| Dear #RPSStrong Family,
Happy Friday! Tonight's updates:
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R.E.B. Leadership Award – Congratulations to Monica Murray, principal of John Marshall HS, for receiving the 2024 R.E.B. Award for Distinguished Educational Leadership, and finalist Daniela Jacobs, principal of William Fox ES! This award, sponsored by the R.E.B. Foundation and the Community Foundation, recognizes principals who have gone above and beyond to create exceptional learning environments filled with love. That's a perfect description of Principals Murray and Jacobs. Please join me in celebrating these two extraordinary leaders!
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VHSL All-State Basketball – Please also join me in celebrating John Marshall HS senior Damon Thompson, who was recently named VHSL Class 2 Boys Player of the Year and a member of the Class 2 Boys All-State Basketball First Team! Teammates Latrell Allmond, Aiden Argabright, and Dominique Bailey were also named to the Class 2 Boys All-State Basketball First Team. Senior Ashaun Moore was named to the Second Team. And to top it off, Coach Ty White was named VHSL Class 2 Boys Coach of the Year!
Let's also give a huge round of applause to the young women from John Marshall who were recently named to the VHSL Class 2 All-State teams: Kijah Lewis and Janiyaha Pickett (First Team) and Yasmin Hall and Kayden Jones (Second Team). Congratulations to all of our student athletes on a fantastic season!
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RPS History Fair – Enormous gratitude to everyone who came out to support our students at the 2024 RPS History Fair last night. It was...historic! This is the first time we've held the fair since the pandemic and it was truly incredible. Kudos to Jamar Billups, who leads all of our history and social studies work, for organizing a beautiful event. On Monday, we'll share the list of winners so stay tuned!
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Wellness Expo – The Links, Inc. will host the Black Family Wellness Expo tomorrow, March 16, from 12 - 4 pm at Martin Luther King, Jr. MS. Stop by for a day of health and wellness, children's activities, raffles, and more!
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2024-25 Preschool & Kindergarten Enrollment – Preschool and kindergarten enrollment will begin on Monday, March 18! We're thrilled to offer preschool for eligible 3 and 4-year olds, and kindergarten for all 5-year-olds living in Richmond. Please note: 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.
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Kindergarten Enrollment & Health Fair – We've partnered with the VCU School of Nursing to provide a one-stop-shop for families of students entering kindergarten this fall! Join us on Friday, March 22, from 12:30 - 4 pm at Martin Luther King, Jr. MS, for the kindergarten and enrollment health fair. Students and families will have the opportunity to register for kindergarten, receive a physical, make appointments to receive immunizations, and more. Appointments for physicals are limited so scan the QR code below to reserve your child's spot today! For questions, please email enrollrps@rvaschools.net.
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With great appreciation,
Jason
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Shout-Outs – Please help us continue to inspire and uplift the RPS community by submitting shout-outs to shoutouts@rvaschools.net. Entries can be submitted in Spanish or English!
- I want to give a huge shout-out and congratulations to the Dogwood Middle School's band director, Mr. Richard Redmann. Mr. Rebmann and his scholars have worked extremely hard, receiving the highest scores the program has received at assessment. Well done!
- Huge shout-out to Ms. Barbara Haas at Boushall Middle School for going above and beyond to do an impromptu meet and greet with Cardinal fifth graders! They were so excited to meet you and are feeling much more confident about middle school! Thank you!
- Huge kudos and appreciation to Charleen Stinson in the Grants department and the original Kim Jones in the Teacher and Leader Pathways department for holding down Title II funding this year. From the application to the monitoring visit, you both have done an outstanding job keeping us in line and ensuring we are using our funds appropriately and efficiently.
- Special shout-out to Ashley Bland in the Teacher and Leader Pathways department for all the hard work that goes into creating our RPS Insider newsletter every month. It always looks fantastic and it's full of useful information. Thank you!
- Huge shout-out to our amazing school counselor, Ms. Evans, at the marvelous Miles Jones Elementary. I watched Ms. Evans work her magic with a student and completely transform the situation. Her expertise combined with her unique, elegant, and caring sensibilities always have a positive impact on our students and our building. We love you, Ms. Evans! Thank you for making a difference!
- Shout-out to Ms. Hawley and Mr. Gaskin, and all the teachers, staff, and parent volunteers at Linwood Holton who made STEAM night so much fun!
- Big shout-out to Alison Kaplan, school counselor at Redd Elementary, for bringing back Career Day with a bang after a brief hiatus! Ms. Kaplan handled every single aspect of scheduling for our 20+ visitors at yesterday's event. We were able to host an incredible range of presenters including but not limited to an executive chef, Virginia Credit Union, a copywriter, a park ranger, a dentist, a curator of costumes and textiles, Engine 23 of the Richmond Fire Department, an environmental auditor, the Richmond Ambulance Authority, a NICU nurse, a creative director, a project manager, an adjunct instructor, and so many more! It was a pleasure collaborating with you, Ms. Kaplan! Kudos!
- A grateful shout-out to Phyllis Lupini, lead speech/language pathologist, for stepping up to provide excellent leadership and support during a hectic season for our department. We appreciate you!
- Shout-out to the Huguenot High School social workers, Mrs. Broas and Ms. Hampton-Studivant, and our school counselors, Mr. Christmas, Ms. Reed, Mrs. Harrison, Ms. Harris, Ms. Buist, and Mrs. Scott. An additional shout-out to Mrs. Sanchez (student support specialist). This team does the work to keep our students engaged and successful in addition to the work of assisting multiple agencies in making sure our students, faculty, and staff are safe every day. They are heroes.
- Kudos to Tammy Sellers and Amanda Dailey, intensive support mentor teachers for the Exceptional Education department. They did an outstanding job presenting at the Virginia Division on Career Development & Transition Conference (VADCDT) this week! Your dedication and passion for the students, staff and families of RPS is commendable. Continue advocating for our students! We know they can and will do amazing things!
- Shout-out Mary Munford ES teacher Val Schwarz, who went above and beyond to select and lead a group of fourth graders as they studied the important history of teenager Barbara Johns and her leadership of the first student protest of segregation in 1951. Ms. Schwarz empowered them every step of the way as they learned how students can use collective power and voice to change the world. And they worked as a team for several weeks, including after school, to make a beautiful quilt to capture their research! They had a blast participating in the RPS History Fair, so thanks also to RPS for running such an awesome district-wide program to celebrate history and encouraging students to go above and beyond – just like Ms. Schwarz! (Amazing fact: She even met a former Prince Edward student who was locked out of schools while developing this curriculum, which made the story even more poignant.)
- I would like to give a big shout-out to Nurse AJ at Westover Hills Elementary School! I truly appreciate her support, and am so grateful that she can make a visit to the nurse's office feel so safe and fun. It makes a huge difference! Thank you, Nurse AJ!
- I want to give a much deserved shout-out to our phenomenal preschool speech therapist, Chelsea Washington. She has stepped up to help out our students in our preschools and in community settings. She consistently goes above and beyond what is asked of her, and we greatly appreciate it.
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| Reminders from Previous RPS Directs
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Tutor Recruitment – Are you a retired teacher, college student/recent grad, or community member interested in supporting the academic success of our students? We're currently accepting applications for academic tutors to support our high-intensity tutoring program. If you or someone you know is interested in joining the RPS team, just visit our website to apply or scan the QR code below with your phone's camera. This work is going to take #AllofUs!
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| RPS Links
Crisis Support Links
Health and Wellness Links
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