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Dear #RPSStrong Family,
Tonight's updates:
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| Technology Return – All RPS technology devices, including Chromebooks, hotspots, tablets, and laptops need to be returned to your home school by Friday, June 9th! Remember to also return any chargers you have. Summer school students will be issued a new device when summer school begins. Thank you!
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| School Board Meeting – The School Board will hold an in-person meeting tonight at 6 pm at Thomas Jefferson HS. You can watch the livestream of the meeting in English or Spanish. Hope to see you there!
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| Graduations – The 2023 RPS graduation season kicks off tomorrow! Our ceremonies will be held at the Altria Theatre (6 N Laurel St). You can also watch the livestream of each ceremony on our website using the links below.
Tuesday, June 6
Wednesday, June 7
Thursday, June 8
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| Valedictorians & Salutatorians – I'm thrilled to share our first round of valedictorians and salutatorians who will be graduating tomorrow. Congratulations to these truly phenomenal students!
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Inayah O'Neil, ValedictorianRichmond Community HS
Virginia Commonwealth University Honors College
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Milan Moore, SalutatorianRichmond Community HS
Howard University
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Jasmine Johnson, ValedictorianHuguenot HS
University of Virginia
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Emily Espina, SalutatorianHuguenot HS
Virginia Commonwealth University
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Michael Keener, ValedictorianThomas Jefferson HS
University of Virginia
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Finn Jones, SalutatorianThomas Jefferson HS
Virginia Commonwealth University
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| Early College Academy Graduates – Please join me in congratulating our Early College Academy students who recently received their associate's degree from Reynolds Community College – before even graduating high school!
Armstrong HS
Franklin Military Academy
Huguenot HS
- Emily Espina Palma
- Ca'Miyah King
John Marshall HS
- Cayla Green, magna cum laude
- Jasmine Johnson, summa cum laude
Open HS
- Lucy Aiken, cum laude
- Wilber Arias, cum laude
- Elizabeth Childress, summa cum laude
- Owen Goodman, cum laude
- Evelin Medrano, summa cum laude
- Bryahna Mooney, cum laude
- Elizabeth Rax-Lopez
- Delaney Stevenson, summa cum laude
- Jade Williams, magna cum laude
- Sydney Wright
Richmond Community HS
- Samantha Bohrer-Douthit, magna cum laude
- Dana Charles, summa cum laude
- Nigel Greene, cum laude
- Julia Hall-Pace
- Aria Johnson
- Milan Moore, summa cum laude
- Inayah O'Neil, summa cum laude
- Cindia Romero, summa cum laude
- Arrow Vandenbergh, cum laude
- Mayan Yancey
Thomas Jefferson HS
- Syasia Anderson
- Lola Brozna, magna cum laude
- Bryce Carrington
- Finn Jones, cum laude
- Vlad Jones
- Michael Keener, magna cum laude
- Akilah Williams
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| With great appreciation,
Jason
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- Shout-out to the Binford teachers, admin and staff who led an excellent moving on ceremony for the 8th graders today! Everything went smoothly and you could feel the love in that auditorium from Binford and parents for our students. Good job and thank you!!
- Sending a big shout-out to the staff at Amelia Street School for putting together a wonderful moving on ceremony for their scholars. The ceremony was reflective, inspirational, and a celebration. The students were celebrating their success and a ton of families showed up to celebrate. Well done, Amelia Street!!
- I just wanted to say from the very first day I met Mr. Olds at Huguenot HS in 2018 he has put my family first and I really wanted to let him and his faculty at his new school know that they have gained the best principal in Virginia and I wanted to give him his flowers now because he has changed my kids' lives. Because of him, they’re graduating high school.
- Deep gratitude is extended to Ms. Reynolds, Ms. Green, Ms. Brice, and all of the drivers in the Transportation Department who supported Richmond Technical Center this year for clinicals, internships, externships, job shadowing, and field trips. We greatly appreciate all of the staff being so cooperative and flexible with meeting our needs to get students to their work-based learning sites.
- Thank you to Ms. York and Ms. DeCamps at Holton elementary. My kids have had a wonderful year in your classes learning and growing! Thank you for everything and have a restful and fun summer!
- We would like to give a huge shout-out to Ms. Boehm, Ms. Blount, and Mr. Samuels at J.B. Fisher Elementary School for their support in piloting a passion project that provided career exploration to the intensive support classrooms. There was never a hesitation with what we wanted to implement and we were given the support, guidance, and freedom to try it all. We cannot wait to roll this out next year to its fullest potential. Thank you for everything you do for our students.
- Shout-out to Ms. McCabe, Ms. Lucas, Mr. Crawford, and their amazing students at J.B. Fisher. They have shown motivation, enthusiasm, and patience as we piloted a career exploration project at the school. There was never a doubt that these students and staff would not take what was provided and run with it. It is amazing to see how much they could learn in such a short amount of time. Thank you for making this such a successful project.
- What an amazing group of people in Ms. Hill's classroom at J.B. Fisher. We want to extend our gratitude to Ms. Hill, her staff, and her students for allowing us to pilot a career exploration project at the school. There was never a day that this group of hard working students missed an opportunity to work in the library. They were always excited to showcase their abilities, their independence, and dedication. Thank you for all that you did to help us learn and make this a successful project.
- Big thank you and congrats to all our student athletes and coaches for a job well done this school year!! We are so proud of you for being a success off and on the field of play! Many thanks to our student activity directors for their tireless efforts every day, night and weekend! Richard Farquharson, Glenn Anderson, Danyelle Smith, Dion Foxx and William Holt at the high schools. And our middle school athletic coordinators, Travis Amos, Shan Rennalls, Kyle Kimbrell, Tia Carver, Deborah Claiborne, Jamilia Smith and Alajuwon Tweedy. Happy retirement, Dr. Holt!! You have poured yourself into TeeJay and we are thankful for the difference you have made!
- Thank you to the team of Molly Ruggieri, Shan Rennalls and Joe Brown from the Health & PE and Athletics Dept for keeping our kids active at the district Wellness Fair! Smiles and miles of fun keeping our families active!
- I would like to give the biggest of shout-outs to fifth grade math teacher extraordinaire Anne Dunn. Our William Fox community was blessed this year when Ms. Dunn joined us from middle school ranks. Her dedication and hard work have enabled our Fox students to make significant growth this year. We see you and appreciate you, Ms. Dunn!!
- I would like to give a shout-out to Karle Wells and the LIEP team of Cardinal Elementary that worked tirelessly to allow the kindergarteners to have an in-house field trip from the Children's Museum. They made a fun experience for the kindergarteners to appreciate the weather. The whole KG team really thanks them for all of their hard work in putting this together!
- I would like to shout-out the staff at MLK. They opened their arms and made me feel like family. This has been one of the best years in my 19 years of teaching and it is due to the continued support I received. Special shout-out to Mrs. Dabney for being the principal ever, Ms. Couther for helping me grow as a leader, and Coach Johnson for all your support. To the staff and students, love you guys!
- I just wanted to shout-out Mr. Jackson, 5th grade science teacher at Southampton. This year, he is serving as president of the Virginia Children's Engineering Council. Previously, he has served on the Board of Directors for the last 6 years. Way to go, Mr. Jackson, for helping educators learn different ways to incorporate STEM with a technology and engineering focus!!!
- Shout-out to The Sweet Xcape, Unicorn Sweet Treats and Kingzz Water Ice for coming out to Summer Hill Preschool for our moving on and up ceremonies that we had last week. The families and staff really enjoyed the cool treats.
- Special Warrior Way shout-out to our incredible school counselor and testing coordinator, Ms. Jewell Briscoe! Ms. Briscoe has done an absolutely phenomenal job in leading the Henderson Warrior Team through end-of-the-year SOL testing. As if testing was not enough, Ms. Briscoe also led the school through our first annual Rising 6th Grade Warriors family tour event this past Tuesday! The event was a beautiful success providing some time for our new families from around the Northside community to take part in a tour of the Henderson campus. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication, Ms. Briscoe.
- We would like to give a major Warrior Way shout-out to Ms. Ashunti Baylor for her leadership in coordinating the National Junior Honors Society ceremony at Henderson Middle School. The ceremony was beautiful and provided Henderson the opportunity to celebrate our incredible Warrior students who are achieving both academically and socially! Thank you, Ms. Baylor, for your hard work.
- Special Warrior Way shout-out to Ms. Briscoe, Ms. Baylor, Ms. Shelton, Mr. Rodesney, Dr. Evans, Mrs. Lenore, Assistant Principal Lawson, Ms. Rozier, Mr. Hicks, Mrs. Williams, and Assistant Principal McCloud for your commitment to Tuesday night's event. This week, the Henderson campus welcomed our new rising 6th grade families for a building tour. The event was a great success. Thank you to all who contributed to the effort.
- Thank you to Daphne Facison in the Exceptional Education Department for always being so helpful. She always greets us with a smile and assurance, even when performing additional job responsibilities. Mrs. Facison, you are greatly appreciated!!
- Shout-out to Maria Hardwick in the Health Services Department for always taking care of things and for such quick responses!
- Thank you to Beth Ramsay for your weekly meetings to help RPS through assessments. The information provided for STCs and backups has been essential. You are always available to answer questions and make sure we are confident with the process. Thank you!
- The entire testing team at PHSSA has been accommodating to everyone in the school. From ensuring that we have resource for home rooms that are not assessing to making sure that everyone knows what is going on every day. Thank you to the resource team for making sure we can continue instruction for all students!
- Congrats to Parks and Rec for executing the early sign-up days for families. The line was long, but the parents were happy that the offer was made early to ensure their children have after school care next year.
- Thank you to everyone in the Talent Office for making the hiring process easier to fill all positions at the building level. You are quick to respond and we appreciate all you do so we can prep new staff for next year!
- I would like to shout-out Mark Wenberg from the rooftop! He has served Holton, Reid, Miles Jones, Franklin, and many other schools by providing EdTech expertise. Beyond that, he is always willing to go the extra mile to train and assist colleagues. His special way of clarifying for the tech challenged will be missed as he retires this year. He is the model for professionalism and I want to wish him the best and many thanks!
- Dr. Hicks and all the staff at Mary M. Scott Preschool did an outstanding job with the graduation ceremony. The children were awesome and had been well taught. Kudos to every staff member!
- Thank you so much to Mr. D, Ms. Hull and all the volunteers for making the 2023 Holton Field Day incredible!
- I would shout-out every staff member at Chimborazo along with every school social worker in my department and especially the school social workers that I supervise. I love this work and the wonderful people I get to work with every day.
- Ginell Walkes, school social worker at Cardinal Elementary, always makes sure parents and students feel welcomed, heard and respected with her advocacy, professionalism, knowledge and compassion. We are grateful for all that she does!
- Shout-out to Cordell Watkins, principal at Chimborazo Elementary School. He truly cares for the students, teachers, staff, and families of Chimborazo. He consistently gives his all to make Chimborazo great. He is motivating, approachable and appreciative. The students at Chimborazo have love and respect for their principal. Thank you, Mr. Watkins!
- Shout-out to Nichole Gross, assistant principal at Chimborazo Elementary School! She has worked tirelessly to make sure every student is at school and has what they need to be successful. She has gone above and beyond to improve attendance and test scores through her amazing connections with students, families, and her team. She loves her students, staff, and families and it shows!!!
- I want to shout-out Jennifer Ponton, family liaison at Chimborazo Elementary! She has made so many home visits and calls, provided transportation whenever needed, has excellent referrals and incentives for students and families, and is always willing to jump in and do whatever is needed to make sure students are at school every day. Her positivity and hard work are greatly appreciated!
- Shout-out to Nurse Schell at Chimborazo Elementary! She is the best and makes sure all of her students always have the care that they need. She is very busy in the clinic but always has time for whatever is needed. If she says she will do something, it is done. You can always count on her. We are grateful she is here at Chimborazo!
- Shout-out to Ms. Dorsey at Miles Jones for her 2nd year doing the best field days ever! She was extraordinarily flexible, organized, and positive; my favorite part was the affirmations/rules at the beginning! It makes such a difference to our students and sets the tone for field day; thank you for a phenomenal day! Everyone had a blast!
- A big shout-out and kudos to Mrs. Stallings & Ms. Evans, our school counselors, on a successful career day at Miles Jones today. The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned a lot.
- Extra special shout-out to the encore team at Miles Jones, Mrs. Ashley, Ms. Cunningham, Ms. Dorsey, and Mrs. DeYoung for a fun and exciting year. All lessons were meaningful, interactive, and intentional.
- Shout-out to the terrific testing coordinators at Miles Jones, Mrs. Miller & Mrs. White. You ladies are phenomenal at what you do!
- Jaguar hugs to our school social worker at Miles Jones, Tori Griffin, for all that you do for the students and staff. You are appreciated!
- I want to shout-out Mr. Bill Dansbach at Holton for a well planned and smoothly run amazing field day today!! Everyone had a great time!!
- We would like to recognize Ms. Jessie McClaine, our beloved custodian, for 37 years of dedicated service to Blackwell Preschool! Ms. McClaine loves all of our students and all of us, and her love has changed us for the better. Thank you for devoting yourself to this special place for all this time. You made our building sparkle and shine and helped to keep us all safe.You have made your mark and left a lasting impression on everyone! Congratulations on your well deserved retirement.
- Shout-out to our student who completed preschool despite losing his 11-year-old brother earlier this year who was a student at MLK Middle School.
- Here’s a shout-out for the Thrive Academy. We had a senior recognition day today and thank you to Dr. Shonda Harris-Muhammed for being our guest speaker without any hesitation! Parents came out to show support. The seniors were all recognized and received inspirational speeches from the staff and Dr. Harris-Muhammed. They received various metals, JVG awards, as well as memorabilia from Dr. Javan Jefferson. It takes a village to make it happen. Shout-out to Dr. Javan Jefferson, Ms. Henson (roadmap inventor) and Ms. Hamlet (community outreach) who are always going above and beyond to make sure that our scholars are fighting through their barriers to meet their goals to be successful with graduation!
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| New Teacher Bonuses – Join our team! New teachers are eligible to receive up to $12K in signing bonuses. If you know of a great educator looking for a position, please tell them to apply now!
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| Summer Academy Online – Policy Pathways is still accepting applications for their Summer Academy for Policy Leadership and Public Service Online, which will run from June 25 - July 8. Students will have the chance to learn from guest lectures and top professors who focus on real-world policy issues. The new deadline to apply is June 10!
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| 2023-24 Preschool & Kindergarten Enrollment Events – Join us for our upcoming preschool and kindergarten enrollment events. For more information, please email enrollrps@rvaschools.net. All children enrolled while at the event will be entered into a raffle to win a bike!
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| RPS Lit Limo Summer Schedule – The RPS Lit Limo has a new summer schedule that will run from June 20 - August 11. Find a stop near you to grab some great books for the summer!
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Important Links – Last updated on April 14, 2023.
RPS Links
Crisis Support Links
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