Connection a NEWSLETTER for STAFFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS FAMILIES & the COMMUNITY NOVEMBER 2016
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parent & community connection A NEWSLETTER FOR STAFFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS FAMILIES & THE COMMUNITY NOVEMBER 2016 IN THIS ISSUE Parents Speak and Officials Listen Superintendent and School Board Listening Tour 2 Superintendent School Visits On October 27, over forty parents and would SCPS add study skills as an area of 3 School Buzz community members attended the first of study for the students? three Superintendent and School Board • When looking at how to save money in our Listening Tours. The event took place at Brooke 4 For Parents school system, I think we should reevaluate Point High School Library and provided an opportunity for parents to engage directly with the need for purchasing books. 5 Upcoming Events school leaders and provide input on issues that impact students and families, including If you are a parent and have input on issues or 6 Partners in Education budget. Director of Strategic Communication questions, consider attending the next series of and Community Engagement Sherrie Johnson Listening Tours scheduled for January and April moderated questions and shared concerns 2017. Stay tuned for the December issue for from parents in attendance. The listening panel more event updates. included Superintendent Dr. Bruce Benson and School Board Members Holly Hazard, Dewayne McOsker Jr., Scott Hirons, Melissa Ayers and Irene Egan. No question was left unanswered as school officials answered every question provided during the event. Parent Questions and Input from the Listening Tour included: • Is there an effort to have more collaboration between upper elementary teachers and middle school teachers for expectations and preparations for students? • What is expected of faculty and staff to help students get into college? • Some school districts and most colleges Stafford County Public Schools offer “Study Skills” strategies and techniques, [email protected] From our Superintendent Dear Stafford Families and Community, I hope the first edition of Stafford County Public Schools (SCPS) Parent and Community newsletter was informative. Parent and community engagement is valuable to our division. School board members and I had the opportunity to hear from and respond to parents last week at our first Listening Tour. On behalf of the school board and SCPS, I want to thank you for taking the time to bring concerns to our attention and share in the vision of making SCPS the best school division it can be. I invite all parents to attend the next tour in January 2017. Collaboration is one of the C’s of our C5W initiative with the goal that all Century Learners engage positively with others to achieve common goals. We actively participate in the process through deliberation, encouragement, flexibility, reflection, responding to constructive criticism, and honoring the strengths in others and ourselves. We are All Century Learners. Read more about the collaboration of community partners supporting the goals and well-being of our students. Keep warm and enjoy the time off with your families this month. Sincerely, W. Bruce Benson, Ed. D Superintendent In the Classroom Superintendent Visits Schools Future Leaders Prepared for Life Students lead the way for there fellow classmates. Dr. Benson heard “On-time graduation is one measure of success for our schools. from Mountain View High School class officers over a bite to eat. However, graduation, in and of itself, is not our end goal. Ensuring our students have the knowledge and skills to be successful in what they want to do next is our goal – prepared for further education, work, and citizenship – for life after Stafford County Public Schools,” Benson notes on his blog after visiting Stafford High School. 2 PARENT & COMMUNITY CONNECTION School Buzz News from our Schools Firefighters Deliver New Winter Coats to SCPS Students The Carnival doesn’t just benefit the Stafford area community; it On a cold Wednesday morning, the bay doors of Stafford County benefits the high school students. Learn and Serve is a class that Fire and Rescue Station 12 opened to tables of over 600 donated teaches students about service-learning, and students connect that new coats. The Coats for Kids tagging event was in support of the learning to their academic studies. The event met all C5W core values: Operations Warm initiative to provide new winter coats to children Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Citizenship throughout America. Stafford County Public School (SCPS) counselors and Wellness. C5W is a set of skills and abilities that all Stafford County worked with Stafford Professional Figherfighter Association Local 4012 Public School graduates will possess to succeed in further education, to identify and provide coats to students. work and citizenship. SCPS principals and staff from Anne E. Moncure Elementary, Conway Elementary, Ferry Farm Elementary, Rocky Run Elementary, Shirley C. Heim Middle and H.H. Poole took Jessie Schmedes, the Massad YMCA’s Group Fitness Director and part in tagging and sorting coats Family Engagement Coordinator said, “I am thrilled to tell you that for all schools. Business partner with the amazing work of the Stafford County High Schools’ Learn representatives from Apple and Serve students, the Massad Y was able to raise over $4,900.00 at Federal Credit Union, Mission BBQ the Creepy Crawly Carnival. This money goes directly to providing and Walmart assisted with raising financial assistance to families who would otherwise be unable to money and acquiring gloves afford having a Y membership, giving them access to swim lessons, and hats. Concluding the event, before and after school care, fitness classes, basketball, tennis, and fireman delivered coats to 28 more. The event depends entirely upon volunteers to make it a SCPS schools and Head Start. fundraising success, and would have been impossible without Learn and Serve. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!!” Click the links below to read more about the event. Stafford firefighters gather nearly 700 coats for kids in need Free Lance-Star, October 26 VIDEO: Stafford Fire & Rescue Coats ‘16 NewsTalk1230 WFVA, October 26 Helping the Community Isn’t Scary Unless. For Students in the Learn and Serve program, helping in the community isn’t scary, but it does mean scaring others. On October 22, over one hundred students from all five Stafford County high schools participated in the Massad Family YMCA’s Creepy Crawly Carnival. The Learn and Serve students took charge of all aspects of the trail from start to finish. PARENT & COMMUNITY CONNECTION 3 For Parents Helpful News for your Family Closings and Emergency Alerts A Sustainable Place Winter is upon us and weather can be unpredictable. Stay up to date As a community, we are responsible for the behaviors exhibited on a with weather related school closings and delays. Here are ways to daily basis that contribute to either the conservation or waste of our receive updated information. natural resources, determining the footprint left for generations to come. Many are unaware of the money spent on resources consumed SCPS Communication Tools to provide an environment conducive to teaching, learning and • SCPS website: www.staffordschools.net growing. Resources provide heating, cooling, lighting, cooking, plug- • Stafford Alerts: www.staffordalerts.com in loads and water consumption. • Robocall On average, high schools cost more than $376,000, middle Social Media schools $176,000 and elementary • SCPS Facebook: www.facebook.com/StaffordSchools $95,000 to operate per facility, • SCPS Twitter: www.twitter.com/scpschools per fiscal year. Factor in all other resources such as parking lot Newspaper lighting, stadium lighting and • Free Lance-Star/ Fredericksburg.com support facilities, the yearly utility • Washington Post budget exceeds the $5,000,000 mark. On average, it costs $1.21 Radio per square foot to operate one • WFLA 93.3, The Vibe 99.3, The Rock 96.9 and WNTX 96.5 school. This makes the cost to • WBQB 101.5 and WFVA 1230 AM operate an average size 800sq/ft. classroom more than $960 per year. • Thunder 104.5 and WGRQ 95.9 While spending money needed to operate SCPS facilities is a must • WTOP 103.5, 103.9 and107.7 and unavoidable, the amount we spend is dependent on the ability of an individual to utilize resources in an environmentally and fiscally Television responsible manner. Remember: Think Globally. Act Locally. Join the • ABC7 - News Channel 8 Committee. Attend a Meeting. Spread Awareness. Do the Right Thing! • CBS6 - WTVR Richmond For all questions, concerns and comments contact Energy Manger • NBC12 Joshua Schimpf at [email protected]. • NBC4 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • WRC TV 4 • WTTG FOX 5 Upcoming Events • WUSA TV 9 • WTVR - Channel 6 Richmond • WWBT 12 Richmond Education Appreciation Days November Stafford County Fire and Rescue Department - National Native American Heritage Month American Education Week Heating Safety Tips National Career Development Week Temperatures are dropping and you’ll find yourself curled up with a Education Support Paraprofessionals Day good book by the fireplace. Did you know that heating equipment is a leading cause of home fire deaths? With a few simple safety tips and November 13-19: precautions you can prevent most heating fires from happening. American Education Week Be warm and safe this winter! National Career Development Week • Keep anything that can burn at least three-feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove, or November 18: portable space heater. Education Support Paraprofessionals Day • Have a three-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters. • Never use your oven to heat your home. Important Student Dates: • Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or November going to bed. Test Smoke Alarms Monthly 7 End of 1st Nine Weeks • It’s a sound you can live with. 8 Election Day (No School for Students) Heating Equipment Safety • Install wood burning stoves following manufacture’s instructions 11 Veterans Day (All Schools and Offices Closed) or have a professional do the installation.