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Dear #RPSStrong Family,
Happy Friday and Happy Spring Break! Tonight's updates:
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| Spring Break! – I want to take a moment to wish everyone a joyful and restful Spring Break. We hope you take this opportunity to spend time with family and friends and enjoy the warm(ish) weather. We look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday, April 10 – on time :). Watch our special Spring Break message and remember, We Love You Here!
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| RPS Shines – This May, we're hosting our Second Annual RPS Shines, a special evening to recognize and honor our life-changing teachers, principals, and support staff. You can help us celebrate these amazing individuals in two ways: 1) by nominating RPS educators for our divisionwide awards; 2) by supporting RPS Shines with a donation to the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation. Thank you!
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| Logistical Note – Before signing off, I want to remind everyone that my next RPS Direct will come out on Monday, April 10, our first day back.
I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Spring Break filled with happiness and peace!
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| With great appreciation,
Jason
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- A great, big shout-out to Sonata Koger for planning our Mobile Career Truck Day for the students at Mary Scott Preschool! The event was a huge success! Hand claps for VCU Police Department, Hershey's Ice Cream Truck, RPD Mounted Horses, RVA Fire Department, Richmond Ambulance Authority, the Lit Limo, and the Fun Bus. Thank you for taking the time to make yourselves available for our students. We appreciate you all!
- I would like to give a shout-out to Mr. Davis. He is one of the newest custodians here at Oak Grove-Bellemeade. He always makes sure our floors are clean and that we have everything we need. He is doing a great job. We are so grateful to have him here.
- I would like to give a well-deserved shout-out to our school psychologist, Lisa Thanadar! She is such a knowledgeable, astute, and caring team member to have in child find and special education team meetings! She is not only a colleague you can depend on, she is a wonderful resource for parents, students, and staff. I learn so much from working alongside Lisa and am grateful to have a gem like her on our team!
- Thank you, Southampton PTA, for our spring teacher morale boost. They surprised the staff with a yummy cake and Italian ice.
- I would like to shout-out our 7th grade AP, Deonta Gail, at MLK Middle School. Mr. Gail is an awesome AP and we appreciate his consistency and the support he provides not just for the staff, but the students as well. We thank you for hitting the ground running, being involved, being approachable, and for showing us what leadership looks like. Kudos to you, Mr. Gail, and thank you!
- Shout-out to Ms. Travis, an outstanding assistant principal at Southampton Elementary School.
- I am sending a shout-out to the exceptional education teachers and instructional assistants at Mary Munford. Mrs. Lott, Ms. Richardson, Mrs. Allgeier, and Ms. Contessa go above and beyond every day to meet the needs of their students. Mr. Zeno, Mr. Klunder, Ms. Mason, Ms. Lewis, Ms. Scott, and Ms. Aikens support students in the general education classroom and with their exceptional education classroom. These amazing people are committed to giving their students the best school experience possible. They go the extra mile to develop relationships with general education students as well as the students on their caseload. This team is valuable beyond measure.
- A big shout-out to these amazing CIS site coordinators for coming to J.H. Blackwell Elementary to share about their amazing middle schools with our 5th graders for our transition program: Ms. Edmunds at Binford, Ms. Bono and Ms. Martin at Boushall, Ms. Thomas at Lucille Brown, and Mr. Bailey at River City. Also a big shout-out to Mr. Rodgers, the school counselor at Blackwell, for helping to coordinate this program with CIS.
- Beth Ramsey, instructional assessment analyst, is very detailed and makes sure STCs are aware of everything that is needed to do their job well. This is my first year as an STC and I appreciate everything that she has done to make it a smooth process.
- I want to give a huge shout-out and hug to the FMA staff and students. You show each and every day what respect and love look like. Thank you for a wonderful show of appreciation. You are the reason I come to work each and every day.
- Happy early Assistant Principal Week to AP Francis Johnson at J.L. Francis Elementary! I truly appreciate being your teammate and your hard work and dedication do not go unnoticed. Thank you for everything!!
- Isabella Mizelli and Jazmynn Edmond received a medal of honor from the Brigadier General of the US Air Force for their outstanding performance at River City. Ms. Rymer & Ms. Blue received one, too.
- Shout-out to Ms. Smith at J.L. Francis Elementary. Ms. Smith does amazing work with the students in the intensive support class! We are so lucky to have her as a part of the exceptional education department, and J.L. Francis!! Thank you for all you do, Ms. Smith!!
- Shout-out to Ms. Wilkerson at J.L. Francis Elementary for the amazing work she is doing in the intensive support class! She has been a wonderful addition to the classroom – and our students are so lucky to have her!
- Shout-out to Ms. Gray at J.L. Francis Elementary. Thank you for always showing up, being flexible, and being one of the best subs here at Francis!
- Shout-out to Dr. Jeffrey at J.L. Francis Elementary. Dr. Jeffrey is always such an encouragement to everyone she meets. We truly appreciate you, and everything you do to make J.L. Francis a wonderful place to learn!
- Shout-out to Ms. Moyer at J.L. Francis for stepping in at the last minute to cover a class. We truly appreciate you!!
- Shout-out to Mr. Glenn at J.L. Francis Elementary. No matter what kind of issues I have in my classroom, he certainly can fix it for me. Way to go, Mr. Glenn. Thanks for all that you do!
- Shout-out to Wendy Just and Jamar Billups for supporting teachers at J.L. Francis Elementary. We appreciate everything you've done and love working with you! You two are truly the best at leading and serving with love!
- On behalf of the J.L. Francis Elementary family, we would like to extend our heartfelt thank you to Dr. Elizabeth Landry and Cassandra Bell for supporting our SOL Night! Your support and dedication mean the world to us and we look forward to working with you again!
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| - A huge thank you is in order to each and every person who works at Southampton ES! Everyone goes above and beyond to make the students feel loved, cared for, and like they can conquer the world. These are some fantastic people who don’t get enough recognition for everything they do. And, a special shout-out to the second grade team! You are all amazing ladies and we are so thankful for you!
- Shout-out to AP Natasha Henderson at Fairfield Court! Stepping up to support any grade, team, committee, parent, or student is her mission. Servant leadership is training your team to lead. AP Henderson puts on a smile, embraces each situation, has courageous conversations, and always does what’s in the best interest of kids. You are appreciated! Enjoy your Spring Break!
- Shout-out to the Richmond Technical Center for showing our Henderson Warriors the various courses they have to offer! Our students thoroughly enjoyed their tour of the building and meeting the staff and students. Opportunities such as this one make all the difference in showing our students that the skills we teach can be applied outside of the classroom. Special thanks to Mrs. Alida Smith and Dr. Tabatha Spurlock for their leadership and guidance and to the RTC student ambassadors who lead our students throughout the tour! Great job, Richmond Technical Center!!!
- Shout-out to our Fairfield Court Elementary teachers & staff. No matter your role, you do what’s in the best interest of kids every day, all day. Appreciation to Croaker's Spot for sending their food truck with some delicious homemade soul food to be a part of our celebration. FCES teachers, get some much deserved rest so we come back and keep soaring!
- Who knows how to engage parents? The Fairfield Trio Attendance Team! They held their annual Easter Egg Hunt today and our Fairfield parents came out to support our scholars 100%! Ms. Blevins, Ms. Hicks, and Mr. Davis with a host of FCES staff hid over 200 eggs per grade! Sgt. Gore even had some Golden Eggs! #FairfieldSoars
- Dr. Sherida Gholston, Fairfield Court school counselor, collaborated with her committee to showcase a Career Day that included Mayor Stoney and a host of talented professionals who presented invaluable information to help our scholars think about careers, colleges, trade schools, and entrepreneurship. We even had the VSU & VUU battle! All in good fun to fellowship with amazing people! Ms. Blevins, Ms. Edwards, Sgt. Gore, and others help put the "S" in SOAR!
- Shout-out to the Fairfield custodial team – Herman Taylor, Shirley Young, and Mrs. Pope – for supporting our Career Day Fair and always working hard to ensure our school is clean with helping hands and great customer service. The additional support of Mary Gresham, Bobby Hathaway, and Mo Green is greatly appreciated!
- I’d like to thank the Fairfield Court cafeteria team led by Clarence Round for always working as a team to ensure our students are fed nutritional food and for supporting all of our school events. It is greatly appreciated! #EaglePride
- Shout-out to members of the FCES leadership team at Fairfield Court Elementary for working as a team to make the mission possible. Today we had a project to complete by the end of the day and the team rolled up their sleeves and began the process: thank you to Ashley Bland, Franny Aida, and Nsombi Morrison for supporting the product. Tiffany Sneed & Joanne Grandison lead our math and reading departments with excellence. Hats off to our reading interventionists, Darlene Mills and Chelsea Goode, for your support of our students and tutors!
- The LIEP department of HHS would like to express our gratitude to the security staff at Huguenot High School, especially Mr. James, for embracing the diversity of our students in a caring and safe way. We appreciate their extraordinary support!
- Sending the biggest shout-out to every classroom teacher and all support staff at Oak Grove for participating in our 1st Annual Character Parade! It was a huge success thanks to the participation of every grade level, students who dressed up, and students who cheered on their peers along the parade route! What a fantastic way to close out Reading Month here at OGBES! Happy reading to everyone over Spring Break!
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| - Today 50 of our ESL students from Huguenot visited VCU and had a wonderful day hosted by the Multilingual Ambassador Program! The VCU students gave advice about college and life, and followed it up with an amazing campus tour including unlimited dining in the dining hall! Our students got to meet university students that looked like them and came from similar backgrounds which was hugely inspiring. We're looking forward to continuing our relationship with MAP and hope to be able to have more trips like this in the future!
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| Early Commitment Bonuses – We're now offering bonuses of up to $12,000 for new hires who sign their commitment letters by Monday, May 1. If you know of a great teacher who might like to join the RPS team, please tell them to apply now!
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| NextUp RVA Registration – Spring registration is open for the NextUp RVA middle school enrichment program. Students can sign up to learn about coding, cooking, fashion, finance, and more – for free! Register by Friday, April 21. If this is your first time using the parent portal, click “create an account” to start the registration process.
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| 2023-24 Preschool & Kindergarten Enrollment – Preschool and kindergarten enrollment is underway! We offer preschool for eligible 3 and 4-year olds, and kindergarten for all 5-year-olds living in Richmond. If your student is currently enrolled at an RPS preschool, they will still need to register for kindergarten. For more information, please email enrollrps@rvaschools.net. If you enroll your child now, they'll be entered into a raffle to win a bike!
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| RVA Men Teach Conference – The first-ever RVA Men Teach Conference will be held on Saturday, April 15 from 8:30 am to 3 pm at Huguenot HS. Conference breakout sessions, led by some of our dynamic male minority educators here in RPS, will showcase the ground breaking work being done in the city. There will also be panel discussions on 21st century education issues, an RPS hiring fair (with on-the-spot interviews), and free CPR certification classes for RPS teachers. Registration is free and open to all RPS teachers.
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Important Links – Last updated on March 20, 2023.
RPS Links
Crisis Support Links
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