New Students 2020

Starting Wednesday, July 1, your student’s schedule for next year can be viewed in PowerSchool. If you have any questions about how to access PowerSchool, please contact PowerSchool Manager Michael O'Brien, mobrien@riordanhs.org.

Starting July 16, you can purchase books in Riordan’s Virtual Bookstore. Your student’s textbooks are listed in one place, and shopping by course makes it simpler to order the correct materials all at once. Please use your student’s Riordan email address when checking out.

Teachers will be giving instructions about other materials needed for courses during the first days of school. There is no pre-set supply list.
 

The Summer Reading assignment this year will be centered upon one novel: The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater. All students are asked to read this work over the summer. We have modified the assessment for distance learning, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

Learn more about this book in these Book Trailer and Book Review videos.

You can support Riordan when purchasing this book by using Amazon Smile! Select Archbishop Riordan High School as your designation.
 

All students are required to have an iPad for the first day of classes.*

We recommend the iPad Air or above, the iPad Mini 3 or above, or the iPad Pro. While the iPad Mini is an acceptable choice, it has a much smaller screen, which can reduce the impact of certain visually interactive apps in the sciences or the arts. Students pursuing digital media courses and extracurriculars may want the larger format screen with retina display, available on both the iPad Air and the iPad Pro.

The iPad needs to be running the latest iOS at all times. To update this on the iPad, go to Settings > General > Software Update. While you are able to get older versions of the iPad, please be aware that the iPad 1 is not an acceptable model as it cannot handle the processing speeds necessary for digital textbooks.

*Exceptions:

• Transfer students are allowed to use MacBooks or Chromebooks. Otherwise, we encourage them to buy the iPad Air.
• Engineering Program students are not required to have an iPad, but are required to have a MacBook—at minimum a MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM.

Links to Purchase Uniform

• SportPacks: Riordan polos, cardigan, sweater, outerwear, white Oxford shirt, skirts.
• If you are interested in purchasing a Riordan uniform skirt for this school year, these are now available for purchase in the women's uniform section of Sportspacks. Please scroll to the second page to see additional skirt options in black.

Accessories and Makeup

The following are not permitted:

• Excessive jewelry and/or makeup.
• Piercings to any visible part of the face or body (including lip, nose, eyebrow, etc.), with the exception of ear piercings for women.
• Hoop earrings larger than a half dollar in size, to limit or eliminate potential injury.
• Hats, caps, bandanas, or any hair adornments worn indoors, with the exception of headbands for women.
• Dangling chains or hanging key chains.
• Any accessories that could be considered dangerous or could be used as a weapon.
• Sunglasses worn indoors.

Backpacks and Bags

Must be neat, clean, and presentable. Student and/or school names are allowed to be neatly printed on backpacks, but no other writing, drawing, or patches are allowed.

Daily Uniform

Students must wear:

• A Riordan polo OR a solid color polo (black, white, navy blue, gray, or purple) OR a white Oxford shirt.
• Traditional cut pants (black, khaki, grey) with a leather belt (black or brown) OR a skirt (women only; in one of the following styles: 1034PS, 1943RB, 1943BS, black or khaki).
• An undershirt or undergarment that isn’t visible under the polo or Oxford shirt.
• Shoes that fall within the school footwear guidelines.

Students may wear:

• Solid color polos (black, white, navy blue, gray, or purple) from Old Navy, Target, and Walmart.
• Traditional cut pants (black, khaki, grey) purchased from Dockers, Old Navy, and Gap.
• Any Riordan outerwear, including sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets, and fleeces.
• Tights or stockings under skirts (women only; black or skin colored).

Students cannot wear:

• Oversized, baggy, rolled, unhemmed, cropped, or torn clothing.
• Clothing with any images, graphics, logos, text, patches, embroidery, or drawings other than those specifically permitted by the school.
• Jeans, athletic pants, leggings.
• Non-traditional pant styles, including flared, jean-style/five-pocket, workman-style, skinny, cargo, bootcut.
• Carrhart, Ben Davis, or Dickies brand pants.
• Pants below the natural waistline (sagging).
• Belts with oversized buckles.
• Non-Riordan outerwear during the school day (must be put away in students’ lockers when the first bell of the day rings).

Footwear

Students must wear:

• Closed-toed, closed-back shoes.
• If shoes have laces, they must be tied at all times.
• Visible socks (except for women wearing ballet flats).

Students may wear:

• Clean, unaltered athletic shoes and sneakers.
• Sperry’s, Tom’s, Doc Martens, and Short-Ankle Timberlands.

Students cannot wear:

• Open-toed, open-back shoes.
• Slippers, flip-flops, or sandals of any kind.
• Heavy boots, including combat, work, or military boots.

Formal Dress

Formal dress days are announced at least five days in advance with ample notification.

Students must wear:

• A white Oxford shirt.
• A tie (men only; Riordan logo, solid purple, solid black).
• Khaki uniform pants with a leather belt (black or brown) OR a khaki uniform skirt (women only).
• Riordan gray v-neck cardigan or sweater.
• Formal black or brown dress shoes with dark socks.

Students may wear:

• Shoes with heels two inches or shorter (women only).
• Black or brown ballet flats without socks (women only).
• Tights or stockings under skirts (women only; black or skin colored).

Students cannot wear:

• Open-toed, open-back shoes.
• Athletic shoes or sneakers.
• Flip flops, slippers, or sandals.

Hair

Must be neat, clean, and presentable.

The following are permitted:

• Cultural hairstyles, including braids and cornrows.

The following are not permitted:

• Hair in front below the eyebrows (bangs).
• Men’s hair below the bottom of the ear on the sides (including sideburns), below the collar in the back.
• Distracting hairstyles, including mohawks.
• Shaved lines or designs (including on the eyebrow).
• Unnatural hair coloring, bleaching, or dyeing.
• Facial hair at any time.

Spirit Dress

On special days of the year, students may choose to dress according to House-sponsored, Spirit Week, and/or holiday dress guidelines to express school spirit. This kind of display is only appropriate on those particular days.

Tattoos

All visible tattoos need to be covered during school hours or when representing Riordan in any capacity, including during sports.

Technology

• Headphones and earbuds must be removed upon entering the school building and cannot be worn between classes. Headphones and earbuds can be worn during class with teachers’ explicit permission, but must be removed before leaving class. Students who fail to remove earphones or earbuds will be liable for an after school detention. Headphones or earbuds may be confiscated for repeated failure to remove them.
• All teachers have discretion to ask students to remove any kind of smartwatch (eg. Apple watch, Samsung watch) before an exam or quiz of any kind. Failure to do so on the part of the student will lead to removal from the exam and further possible consequences. Use of a smartwatch during a quiz or exam may constitute an honor code violation.

 

Summer Workouts

We are excited to announce that we are allowed to start some summer athletic activities with certain restrictions and guidelines. Please see this communication for full information.

• Men's and Women's Cross Country - Monday, June 22
• Football - Monday, June 22
• Women's Volleyball - Monday, June 29

These dates will include all grade levels, except for incoming freshmen interested in football. We will be including freshman football players and other sports in July.  

Participation Instructions
To participate in the workouts, you must do the following by Friday, June 19 at 4:00 pm.

• (1) Review Guidelines (should be done by both parent and student)
• (2) Complete Workout Sign Up Form 

Fall Sports

Football
Cross Country
Women’s Volleyball
Women’s Tennis
Women’s Golf
 

SportsNet Medical Clearance

Per school policy, students MUST obtain athletic clearance prior to participation in tryouts or other season practices. Each athlete is only required to register once per year. Athletic clearance submitted after this deadline may not get processed in time for team tryouts.
     1. Create an account with SportsNet
     2. Upload a Medical Clearance Form that has been signed by your son’s physician.
         We do not accept hard copies of physicals.
Deadline for Fall Sports: Saturday, August 1, 2020

Sports Packs Information

Archbishop Riordan Athletics requires some athletic wear to be purchased. These items may include practice attire/equipment and/or game day attire through the use of Sport Packs online Athletics Apparel and School Uniform Store. We make every effort to make sure particular Sport Packs items are consistent among all teams to keep costs down for multiple sport athletes.

Instructions for purchasing Sport Packs items are available here.

Please email the Athletics Office directly with any questions, athletics@riordanhs.org.

Please visit our Co-Ed Transition page to stay up-to-date on the latest developments for the 2020–21 school year.

May 29, 2020

Dear Riordan Community,

Reflecting on the past few months and looking towards the future, there are two things that are certain:

1. Our community is in the midst of great change
 
2. Our mission remains the same: Riordan provides a values-based, college preparatory education to prepare students for leadership and lifelong success.

With this in mind, I would like to share a few highlights of what we’ve done and what’s to come:

Providing An Excellent Catholic Education

• We responded to uncontrollable circumstances with flexibility and grace, in thanks to our dedicated teachers and resilient students
• We are evaluating all options for in-person, hybrid, and online learning in preparation for the new school year, and ways for students to maintain social bonds in a safe and positive environment
• We will increase our teachers’ proficiency in delivering online content through further professional development

Cultivating Community Life

• We participated in a friendly yet lively House competition this spring with a virtual edition of the Crusader Games (Congratulations House of Bolts!)
• We are hosting online orientations led by faculty and staff to welcome new students and families over the summer
• We are planning the Class of 2020 graduation for June 27 on Mayer Family Field at the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Athletic Complex, and will broadcast the Baccalaureate Mass on June 12 to our community

Embracing Co-Education

• We contracted a management consultant to support Riordan through the change to co-education (read their in-depth discovery findings here)
• We are expanding our men’s and women’s athletics program, constructing new locker rooms, and making upgrades to the weight room (see the full lineup of sports here)
• We will be onboarding several highly qualified additions to our faculty and staff (look for upcoming announcements)

If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to respond directly to this email. We again thank you for the many ways you support Riordan.

Sincerely,

Dr. Andrew Currier
President

Support Riordan through the Parent Pledge Program here.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Congratulations on your child’s acceptance to Archbishop Riordan High School! We are pleased to welcome you and your family to the Riordan community.

Each year we ask new parents to participate in the Parent Pledge Program, a four-year commitment made by each family. Over the past few years, parent support has allowed the school to make number of key improvements to both the curriculum and facilities, including the recent addition of the Engineering Program, remodeling of the RSP classrooms, and the renovations of both the gym and field.

The Parent Pledge Program is critical to the school’s success because the true cost to educate your child is more than tuition alone. The benefit of making a Parent Pledge gift instead of paying higher tuition is that this gift is tax deductible.

In 2019–20, we received pledges as low as $400 and as high as $20,000 over four years. We hope that all parents will consider a pledge that falls somewhere in between. Our goal is for the average pledge to total $12,000 over 4 years ($3,000 per year). Some will do less and some will do more—what counts is that all families participate at a level that feels right and is within their means. Those who choose to pledge $12,000 or more over 4 years will be invited to our Annual President’s Dinner in the fall.

Thank you for partnering with us to provide the best possible experience for your child, and helping us fulfill our mission to provide all of our students with a Catholic education in the Marianist tradition.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the program in more depth please don’t hesitate to contact me. My phone number and email are listed below.

Sincerely,

Anne Seppi
Director of Annual Giving
aseppi@riordanhs.org
(415) 586-8200 ext. 217

A copy of student's immunization record is required for entry into Archbishop Riordan High School. The deadline for submission is July 1, 2020.

Please submit immunization records to Nora Birmingham in the Main Office or email a PDF to nbirmingham@riordanhs.org. You can submit any immunization record from your doctor's office, or you can download a form here.

In addition to email channels, Riordan uses a platform called School Messenger to send texts to parents. The evening of June 30 you will receive a text to the mobile numbers you provided in PowerSchool. Please reply to the text with a Y or Yes to opt in to this system. 

After June 30, to opt in, send a text message with the letter Y or YES to the number 67587. You can also send a text message to this number to check the status of your registration. Again, your cell phone must be registered in PowerSchool for this to work.

Dear Crusader,

Although the isolation of COVID-19 has been challenging for everyone, I’m extremely excited to welcome you to the thriving community that is Archbishop Riordan High School. I look forward to seeing you in the halls next year and watching you grow into the person that you’re meant to be.

We’re in the middle of a true renaissance at Riordan! With an expanding Engineering Program, a flourishing House System, a remodeled gym, an incredible new athletic field, and record numbers of applicants, it is an amazing time to be at Riordan.

We have always prided ourselves in our diversity and inclusion. And with the addition of girls next year, we know that we will be able to offer our special brand of family to even more students, who desire a school that’s big enough to offer an extensive list of programs, but small enough to be a tight-knit, welcoming community with a faculty ready to support you as you reach for your potential.

We will teach you how to think rather than what to think. We will help you discover and cultivate your unique gifts. You will find more leadership opportunities than you could imagine. And you will find your confidence at Riordan. There’s simply no better place to find it.

So, again, welcome aboard!

Sincerely,
Mr. Tim Reardon
Principal

We want to make sure you receive all communications from the school! You should have been able to add your email in PowerSchool.

You can view an archive of summer parent communications on our Parent Page. 

If you did not receive these, please email info@riordanhs.org so we can sort this out. Thank you!