Chalk Talk with Principal Powell
Quote of the Week: Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago - Warren Buffett
What a year! We started this year with so much uncertainty. So many questions. Through it all, we made a way-together. Cougar Nation, while we have seen significant growth in our scholars as we returned to face to face instruction. There is still more work to do. In the above quote, Buffett was speaking to long-term financial investing, but it applies to any venture worth pursuing. With that being said, we want to turn our attention towards (3) important next steps/investments going into SY2022-23:
1. Continued focus on College and or Career Readiness
2. Continued focus in the area of Social Emotional Learning and Whole Child development
3. Continued focus on Literacy
First, we must maintain our focus on College and or Career Readiness. Towards that end, next year, our Cary teacher-led after school program will be an essential element of our continued pandemic recovery. Our after-school programming will include our Spelling Bee and Forensics Club, Lego League and Mind Games Teams, Chess and Garden Clubs, and iReady Champions Club. Look for more information this fall.
Second, we will focus on social emotional learning and whole child development. Through our school counselor and teachers, we will be using the Second Step program, Community Circles and Panorama lessons to address the social emotional needs of our scholars. These lessons are critical to supporting a growth mindset, self-management, classroom effort, emotional regulation, and self-efficacy. The bottom line here is that we can have great historians, scientists, teachers etc., but if we don’t have a generation that respects themselves and others then we will have missed the mark.
Third, we will continue our focus on literacy. For us, our kindergarten to second grade program will focus our scholars on learning to read. Our goal is that every scholar will have phonemic awareness, the ability to make letter to sound correspondences, have effective decoding skills, and reading fluency that leads to comprehension. Our third through fifth grade scholars will continue to focus on reading to learn. For this, a strong emphasis will be placed on reading nonfiction texts. Reading nonfiction texts is connected to pleasure and upward mobility.
Lastly, we will tie all of these concepts together through our No Child Left Inside Eco-campus. We believe that investing in delivering real world applications that our scholars will make significant lifelong connections and true learning will occur.
Thank you to our teachers, PTA and all of our community partners that have helped us to thrive through what will go down as one of the most challenging times in the history of teaching in the United States. Through all of the challenges, we were able to establish the Richmond Book Festival and became a Department of Education Green Ribbon School!!! Thank you for hard work, well done. Have a great summer everyone! Wherever you go! Whatever you do! Make sure you have a good book with you! Until next time… Bye-Bye!
Yours in Service,
Michael Powell
Principal
Scholarly Success with Assistant Principal Singleton
Happy June to all scholars and families! We are extremely excited to close out the 2021-2022 school year strong. Kudos to all our scholars, families, teachers, staff, and community partners for the ongoing support. As we continue through the final marking period, please keep in mind that our school-wide goal is for all scholars to be present and on time EVERY DAY. Attendance is imperative as we progress through end-of-year testing. Below is a list of upcoming testing dates. Please encourage all scholars to do their best work.
Important Testing Dates:
June 8 - 17: SOL Expedited Retakes & Makeup Testing
RPS PK-8th Grade 2022 Summer School will be in person and will provide intensive Reading and Mathematics remediation for students whose learning has been significantly impacted by the pandemic and other factors. The summer program will offer:
Intensive Reading Remediation
Intensive Mathematics Remediation
Social-Emotional Learning
Enrichment (STEM, Fine Art, CTE, PE, etc.)
Newcomer Academy (English Language Learners)
Students invited to attend summer school have received letters from Cary with personalized QR codes and/or links to register. These links are unique to each student and may not be shared. Please reach out to us with questions about summer school student identification. Preschool summer students must be registered for Kindergarten for the 2022-23 school year. The last day for PK - 8th Grade summer school registration was June 6, 2022.
Dates: June 29 to August 3 (Monday-Thursday)
PK - 5th Grade Hours: 8:00am - 2:30pm
Cary’s in-zone summer site location will be Linwood Holton Elementary School. Students attending out-of-zone schools due to open enrollment will attend the summer site with students from their regular attendance zone. For additional information, visit https://www.rvaschools.net/academics/academic-programs-and-supports/rps-summer-school.
On behalf of the attendance team, we would like to give a huge shout to Ms. McAllister and Ms. Booker’s class for having the top attendance for the month of May. Kudos to your scholars for being present and on time every day. A special thank you to all of this school year's attendance champions. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, or feedback. I’m happy to help!
Best,
Ketia Singleton, M.T.
Assistant Principal
phone: 804.780.6252
email: ksinglet@rvaschools.net
Resilience. Pride. Success. #WeAreRPS
Upcoming Dates
June 8-17: SOL Expedited Retakes & Makeup Testing
June 21: Field Day (Rain Date: June 22)
June 22: Chromebook Collection
June 22: Kona Ice PBIS Celebration
June 23: 5th Grade Moving On Ceremony
June 24: Last Day of School for Students (2 Hour Early Release)
June 29-August 3 (Monday-Thursday): Summer School Invitation Only (Linwood Holton)
Counselor Connection with Mrs. Cauthorne
Dear Cougar Families,
It is hard to believe that June is here and our school year is coming to an end. What a year it has been! Everyone has worked hard and we are now able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That being said, many lives have been forever changed over the past 2 years. I am proud to see how our Cougar community supports one another with compassion and love. We handled challenges with grace and flexibility, as we continued to provide students with the best learning opportunities possible. I sincerely thank each of you for your partnership in education. Our teachers and staff worked tirelessly to meet students’ needs this year. Our Cougar Family are truly heroes! Students have shown a resiliency that is unparalleled. Kudos to parents as well for supporting our students through the many changes we have faced the past 2 years. Heartfelt congratulations to all!
I look forward to our return in the fall as we come back stronger than ever. To our fifth grade families: I wish you the very best as you head off to middle school and continue your education. Remember….once a Cougar, always a Cougar!
Remember you can contact me at any time by calling the school, (804)780-6252, or emailing me at: icauthor@rvaschools.net
Thank you for all of your patience, understanding, and support this year. We could not have made it without each and every one of you. Congratulations to everyone for finishing up the 2021-2022 school year! From the students to the parents and finally the staff, everyone had a part in making the year successful. Have a great time this summer with family and friends- enjoy each other and make a lot of fabulous memories!
Kindest Wishes,
Mrs. Cauthorne
School Counselor
Prepare for your 5th grader’s next steps
Will your child be moving up to middle school in the fall? To help him/her get ready:
• Learn about the school. Look at its website and social media together. Sign up to receive updates about operating plans, summer programs and other matters.
• Emphasize opportunities. Help your child learn about middle school classes that mesh with his/her interests.
• Reinforce effective study habits, such as organization, time management and regular review.
Immediate Lifelines
- RBHA Mental Health Crisis Support 804-819-4100
- YWCA Richmond Emergency Shelter 804-643-6761
- Housing Crisis Hotline 804-972-0813
- Safe Harbor Domestic Violence Line 804-612-6126
- Richmond Child Protective Services 804-646-0438
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
- RPS Family Support Line 804-780-6195
- Feed More Hunger Help Line 804-521-2500 x631
- RVA "211" https://www.help1rva.org/ or dial 2-1-1
Dr. Holland's Learning Studio
We have had a great year in the art room. I am so happy to be back face to face. Our final projects have been displayed in the halls but here are some of the images.
Please take advantage of the amazing art community this summer in the VMFA, VizArts Second Fridays, and outdoor music in our parks. See you next year.
The Encore team is excited to welcome Mr. Walz as our long-term substitute for PE! Look for information on our Field Day on June 21st.
Mrs. Henderson’s Music Moment
My, my, my! How time has flown by! What an amazing school year this has been! I have enjoyed meeting new students, and reconnecting with returning students. I am so proud of the progress all of the students have made in each of their General Music Education classes. We have had so much fun learning new songs that correlated to each grade level’s core-class curriculum.
Recently, we celebrated Earth Day, and the kindergarten classes sang about how trees give off oxygen to help us breathe in fresh air. Throughout the school year, first graders learned about planting seeds of love, kindness, and respect. Second graders were engaged in learning about note values, rhythms, and developing sight-reading skills on the resonator bells, as they will be introduced to the recorder in 3rd grade. Third graders were fully engaged in learning to hold and play the recorder correctly; and exhibiting proper musical ensemble etiquette. In addition, they also composed their own musical compositions towards the end of this school year.. Fourth and fifth graders were engaged in learning songs which promoted acceptance of others; making good life choices; and thinking about/preparing for their future.
To all caregivers of our beautiful students, thank you so much for your support of the Arts. I am so proud and honored to have sown seeds of love, kindness, and respect for others into your children’s hearts through Music Education. I wish for everyone to have a safe, fun-filled, and exciting summer vacation. Students, don’t forget to read over the summer. Here’s a ‘teddy bear hug’ for each of my students.
Mrs. Burgess' Math Minds
Summer is finally here! Don’t let your scholars succumb to the summer slide. Did you know that on average, scholars can lose between 17-34% of the new knowledge they gained this year without continuing to think about and engage in some sort of educational activities over the summer. This does not mean that all students need to enroll in summer school! Here are some fun ideas to help prevent this loss of new knowledge over the summer, many of which scholars will not even realize they are practicing what they have learned.
Sign up for a Free Summer Math Challenge Here. When you sign up you will get daily emails with fun math activities and resources.
Explore the Richmond Public Library Summer Events and Programs here. Many of the events are free and super fun for kids to engage in. Since there are so many branches, chances are there is one near you!
Sign up for an Every Kid Outdoors Pass to get free access to National parks!
Go on a scavenger hunt and gather items from nature. Have your scholars sort their items by two or more attributes, such as shape, color, texture, or size.
Practice counting and skip counting by playing old school games like hopscotch.
Baking with your child is a great way to practice many math skills. When measuring out different ingredients ask your child which is more or less, try to double or half a recipe and help your child calculate the correct amount of each ingredient.
At the supermarket and your child asks for a treat, see if they can count on to find out the change they should receive.
Enjoy this special time with your children and have fun! Playing board games and card games teaches many different math skills like counting, addition, and subitizing by being able to recognize the amount of dots on the dice without counting them.
Read, read, and read some more! Pick out a book and read it with your child or have your child read a book with or to their siblings. This will encourage reading and discussions around books. When children are read to/with they are influenced to believe that reading is important. Be that positive influence!
Interact with your children as much as possible and show interest in their learning. When you show them that learning is fun and important, they will be motivated to learn more! Have a wonderful summer, we can’t wait to see you in the fall!
Stay Connected using Remind
Remind for RPS Families
RPS is excited to launch the Remind Plan to provide 2-way communications with families and students!
Remind allows teachers who choose to use text messaging to communicate with parents and students. With Remind:
- Parents can choose how to receive messages – text, email or app. For students, texting is available for ages 13 and over.
- It allows for safe and secure messaging that is available in multiple languages
- It has a call feature, so teachers may use it to make calls without using their personal number.
See instructions below on how to sign up or resubscribe to receive Remind notifications from John B. Cary and RPS. If you need to update your contact information, please reach out to the school!
Sign Up to Receive Texts
To receive Remind text messages, use our school code below and text it to 81010 (including the @) on your mobile device. You can also sign-up online by clicking here.
- John B. Cary Elementary School: @johnbcar
John B. Cary Elementary School
Home of the Cougar scholars. You just can't hide that Cougar pride!
Website: jces.rvaschools.net
Location: 3021 Maplewood Avenue, Richmond, VA, USA
Phone: 804-780-6252
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/carypta
Twitter: @CougarScholars