Patrick Henry Post

Two years ago, we created the Reading Room designed for our upper elementary students to have a calm, happy, comfortable place to curl up with a good book. That project took off and we transformed one of our classrooms into a lovely space where kids find the joy of reading while they are physically comfy. Last year, we expanded the concept to our first floor common areas, creating literacy nooks where our Reading Specialist took the teachings of Dr. Robert Dillon to the extreme and created beautiful, comfortable spaces designed for reading. This year, we are expanding the project even further. We have dismantled our official library and created spaces all throughout the school that are not just pretty to look at, but they're practical too. Our first floor and now our second floor boast common areas where reading is encouraged in any format - individual, small group, or whole class - and for any purpose.

Our classroom teachers all boast an individual classroom library in addition to our school resources. These collections can take years to build up over the years, so it is vital that our students and staff treat the books well. Our comfortable furniture all come from grants and donations, so if you know anyone who is interested in joining the literacy cause for the classrooms or common areas, let us know!

What can families do with their child at home to encourage the learning to continue? Click below for some parenting resources on reading at home with your child:

10 ways to promote literacy at home:

• https://bookriot.com/category/childrens/
  

Supporting your child's literacy at home:

• https://improvingliteracy.org/brief/supporting-your-childs-literacy-development-home
  

5 tips for promoting literacy in your home:

• http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Early-Literacy-Corner/Literacy-at-Home.aspx
  

What you can do at home to inspire literacy:

• https://smartreading.org/what-you-can-do-at-home-to-inspire-literacy/
  

Ms. Sara Gonzalez, our school music teacher, has brought forth a brand new adventure in music class. Students get to put their musical theory to the test on real instruments, including the Ukulele! It has been amazing watching and listening to our students' musical skills and knowledge grow this school year, and now they get to put it into practice on their own instruments! "Stay tuned" for more updates on this amazing new purchase for our school!

Patrick Henry is partnering with "Girls in the Know," a non-profit organization who specializes in empowering fourth and fifth grade girls. The mission of Girls in the Know is to educate and empower girls by providing tools to establish a strong sense of self and develop positive communication. Every session, a female licensed professional will speak to our students. The students will have the opportunity to ask questions in person or privately through an anonymous question box. Each week, the girls are provided with handouts and an at home discussion guide. We are so excited to begin this journey with our female students in our highest grades!

Give a major shoutout to this week's Related Arts S.T.A.R. winners! Students have the chance to earn tickets every day in their Related Arts class and then we draw those tickets at the end of the week for students to take a dive in the treasure chest! Great job this week!

Every month, we honor and recognize our students who were here every day. Our students with 100% attendance for the month of September received a certificate, an attendance bracelet, their photo on the Attendance Star Wall of Fame, and a dive in the treasure chest! Awesome job, students and families, for getting here every day on time!

We also recognize and honor those students who had over 90% attendance for the month of September. Students in this category received a certificate, an attendance bracelet, and their name on the Attendance Star Wall of Fame. Well done, each and every one of our students and families who were able to only miss 1-2 days in September!

There were many students on the "attendance bubble" and had somewhere between 75% and 89% attendance. This means they only missed 1-2 more days than those students who hit the 90% goal. We start fresh every month for our awards and recognition, so if you are in the "bubble boat", you definitely have a chance to improve and get a bracelet next month!

If you are worried about your child's attendance because it is below 75%, we have interventions and supports to help you get your child here every day on time to improve their attendance record and keep them learning during all instructional times. Please reach out to Saquorria Harris, our School Social Worker, to obtain resources on increasing your child's attendance. You can also click on three resources listed below from Attendance Works, an organization focused entirely on improving student attendance.

Our amazing Patrick Henry puppy, Spooky, was adopted last week! If you haven't read Spooky's incredible story yet, click below to read each chapter:

• Chapter 1: Patrick Henry Saves Spooky
• Chapter 2: Spooky Finds a Foster Home and Reunites with the Patrick Henry Family
• Chapter 3: Spooky Gets Ready for Adoption

This week, we are so happy to share the amazing news that Spooky went home with her forever family! Read on for the final chapter of Spooky's story!

Spooky could never leave without saying goodbye to the amazing Patrick Henry students who rescued her from a life on the streets. Spooky came back right before her adoption day and got to say goodbye to each classroom. All of the students were so kind and gentle with her, and she could not help herself - she was wiggling the whole time with happiness! The Patrick Henry students were so great at saying they loved Spooky and they all wished her good luck with her new family.

On Friday afternoon, Dr. Rogers took Spooky to meet her new family at Stray Rescue. There, they met Ms. Bonnie, a retired school bus driver from another school district. It was pretty perfect that a group of students rescued Spooky, a school principal fostered Spooky, and a retired school bus driver adopted Spooky! Apparently, Spooky just loves school so much that she has to be with an educator at all times!

When Spooky met Ms. Bonnie for the first time, she got a toy right away, and right away Spooky destroyed it. Spooky loves to rip things apart with her teeth so she can find the squeaker in a toy. This toy didn't even last 5 minutes before it was ripped to shreds! Ms. Bonnie just laughed and laughed.

After Ms. Bonnie and Spooky had such a good time meeting each other and playing together, it was very obvious that Spooky was ready to go to her forever home. She gave Dr. Rogers a million goodbye kisses (licks in the face!), and then jumped right into Ms. Bonnie's big red truck. Spooky was so happy that she even had a big grin on her face when she drove away. We are all so happy for Spooky to go to such a good home with Ms. Bonnie. Thank you, Patrick Henry, for saving Spooky!