Albert H. Hill Middle School - PTA Newsletter
February 2012 Volume 2011 - 2012, Issue 2 Will School Rezoning Affect Your Child?
Richmond Public Schools has commenced a rezoning process. To assist in this process it has contracted with Cropper GIS Consulting.
This rezoning is consistent with the RPS Strategic Plan 2010-2015, as well as the City’s Building a Better Richmond Plan and will assist the district in achieving its goal of providing students with a first class school system with better utilized facilities, increased parental engagements, the creation of neighborhood Issue Highlights schools and to create a feeder system for students to move from elementary to middle to high school. Rezoning News 1 RPS encouraging the community to be a part of this process by Principal’s Message 2 attending public comment meetings on the following dates: PTA Pres. Message 3 Feb. 15 - Thompson Middle School from 6:30-7:30 School Board Message 4 March 27 - Richmond Technical Center from 6:30-7:30 Music Program News 5 If you have questions or would like to look at the draft options for Contest Information 5 rezoning, please go to http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/AboutRPS/Rezoning/Links.aspx Girls Basketball News 6 or contact Sarah Gross at sarahgross1@verizon Science Fair Winners 6 Art News 6 Community Service Forms Volunteer Opportunity 7 We are strongly encouraging community service activities and we want students to get credit for their efforts. In order to make Safety Concern 7 sure that happens, we are requiring that students get approval PTA Membership Info 8 prior to performing the community service activity. We do not want students performing what they believe to be appropriate community service activities only to be told later that it does not qualify as such.
Upcoming Events If a student performs community service work there is a form to use to document the activity and keep for future use. Community 2/16 PTA History Night service work could be Girl Scouts, a church activity, tutoring, No School 2/20 etc. or could be an activity completed at Hill. 3/15 Parent Teacher Conf Once the activity is completed, have the agency/person sign the No School (P/T Conf) 3/16 form and a copy should be submitted to Mrs. Young and keep the original for your future use for applications, a special program, 3/22 PTA Math Night summer employment, high school, National Honor Society, etc. Early Dismissal 4/6 The form can be found on the Hill website at http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/ahms/Parents/Guidance.aspx. If 4/9 - 4/13 Spring Break you have any questions, contact Mrs. Susan Young at [email protected] or 780-6107.
3400 Patterson Avenue • Richmond, Virginia 23221 Hill PTA Newsletter Page 2 A Message from Your Principal Donna Knight
February 1st officially marked the beginning of the second semester! It is amazing just how fast this school year is progressing and all that we have been able to accomplish in such a short time. Before we know it, we will be taking the 2012 Spring SOL Assessments and ending the school year! It is at this time of the year (February 10th) that parents can expect to receive their children’s report cards which indicate the first semester’s academic progress. Parents are encouraged to discuss progress and set goals for the third and fourth nine weeks. Please keep in contact with your child’s teachers through phone calls, agendas and email. If your child is not reaching his/her full potential, please do not wait until our scheduled Parent/Teacher conference days on March 15th and 16th to schedule an appointment with your child’s classroom teachers. If your child’s courses are too difficult, too easy, or just not appropriate for him/her, don’t hesitate to call our school counselors.
Bullying has taken center stage in the news media recently, and our school board has clearly stated that bullying behaviors will not be tolerated in our schools.To back their position on bullying, our board has passed specific policy to address harassment, hazing, and bullying. While we don’t have many incidents reported on a regular basis, we take every allegation of bullying seriously and actively investigate every situation. We often find that there are “two-sides” to every story. If your child has experienced any type of harassing, hazing, or bullying behavior, please call the school and let us know. Our staff is currently undergoing Olweus training to more effectively address those behaviors.
Additionally, please be reminded that students may carry cell phones to school, but they must be turned off and be out of sight. As outlined on page 18, of the RPS Student Code of Conduct, if a cell phone is confiscated, it will be returned on a day designated by the principal. Albert Hill has designated Monday as the day to return cell phones. If a phone is confiscated on Monday, it will be not be returned until the following Monday. This allows our staff time to process the necessary paperwork documenting the student’s violation of the code of conduct. If your child’s phone is confiscated, please do not come to the school prior to the day designated for return. On a positive note, we have had a great first semester! Our students’ SOL scores continue to be among the highest in the region. The girls’ basketball team won the city-wide championship this year! We were honored to be chosen as the kick off location for the Redskins Play 60 Challenge and were visited by Governor Bob McDonnell and two Washington Redskins’ players, DeAngelo Hall and Ryan Kerrigan, for this event. Our students enjoyed participating with professional football players in an array of physical challenges. Our art teacher, Ms. Sharon Russell, was recognized as Albert Hill’s teacher of the year, and was honored by Office Max in their ”A Day Made Better” program where she received several hundred dollars’ worth of supplies. Ms. Russell was also selected as this year’s recipient of the Central Region of Virginia Art Educator Award for middle school. The central region includes Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico and Richmond city.
Many of our students have done a great job representing our school in various competitions and contests throughout the city and state. Mac Todd, a seventh grader at Albert Hill, was one of 85 students out of 1,500 submissions to receive a regional Gold Key for photography in this year’s Scholastic Art Awards competition. His work is currently on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Ninety percent of our students produced amazing science projects that were displayed at our recent Science Fair. Several students earned first place honors for their science fair projects that were judged by VCU professors, and staff from Maymont Nature Center and Wells Fargo Securities. Jocelyn Ryan, a sixth grade student, placed 1st at the RPS History Fair in the
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A Message from Your PTA President Sarah Gross
We've made it through the first half of our school year! Hopefully, our new families and their students have settled in by now and we are all looking ahead to Spring. In looking back at the last few months, there have been applications, benchmarks, science projects and new courses. We have fielded two fantastic soccer teams and our basketballs teams were fierce competitors again. We have made new friends, joined new clubs, tried new activities And still a half year to go! We are looking forward to a great second half - and there are plenty of ways to get involved. Have you joined the PTA? It's easy, affordable and your dues go to fund programs and projects around Albert Hill. The PTA is the largest child advocacy group in the nation - and your dues entitle you to be a part of that effort on your child's, and every child's behalf. Would you like to show your teachers some love this Valentine's Day? Consider baking some treats for our teacher appreciation event. Have you been to a monthly PTA meeting? We will sometimes have raffles where you can win great prizes! Do you have an idea for an event or a program that you are sure our students would appreciate? Just drop me a note at [email protected] and let's talk about how your PTA can make a difference for you and your student. Sarah Gross - PTA President ([email protected] )
Continued from Page 2 category of American Indian diorama. Ms. Stephen’s sixth grade students received a $250.00 award for acceptance of their nomination of James Farmer, a Civil Rights leader who initiated the infamous Freedom Rides of our nation’s civil rights movement, to the Library of Virginia African American Trailblazers list. Our Junior National Honor Society sponsored the Puritan “Coats for Teens” drive and donated over a hundred coats to this worthy cause. These are but a few honors and recognitions received by our students during the first semester of this school year.
Albert Hill students have gone on over eighteen field trips so far this school year. In November some of our students attended Saint Christopher’s Leadership Symposium on Friday and Saturday and were privileged to hear General Colin Powell (65th United States Secretary of State and retired Four-Star General of the United States Army) and Wes Moore (author of The Other Wes Moore) speak. Our students attended a modern dance performance by the dynamic River North Chicago Dance Company at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Center for the Arts. Several of our students visited the National Gallery of Art and the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C. Some of our students also attended a performance by the Richmond Symphony at CenterStage. Our seventh grade students visited the Virginia War Memorial and other students visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Some of our students participated in bowling and basketball competitions against other schools in the Urban Special Olympics tournaments. Also, we currently have over fifty students participating in our Middle School Renaissance (MSR) program both during the school day and after-school. We currently have close to 20 volunteers participating in MSR.
Undoubtedly many exciting and wonderful things continue to occur at Albert Hill! We realize that without your significant contributions and support, none of our achievements would be realized, and for such, “Thank you!” many times over for all you do to make Albert Hill the great middle school that it is.
Donna Knight - Principal (780-6107 or [email protected]) http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/ahms/Home.aspx Hill PTA Newsletter Page 4
RPS Budget: What’s Left To Cut? Kim Bridges - 1st District School Board Representative
Dear Hill Families: As I write this we're in the midst of developing a budget for the 2012-2013 school year that is impacted by $14 million in increased expenses (mostly for payments to VRS, the state retirement system, and rising health care costs for our employees) combined with $9 million in reduced revenue. That equates to a potential of $23+ million in cuts we'll have to make for next year (almost 10% of our entire General Fund budget to run the schools).
Why more gloomy budget news? The economic picture has hurt every locality, but RPS has been particularly hard hit for several reasons: 1) the state's funding formula (the Local Composite Index, or LCI, which portrays Richmond as a "richer" locality than Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, or many other neighbors) gives us fewer dollars than surrounding localities; 2) no more federal jobs funding that prevented lay-offs for the past two years; 3) a new method for calculating the youth population shows fewer resident children in areas like ours that house major colleges and/or universities; and 4) multiple years of schools receiving a lower percentage of city revenue.
RPS has experienced a decline in revenues of $30 million over the past five budget cycles and the School Board has reduced costs by another $50 million in the same time period. But this year alone, we project more cuts needed--to the tune of $23 million potential cuts. As a service organization, the bulk of our expenses are personnel-related. 77% of our funds support the classroom (vs. our buildings, buses, maintenance, and other functions) and 81% of revenues are for employee salaries and benefits. Because health care and benefits are such a big part of our budget gap, some of these costs will likely be passed on to our employees in the form of increased deductibles, self-payment for family member coverage and other changes. But we can't find all of the savings needed in those changes alone. Other potential consequences are a three-day furlough (essentially an unpaid holiday where neither students nor school staff have to work), the loss of elementary foreign language district-wide, the reduction of 300 positions (security personnel, teacher aides, administrators and some classroom spots), and an increase in the student/teacher ratio.
What can we do? Over the last few years, you have been our partners in the fight for adequate funding for our schools, and you have made a difference by successfully advocating for relief from the LCI and other funding losses. We're going to need you again this year. Our budget request to the City is due on February 16th, but between March and May both the state and the city will finalize their school allocations. Over the weeks to come, I'll be sending out time-sensitive e-mail updates to Ms. Knight and the PTA so you know who and where to reach out and what key messages to send regarding these issues. If you'd like to receive these e-mails directly, please send me an "add me to your School Board e-mail list" request at [email protected].
We know we're going to have to cut more to balance our budget in what continues to be a challenging economic recovery for public education. But with all of our voices joined together in support of our schools, I have real hope that we can reduce the gap to minimize the impact on our students and our hard-working teachers and staff members.
Kim Bridges - 1st District School Board Representative and Chair ([email protected])
http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/ahms/Home.aspx Hill PTA Newsletter Page 5 Albert Hill Music Program News…
CHOIR - Congratulations to Al'Brionna Curry (Soprano), Crystal Taylor (Alto), and Courtney Rose (Alto) for making District Chorus. They will participate in the weekend event on February 10th and 11th.
DRAMA - Rehearsals are in full swing for this year’s “Broadway on the Hill Rewind”. Show tunes will include “We Go Together”, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair!” and “What is this Feeling?” Performances will be April 5th and 6th. Please contact Mrs. Corbitt ([email protected]) for more information.
BAND - D'Antonio Johnson, 8th grade tenor sax player, will represent Albert Hill in District 1 Regional Band. He will performed in the concert February 4 at Atlee High School. This band represents the best students in the Richmond Area. D'Antonio auditioned against students in public, private and home schooled students from West Point, New Kent, King William Henrico, Hanover and Richmond.
ORCHESTRA - Albert Hill has been partnered with the Richmond Symphony since the beginning of the 2010/2011 school year. We have had monthly visits where the Symphony members work in groups and one- on-one with our musicians. The kids love to see the professionals and it inspires them to be their very best.
HARP - The Albert Hill Touring Harp Ensemble performed for the Albert H. Hill Open House last month. The students performed "Triptic Dance," by Pierre Bouchant. Let's congratulate the harp "tigers!"
February is Full of Contests for Students and Teachers! Student Essay Contest - Race & Stereotypes: This contest, sponsored by the Library of Virginia, the Science Museum of Virginia and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, invites essay submissions from students in grades 4-12. Three winners in each of three grade-level divisions will be chosen. The top award is $500. See http://www.lva.virginia.gov/lib-edu/education/EssayContest.pdf for essay and submission guidelines. Essays are due on February 15, 2012. Participating students will answer the following questions: What historical stereotypes do you think affect society today? What actions can you take to overcome stereotypes and discrimination? This contest is being held in conjunction with the Library of Virginia's African American Trailblazers program and The Science Museum's visiting exhibition RACE: Are We So Different? Virginia Lottery Super Teacher Awards: Many of you know and appreciate at least one dedicated Virginia public school teacher who consistently goes the extra mile each day to serve their students and communities. The Virginia Lottery, the Virginia PTA and The Supply Room Companies also recognize that Virginia is brimming with these outstanding teachers. These organizations have partnered for the fourth year in a row to bring you the Virginia Lottery Super Teacher Awards. The Virginia Lottery will pay tribute to those educators who put smiles on their students’ faces and shape their futures, recognizing eight teachers across the Commonwealth as Super Teachers. Each winning teacher will receive a $2,000 credit from The Supply Room Companies to outfit their classroom as well as a $2,000 prize from the Virginia Lottery. This year, one lucky Super Teacher will win a Royal Caribbean Internationalｮ seven-day European cruise for two. To nominate a Super Teacher, go to www.valottery.com/teacher. The submission deadline is February 14, 2011. Hill Students Job Shadow Twenty-four selected 8th grade CTE (Career and Technical Education) students participated in a city-wide job shadowing experience on February 2nd. CTE students throughout the city visited various businesses to shadow employees to gain knowledge of the work performed in that business. http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/ahms/Home.aspx Hill PTA Newsletter Page 6
Girl’s Basketball 2012 Science Fair Undefeated! Wonderful student science projects were displayed at the January The Albert Hill Girl’s Basketball Science Fair and the winners are… Team went undefeated and Chemistry captured the championship game 1st Place – Autumn Baumgart against Lucille Brown Middle School. 2nd Place – Audrey Paiva The Boy’s Basketball Team went 5-5 3rd Place – Alexander Lewis and just beat Henderson in the 1st playoff game. Way to go Tigers! Honorable Mention - Aamina Palmer Honorable Mention - Jordan Branch Biology Soccer Registration 1st Place – Tim Huth-Scruggs Come join Albert Hill’s Soccer Team. The team is open to 2nd Place – Jasmine Brown both boys and girls. Registration forms are due March 1st and 3rd Place – Carson Watlington tryouts are March 5th from 3pm to 4:30pm at the AHMS Honorable Mention - Dezirae Winborne soccer field. Regular team practices begin the week of March Honorable Mention - Caroline Meek 12th from 3pm to 4:30pm. Albert Hill Middle School Soccer is Honorable Mention - Jocelyn Ryan an all-volunteer league that is dependent on parental involvement. Please contact Edward Mack (359-3229 or Consumer/Food Science [email protected]) for more information. 1st Place – Moses Woogerd 2nd Place – Taylor Smith 3rd Place – Miranda Batte-Futrell Artist’s News Honorable Mention - Jamaija Rhoades Congratulations to Mac Todd for being awarded a Gold Key Honorable Mention - Sydney Slayton from the Scholastic Art Competition sponsored this year by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. His photograph which he took Earth/Environmental Science this summer, entitled 'Through the Window II' will be on 1st Place – Xavier Barrett display at the VMFA and will also go on to the national 2nd Place – Lucy Perry competition in NYC. Another of his photos, "Captured", 3rd Place – Emma Silverman received an Honorable Mention. Congratulations, Mac! Honorable Mention - Jocelyn Castillo Several students entered art posters in the Negate Hate poster exhibit sponsored by the Holocaust Museum. Entries from Behavioral Science Albert Hill include Justyn Bryant, Noah Barboza, Audrey Paiva, 1st Place – Madison Leon Rachel Allen, DeMante Camper, Lucas Mantlo, Ahmed Eishazly, 2nd Place – Maya Flores and Marvin Hicks. 3rd Place – Nina Chenoweth Honorable Mention - Chloe Houdek 6th Grader’s Earn AR Reward Honorable Mention - Temple Woodard Mrs. Lawson celebrated her students' success with Accelerated Physics Reader by hosting a pizza party for 55 students who read three 1st Place – Nicholas Woolfolk or more books this semester. Way to go sixth graders! 2nd Place – Zachary Jacobs Additionally, the sixth graders are completing a cross- curricular activity in Mrs. Lawson's English and Ms. Stephens' history class 3rd Place – Mason Cardiff on the American Revolution. They completed a booklet and are Honorable Mention - Ethan Mack reading My Brother Sam is Dead. Honorable Mention - Nate Erickson http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/ahms/Home.aspx Hill PTA Newsletter Page 7
Find Time To Volunteer… Calling All Bakers!
Want to help a teacher put a bulletin board up? We need your help to "Treat" our The teacher does all the thinking with this job… Teachers & Staff to some Home- baked Goodies for Valentine’s Day Want to tutor a kid who just needs someone to sit beside him during math class? Or sit beside her The PTA is looking for bakers who are willing to bake while she reads, or listens to you read? cookies or cupcakes for our annual cookie bar. Each year the Teacher Appreciation committee puts on a Of course you don’t! You’ve got kids, a job, a cookie bar for the teachers and this year we plan to house to clean, laundry to do, bills to pay, and provide the teachers and administrators a cookie bar what-all!! But you might have a grandparent in on Valentine's Day Tuesday, February 14th. Cookies your family, a neighbor, someone who has and baked goods can be dropped off at the Teacher's retired, and has a couple of hours a month to Lounge on Tuesday morning. If possible, include a help out at Hill. notecard labeling the type of cookie. Please contact IF EVERY PARENT OR GUARDIAN VOLUNTEERED Ellabeth Karalus (317-4191) or Carolyn Hawley (683- JUST ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR, that would be 2051) if you have any questions. Thank you for your awesome! support.
Right now we have some neighborhood volunteers, people who saw an article in the A Great Way to Thank Hill’s Museum District newsletter and responded to our request for their help. Don’t you know someone Wonderful Teachers who has a few hours? The PTA needs help so we can provide our We would rather have lots of people doing just a Teachers with a “Thank You” dinner before couple of hours a month, rather than a few Parent/Teacher Conferences on March 15th. people doing it all. That makes more sense, doesn’t it? The PTA will provide all teachers and administrators dinner before the Parent Teacher Conferences on If can make time to help out… great! If you don’t have time to help out, try to find somebody who March 15th. We are looking for someone in the does. There might just be a person who lives near Albert Hill community who would be interested in you who would fit the bill. Volunteers are so catering the meal (within a limited budget) for appreciated at Hill that they can call the shots; approximately 70 teachers. Please contact Ellabeth they help when it suits their schedule, and they Karalus (317-4191) or Carolyn Hawley (683-2051) by get to pick the job they want to do. That’s a March 1st if you are interested. sweet deal! (Imagine an aspect of your life in which you get to say, “No, I don’t want to do that.!”) A Safety Concern… Call me, Hortense Liberti (804.943.4961) or email me ([email protected]), and take a tour of the Dear Parents and Guardians, building; you’ll get a better idea of how you could help. We’ll give you just the job you want, In response to concerns about the safety of our and you will feel SO good about yourself! students who are being dropped off in the morning, we are asking that you drop off your child One last thing: We’re trying to come up with on the side of the street closer to the school This some sort of reward for students who get will keep your children safer, as they will not have somebody to volunteer---maybe a dance? Ideas? to cross the street. p.s. got an elderly family member or neighbor? We know this might cause you to have to rethink my mom volunteered at Munford until she was 90! your drive to school, but your child will be much she had fun, and the kids got an extra grandma! safer. Thanks for your cooperation! http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/ahms/Home.aspx Hill PTA Newsletter Page 8
PTA Board Contact List The PTA Wants You To Get Involved Too!
Executive Board President Sarah Gross [email protected] 1st VP Programs LeAngela Baker [email protected] Calendar of 2nd VP Membership Molly Todd [email protected] Treasurer Richard Deutsch [email protected] Upcoming Events Secretary Delanie Denoon [email protected]
Communications (Chairperson: Nicole Monroe) Feb. 16 (Thursday) - PTA Meeting Website & News Email Nicole Monroe [email protected] (History Night) - 6:30 PM. Newsletter Lesley Paiva [email protected]
Feb. 20 (Monday) - No School Staff Appreciation/Hospitality (President’s Day) Hospitality Rene Ryan [email protected] Nadine Hoffman [email protected] Mar. 1 (Thursday) – PTA Board Staff Appreciation Ellabeth Karalus [email protected] Meeting – Hill Library – 6:00 PM Carolyn Hawley [email protected] Staff Liaison Mrs. Stephanie Perry [email protected] Mar. 15 & 16 (Thursday & Friday) - School Board Member Kim Bridges [email protected] Parent Teacher Conferences Volunteer Coordinator Hortense Liberti [email protected] Mar. 22 (Thursday) - PTA Meeting (Math Night) - 6:30 PM. Activities Exterior Beautification Mrs. Phylis Wilson [email protected] Apr. 6 (Friday) - Early Dismissal - Mrs. Stephanie Perry [email protected] 11:45 AM. Interior Beautification Vacant Soccer Coordinator Ed Mack [email protected] Apr. 9 thru Apr. 13 – Spring Break (School Resumes Apr. 16th) Fundraising (Chairperson: Carol Davis) Barnes & Noble Bookfair Joanne Silverman [email protected] Apr. 19 (Thursday) - PTA Meeting Spring & Fall Catalogs Carol Davis [email protected] (Poetry Night) - 6:30 PM. Retail Rewards Vacant Box Tops for Education Vacant Merchandise Melissa Mantlo [email protected]
PTA Membership Application Just fill in this application to join the Albert Hill PTA. Membership is $7 per adult. If you put 1 parent/guardian name on this form submit $7. If you put 2 parent/guardian names, submit $14. MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO “ALBERT HILL PTA”. It’s that easy! Student(s) Name ______Grade ______Home Room ______Parent/Guardian Name ______Parent/Guardian Name ______Address ______Address ______Email ______Email ______Home Phone ______Home Phone ______Cell Phone ______Cell Phone ______Work Phone ______Work Phone ______Amount Enclosed $______($7 per member) ***PUT THE COMPLETED APPLICATION AND CHECK/CASH IN THE PTA BOX IN THE OFFICE http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/ahms/Home.aspx