The Patrick Henry Post

This was a short week, but an important one, as we welcomed our Patrick Henry students back to school for the start of our second semester. We loved seeing our students' smiles and hearing their tales of Winter Break with their families, friends, and loved ones. No matter how your family celebrated the holidays, you spent quality time with your children and they were happy to share about how much fun they had.

This week at school, we welcomed our students back in a few fun ways:

• We treated this week like the beginning of the school year and played relationship-building games - just to remind each other of who we are!
• We reviewed our classroom routines and procedures to make sure students felt secure and prepared to be back in school.
• We jumped back into the academic work so that our students continue to grow in reading and math.
• We regrouped our students for small group instruction according to their December reading and math scores so that we could not only give them high quality whole group instruction on grade level, but also intensive and specific small group instruction on their reading or math level.

Take a look below for a few highlights from this week across Patrick Henry:

Every week, our Related Arts teachers - Ms. Godfrey (Art), Ms. Gonzalez (Music), and Mrs. Ralphs (PE) - give out star tickets for excellent behavior in their classrooms. At the end of the week, they draw names from those students who earned star tickets, and those students who are chosen get to come to the office for a dive in the treasure chest. Take a look below for this semester's first star winners!

Dr. Kelvin Adams officially retired from St. Louis Public Schools on December 31st, 2022, and Dr. Nicole Williams officially took the reins as Interim Superintendent on January 1st, 2023. Dr. Williams will serve as Superintendent this semester while the St. Louis Public School Board runs a national search for a permanent Superintendent to take over in June, 2023. There was an extensive search process, and this month, the interview process begins. We wish all the best to Dr. Adams in his next phase of life, and we thank him for his 14 years of service. We also wish good luck to Dr. Williams in her new position, and we welcome her to visit Patrick Henry and make a new home away from home here!

On Monday, January 16th, all SLPS schools and offices will be closed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We celebrate this holiday with our students and staff by learning about Dr. King, Jr.'s legacy and performing acts of service in our community.

On Friday, February 3rd, all Kindergarten - 5th Grade students will receive an electronic Progress Report Card via email. Please call the school at 314.231.7284 if you do not have a parent email address on file, or if you have not received any email communications from us in the past.

On Tuesday, February 14th, some classrooms will celebrate Valentine's Day with treats, cards, and tokens of appreciation. Please be on the lookout for communication from your child's teacher on what to bring to school that day. No child is required to bring anything in order to participate.

On Friday, February 17th, all SLPS schools will be closed. Staff will be in Professional Development throughout the day so there is no school for students.

On Monday, February 20th, all SLPS schools and offices will be closed in honor of Presidents' Day.

All families are invited to an IN-PERSON event on Friday, February 24th to celebrate Black History Month. This event will take place in the afternoon from 1:00-2:30pm in the Patrick Henry gym. Students will perform dances, songs, and skits during the performance, and we encourage all family members to attend!