Eagle Express
LHS Staff Newsletter--Year 18, Vol. 29, 03/25/19
Principal's Message
This past weekend, 95 LHS students attended the FIRST Leadership Workshop in our school's history. They traveled to the Jamestown 4-H Camp where they attended leadership sessions, learned about the history and heritage of our school, sang, danced, laughed, and formed bonds for a lifetime. Watching the reactions of the delegates at the heritage session on Friday night was extremely moving. Our students are so proud of their school and to be a part of the Eagle Nation family!
Conducting a successful Leadership Workshop is a tremendous undertaking. The upperclassmen who comprised the staff put in over 100 hours in planning this LW. This was done with the help and guidance of Chelsea Brechtel, our SCA advisor, who also put in an inordinate amount of time working on this project. Several staff members gave up their weekend to chaperone this event and help with logistics: T'na Bell, Melody Cariello, Jennifer Cholick, Kelly Singer, Dave Coulter, Matthew Hamaker, Steph Currence, Kelli Bradshaw, and Dria Chambers. Ask these staff members about their LW workshop experience. I think they may have had as much fun as the students did!
The theme of LW this year was, "To Higher Sights." It came from this quote by Peter Drucker:
“Leadership is not magnetic personality, that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not 'making friends and influencing people', that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”
The students who planned and attended LW are excited to take LHS to higher sights. It is truly an exciting time to be an Eagle!
I Make a Difference
From Terri Muench
This week I would like Margaret Burgess to receive this award. We at Landstown are so lucky to have her! I have never seen her too busy to help another person. She is always there helping when needed – grade book help – poster maker – answering telephones – delivering report cards to teachers - helping at the front counter and in so many other ways. Along with all that she works on the master schedule and other time consuming “data tech” assignments. Margaret always has a smile and is welcoming no matter what she is faced with. I respect Margaret not only for her knowledge but for the flexibility and promptness in getting the job done. Thank you Margaret – you are the best and truly deserve this award!
Online LHS Book Study Opportunity
Who loves Google and infusing it in the classroom in ways that bring your content to life for your students? If you said, “ME!!” this online book study of The Google Infused Classroom: A Guidebook to Making Thinking Visible and Amplifying Student Voice, which examines pedagogy and how Google tools can enhance it, may be just for YOU! We will begin our book study on April 2 via online discussions in Schoology. Space is limited as we only have hard copies of the book to distribute, so the first 23 to register are in! If you are interested in participating and earning a possible 6 PL points, please complete this form. See Krissy or Erik with questions.
Advisory Information
This week’s Advisory on decision-making skills, will take place on Wednesday, March 27. Similar to recent school choice advisories, this is once again more discussion/activity oriented and there are no tasks for students to complete in Schoology, so they will not necessarily need their Chromebooks. Important to note: Senior class advisory groups will need to take attendance and report to the auditorium immediately after for the Jostens Cap and Gown assembly. Teachers should plan to stay with your advisory group for the assembly.
Teacher notes, including links to everything you need for the lesson, have been placed in Schoology in the LHS Advisory Group. Remember, once in the group, click Resources to access the grade level folders and then the March 27 folder. Since students do not need access to anything in Schoology this time, you DO NOT NEED to copy this week’s folder into your own Advisory course; instead, you can simply access the Teacher Notes from within the LHS Advisory group. After you have reviewed the lesson, get in touch with Kelly, Krissy or Kasi if you have questions prior to Advisory day.
Upcoming Events
Monday, 03/25 (B)
JV Softball @ FC, 4:00
JV Soccer @ FC, 4:00
JV Baseball vs FC, 4:00
Tuesday, 03/26 (A)
ASVAB, Library
Softball vs Green Run, 4:00
Baseball vs Green Run, 4:00
Wednesday, 03/27 (B)
Advisory Day
Josten's Senior Meeting, 8:40, Auditorium
SCA General Assembly, 12:00, Auditorium
Girls Tennis @ Green Run, 3:00
Boys Tennis vs Green Run, 3:00
Track, 3:00
JV Softball vs OL, 4:00
JV Soccer vs OL, 4:00
JV Baseball @ OL, 4:00
Thursday, 03/28 (A)
Softball vs Granby, 4:d0
Girls Soccer vs First Flight, 6:00
March Madness (Student/Faculty Basketball Game), 6:00
Spring Musical, 7:00, Auditorium
Friday, 03/29
Staff Work Day
Spring Musical, 7:00, Auditorium
Saturday, 03/30
Spring Musical, 7:00, Auditorium
Staff Work Day
This Friday, March 29, is a staff work day. We will not have a whole staff meeting as a staff meeting is already slated for Monday, April 1. Departments and PLCs may schedule working sessions. Remember that all grades for the third quarter must be entered by 1:00 on Friday. Information related to grades was sent out via email last week by Mrs. Pickett and is repeated below:
Please use this link to access the directions for posting grades for the third marking period. Teachers should have at least one meaningful grade per week. Please be sure to use the comment options on the report cards as a means for communicating and sharing additional information with the parent/guardian. In addition to using the comment options, please make contact with parents of students who are failing. Early and continued proactive communication on our part helps gain the support and involvement of parents.
Important dates:
- Grades may be posted by teachers beginning Monday, March 25th – Friday, March 29th. Start early to avoid potential issues with Synergy.
- Grades will be due by Friday, March 29th at 1:oo pm.
- Distribute report cards during your 2A class on Monday, April 8th.
- You may begin entering grades for Quarter 4 on Monday, April 1st.
- Our next parent-teacher conference is Wednesday, April 10th, and again on Wednesday, April 24th. (Remember—If you set up a parent conference yourself, make sure you complete the online form and that have discussed the date and time with the parent and they are available.)
Need help?
- Transfer grades for new students should be put in within a week of their arrival to your class. When posting grades, you cannot have any missing grades. If you need a grade for a student, contact the previous teacher (if within LHS) or the counselor (if from a different school, division, etc).
- If a student is auditing your class, a grade still needs to be entered.
- See Mrs. Sanderlin, Mr. Moore, or Mrs. Burgess for specific gradebook questions.
Announcements & Reminders
Library Inventory Process: The library staff would like to collect any unused remote controls, and account for any library materials throughout the building. They will be completing this yearly inventory by visiting classrooms on Friday, March 29th to account for remotes and other equipment. In an effort to do this in a timely manner, please place all remotes and/or library equipment in a central location.
Principles of American Citizenship: Don't forget to nominate students for this month's citizenship trait: cooperation. Do you have students who exemplify a spirit of cooperation? Make sure you get this form to Terri Muench by March 28th!
Chromebook Care: Please remind your students of the proper care and handling of their Chromebooks (see document here). We are seeing an increase in repair requests and we need to make sure our students are following the basic care instructions so that there is no interruption to their access to these tools.
Ring Dance Chaperones: The Junior Class is asking all staff to consider chaperoning the Ring Dance this year. It will be held on Saturday, April 6 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Please use this Google Form to indicate your intent to attend. Thanks!
Sub Folders: Teachers, please make sure there are updated class rosters in your sub folders. This will ensure accurate attendance for our students in your absence. After an absence, please check your sub folder and replenish your class rosters as needed.
Summer Digital Learning Summit: VBCPS is once again hosting its annual Digital Learning Summer Summit. You can now register to attend in frontline.
Ring Ceremony: Our Junior Class will have their Ring Ceremony on April 2nd during 1st block.
Kudos
Kudos and congratulations to Tim Blum, Letha Anderson, and their students for initiating a "Best Buddies" group here at LHS. WAVY-TV 10 did a story on the group last week. You can view that story here. A parent of one of the students wrote: "While I can't thank you enough, I wanted you to know that you touched the hearts of people who are not even directly associated with Landstown, but they know my son. I am so very proud to be a part of the Landstown High School Family and even more proud to see the school represented in such a positive way (again, those who personally know me, also know the depth of my gratitude for this school) . "Eagles Soar Towards Excellence Every One, Every Day, Every Way" May God's Blessings, Grace, and Favor, continue to fall upon Landstown High School and each and everyone of you!" Pretty amazing--especially considering that this was only the second time the club has met!
Congratulations to Chef Johnson and her two students who placed in the Culinary Institute of Virginia 2019 Culinary Decathlon. Efrain Guerrero took 1st place and won a $15,000 scholarship and Chloe Bowman took 2nd place and a $12,000 scholarship.
Congratulations to Michael Christmas who was selected as the Tidewater Player of the Year. You can see an interview Michael did here. Donald Hand was also selected for second team All-Tidewater honors. Alyssa Norris was selected for second team All-Tidewater honors on the girls side.
Congratulations to the class of 2020 football players who according to Coach Reamon have already qualified for NCAA Clearinghouse and eligibility for athletic scholarships based on their GPA and SAT scores. These players include Chris Price, Calvin Sykes, Emmanuel Idlebird, Luqman Haskett, Tavien Goffigan, Tim Johnston, Jaylen Parham, and Jordan Jackson
Kudos to Ms. Allen who took four students to the Cox HS Leadership Forum on Friday. Students attending were Chevel Samuels, Elisha Barnes, Amara Kerley, and Bobbie Garnes.
March 26: John Kovar, Tech Ed
March 27: Restituto Dayrit, Custodian
March 29: Judi Lassiter-Williams, English
March 30: Marie Mayoya, World Languages
March 30: Terri Muench, Main Office
Counseling Corner
AP Exam Registration closes on Wednesday, March 27th! Please encourage your students to register now! More information is forthcoming about testing locations and bus transportation for students to and from the Convention Center for testing!
Course Request Verification sheets are due back this week. Please remind our students to review those with their families and return the signed copy. If students need to make changes to their requested classes for next year, they can do so on this form!
Beach Bags Food Drive
The division's Office of Community Engagement is once again sponsoring a community food drive for the Beach Bags program. There will be a one-day collection at Pembroke Mall from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 28th; however, LHS is participating by collecting from March 13 through March 28th. A collection box will be placed in front of the Library. Please encourage your students, clubs, teams, parents, etc. to donate to the Beach Bags project.
Monetary donations can also be made. In fact, every $3.00 donated fills a Beach Bag! Checks should be made out to the Virginia Beach Education Foundation with “Beach Bags” written on the Memo Line.
Social Media Requests
We’ve been receiving quite a few requests lately to post various activities, events, and news to our official school social media accounts. We love to do this to spotlight the fantastic things happening in our building and to more effectively keep our students in-the-know about upcoming events! To more efficiently handle the requests, we’ve created a form for all staff to complete if you’d like something posted on the official school Instagram (@landstownhighschoolvb) and/or Twitter (@LandstownEagles) accounts. This form will allow you to submit a photo/video and a caption. It will require that you be logged into your school account, as it will collect your email address, and that you have checked to make sure all students involved do not have an opt-out media release form on file in the office. If you have questions about posts, see Jason Stanley. If you need help with submitting your information via the form, see Krissy Sanderlin.
Professional Learning Program
As part of the division's PL program, instructional staff, including teachers, counselors, and specialists, engage in both essential (required) and choice professional learning sessions. In previous years, the majority of sessions for the upcoming school year were released for registration at the same time during the first week of May. Now the publication of choice sessions can be ongoing, released for registration throughout the year to allow staff to better make decisions based on their schedule and needs at that time, rather than registering for sessions months in advance. Essential sessions, however, will continue to be published with an official launch dat of May 2. Please remember:
- Publication of choice sessions will occur throughout the year in Frontline.
- All Essential sessions will be published and opened for registration in Frontline May 2.
- It is vital that profiles in Frontline be set to accurately reflect the current teaching assignment and to allow notifications.This ensures that as relevant sessions are added, an email notification will be sent. You can find instructions on setting up your profile here.
TalentEd Info
Principal's Advisory Committee
The Principal's Advisory Committee serves in an advisory capacity to address employee concerns as they relate to site conditions that negatively impact on high student achievement and high employee morale. The PAC is committed to resolving issues professionally and in a timely manner. The following staff members have been elected to serve on this year's PAC: Katie Bennett, Caroline Clark, Jae Clark, Terri Gayer, Woody Gehlert, Kay Gramling, Kathy Holbert, Suzette Johnson, Connie Martinez, Michael Robinson, Kelly Singer and Anne Marie Sprague. Use this form to submit concerns to the PAC.
Our Guiding Questions
- How do students determine and engage with their learning targets?
- What is the evidence that students are exercising their voice and choice throughout the learning process?
- What evidence is there that the teacher has planned opportunities for students to choose from a variety of tools/structures during their learning?
- How are teachers using assessment tools as part of their assessment strategy?
- What evidence exists that supports student collaboration, exploration, and creation efforts?
Landstown High School
Email: cheryl.askew@vbschools.com
Website: http://www.landstownhs.vbschools.com/
Location: 2001 Concert Drive, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Phone: 757-648-5500
Twitter: @LandstownEagles