River Trails Middle School

River Trails Middle School is a sixth through eighth grade middle school located in Mount Prospect, Illinois, which is approximately 22 miles northwest of Chicago. It is part of School District 26. The students at RTMS will come from either Indian Grove School or Euclid School, which also belong to District 26. River Trails students go on to attend either John Hersey High School or Maine West High School.

The school has brought back its foreign language programs and has switched to a 10-period daily schedule. Instead of Student Council, the school has "Student Government". RTMS is known for its music program, which consists of concert band, orchestra, bucket band, steel drum band, and chorus/roc n' boc. Bucket band involves drumming on a bucket to certain songs. Roc 'n boc was designed for students in band and orchestra, as band/orchestra and chorus cannot both be taken during the school day. The teacher for steel drum band, bucket band, and chorus has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show after being honored as an outstanding teacher.

School Notes

School Colors: "Blue & White"

School Mascot: "Chiefs"

School Nickname: "RTMS"

History

The school, formerly known as "River Trails Junior High", has been in existence since 1965. It consisted of 5th-8th grades until around 1994. Student activities included competitive sports, cheerleading (later poms), student council, choir, and "FAP" (Fine Art Productions). The student council hosted two school dances annually (a costumed Halloween dance & a spring dance). FAP produced three main theatre productions: a variety styled showcase, a melodrama, and a marionette puppet show, which would go " 'on tour' " to the district's elementary schools. Performances by the 7th & 8th grade choirs, the band, and exhibits from the art classes were showcased in the Randhurst shopping mall as well as within the school.

In June 2006, a River Trails staff member was arrested at the Clay Terrace Mall in Carmel, Indiana after attempting to engage in lewd conduct with whom he thought was a 13-year-old male, but was actually an undercover Indiana police detective. Following his arrest, he was served a search warrant at his former residence in Glenview. Glenview police seized computer equipment at the request of Carmel police for their investigation. A forensic examination of the computer revealed child pornography. Court documents revealed that he had sent the undercover officer sexually suggestive photos of himself before going to the mall. He was charged with two counts of attempted child molestation, two counts of child solicitation, one count of dissemination of matter harmful to minors, and one count of possession of child pornography. As a result of his guilty plea, he was sentenced to 2 years in prison. He was sentenced by Cook County Circuit Judge Larry Axelrood in Skokie. Bond was set at $250,000.

ports

RTMS has has a small range of sports. They include cross-country, track & field, poms, wrestling, volleyball, and basketball.

External References

* [http://www.rtsd26.org/trails/ School Website]