Patrick Henry Post

Over the past several weeks, we have experienced some incredible growth in reading (shout out to 2nd grade, whose progress monitoring shows growth in nearly every single student!) while we also celebrated Black History Month and grew our knowledge of the people and movements that changed the culture of America and the world. It has been a beautiful few weeks of extreme weather conditions - snowy virtual days and days with 60 degree sunshine! - where we had to grow in how we do school. We also saw a beautiful student performance at the end of the month that showed me just how talented our students are, and what a bright future they have in front of them. This encourages me to keep pushing them to grow more and more into the amazing adults they will eventually become.

Now midway through March, we see that our students continue to grow academically, and that our school culture continues to stay positive so that students can grow socially and emotionally. Take a look below for some highlights from all around the building!

Do you or someone you know have a 3- or 4- year old interested in our Early Childhood program? We are now accepting students for the 2021-2022 school year! Soon, we will be airing our promotional video, so be on the lookout for our amazing students and teachers to have their names, faces, and work in lights!

Did you know that we have a group of parents who meet virtually every other week to talk about how Patrick Henry is doing as a school, and how parents can support one another as they raise these amazing children in the same community? It was one of the highlights of my year to join as a guest this week and hear from three Patrick Henry parents their ideas for improving the school community. Thank you to all who have been involved in the past, and please call us if you are interested in joining!

Recently, we received a donation of beautiful (and very comfortable) furniture from Square/CashApp. These two new arm chairs and side tables are now sitting atop our fantastic rug (previously donated from a private donor with HomeWorks!). This lovely corner is now on the upper elementary floor outside of Mr. Farmer and Ms. Baumann's rooms. This is a special space designed to make our upper elementary students feel like they have their own cozy corner of the school that belongs to them. Take a break upstairs and check out the new area!

Our students celebrated being in school for 100 days with hilarious and adorable classroom celebrations. Even though many of the celebrations included silly and fun activities, it was a special day to mark a long journey of learning in one of the hardest years of our nation's history. 100 days of hybrid learning! Wow! I am reminded of our children's resiliency and their optimism as I look back on the extreme ups and downs of these 100 days of school, but I still see their smiling, happy faces. Thank you to each of our students who have made the last 100 days an incredible gift.

Through HomeWorks! we have established a new reading program where students receive 1:1 reading support. Our buddies read with our students - both allowing the student to read aloud and giving the student the chance to listen to the buddy read aloud. They read books on the student's instructional level, but they also are exposed to books at their challenge level and beyond so that they are hearing new words and challenging themselves to grow as much as possible as a ready reader. Thank you to every one of our amazing volunteers, and most importantly, thank you to every one of our students who is working so hard to learn and grow!

Our staff and students celebrated Dr. Seuss' legacy by celebrating his birthday for an entire week! Our spirit days included "Wacky Wednesday," "Thing 1 and Thing 2 Thursday," and many other days of absolute ridiculousness. Thank you to all of the silly students who wore hilarious hats, silly socks, etc.!

This week I got to accompany Ms. Versen and Ms. Norton-Young on a home visit where they connected with a student and their family on a whole different level! Even through a virtual visit, the relationship was deepened, and a plan for academic success was established. Sign up for a visit today!

Last but not least, thank you for the tireless hours from Ms. Saquorria Harris, our Social Worker, Ms. Shanice Webb, our Family and Community Specialist, Ms. Amber Smith, our Academic Instructional Coach, and Ms. Kelsey Jones, our Dean of Students. Each of these women make an incredible impact on the daily health and happiness of our staff and students. Thank you for your often unseen work and your amazing attitudes! You inspire me to be my best every day!