This week and weekend, our families and students will be celebrating Valentine's Day in creative ways. One way I encourage all adults and students to celebrate is by diving into your love for reading! Listed below are several links to book collections for both students and adults, not only to celebrate Valentine's Day, but also to continue our celebration of Black History Month. Even though we aren't able to celebrate you in person this year, we hope every student knows how loved they are by the staff of Patrick Henry. You bring us joy, laughter, and meaning every single day. You matter to us more than any other part of our job. Thank you for bringing your fabulous energy to our school every day, and I hope you know that we love you very much! Happy Valentine's Day!

Take a look at some reading resources both for adults and students from Barnes & Noble to celebrate Black History Month and be inspired by black voices.

Our teachers have been gifted with some good lovin' this week, but because of the inclement weather, they will have to wait until next week to receive their treats. We have a new partnership with the PTO of McKinley Middle School, and this week they honored us with goodie bags full of sweet treats and handmade cards. Thank you to the McKinley families and PTO for your kindness, and thank you to our staff for all of the hard work that has gone into the first half of third quarter. You deserve a valentine every day!

This week we had a hard week of intense weather that prevented many of our students from attending in person. We also had our first virtual snow day ever, where students still had school, but it was all from the safety of their homes, rather than opening the buildings and asking them to travel to school in inclement weather. I am proud of our staff and students for making arrangements on the fly and rolling with whatever came our way this week! Our students moved seamlessly between in-person and virtual learning, and our regular virtual classrooms kept it moving no matter what the weather was like. Thank you to each family member who helped supervise our students. Thank you to each student who kept learning as the priority of the week. Thank you to each teacher who prepared their students for virtual learning and who moved their classroom to their own homes, still ready to teach their students under any circumstance. Thank you to each of our support staff members who assisted the teachers to make sure that everyone was able to be successful. And thank you to our leadership team who tirelessly checked in on teachers, provided tech support, and kept the school running, even from afar or from the building itself.

Teams has introduced 10 new features to their product line, including backgrounds for classrooms. Ms. Jackson's class had fun exploring different worlds this week! If you are interested in all of the changes Teams has to offer, click below for an introductory video to all of the new features.

Gateway to the Great Outdoors is one of our community partners. They are working with our upper elementary students to expose them to outdoor activities and best practices to remain safe while enjoying the best parts of the outdoor world. Though we are currently limited by weather constraints and Covid restrictions, GGO has made a way to connect with our students virtually. They also drop off kits for each session, and this time even the staff received some of the love!

Ms. Audrey Hammock was featured in a piece last week in the St. Louis American about the importance of our community partnership with HomeWorks! and our families in order to get everyone connected and learning. We are incredibly lucky to have such a dedicated staff that uses their personal time to go the extra mile for our students, and we are only able to do so because we are fully supported by HomeWorks!

Click below for the full article!

HomeWorks! and Schnucks have partnered with us to offer a $10 gift card for every week that your child has perfect attendance. We are now offering this incentive to any student in 1st-5th grade. Even if your student needs to stay home for the day, if they log in virtually, it will still count towards their perfect attendance!