The Patrick Henry Post

Patrick Henry cannot run without a Leadership Team working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure student needs are met and teachers are supported. The Leadership Team allows teachers to focus on teaching, and students to focus on learning. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a well-known theory that states a human's basic needs - safety, health, and mental well-being - must be met before any other work can be accomplished effectively. The Leadership Team at Patrick Henry addresses all of those needs so that the rest of our staff can concentrate on academic growth. This week's Post highlights the members of the Team and what we do to provide services to our students and families so that they can make learning their top priority while they are at school.

As the Dean of Students, I have been working with teachers and students to support them with anything related to student behavior. This can include managing discipline referrals, communicating with parents regarding any discipline infractions, and implementing behavior interventions. I am also the Technology Inventory Coordinator (TIC); I have been working with teachers to coordinate the distribution of iPads to each student. I have also been working with teachers to troubleshoot any technology issues. I am very excited to be a part of the 22-23 school year at Patrick Henry, and I am looking forward to continuing to support students and teachers.

Hi, my name is Saquorria Harris and I am the Social Worker at Patrick Henry. For the 2022-2023 School Year, my focus is to encourage Social and Emotional Learning amongst the student body here at Patrick Henry. I have been working along with Mrs. Gregory (School Counselor) to help our student build relationships. Take a look at my Calm Corner.

Hi families! This year, I am working to form a committee of families to participate in our Patrick Henry Parent Support Group. My goal is to meet with parents once a month virtually. I will provide an agenda to discuss current events about Patrick Henry and upcoming events within the community. I want to create a safe space for families to have an open discussion for better understanding in how to create support between school and home. If you are interested in joining, please contact the main office or email me: shanice.webb@slps.org.

My job is to provide SEL (Social and Emotional) Lessons to our students in the classroom. The goal is to provide our students the opportunity to build positive relationships amongst peers, to understand how their brain works with their emotions and how they learn. I also work closely with our school Social Worker, Ms. Harris. Together we lead groups to help our students more in depth with positive peer relationships, conflict resolution, grief and more. I also oversee the Afterschool Program for Patrick Henry. In the program, all participating students are provided with a meal and snack, homework help/tutoring and recreational time.

The teachers and I have been working together to look at student data to determine what specific reading skills and strategies each child needs in order to grow! They are using that data to plan and implement small group instruction that is specifically tailored to your child's needs. We have already seen a ton of growth this year and it's only October! We will continue to work together to support the needs of all our students. I look forward to seeing more growth in the future.

As the principal of Patrick Henry, I have the honor of running the best school in St. Louis. I love our students, our families, our staff, and our school community, and it is my job to safeguard all of it. My main responsibilities include:

• Keep the school and all of its students and staff safe at all times
• Manage the Leadership Team
• Evaluate all staff
• Nurture relationships with stakeholders
• Manage the school budget
• Provide professional development and coaching
• Set goals for the school's academic growth
• Develop family relationships and support children's safety and continued learning at home

Some of my favorite parts of the day include:

• Building relationships with students to make sure they always feel safe and welcome at Patrick Henry
• Observing in classrooms to see the learning happening first hand
• Supporting teachers with big or small tasks such as purchasing supplies, making copies, subbing in classrooms, or providing treats to let the staff know I care about them
• Checking in on the attendance of our students and staff to challenge everyone to be at Patrick Henry as much as possible for their learning, growth, and development

A few highlights from this year include:

• Leading professional development with our staff and making sure they feel like they are part of a mission to give our students the very best every day
• Creating a new Teachers' Lounge for our staff to have a place to relax and prepare for their lessons
• Opening two new preschool classrooms with two new preschool teachers who already love Patrick Henry and our students
• Celebrating the first day of school and welcoming all of our new and returning families back to Patrick Henry
• Treating the Patrick Henry staff to not one but two free Cardinals games already!
• Welcoming parents and families back for in-person Open House!
• Seeing our students already show reading and math growth on the STAR assessment
• Welcoming grandparents into Patrick Henry to celebrate Grandparents' Day on September 12th
• Celebrating the incredibly hard work of our staff and students that led to our two recognitions as a Missouri Green School and one of America's Healthiest Schools

Patrick Henry hosted our first University of Missouri Extension program for Food and Nutrition Services this week! Our preschool and kindergarteners met our new partner, Ms. Sylvia, who started the first of eleven weeks of lessons on healthy eating tips. This week started with a story and a puppet to show what germs can do!

We love when we get to see our parents in person! Dr. Rogers just happened to be in the right place at the right time to see siblings lined up in perfect age order on their way to dismissal!

Ms. Evans was caught with her young reading apprentices enjoying their chapter books and growing every single word into stronger readers! We love how many times we walk through the building and see groups, individuals, and whole classes completely lost in a great book.

Our PE classes have begun their flag football units and the students are LOVING it! They get to run out all of their energies and learn the power of teamwork and strategic thinking!

Every day we say the same dismissal routine before we exit the building:

I will stay with my teacher at all times.

I will use my walking feet.

I will stay on the blacktop until I get picked up.

I will make sure my teacher sees who is picking me up.

I will be careful around the cars.

Our families do a wonderful job of making our dismissal safe every day!

This school year started off with a massive gift for our students, who received brand new backpacks filled with supplies. This week, our staff got the same treat! The backpacks are embroidered with the SLPS logo and were filled with teacher supplies. We love them and look forward to putting them to good use!

Thursday, October 13th is the final day to sign up to be a part of the Patrick Henry Parent Support Group. Please click here to take the survey about your preferred meeting days and times, and the topics that are most important for you to discuss.

On Friday, October 14th, all SLPS schools are closed. Teachers will be involved in Professional Development.

On Friday, October 14th, families will receive their child's 1st quarter Report Card via email. Please make sure you have updated your contact information if you do not have a current email address or phone number. You can update your contact information by calling the school at 314.231.7284 or by clicking here.

Parents are invited in person for Parent-Teacher Conferences the week of October 17th, Monday-Thursday. Please schedule your conference with your child's teacher. Available times are listed below:

• Monday, October 17th, 3:15-5:15pm
• Tuesday, October 18th, 3:15-5:15pm
• Wednesday, October 19th, 3:15-5:15pm
• Thursday, October 20th, 3:15-3:45pm

You should also receive a packet of interventions from your child's teacher this week. Every student will receive a one-pager to explain their current Reading and Math level, and what you can do at home with your child to make sure they are always challenged and growing as Readers and Mathematicians!

All SLPS schools will be closed on Friday, October 21st.

On Friday, October 28th, Patrick Henry will celebrate Halloween with our students through an amazing event at the school! We invite all students to bring or wear a costume to school that day, but please remember that all costumes must still be school-appropriate and cannot have any type of weapon, even as a part of the costume. We are always in need of family support for this event, so please see the ways you can contribute below:

• Donate candy to the school for our candy stations (all candy welcome!)
• Volunteer the day of the event (Friday, October 28th, 1:00-2:30pm) - We need people to help run our stations, walk with the students through the event, and support the teachers as they assist students with costumes and candy collection
• Donate bags for the students to use to collect and hold their candy

Parents must be a registered volunteer with the district in order to participate in this event. Please contact Shanice Webb for more details: shanice.webb@slps.org, 314.231.7284

Save the Date! On Monday, October 31st, students with perfect attendance during the month of October will be invited to an afternoon celebration, and their families are invited to attend! We will have light refreshments, certificates, and prizes for all of our students, and we want their families to feel celebrated too! In order to qualify for this celebration, students must have:

• 0 absences
• 0 late arrivals (students must arrive before 8:10am)
• 0 early dismissals (students must stay at school until 2:52pm)

An invitation will be sent to families who qualify by Ms. Shanice Webb. If you have questions about your child's attendance, please call the school at 314.231.7284 or email deborah.rogers@slps.org.