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Dear #RPSStrong Family,
Happy Friday! Tonight's updates:
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| Richmond Book Festival – Come out to John B. Cary ES tomorrow, April 29, from 10 am - 3 pm, for the 1st Annual Richmond Book Festival! They'll have author story time, STEM activities, food trucks, live music, and more. Hope you can make it!
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| Children's Book Day – After you swing by Cary, stop by the Broad Rock Library from 1 - 4 pm tomorrow to celebrate Children's Book Day. It'll be a bountiful book bonanza!
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| RPS Youth Poetry Slam – Last but not least, don't forget to swing by the Visual Arts Center of Richmond from 4 - 6 pm tomorrow for the Writer's Den 2nd Annual RPS Youth Poetry Slam featuring 30 of our students. It's free and open to the public so bring your friends!
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| Teacher Job Fairs – We're hiring! If you or someone you know is interested in joining the RPS team, sign up for our Virtual Teacher Hiring Event happening May 17 - 18. To register, just scan the QR code below with your phone's camera, and to apply for a position, just visit our website.
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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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| Bellevue ES PTA – I’m thrilled to share that the Bellevue ES PTA has received the 2023 Virginia PTA Local Unit of Excellence Award! This award recognizes local PTAs for their efforts on school, community, and family engagement. Way to go, Dragons!
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| Lucille Brown MS District Champs – Please join me in celebrating the Lucille M. Brown MS football team, under the leadership of Coach Ryan James, for winning the district championship this week!
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| With great appreciation,
Jason
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- The Blackwell Preschool team wants to send a huge shout-out to Ms. Davis and her dynamic team at Blackwell Elementary for opening their doors and welcoming our 4-year-olds into the "big school" for the morning! Our students received a tour, got to listen to a story in the library, participated in K-readiness activities, and got to visit kindergarten classrooms! Our students came back beaming with excitement! Thank you to our wonderful partners!
- I would like to shout-out Mrs. Tracy Brown, Ms. Sheila Singleton, and Ms. Henrietta Lake. They are tremendous office associates at Richmond Technical Center. They are dependable, friendly, and always professional in their communications with parents, staff and other stakeholders. Ladies, you are amazing!
- In honor of Administrative Professionals Day, I am sending a shout-out to recognize Lucille Brown Middle School's student information system operator (SISOP), Ms. Felicia Harris. She has a wealth of knowledge that encompasses her 20+ years of service with RPS. She is the district go-to and resource for all enrollment and registration matters. Not only does she always operate at a level of excellence, she pushes everyone else to do the same, all while supporting other administrative functions, staff and parents. I am honored to work with such an awesome person!
- A huge shout-out is in order for Allison Hall, Clarence McFerren, Alan Gonzalez, Vanessa Johnson, Ise Franck, Gloria Keating, Takita Brown, Sandra Bullock-Lomax, Marlo Whitaker-Callahan, Conseulo Hawkins, Luis Martinez, and Amelia Castaneda for their work in making our enrollment professional development days for school office staff a great success! Having representatives from across our organization share their work and collaborate with school teams is vital and was greatly appreciated by everyone in attendance.
- I would like to shout-out these wonderful women at Bellevue Elementary – Mrs Penn, Dr. Gooding, Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Teresa, Mrs. Wilson, and Mrs Schegal. They have been a dream team while helping with the transition of my child to their school and have gone above and beyond to help my child in every way possible. Thank you!!!
- I’d like to thank Nolan Griffin with Communities in Schools for thinking of the T.C. Boushall Middle School library when a community partner came to him with a furniture donation! Our scholars are so excited to have a comfortable place to read in the library now! We are so grateful!!!
- A couple huge shout-outs to: Charles Ownby for being such an inspiring drama teacher to his students with the Frozen musical, to Norman Hurt for an awesome choral performance and for his hard work on the Frozen musical, and to Ryan Stahl for an excellent band performance!! You are all such a pleasure to work with here at Lucille M. Brown Middle School! Thank you for always putting in the extra effort!
- Shout-out to Ms. S. Wright and Ms. K. Wright at Southampton Elementary for being thoughtful, reflective, and involved educators. It's a pleasure to work with you two!
- Shout-out to Ms. Tiffany and Ms. Rivenburgh for presenting at a recent technology conference and being an amazing occupational therapist! We appreciate your knowledge and resources so much!
- The Richmond Technical Center is a well kept secret in RPS. Mr. Jonathan Mitchum, principal of RTC, and Antuane “Ramon” Moore, school counselor, were vocal music teachers in the 90's/00s. Mitchum’s staff and students were the highlight of the J.L. Francis Elementary School Career Day. Along with staff member Mr. Coles and others, our students have already requested for your students to return. The administrations, counselors, staff and students are so very thankful for the hands-on activities, food and educational awareness that we obtained. Again, thank you for participating in our special day. We look forward to having RTC back next year.
- The Huguenot Care and Safety Team would like to give praise to all office staff, counselors, nursing staff, maintenance staff, teachers, SRO, compliance personnel, kitchen staff, athletic staff and administrators for your amazing work and dedication. Thank you!
- A belated shout-out to Ms. Hawley at Linwood Holton for organizing a fantastic STEM night at our school last week. Ms. Hawley is a true gem at our school and brings energy and love to everything she touches as our STEAM teacher. She is a thoughtful teacher who works hard to make interactive experiences for our students. Thank you, Mrs. Hawley, for your hard work to make our STEM night a success!
- Shout-out to Ms. Beth Ashley for all of her wonderful work on the Scholastic book fair! All of our students and families enjoyed it so much – a huge success!
- A big thanks to Mrs. Vanessa Deyoung at Miles Jones ES! Thank you for always making sure our stage is art filled! She featured beautiful big painted flowers that our Miles Jones students painted. It was such a special display for our spring concert and she is a very spectacular art teacher. Shout-out to Tyrelle Williamson and the custodial staff at Miles Jones! Performances could not happen without your help. We are so appreciative of the work and support you all give! Thank you to Ms. Monique Evans! She is such an excellent counselor and has a great ability to get students to a better headspace. It makes all the difference to students and staff. Shout-out to the 5th grade team at Miles Jones!!! They support their students each day and through their student dance recital today! Hats off to Ms. Luhmann, Ms. Lawrence, Mr. G, and Mr. Patmore!
- Great job to the team of teachers at Miles Jones who led our students in the Mind Games!
- Ms. Bruno at River City MS has been doing a fantastic job with her dance class. The performances have been so beautiful and inspiring. Thank you, Ms. Bruno, for making our dance program so wonderful. Thank you, Ms. Blue, for all your hard work. We are so grateful to have you at our school. We love you! Thanks to Ms. Lizardo! You are so kind and such a great pleasure to see in out front office. You're one of a kind! Mr. Hambright, you are the greatest science teacher ever! Thank you for making our daughter so excited about science. You are the absolute best! Ms. Murphy, thank you for you care and kindness towards our daughter. We appreciate you and all you do so much.
- Shout-out to the teachers and staff at George Wythe HS for helping the students and each other through an incredibly difficult day.
- Shout-out to Principal Sonya Shaw at Miles Jones ES for always cheering and rooting for our students. Our scholars face a challenging world and I am thankful they have a safe and loving school to come to each and every day. Mrs. Shaw is a champion for our Miles Jones students!
- Thank you, Mr. Walker, for supporting our daughter at River City Middle. We are grateful for Ms. Hussain, how blessed we are to have such an outstanding math teacher Iike you! Our daughter is thriving and I am awestruck by her accelerating math skills. We are so pleased to have you at River City. Thank you! Thank you, Ms. Rymer, you are so awesome! We are so grateful to you for everything you have done for our daughter and the students at River City. Your support and guidance have been stellar. You are an outstanding teacher!
- Shout-out to our wonderful administrative assistants at MLK: Chanell Shaw, Priscilla Anderson, and Pam Hunter. They keep everything at MLK running like a well-oiled machine and make it look easy! They have a smile for everyone and treat everyone's request like it is simple to do and the most important thing they have to do that day!
- I would like to shout-out Mr. Williamson at the marvelous Miles Jones Elementary School. He has gone above and beyond his already exemplary service to help make our book fair a success! We are so grateful for his hard work and beautiful smiling face!
- Shout-out to Ms. R. Wilkins! She was the training facilitator for SOL examiner and proctor training. Her session was informative, clear and concise. She answered every question and addressed every comment thoroughly and patiently.
- The entire PHSSA community would like to thank our wonderful office administrator, Ms. Phillips, for all of her hard work and dedication to the entire community. Her attention to detail and her customer service is impeccable. Thank you, Ms. Phillips, and all of the office associates that make RPS shine!
- I wish I could be a student in Mrs. Elizabeth Marunde’s second grade class at PHSSA and have someone speaking to me the way she speaks to her students all day long. I would feel so respected, valued, appreciated and loved. I would then speak to others that same way, which is what you see when you spend time in her classroom. On top of this wonderful environment that she’s created, she’s an amazing teacher who brings fun energy to everything she teaches. We feel so blessed that our son has Mrs. Marunde as his teacher. He has thrived in her classroom!
- Thank you to Silas Carter, the PE teacher at Bellevue Elementary! The rain may have prevented us from going outside today, but he was well prepared to have a successful field day indoors. With the help of our great staff, along with gentlemen from Mt. Gilead, the students had an amazing time.
- Keisha Shelton at Martin Luther King Jr. Preschool Learning Center is the best administrative assistant/ secretary. Thank you for helping "your" children and staff get through the day.
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- I wanted to reach out and make you aware of how amazing our principal, Ms. Jones, is at Ginter Park. We often hear how principals should lead by example, and I want you to know that Ms. Jones does just that. She does it without thought because she puts students first. She strives very hard to make Ginter Park a place where staff and students want to be. I am grateful for her leadership every day. She has a portable whiteboard to work with students. This teaching time is sacred to her because she remains a teacher in her heart and soul. She takes the time to build deeply meaningful relationships with her students. She is incredibly humble and doesn't always like the spotlight, but I think it is important that the community knows what a gem we have over here at Ginter Park. I am incredibly proud to be a member of her staff. I am confident that she will continue to shine here in RPS.
- Thank you to everyone who coordinated and attended Swanboro's 1st Annual Community Health Fair. Thank you to committee members Latriece Haskins (chair), Dr. Kennete Lee- Anderson (co-chair), Diane Glover, Lisa Morton, Gwen Brown, Shahar Smith, Wallesa Jones, Kimberly Greenshields, Margaret Banks, Roxanne Wilkins, Sheryl Ford, Twanya Jones, Kenya Griffin, Sarah Sheets, Shelia Henley, and Deborah Holliday. Through school, community, and stakeholder collaboration, we will build a brighter future.
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| - I would like to thank Judy Deichman for being an awesome instructional specialist. She encourages us to be members of our professional organizations and to share all of the wonderful things that the RPS librarians are doing. I'd like to thank Barbara Haas from T.C. Boushall Middle School and Jenn Deull for their Virginia Association of School Librarians professional development session on the Young Adult Virginia Author process and the awards ceremony. I was inspired to take some of the George Wythe High School students to the ceremony last Saturday. I would like to thank my principal, Kevin Olds, for supporting my effort to introduce our students to new opportunities and approving our field trip request to go to the Richmond Public Library to attend the Young Adult Virginia Author award ceremony. Each of my students was able to choose a book written by one of the YAVA authors and I won an author visit with Amber McBride in the fall. My students had a great time meeting the authors and discussing their books, lives, and ideas with them. I appreciate our building, district, and community leaders who are dedicated to encouraging our students to become lifelong learners with a joy for reading.
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| - I would like to thank the ReidGoodwin, PLC for their support of RPS libraries. This month, the George Wythe High School library media center was awarded a $500 grant from ReidGoodwin. This grant will support the purchase of electronic books and audiobooks in English and Spanish. I appreciate that Mr. Goodwin took time out of his busy schedule to tour our library and support our endeavors to ensure that our students are bilingual and biliterate.
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| SNAP for Head Start Eligibility – Wonderful news for families with children ages 3 and 4 who also receive SNAP benefits. Your child may be eligible for Head Start or Early Head Start – and that means eligibility for RPS Preschool! For more information, scan the QR code below or click on the flyer. You can also visit our website to begin the enrollment process. Don't wait!
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| We Love You Here – Head over to the RPS Love Store and check out the new "We Love You Here" t-shirts, hoodies, and more! Proceeds will go to partners who support our attendance efforts.
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| 2023 Summer Programs – We're beginning to hire for our summer programs. See the flyer below for details and apply today!
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Important Links – Last updated on April 14, 2023.
RPS Links
Crisis Support Links
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