This week, we celebrated the end of February and welcomed in a new month. We were thrilled to feel the immediate change in weather, from snow days to the beautiful, warm, breezy days of Spring. We also found so much to celebrate and enjoy this week from our students and staff. As you read through this week's highlights, think back on a personal highlight for you this week, and take a moment to appreciate a positive experience.

The St. Louis Symphony hosts an annual art contest titled, "Picture the Music." Students listen to a piece of music and create an artistic response to the music. It could be a drawing, painting, or structure, but it must be responsive to the music they hear. This year, 11,000 students entered the contest across 59 schools in the St. Louis region. The judges chose just 100 students out of the 11,000 to honor. Patrick Henry is bursting with pride to say that TWO of our students were in that small 100 awardees!!!

Jayla Rivers is a kindergarten student in Ms. Willard's class. She has a big smile and an even bigger heart. She loves her friends and her teacher, and uses every day in school to learn and grow and find happiness. It is no surprise that her artwork displays the same joy she feels in her heart.

Jaleah Andre is a fourth grade student in Ms. Ivory's class. Though she is a relatively new student to Patrick Henry (she joined us in October), we already know her to be polite, kind, and oriented towards care of others. Her artwork displays a ballerina dancing to the music, and it almost mirrors Jaleah's spirit - beautiful, sweet, and happy.

We are so proud of our students for this incredible honor, and we are so thankful for Ms. Kellie Godfrey, our art teacher who makes sure our students always have the chance to shine. Art contests are not easy to coordinate, but Ms. Godfrey handles them well, and always gives our students opportunities to be the true artists they are!

Gateway to the Great Outdoors, or GGO, visited Patrick Henry this week to work with our third and fourth graders. Ms. Ivory reported that her students loved learning about climate change and thermal energy this week!

Our GGO partnership has shifted over the years from in-person to virtual experiences, from field trips to guest speakers. We love seeing our partners every time no matter the context because they challenge us to bring the outdoors in, and to always take ourselves to the outside world.

This month, we are launching the Patrick Henry Parent Support Group, a collection of parents and family members with students at this school who will come together once a month to support each other and the children of our school. This group is open to all family members who have a child at Patrick Henry. Our purpose is to connect with each other, provide resources to our families, and ensure that our children are receiving the best education possible. In March, our first meeting is a virtual open house during Parent Teacher Conference week. After you visit your child's teacher, come and join the open Parent Support Group meeting (see QR code) to learn more!

Dates and Times of Virtual Parent Support Open House:

March 15, 3:15-5:15pm

March 16, 3:15-5:15

March 17, 3:15-5:15

Through our partnership with Springboard to Learning, Ms. Teska and Ms. Versen's first graders have an amazing opportunity this semester to learn ballet! Students use the open area of the computer lab to explore the amazing connection between brain and body, thinking critically while mastering difficult physical movements. Their workout is tough and impressive, but their joy is even more exciting to see!

March 1st welcomed in not only our new month, but also our new P.E. unit: basketball! In perfect timing for the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, the Patrick Henry basketball unit teaches our students the essential skills of dribbling, passing, ball control, and shooting. Students also learn the official rules of the game and the essential teamwork that requires students to work together to play their best!

3rd and 4th graders in Ms. Ivory's class worked through their Guided Reading stations this week to increase their vocabulary and reading strategies. Deonte explained that his station focused on using context clues to determine the definition of key vocabulary words.

If you're looking for some fun context clue work at home, take a look at some free resources:

• https://www.classroomnook.com/blog/context-clues-games
  
• https://www.k12reader.com/five-fun-ways-to-teach-context-clues/
  
• https://jenniferfindley.com/free-context-clues-activity/
  

Patrick Henry Reading Specialist, Ms. Evans, knows that reading is all about that brain and body connection! Keeping the body and brain healthy ensure every obstacle is out of the way for reading instruction to really have an impact. This week we caught her students eating kiwi before a big read, exercising to warm themselves up, and diving deeply into their small group reading session. Awesome job, all around!

Ms. Versen's students are only in first grade, but they work at their literacy centers like they are college students! They are focused, excited, and engaged by the learning they are a part of every day in their Guided Reading centers!

During a Guided Reading observation this week, Ms. Jami had a new classroom management strategy on display on her Smart board. Bubbles were bouncing rapidly with the volume of the classroom, and when the volume got too high, her program let out a friendly but firm "SHHHH!" to remind the class to lower their volume at their literacy centers. It allowed Ms. Jami to keep her attention on her guided reading group at the table, and helped students remember the voice level expectations of Guided Reading time.

This week, we celebrated our students with 90%-100% attendance for the month of February. Our 100% attendance students received their attendance bracelet along with a prize from the treasure bin! Our 90-99% attendance students received their attendance bracelet and recognition in their classroom. Well done, everyone!!

For attendance tips for parents, see the resources below:

• https://www.aps.edu/news/archives/2017-2018/parent-tips-for-improving-school-attendance
  
• https://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Attendance-Works-Elementary__handout_101421.pdf
  

We love having lots of friendly faces in the office. You might see our incredible secretary, Ms. Jasmine Henderson, working the front desk, or it might be one of our amazing building subs, Ms. Jemecia ("J") Bailey or Ms. Shelley Womack ("Ms. W"). Often you will see Ms. Shanice Webb, our Family and Community Specialist greeting families and community partners, and Nurse Briana Gibbs connecting with kids and staff. We love our front office staff and the positive energy they bring to Patrick Henry every single day!

Recently, Spooky came back for a visit to Patrick Henry! Spooky is the original puppy who was rescued by our students after she wandered onto our playground. She got to visit her favorite students in SLPS and the joy was mutual!

This week, Ms. Willard's kindergarten students found a Frenchie on the playground during recess. She was so friendly that she just had to come inside the school and meet everyone! She met the staff, but there was one staff member in particular who fell madly in love...Ms. Harris immediately snatched her up and nicknamed her "Tiny." We realized quickly this was someone's pet because she was very clean and her nails had been recently trimmed. CareSTL posted her to their website and we were able to find Fiona's family! They were driving through St. Louis on a family road trip and did not realize that Fiona had not gotten back in the car with them on their way home to Tennessee! Luckily, our students found her and our staff took great care of her. She is safe and sound with her family now!