From Principal Garvin

From Principal Garvin March 2, 2015

Dear Parents:

Wow, the school year is moving swiftly, and I am excited about the great things that are continuing to happen in and out of our school. You should have received your child’s 3rd quarter Progress Report last Thursday, February 26th. It is my hope that you have had meaningful discussion with your child about his academics and behavior performance. Parents, I need your support in reinforcing the importance of your child coming to school ready to learn, being respectful, and an active participant in and out of class.

I am thrilled to announce that Ms. Scott, 4th grade teacher, is our 2014-2015 Teacher of the Year. Ms. Scott is deserving of this honor for her commitment of over 12 years of teaching at Reid Park Academy. Daily in her classroom, students experience authentic learning and engaging lessons that are rigorously planned to impact teaching and learning. She is a model educator, who is committed to her students, the school, and her profession.

Please join me in welcoming our new staff: • Ms. Harriet Fletcher, 1st grade teacher • Ms. Tawander Whittington, Technology/Media • Ms. Angelina Mollahassani, ESL teacher • Mr. Barry Elliott, tutor • Ms. Alyssa Haight, tutor • Mr. Simon Howard, tutor • Ms. Kim Johnson, tutor • Mr. Lawrence Mayes, Interim Assistant Principal We are excited to have these new staff persons as a part of our Reid Park Academy family.

Congratulations to our PTO for their 1st Annual Sweetheart Ball that took place Saturday, February 28th. We had over 50 dads and 100 girls in attendance. Additionally, our PTO Cookie Dough fundraiser was a success! We collected over $8,000 and will profit approximately $3,000. Tentatively the pickup day for the fundraiser is Thursday, March12th, from 3:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Today, we celebrated Read Across America Day. Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2nd, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss. As you already know, motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school. Please make sure that your child is reading daily and practicing fluency, improving comprehension, and writing about what he or she is reading. Parents, this should be an expectation for your middle school child as well. All parents should know their child’s reading level and grade level expectations for middle and end of year: Middle of Year End of Year Grade K C D Grade 1 G-H J-K Grade 2 L M-N Grade 3 O P-Q Grade 4 R-S S-T Grade 5 T-U U Grade 6 U X Grades 7-8 Y Z If you have not been communicated to by your child’s teacher regarding his or her reading level and progress, I encourage you to schedule a meeting as soon as possible to ensure that your child is making steady progress with the most important skill in life--- being able to read!

As you know by now, Thursday, March 12th and Friday, March 13th will be snow makeup days. The state law requires that we provide students 185 days of school or 1,025 hours of instruction each year.

To ensure that we continue to have a successful school year, I want to remind all of you of the following: • We are a uniform school and students are to adhere to the uniform expectations below: Allowed Not Allowed Shirts ( must be tucked in at all Shirts without collars, untucked shirts, times ): colored undershirts, shirts with logos, t- PreK – 5: shirts, sleeveless shirts, no field trip t-  Color: Navy blue, black, or white shirts beyond the day of the field trip  Style: Polo-style shirt with collar (long or short sleeved), Turtleneck, Peter Pan collar blouse, Reid Park T- shirts only Grades 6- 8:  Color: Navy blue, black, or white  Style: Polo-style shirt with collar (long or short sleeved), Turtleneck, Peter Pan collar blouse, Reid Park T-shirts only, White button down shirt (long or short sleeved) Ties provided by school must be worn on special occasions Undershirts (plain white and plain navy only) may be worn under a polo or button down shirt. Pants: Denim, sweat pants, warm-up pants, Color: Khaki , black, or navy baggy pants, overalls, skinny jeans/pants Shorts, Skirts, Skorts, Denim, gym shorts, baggy shorts Jumpers : Color: Khaki , black, or navy blue Length: At or below the knee (girls – must be at or below fingertips) Sweaters / Sweatshirts: Sweaters/sweatshirts with logos, writing, pictures, or graphics. Color: Navy blue, white, or black Hooded sweatshirts are allowed, Style: Sweatshirt, cardigan, pullover however, hoods are not to be worn. (must reach to waist). Hoodies and jackets must be a solid, uniform color if they are to be worn all day. Shoes: Open-toed sandals, flip-flops, slippers, Closed-toe shoes, lace-up, buckle, sandal slides, heels, mismatched shoes with strap. Socks, tights or leggings(worn Patterned tights, fishnet stockings, under uniform pants/skirts: mismatched socks Navy blue, white, khaki, or black (solid color only) Belts: Chain belts, suspenders, large or Buckle, sash, ribbon inappropriate belt buckles Accessories: Scarves, Bandanas Headband: Must be uniform color only Dangling or hoop earrings, non-uniform Watches / Bracelets: No bigger than color posts/studs the width of a dollar bill Piercings (facial piercings other than Earrings : Post or stud earrings- only ears) uniform color, gold or silver Non-uniform color headbands Necklaces: Must be worn inside shirts Tattoos (must not be visible) Hats are allowed to be worn outside, however they must be removed inside the school building. Anything that is a distraction to learning

• Cars that do not display a car pool number will be asked to park and come in the front office to show identification to pickup student(s). • Students are not allowed to enter the building before 7:30 a.m. unless they are participating with tutorial services. • School starts promptly at 8:15 a.m. Please plan accordingly to ensure that your child is in his or her class before 8:15 a.m. each day. If your child arrives after 8:15 a.m., you must bring your child in the school building, sign in, and walk your child to his/her classroom. • Please assist us with trying to know how your child is going home before coming to school each day by sending your child’s teacher a note. • Early dismissal must be done before 2:15 p.m. We will not disrupt the last hour of instruction for early dismissals. Please make sure that you have planned accordingly.

Looking Ahead Tuesday, March 3rd School Leadership Team meeting at 3:30 p.m. in the Media Center PTO Executive Board meeting at 4:30 p.m. in the Media Center Thursday, March 5th PTO Spring Performance by our 2nd and 3rd grade classes at 6:00 p.m. in the gymnasium Wednesday, March 18th Principal’s Breakfast at 9:00 a.m. in the Media Center Friday, March 27th Character Education Assemblies and Spirit Day 8:30 a.m. K-1st grade in the gymnasium 9:00 a.m. 2nd – 3rd grades in the gymnasium 9:30 a.m. 4th-5th grades in the gymnasium 10:00 a.m. 6th grade Tuesday, March 31st Third Quarter Ends Spring Pictures Wednesday, April 1st Fourth Quarter Begins Friday, April 3rd Teacher Workday Monday, April 6th – Friday, April 10th Spring Break

As always, thanks for all that you do and your support that you provide daily to our school. I appreciate your commitment with academic excellence and reinforcing school expectations for appropriate behavior and academics. Thanks for helping us reframe the transformation process at Reid Park Academy to be a premier school for all students!

Sincerely,

Mr. James T. Garvin Principal