| Thursday, December 8, 2022
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Dear #RPSStrong Family,
Tonight's updates:
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| VCU Unwrapping Holiday Wishes – Sixty children from RPS and Children's Hospital at VCU received a holiday surprise this week at the VCU Unwrapping Holiday Wishes event! They were treated to a Target shopping spree and a VIP dinner at McDonald's, complete with giveaways and a meet and greet with the Hamburglar. Enormous gratitude to the support team and event sponsors – United Healthcare, Target, McDonald's, Virginia Credit Union, Virginia Family Dentistry, RVA Auto Service, Halo, and Uptown Colors – for making so many dreams come true this holiday season. Special shout-out to Board Member Cheryl Burke and Council President Cynthia Newbille for participating! (Photo Credit: Jud Froelich and Jenna Lebling)
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| NextUp RVA Middle School Programs – Winter registration is now open for the NextUp RVA enrichment program for middle schoolers. Students can sign up to learn about coding, cooking, fashion, finance, and more – all for free!
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| With great appreciation,
Jason
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- I would like to shout-out Mr. Pierce and the climate and culture committee at Boushall MS. His leadership and their dedication allow the Boushall community, students, parents, teachers, and friends to come together and have wonderful festivities and fun! Thank you also to everyone who came out to the World Cup Festival at Boushall a few weeks ago. We had so much fun!
- Shout-out to the band and orchestra teachers at Miles Jones ES! Their concert last night was simply amazing! Also a huge shout-out to Ms. Cunningham and the MJJ Jaguar choir debut! Our students are simply amazing and talented!
- I would like to shout-out Ms. Angela Foster, our new literacy coach at Overby Sheppard Elementary School, for her energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and leadership. We are blessed to have her on our amazing team. Keep up the excellent work!
- I would like to shout-out the best math coach in RPS, Mrs. Jaegar at Overby Sheppard Elementary School! Thank you for always being approachable, helpful, and willing to step in to assist when needed. You are truly appreciated
- I would like to shout-out Ms. Lilicea Henry, our new assistant principal at Overby Sheppard Elementary School, for the outstanding job she is doing, providing support, encouragement, and direction. Keep up the excellent work!
- Humongous, heartfelt thank you to the team from Greater Richmond SCAN for creating a relaxing, restorative wellness session at Huguenot High School. The massages, aromatherapy, hot tea bar, great conversation, affirmations, and soooo much more lifted our spirits and rejuvenated our souls!! You blessed the teachers at Huguenot High School. Please come back anytime.
- A very special shout-out to a face behind the scenes in the Talent Office. Ms. Sherrie Jones is terribly busy but took the time – not once, but twice – to assist me with my FMLA paperwork. She is meticulous in her explanations and left no stone unturned in explaining exactly what I needed to do to prepare. Thank you, Ms. Jones! You are a godsend at this trying time for me. In my very nervous state of mind you put me at ease and elicited a smile on my face. You are greatly appreciated for all you do, and I thank you! I have never met you in person but your kindness will never be forgotten. Sending you blessed holiday greetings for all you do. Thank you!!!
- I would like to shout-out the amazing Ms. Hull for organizing and running the fantastic after-school program at Linwood Holton. She has been the brains and brawn behind this amazing program for years and it has been so beautiful to see it come back in full force this year. It provides innovative opportunities for students and teachers to show up and show out in their various areas of passion. Thank you for all the extra and often unseen things you do for the Holton community, Ms. Hull. I appreciate you!
- Cardinal Elementary's 5th grade team deserves a shout-out! You will find them helping each other get organized with materials for their lessons in the work room, making copies for their team, and collaborating with each other. It is clear they share a common goal in teaching and reaching their students. It is a nice sight to see!
- Yoooohoooo! Ms. Shepherd at Cardinal Elementary basically ran an entire book fair on her own, which was a lot of work! Thanks for putting this together and thanks to the encore team for pitching in for book sale week!
- Cardinal Elementary's AP, Mr. Smith, is spreading holiday joy and cheer by dressing up each day to end 2022!
- Crooning out to Cardinal Elementary's kindergarten teacher, Mr. Hawthorne, for joyfully playing his ukulele as students await pick up at school in the front hall. He plays and sings and makes the time waiting warm and inviting!
- Shout-out to our own Donald Rodriguez at Cardinal Elementary who is bringing positivity to our team and our third grade students. Congrats on being CES Teacher of the Month!
- I want to say "hats off" to Ms. Tracy Oliver and Mrs. Valentina Thompson, STCs at John Marshall High School. They do an excellent job. They are well-organized and get the job done! Thank you, and continue the good work.
- Ms. Graves would like to give a shout-out to all of her 6th grade science students at River City Middle School who completed their 3D cell projects. I am amazed by your creativity and tenacity and I am very proud of all of your hard work!
- Thank you to Dr. Gholston and Suzie Blevins at Fairfield Court Elementary for supporting the 5th annual winter holiday shopping trip. We appreciate our fearless School Board leader in the East End, Cheryl Burke, for ensuring our schools get to participate in this annual event. Thank you to the other members of the staff for being at Target to support the VCU volunteers & Target staff for a wonderful event.
- Shout-out to Ms. Christal Jordan, AP at Armstrong High School, for planning and conducting activities for Inclusive Schools Week. She has done an amazing job getting students to think deeply about their peers and how they can be more understanding of the world we live in. Way to go!
- Shout-out to the kindergarten team: Ms. Miller, Ms. McEwan, and Ms. Freeze; as well as Ms. Humphrey's 5th graders and Ms. Woodfolk's 3rd graders at Cary Elementary. They participated in Hour of Code, learning about programming and computer science principles. These Cougar Scholars are ready for the careers of today!
- Shout-out to Ms. Alston's 5th graders who made bracelets using binary code and a special shout-out to Zayon who had already mastered coding a dance party in Scratch! I think we have some future video game programmers at Broad Rock Elementary!
- I want to shout-out the Armstrong English Department for working diligently to teach and love our students. I take great pride in our level two SOL scores last year, despite the effects of virtual learning making all of our jobs much more difficult. I know that every passing score is a testament to your hard work and dedication, but more importantly, I know that scores are not the sum of our parts. You are amazing superstar teachers, and I am lucky to work with all of you every day!
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| Open Enrollment Applications – The application window to apply for out-of-zone schools via the Open Enrollment lottery is open through February 1 via the Enroll RPS Portal. This is your opportunity to apply for up to three schools outside of your "zoned school," including Richmond Virtual Academy. Please note: This is different from specialty school applications for schools like FMA or Community. That application window has closed.
A few important notes:
- Families will have until 4:30 pm on February 1, 2023, to submit open enrollment applications.
- We unfortunately cannot accept late applications for any reason. Please plan accordingly.
- As long as your application is submitted before the deadline, the timing of your submission will have no impact on the outcome.
- If you have additional questions, please email us at enrollrps@rvaschools.net.
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| Important Links – Last updated on November 14, 2022.
RPS Links
COVID-19 Links
Crisis Support Links
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