director of the learning resource center. In addition to that role, this year Mrs. Barry will be the STEAM Lab coordinator, teaching our lower school students weekly sessions in science, technology, engineering, art, and math with an emphasis on creative thinking.

In addition to our new students and teachers the faculty has been busy this summer switching over to a new software program, The Eagles Nest. The Eagles Nest is already popular among the students. It gives a place where they can have everything in one place. It’s an easy place to check assignments and for upcoming test.  Teachers also use it to upload documents or PowerPoints so that their students can have access. This program is also very beneficial for the parents because they can check on their child’s grades and attendance daily. With all these great new changes this year it’s safe to say this year will be another successful year at RMA.