Upcoming Dates May 13 Last Student of the Week Assembly, grades 3-4, 8:05am 3rd graders finish their SOL math tests First grade classes to Gordon Ave. library May 19 First Grade Marketplace Day, 1pm Harvest of the Month snack May 20 Boogie on the Blacktop, 8:30-9:30 Kindergarten to Chile's Strawberry Farm, 9:30am All library books are due back in the library--no more check-out May 23 3rd grade to UVA Lawn, 10-1 May 24 PreK to Splash Park, 9:30-12 First grade to Art Museum (24th-26th, depending on class) May 25 4th grade to MLK-PAC for Minds in Motion rehearsal, 9-12:45 May 26 4th grade Minds in Motion Dress rehearsal, 12:45-6 Minds in Motion evening performance, 7pm May 27 3rd grade to Minds in Motion daytime performance, 10-11:30am Leadership Club field trip, 12-4 May 30 Memorial Day holiday--no school May 31 3rd grade to Washington Park, 10-1 June 1 Field Day, 8:30-10am June 3 Last day of school! Dismissal at 12 noon Want More Dates? Access the Venable Parent Calendar at the Charlottesvilleschools.org website with the most up-to-date information about what's going on. Venable Garden Update...by Nancy Newman
The vegetable and nature gardens are giving us new buds, blooms, seedlings, birds and pollinators each new day! Bluebirds have moved into one of the boxes and others have rented some spaces in the many trees, shrubs and vines growing at Venable. Mrs. Mimms' second graders used some soft dog hair to spread around in the gardens and in the suet cages for birds to use for their nests. Classes have been learning about our magnificent trees, helped by Tree Stewards. Seeds and vegetables are being planted now that the soil is warm enough. We are waiting for more butterflies and moths to visit to lay their eggs. There are special native plants called host plants that we have just for them. Some are rue, pipevine, parsley, violets, spicebush and milkweeds. When you visit the gardens this spring and over the summer, watch for caterpillars on those plants and butterflies. How many can you see? Thanks go to the Monticello Bird Club, which donates seed annually; to Mrs. Fran Boninti our fairy garden godmother working, advising, donating, and encouraging us to use native plants for pollinators and people; to Suzan Roberts for helping the birds; and to each and every Venable student who works hard in the vegetable gardens on a regular basis with Mrs. Martin and their teachers. Way to help! Please visit often in the summer! Pull some weeds, fill the birdbaths, and observe our garden critter visitors. If there is a game on the field, take some time to help in the gardens! Thanks in advance. All you need is some gloves, some water, a bag for any trash you find in the gardens, a Venable family, and some budding naturalists. Pick some mint for your tea while you are there. Enjoy! Nancy Newman [email protected] |
Congratulations to our Venable Retirees
June 3 will be the last day of school for three of our Venable Superstar teachers. Congratulations to Ms. Baskfield-Spears (special education), Mrs. Forasté (first grade) and Mrs. Williams (third grade). They have all contributed significantly to students and families in our school and have been valuable colleagues and friends. We thank them for their service to our school, our school system and our community, and look forward to hearing about new adventures. The World Comes to Life in the Venable Library
Check out all the great things that we've been doing in the library this spring! Want to come back to school on June 7?
Ms Schrank is looking for a few parent volunteers to help with inventory in the library on Monday June 7. To sign up in two hour increments for Monday June 7, go to: http://tinyurl.com/VenableLibraryInventory2016 For questions or comments, please email Ms. Schrank directly: [email protected] "Summer Slide"--not the kind that burns your legs!
It is not uncommon for students to end the year with demonstrated mastery of certain skills and fluent, confident reading at a certain level. Then they return to school after a few months off and have lost some of those skills. We educators call this phenomenon "summer slide." We don't want parents to feel like they have to take on the role of teacher over the summer, but there are things that you can do to help keep your children's skills sharp while still having fun:
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