Save the Dates
March 1: Student of the Week Assembly, K-2; School Tour for prospective parents, 9:30am; Read Across America Day; Dress as your favorite book character day
March 4-8: Read Across America Week March 8: Vocabulary Parade March 9: Family Garden Workday, 9-12 March 11: Club Session 3 begins March 13: 2nd-4th graders visit MLK PAC for Art Connections; 4th graders to Paramount March 14: Hunter's class to UVA Art Museum, 1:45 March 15: Student of the Week Assembly, grades 304; Venable T-Shirt Day; Hartwell and Foraste to UVA Art Museum March 19: Kindergarten, First, Third grades to Paramount March 20-22: Festival of the Book March 22: Hat & Sunglasses Day; Spring Carnival, 5:30-8:00pm March 23: Venable All-Star Fitness Challenge, 8:00am March 28: End of 3rd Quarter March 29: Teacher Workday (no school for students) Don't Miss an Amazing Spring Fair!One of the most anticipated events of the year is right around the corner. Come to our Spring Fair on March 22. You will have a great time with friends and family! See the flyer in this week's Thursday folder for details about our Spring Fair poster contest and get your creative juices flowing.
Venable All-Star Fitness ChallengeWhat a better way to burn off extra energy from the Spring Carnival (on Friday, March 22) with a Family Fitness Challenge the next morning, Saturday, March 23! For more information about the course, registration and how you can be a part of this fun event, please visit the Fitness Challenge website.
Simulation Tests Scheduled for MarchStudents in grades 2, 3, and 4 will be taking term tests (grade 2) or SOL simulations tests (grades 3-4) during the month of March. Students in grades 3-4 will be tested on content that they have already learned this school year as well as 4th quarter content. The idea of the simulation is to give students a chance to experience the "real" testing environment prior to the official test. Teachers will get a chance to see how students respond to the test, the environment, and other factors, and students will have a chance to "get their jitters out." They will also use the results of the tests to tailor end of year instruction to students' needs. Test begin on March 15 with 3rd grade History and go through March 28.
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New Ways to Stay in TouchMrs. Kershner has begun a Twitter account in order to publicize exciting things that are happening at school or send out quick reminders to parents and followers. Click on the blue button above to become a VenableAllStars follower! Also, note that a language translator has now been built into the website, which allows us to better communicate with families whose primary language is other than English.
School Spirit Abounds in March!As we March toward Spring Break, we are taking every Friday to show off a little school spirit.
This Friday--Dress as your favorite book character (We are requesting that superheroes and Halloween-type costumes not come to school.) March 8--Dress as your favorite vocabulary word. Be creative! (bring your costume to school, as it will be put on before the Vocabulary parade and removed afterward) March 15: Wear your Venable t-shirt March 22: Hat and sunglasses day Bus Driver ChangesThere will be a few changes to some of our bus drivers beginning this week. Mr. Harris, the Turquoise bus driver, has been given an opportunity to take on a different run and Wednesday was his last day on the Venable Turquoise bus. He will be replaced by Mr. William Douglas, who begins Thursday, and will hopefully finish out the year with us. Mr. Ferguson on the Gray bus will be out for at least the month of March and there may be several different substitute drivers during his absence.
A Note on Student AttendanceEvery month, we run an attendance report at the end of the month and review it with the school counselor, division attendance officer, and school administration. We are required as a school to send a notification letter to parents if a child has accrued 3 or more unexcused absences. So that your child does not accrue unexcused absences, It is important that upon his/her return, you send a written note or email to your child's teacher. It is helpful to also copy our school secretary, Ms. Poindexter, on the email explaining your child's absence. This way we are sure that the documentation gets to the office, where it is kept along with our attendance records. Absences that can be excused include those involving:
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