Thank you to our 717 community members, parents, students, and employees who responded to our FY24 Budget Survey. Results indicate the top preliminary budget priorities as follows:

• Compensation Increases for Stipend/Salaries - 88.7%

• Behavioral Specialist (K-12 SPED, move position from grant to local) - 60.8%

• Instructional Assistants (SPED - 3.0 FTEs) - 57.9%

• Convert all Custodian Positions to FT - 59.8%

• Behavioral Specialist (K-12 Gen Ed) - 46.9%

• Replacement Cycle for Student Devices - 42.1%

• Coordinator of Student Support Services - 40.3%

• Special Education Teacher - 36.7%

The CCPS Budget Advisory Committee will meet on January 10, 2023 to review the survey data, General Assembly legislative mandates, and the Governor’s proposed budget to finalize all CCPS budget priorities. A brief overview of the committee's proposed budget priorities will be shared at the School Board’s budget public hearing on January 23, 2023 at CMS (6:30 p.m.). We invite you to attend the public hearing and share your budget suggestions with the School Board. Final CCPS FY24 budget presentations are scheduled for February 13 (School Board) and February 14 (Board of Supervisors).

Caroline County Public Schools is proud to announce Ms. Melanie Brown as the 2023-2024 Division Teacher of the Year. Ms. Brown is a 5th grade teacher at Bowling Green Elementary School. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY Cortland and has been teaching for 26 years. Melanie joined the Madison Mustangs team in 2008, spent two short years in a neighboring division, and returned to CCPS in 2018. In addition to her classroom role, Ms. Brown serves as a teacher mentor and grade level chair.

Ms. Brown’s exemplary teaching skills have included reconstruction of the science classroom to include student-led goal setting and progress monitoring. With an array of hands-on learning and lab experiments, Melanie creates a safe learning environment where students feel comfortable taking academic risks. Ms. Brown states, “The best part of teaching science to over one-hundred fifth graders is watching each student making connections to the real world.” Before experiencing Ms. Brown as a science teacher, many students thought a career in science was solely wearing a lab coat and mixing chemicals. Now her students have exposure to many different career pathways that emphasize science and STEM backgrounds.

Beyond Ms. Brown’s classroom expertise, Melanie engages students' families in their education through two-way communication, regularly sharing photos from the classroom, and encouraging students and parents/guardians to discuss classroom events and learning. Putting action behind her passion for family involvement, Ms. Brown hosted a star gazing party for students and families to discover celestial objects alongside two amateur astronomers who brought items and equipment from NASA.

Ms. Brown will go on to compete at the state level for the 2024 Mary V. Bicouvaris Virginia Teacher of the Year Program. Please join us in congratulating Ms. Melanie Brown as the CCPS 2023-2024 Division Teacher of the Year!

Caroline High School students will be able to take an Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies course starting in the fall of this year. CHS is proud to be one of 200 schools across the country to be at the forefront with this new course. Currently, CHS students can take African American studies as an elective course. The new AP course will reach into a variety of fields including literature, the arts and humanities, political science, geography, and science—to explore the vital contributions and experiences of African Americans. It will also examine 400 years of contributions from Africans and their descendants to the U.S. This will cover African civilizations throughout history to the present.

The Office of Special Education will be collaborating with the Parent Teacher Resource Center and SEAC to work with schools and families on addressing the social and emotional needs of students through training on Executive Function. The Training will consist of:

• What are Executive Functions?
• The cause of deficits in Executive Functions
• What Executive Function challenges look like at home and school
• Strategies for learning Executive Function skills
• Strategies for compensating for deficits in Executive Function skills

Please see the following link on additional information regarding Executive Function.

https://www.edutopia.org/video/whats-executive-function-and-why-does-it-matter/

The Caroline County School Board recently approved a Freshman Seminar Course for Caroline High School. The proposed Freshman Seminar will provide a foundation for decision making, goal setting, and overall success for freshman students. In addition, a major focus for this course will be to support 9th grade students in deciding a College or Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway. This will help increase the number of students who complete all courses for a particular subject such as Culinary Arts, Cyber Security or JROTC. Students will also have the opportunity to take the Workplace Readiness Assessment, which is required for graduation.

• Special Education Teacher
• Elementary Teacher
• STEM-Project Lead the Way Teacher
• High School Counselor
• Part Time Custodian
• Bus Driver
• Food Services

To see openings, please visit our website by clicking this link. Come join our team!

Take a look at the December School Board Meeting highlights:

• Instructional Learning Walk Highlights

• Recognitions: 2022 Student School Board Rep., CTE Governor's School Student Recognition, CHS Fall Sports & Band, Teacher of the Year Recipients

• Approval of FY24 CIP Budget, FY24 Budget Development Calendar, Wellness Policy, and of AP African American Studies Course

• Information from School Division on PALS, Computer Science

• New Business - Freshman Academy Course First Reading

For more information on these topics, you can access the Boarddocs link or see the meeting at our CCPS YouTube Channel.

The Fredericksburg Area Builders Association (FABA) is committed to partnering with CCPS to provide opportunities for high school students to learn about the building and construction industry. Through hands-on learning opportunities and job shadowing programs, students are able to gain valuable experience and insight into the various careers available in the field. In addition, the association offers scholarships and externships with its vast network of members to help students pursue higher education and training in the industry. These initiatives help to foster a skilled and knowledgeable workforce, and provide a pipeline of talent for the future of the building and construction industry in the Caroline County area and beyond. We love our Partners in Education!

If you are interested in being a Partner in Education, click HERE.

If you or someone you know is looking for local food pantries, you can use this Pantry Locater Map: https://fredfood.org/Pantry-Locator-Map.

There is also an app: https://fredfood.org/Pantry-Locator-App

Thrive Virginia, formerly Quin Rivers, is a communication action agency dedicated to supporting and uplifting communities, using a whole-family approach to help persons fighting poverty overcome barriers to their success. They are conducting a Community Needs Assessment Survey to identify gaps in services and identify new resources for our community members.

The survey is available to any adult (18+) residing in our service area, including Caroline County. You can access the survey HERE. Deadline for completing it is January 31,2023.

January 2- Teacher Workday

January 3-Students Return to School

January 6- End of Second Quarter

]January 9- Law Enforcement Appreciation Day

January 16- Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday (HOLIDAY)