Patrick Henry Post

This week, we welcomed our in-person learners back into the building, and kept our routines going with our virtual learners. It was so fun to see our students engaging in academics and instruction whether they were on screen in a Teams meeting, or sitting at a desk in a classroom. We had some great breakthroughs this week with some of the highest student engagement I have ever seen! I was lucky enough to observe ten different classrooms this week and seeing every grade level engaged in their learning was incredibly rewarding. Highlighted above is Kamaja, who was working one-on-one with Ms. Griffin. Ms. Griffin's system of Pokemon incentives was a huge motivator to keep Kamaja focused and engaged in the work, and I even saw him "catch" a Pokemon while I was walking by! He was proud not only of meeting Ms. Griffin's behavioral expectations, but also of the work that he accomplished. Pictured below are more highlights from this week throughout the building and the virtual world.

The image below shows off some amazing statistics from Ms. Hammock's class. Ms. Hammock uses ClassDojo not only for turning in assignments, but also for communicating with her families. It is an easy and free way to get updates from your child's teacher, and we can even share pictures through the message app to show you how your child is doing every day! Ask teachers today how you can get signed up for ClassDojo!

Next week, we have Monday, January 18th off in honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day. Take a look at some of the resources to teach our students about Dr. King's legacy and his approach to social justice and creating a better world for future generations. Each of the titles below is a link to a website or teaching resource.

This week, HomeWorks! volunteers worked with Patrick Henry families to ensure that all students were in attendance every day, and that they stayed logged in or stayed in school in-person. Our attendance numbers increased steadily this week. We started on Monday with 76.1% in attendance (81.2% in-person and 66.7% virtual). Tuesday we moved up to 85.0% (89.1% in-person and 77.3% virtual). Wednesday we continued to improve with 89.9% (90.2% in-person and 89.3% virtual). Thursday we remained at an overall average of 89.9% (89.4% in-person and 90.7% virtual). Thank you to EVERY teacher, volunteer, and staff member who made phone calls and assisted families in finding their way to school this week!

We also worked with HomeWorks! on Friday afternoon during our staff professional development. Thank you to Anna Gardner-Andrews and Colleen Pollack for your hard work in preparing the presentation and getting our staff geared up to complete their first and second home visits of the school year!