IMPORTANT DATES
THE PRINCIPAL'S CORNER
NEWS AND NOTES
PASTA POT STILL NEEDS YOUR CONTRIBUTION
FAT TUESDAY FILM FESTIVAL, DINNER AND DOCUMENTARIES
COLLEGE, COLLEGE, ALL THINGS COLLEGE
SNOW MAKEUP DAY
LOOKING AHEAD
PROM
GRADUATION
THE SPORTS PAGE
ATHLETIC CALENDAR
SWIM TEAMS MAKE A SPLASH AT CHAMPIONSHIPS
CREW TALK — WITH CHEESE!
LINKS OF INTEREST
PUBLICATION INFORMATION

IMPORTANT DATES
FEBRUARY
16 Presidents' Day; no school
19 Crew information session, 2:40 p.m., Room 307
21 College Aid application assistance, 9 a.m.–noon, Meredith College
23 Snow Makeup Day, 9 a.m.–12:05 p.m.
24 SOOTS Music & Film Festival, 5:30–9:30 p.m., 300 Hall

MARCH
9 RCHS Board of Directors meeting, 5:30 p.m., Room 300
10 Writing Test for all sophomores
12 PASTA Board of Directors meeting, 8:30 a.m., Room 305
16 Teacher Workday
19-20 Ex Days
25 Last Principal's Coffee of the year, 8:45 a.m.

THE PRINCIPAL'S CORNER
Charter Renewed!
I learned last Thursday that our school's charter has been renewed for 10 years, until June 30, 2019. The Office of Charter Schools begins to work on renewals about 18 months ahead of the expiration. We have been interviewing and working on paperwork for about a year now, and we have had many positive indications that we would be renewed. It wasn't official though until the State Board of Education accepted the recommendation of the Leadership for Innovation Committee on Feb. 5. We are happy.

As you know, our school opened in August 1999. We opened with a charter of five years, and we renewed in 2004 for five years. In 2004, charter schools were renewed for only five years. Now ten years is the standard for charter schools in good standing, though we would still be reviewed every five years. All is well.

Information Sessions
Information Sessions for prospective students and parents were held on Jan. 27 and Feb. 5. Sessions were held for parents and students. On Jan. 27, we held 10 sessions (two per half hour); we estimate that between 900 and 1000 inquiring people showed up. On Feb. 6, we held six sessions, and we estimate that between 600 and 650 people showed up. We estimate that on those two nights, we handed out 685 application packets. Over 1,000 applications have been reviewed or downloaded from our website.

Applications for next year must be postmarked by Feb. 25, 2009.
Tom Humble, Principal
thumble@raleighcharterhs.org 

NEWS AND NOTES

PASTA POT STILL NEEDS YOUR CONTRIBUTION
Dear RCHS families:
Two months ago Dr. Humble and I shared with you the need to raise an extra $20,645 in the PASTA Pot to offset the decrease in state funding RCHS will receive this year. Thank you to those who responded to the request – you have contributed $13,288 towards this goal.

Our original PASTA Pot goal this year was $55,750 and was increased by $20,645 for a total of $76,395. So far 55% of RCHS families have contributed to this goal. We have raised $69,038 to date of which $39,600 has been given directly to RCHS to supplement the annual operating budget and $10,000 has been given to fund technology needs. The remaining dollars raised have been or will be used to fund academic support, teacher appreciation, teacher retirement account contributions, graduation, and other support activities

Each year the PASTA fundraising VPs try to decide when it is time to stop asking for contributions to the PASTA Pot. They question whether
people with busy lives intend to give but haven't gotten around to it (and can't find the donation card)
or
people have decided not to contribute financially to the school.

If you are in the "haven't gotten around to it" group, please consider making your tax-deductible contribution today by writing a check to RCHS PASTA Pot and sending it to RCHS PASTA, 1111 Haynes Street, Raleigh, NC 27604. (You don't need to find and send in the donation card!)

We have incredibly generous families at RCHS – families who give an immense amount of time, skills, and/or money. Thank you for your generosity.

If you have any questions about this year's PASTA budget, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Dana Barrow, PASTA President
barrow204@bellsouth.net

FAT TUESDAY FILM FESTIVAL, DINNER AND DOCUMENTARIES
Boo Hanks is the headlining performer for SOOTS' 4th Annual "Fat Tuesday Film Festival" event on Feb. 24 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the RCHS 300 Hall. For more information, see:
www.sootsblues.org 

New Orleans-themed dinner and documentaries* begin at 5:30 p.m. Tim Duffy, founder of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, will present a lecture and slide show at 7 p.m. before country blues guitarist Boo Hanks and his guests perform at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket prices range from $25 to $10, based on which event you attend. Seating is limited.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday, Feb. 17 during lunch, or you may contact Charles Montague for reservations. Thank you for your support.

*Documentaries include "Always for Pleasure" (about 1970s New Orleans) & "Toot Blues" (about Music Maker)
- each film is Not Rated but both include some risqué material typical of the blues & Mardi Gras.
Charles Montague, Sustaining Roots Music Community Project advisor
cmontague@raleighcharterhs.org 

COLLEGE, COLLEGE, ALL THINGS COLLEGE
College Planning Workshop for Sophomores
College counseling is offering A Planning for College workshop for sophomores, conducted by Randy Doss, the Vice President for Enrollment Services at Guilford College. We will offer two sessions on March 3. The first session will be at 3:15 p.m. and the second will be at 5:15 p.m. This workshop is designed to give students and parents a perspective of how admission applications are read and evaluated.

Students should register for one of the sessions in college counseling.
Glenda Atkinson, Director of College Counseling
gatkinson@raleighcharterhs.org 

Need Aid With Financial Aid Form?
College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) is offering free help to students and parents completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) on Saturday, Feb. 21, from 9 a.m. to noon at Meredith College. Families will meet with college and university financial aid officers who will assist them with the completion of their FAFSA.

Students may register online at www.cfnc.org/fafsaday  or call 866-866-CFNC .
Kern Hairston, College Counselor
khairston@raleighcharterhs.org 

SNOW MAKEUP DAY
Our second snow makeup day will be Monday, Feb. 23, from 9 a.m. until 12:05 p.m.
Thomas Humble, Principal
thumble@raleighcharterhs.org

LOOKING AHEAD

PROM
Save the date! The prom will be April 25 from 8 to 11 p.m.
C. Chandler, Junior Class Vice President

GRADUATION
Graduation is scheduled for 5 p.m. June 4 at Meymandi Concert Hall of the Progress Energy for the Performing Arts.
Glenda Atkinson, Director of College Counseling
gatkinson@raleighcharterhs.org

THE SPORTS PAGE

ATHLETIC CALENDAR
Tuesday, 2/17
TBA Women's Basketball 1st Round. Conference Tournament

SWIM TEAMS MAKE A SPLASH AT CHAMPIONSHIPS
Our Phoenix Men's and Women's Swim Teams' season culminated in the Conference Championship on Jan. 27 and the State Championship meet Saturday, Feb. 7th at NC State University.

First, the Conference Championships: All the early mornings and hard practices came to fruition. Of the 40 swim events competed in, 30 were best times! Special congratulations to J. Bonk, who won both his individual events and was the Mens' Conference MVP.

Now on to the State Championships: Representing RCHS at the State Championships were M. Jacobs, J. Horvitz, J. Lukacs, M. Ring, S. Jones, K. Mikolajewski, B. Whalen, R. Williams, A. Walker, H. Tempest, B. Rucker, S. Fatool, J. Bonk, and S. O'Shea.

The teams performed exceptionally well, working together in a high stress, highly competitive environment, requiring them to block out all of the distractions and perform their best. For many of our women, it was their first time at the State Championship meet. Coach Mosher told the Women's team,"I cannot be happier with how you performed under the pressure. All this experience will prepare you for next year and we'll do even better than the already great job you did this weekend." The best thing for our Women's team is that we aren't graduating anyone!

Our men's team is heavy with seniors, who will all be missed. The Men's 200 medley relay team set a new school record with a 1:47.35. J. Bonk broke his previous school record in the morning and the evening in the 200 freestyle, winning second place and setting a new school record of 1:44.87. J. Bonk also won the 100 freestyle with a time of 48.04, setting a new school record. Our Men's 200 free relay won 3rd place with a new school record of 1:34.10. H. Tempest beat his previous school record with a 1:10.07 in the 100 breast, earning 11th place. A. Walker broke his own previous school record in the 50 freestyle, performing a 24.15 and finishing 15th.

Congratulations to all of our Phoenix swimmers for an excellent season, which included many new school records. Also special thanks to Coach M. Mosher, a young working executive who freely shared his time, expertise and passion for competitive swimming with our student athletes. Coach Mosher exemplifies volunteerism at its best!
David Rucker, Swim Team Parent

CREW TALK — WITH CHEESE!
Thinking of rowing for RCHS this spring? Whether you've rowed for years or have never tried it, come to the spring season informational meeting to learn more. Free pizza will be provided.

The meeting will take place in Room 307 on Thursday, Feb. 19, immediately after school and will last about an hour. The first practice will be Monday, Feb. 23.
Melinda Thompson, RCHS Crew Boosters
thompsonsusa@hotmail.com

For directions to events, see https://www.raleighcharterhs.org/athletics/Sports_Directions.pdf

LINKS OF INTEREST
The following are quick links:
The Phoenix News at http://www.raleighcharterhs.org/pasta/news.asp
PASTA Fund-Raising at http://www.raleighcharterhs.org/pasta/simplefund.asp 
Join PASTA at http://www.raleighcharterhs.org/pasta/membership.asp
PASTA Alumni at http://www.rchspasta.org/alumni/alumni.php 
Lunch Vendors at https://www.raleighcharterhs.org/studentlife/lunch.asp 
RCHS College Counseling Naviance at http://connection.naviance.com/fc/signin.php?hsid=raleighcharter 
Calendar at http://www.raleighcharterhs.org/pasta 
Helpful Hints at https://www.raleighcharterhs.org/Pasta/hints.asp 
The Flame at http://flame.raleighcharterhs.org 
Helpful hints at http://www.raleighcharterhs.org/pasta/hints.htm 
Extracurricular opportunities at http://rchspasta.org/extracurriculars.htm

PUBLICATION INFORMATION
The Raleigh Charter High School newsletter, the Phoenix News, is published each Friday of the school year as a service of Raleigh Charter High School's Parent, Administrator, Student, and Teacher Association (PASTA) and is distributed via an electronic news group. The Phoenix News is also available on the RCHS website at https://www.raleighcharterhs.org/pasta/news.asp 

Parents, students and faculty are invited to share school-related news, recognize accomplishments and solicit volunteer needs via the Phoenix News.

**The deadline for submitting articles is every Tuesday at noon for publication the following Friday. Please send articles to phoenixnewseditor@yahoo.com 

If you would like to receive the Phoenix News automatically each week, please subscribe to the RCHS Yahoo! news group by sending an email to RaleighCharterHS-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 

Please indicate your student's name in the subject line so the moderator can verify that you are a member of the RCHS community.
Membership is monitored and available only to RCHS parents, students and personnel.

To unsubscribe from this group, send a blank email to RaleighCharterHS-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com