Trick or Read or Math Want to know more about math instruction? Want ideas for good books to read to your children? Join the fun on Oct. 27 from 5:30-7:00pm!
Oct 7 Walk to School, starting at 7:40am from Preston/Grady Walk-A-Thon, starting at 9am on the blacktop
Oct 10 Walk-A-Thon rain date
Oct 12 PreK to Greenfield Farm, 8:45am-12:15pm
Oct 13 4th grade to Old Cabell Hall, Youth Symphony Concert, 9:15am
Oct 14 Picture Day--prepaid individual photos Student of the Week Assembly, grades 3-4, 8:05am School board members visit school
Oct 20-21 3rd grade classes to Fralin Art Museum (times vary)
Oct 21 Student of the Week Assembly, grades 1-2, 8:05am
Oct 25 4th grade classes to Fralin Art Museum (times vary)
Oct 27 Last day of the 1st quarter Trick or Read or Math, 5:30-7pm
Oct 28 Teacher Workday. No school for students
Nov 4 Student of the Week Assembly, grades 3-4, 8:05am
Nov 7 Parent-teacher conference day. No school for students
Nov 8 Election Day. Teacher Workday. No school for students. School office closed. 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.
Congratulations to Mrs. Hartwell!
Hayes Matthew Hartwell was born October 1, 2016 at 8:28pm. He was 8lb, 4oz. Mom, Dad, big sister and baby are all doing well!
We're All IN to Writing! This year our school improvement focus is around student writing. Each of our grade level teams will be working together to design common lessons that support students in developing strong writing skills: from elaboration (bringing characters to life and showing expertise in a topic) and craft (language choice, strong details) to transitions, organization, and spelling/punctuation. For example, first graders are already practicing with speech bubbles and quotation marks! Students will be introduced to new checklists to help revise and edit their work according to specific criteria that we will be teaching them. When you attend your child's parent-teacher conference, take a look at the writing your child is doing and find out what is in place to spark his or her writing genius! In addition, Ms. Tatel, our reading specialist, has added a new tab at the top of this newsletter for resources and ideas about all things literacy at Venable.
Religious Holidays and Perfect Attendance Religious holidays are excused absences for students. In addition, this type of excused absence will not count against a child's perfect attendance record. If your child misses school due to a religious holiday, please make sure we are aware of it so that we can document it appropriately.
October is Bully Prevention Month The focus of Mr. U's classroom lessons this month is on kindness and being bully-free. He will be talking to the students about what bullying is, how we can avoid it, and what to do if we see or experience it. When we talk about bullying, we are guided by a specific definition: "Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time." For more information, visit www.stopbullying.gov (where this definition was taken).
Next week, we will celebrate being Bully Free with a spirit week. Students are encouraged to dress up to support kindness and anti-bullying behaviors: Monday: Mix it Up Day--wear mismatched clothes Tuesday: Put name-calling to sleep: wear your PJs! Wednesday: Be a Good Sport--wear sports team gear Thursday: Hats Off to Upstanders--wear a hat Friday--Smile! and dress up to go with it for picture day
Back to School Night Survey Results Thank you to the many of you (101!) who responded to our parent survey about the new format of Back to School Night. From a purely subjective birds eye view, it felt very positive with good energy and enthusiasm from students and parents. Overall, it seemed like you agreed as well. Here are a few highlights from our survey:
Degree to which the new format allowed you to become familiar with routines and structures in the classroom: 83% responded very well or moderately well, with 13% more indicating slightly well.
Degree to which the new format allowed you to know about some of the things your child will be learning this year: 73% responded very well or moderately well with 16% indicating slightly well.
This will be a topic we will address this year through parent-teacher conferences (which start this month), family events (like Trick or Read or Math), ongoing Thursday folder communications, and other newsletters.
For next year, we will work on having consistent hand-outs in each classroom to give you this information.
Degree to which the new format allowed your child to take ownership of his/her learning: 96% said very well or moderately well with 4% indicating slightly well.
Degree to which your own goals were met for Back to School Night: 83% responded very well or moderately well with 11% indicating slightly well.
Compared to years past, this year's Back to School Night was: 82% indicated better or much better overall.
Most respondents also enjoyed having the picnic paired with Back to School Night, but indicated a need to figure out how to lessen the length of the lines for food. Several suggested different food stations and ensuring that there are enough main dishes to go around.