School Days Fall 2014

A NEW THEME

Pages 3-5

First-day photos?

SCHOOLHenrico County Public Schools

henrico.k12.va.us

for a new school year - Learn moreinside! Page 2

Are you in our

2 OC TOBER 2014 SCHOOL DAYS

“The right to achieve. The support to succeed.”

Welcome back! We’ve had a tremendous start to the school year, and I’ve en-

joyed seeing so many smiling faces in our schools. It’s my pleasure to bring you up to speed on what we’re doing.

Our theme for this year and beyond is “The Right to Achieve. The Support to Succeed.” We feel this captures our belief that all stu-dents are entitled to have a positive and productive learning experience while with us, and to show academ-ic progress during the school year regardless of where/how they begin. Four overarching areas of focus sup-port the theme: (1) Student Safety; (2) Academic Progress; (3) Closing Gaps; and (4) Relationships. You will see, hear, and feel these areas of focus throughout the school year. Appreciation is again offered to the Student Performance Task Force that met several times last spring and helped to provide guidance on the work ahead of us. The task force was comprised of staff, students, parents, and community leaders. I look forward to providing updates

on our progress in these areas as the year unfolds.

2014 has also been a year of great achievements in Henrico County Public Schools. Eighteen of our schools earned 2014 Virginia Index of Performance awards for advanced learning and achieve-ment, which was tops in the Rich-mond area. Our School Board worked together with our HCPS Finance team and our partners in Henrico County General Gov-ernment to provide a pay raise for eligible teachers and staff in January 2015. And, of course, we must also express our continued gratitude to the citizens of Hen-rico County who approved a meals tax that took effect in June. The estimated $18 million in annual revenue will be dedicated exclu-sively to HCPS, which helps ensure a brighter future for all of our stu-dents.

While we enjoy numerous ac-colades, we are not without chal-lenges. Henrico County is a chang-ing community. In 2008-09, less than 30 percent of our students

came from homes that qualified for free or reduced lunch fees. Today, that number is 41 percent and will likely continue to increase. Additionally, we served over 1,000 homeless students last year. We wel-come with open arms all of the stu-dents who pass through our doors; however, there are some challenges that we need to embrace as a com-munity to ensure that every student succeeds.

This fall, please consider join-ing us for one of our town hall meetings on the proposed 2015-16 Code of Community Conduct. This new code would replace the exist-ing Code of Student Conduct next year, by clearly stating the roles and responsibilities of students, staff and the community in hopes of encouraging a positive learning environment. Details, including dates and times, are available on henrico.k12.va.us beneath ”Hot Topics”.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to seeing you in our schools!

Dr. Patrick C.Kinlaw

Superintendent of Schools

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Four overarching areas of focus support the theme: • Student safety • Academic progress• Closing gaps• Relationships

Our theme for 2014-15 and beyond

Learn more at henricofoundation.org

Support our kids

Pinchbeck ES

SCHOOL DAYS OC TOBER 2014 3

Their faces were hesitant, happy, talkative or tear-streaked as thousands of Henrico County

students stepped off of buses and curbs and into a new school year.

For returning students, a new year means taking satisfaction in knowing: Knowing how to find your way through a maze of halls, what lunch entrees are the best and how to focus on a locker combination with a tardy bell loom-ing. For new students it’s about getting through that first nervous week until they too, feel like veterans.

This year the playing field has been leveled a bit between pros and new-bies. There are enough changes for the 2014-15 school year that every student, teacher and staff member will be a little confused at times as they figure it all out.

What’s new?

The grading scale. Students in grades 6-12 are now using a 10-point scale. The move puts Henrico County Public Schools in line with other large school systems in Virginia.

New laptops. Middle and elementa-ry students are enjoying speedy, power-ful new Dell laptops. The old machines had reached the end of their lease pe-riod, and were becoming harder and more expensive to repair. For elemen-tary students and teachers, this means a shift from a Mac to Windows operating system.

PowerSchool. This new student information portal is taking the place of HCPSLink, and allows students, par-

BACK TO SCHOOLPhotos: Chris OBrion, Cindy Brown, April Sage

Fair Oaks ES

Hermitage HS

ents and teachers to track class grades, attendance and student schedule in-formation. There are even separate apps for parents and students to install on their smartphones and tablets.

A new look for lunch and breakfast menus. HCPS meals now have less sodium, more fresh fruits and vegetables and more whole grains, in accordance with the federal Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. To make the nutritional improvements, the cost of a student lunch has in-creased 10 cents, to $2.60. This does not affect stu-dents who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches.

A new school year always brings shifts in policy, technology and ways of learning. But one thing that never changes? The excitement of that very first day.

Springfield Park ES

Dumbarton ES

Fairfield MS

Short Pump MS

Varina ES


Happy new (school ) year!

Tuckahoe ES

Varina ES

Davis ES

Fair Oaks ES

Short Pump MS

Highland Springs Technical Center

Pinchbeck ES

Springfield Park ES


Happy new (school ) year!Pinchbeck ES

Fairfield MS

Hermitage HS


Eyes, ears and walkie-talkies: My day as a Watch DOGThere’s nothing like the heady

sense of power that comes with a walkie-talkie.

As I stood in the main office of Pocahontas Middle School grip-ping the crackling, black device marked “Pocahontas Watch DOGS,” I knew it was going to be a good day.

This was the day I’d signed up to be part of the Watch DOGS, or Dads Of Great Students.

I’d signed up at Pocahon-tas’ Back-to-School night after history teacher and program coordinator James Milcarek delivered an ebullient recruit-ing pitch asking each father to consider participating in Watch DOGS on his child’s birthday.

The Watch DOGS program or-ganizes fathers and father figures to act as positive male role models in schools, and to help improve school security. There are more than 4,000 chapters active at schools in 46 states, according to the National Center for Parenting, the group that runs the program.

In Henrico County, 22 middle and elementary schools have active Watch DOGS programs.

But what does a Watch DOG do ex-actly?

Upon arriving at Pocahontas for my Watch DOGS shift, I was given the

walkie-talkie, a shirt identifying me as a Watch DOGS repre-sentative and a packet with a schedule, a tip sheet, a school map and a voucher good for a free school lunch. Wait, I thought. Wasn’t I a little like a school cop? And didn’t cops get donuts?

As we walked through noisy Pocahontas hallways, Milcarek explained that the

program was initially a reac-tion to school shootings. While it still focuses on security, it also gives fathers a ready-made way to partici-pate in their children’s schools.

At Echo Lake Elementary School, parent volunteer John Waters said that involvement means a lot to students.

“Probably the most unexpected thing is the excitement and apprecia-tion you get from your kids,” Waters said. “I have a daughter in fifth grade;

she knew her mom would be involved in the school, but when she found out about [Watch DOGS] she got very excited. The kids like that daddy’s at the school walking around checking doors and helping out.”

Waters, also an of-ficer with the Henrico County Police Depart-ment, has been coordi-nating the program at Echo Lake since 2009. About 200 fathers, grandfathers, uncles and older brothers participate. In 2013-14 Watch DOGS were at the school 85 per-cent of the days school was open.

The Echo Lake Watch DOGS are affili-ated with the school’s PTA, and help out in ways beyond school security.

“We help greet kids at the morning drop-off,” said Waters. “We help with the recycling drive and the Christmas Mother collections. Whatever teachers need us to do.”

Back at Pocahontas, I pulled on my Watch DOGS t-shirt, introduced my-self on the morning announcements and wished my daughter a “Hawky” birthday on camera. My 13-year old pronounced it an embarrassing start.

No matter. Milcarek said Watch DOGS needed to be as visible as possi-ble. “You’re another set of eyes and ears.”

I greeted students in the halls, checked classroom and exte-rior doors to make sure they were locked, and generally looked like a guy who’d been entrust-ed with a walkie-talkie by someone in author-ity. I walked the school

grounds, scanning for glass bottles and people who probably shouldn’t be hang-ing around.

I also spent part of the time in my daughter’s classes, where I heard a great history lecture on Hitler’s aggression in the late 1930s, and made my own Afri-can-inspired clay mask.

The time flew by, and I got an aware-ness of my daughter’s day that I wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.

When it was time to leave, I handed over my shirt – and reluctantly, my walk-ie-talkie too.

Contact your child’s school to see if they participate in the Watch DOGS program. Find out more at fathers.com/watchdogs.

By Chris OBrion

Total students

HCPS at a glance

Total facilities:

46 elementary

12 middle

9 high

2 technical centers

3 program centers

HCPS (figures as of Feb. 27, 2014) Food & Nutrition

Libraries Transportation

Total HCPS employees: 6,643

49,343 $2013-14

operating budget:

$508.1 million72Amount spent

per student: $9,369

Student to teacher ratio

21:2elementary

21:9high

23:3middle

36.1%

43.3%

Asian 8.9%

Hispanic 7.6%

Other 4.2%

Black

White

EthnicMakeup

Total items circulated

in 2013-14: 1,573,756

Total eBooks in collection:

Total databasehits in 2013-14:

3,743

1,131,245

Total HCPS buses: 625

Average miles driven each school day with student(s): 15,000

Total HCPS students riding the bus each day: 24,000

Cost of over 1 million gallons of diesel fuel used in 2013-14: $3.3 Million

Total cartons of milk consumed per year:

Portions of chicken nuggets served per year: 412,573

5 most popular lunch entrees for students ages 13-17:

1. French fries2. Pizza3. Hamburgers4. Chicken nuggets/strips5. Mexican entrees

Total pizza slices served per year: 1,160,765

Total meals served per day at all HCPS schools and centers:

Lunch cost 1960s:

Lunch cost 2014-15:

35,000$2.60

35 cents

4,049,5982,415,061 chocolate skim milk

1,058,636 1% white milk

482,925 strawberry skim milk

92,976 skim white milk


Bulletin Board

Looking Back: School Days Vol 1. No.1 1968

2014-15 Important Dates

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~Albert Einstein

HCPS at a glance

Oct 13 Columbus Day *Nov 4 Quarter close out *Nov 26-28 Thanksgiving *Dec 22-Jan 2 Winter Break! *Jan 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Day* Jan 26 Quarter close out *Feb 16 President's Day *April 3 Student half day **April 6-10 Spring Break! *May 25 Memorial Day * June 12 Student half day **

Fol low us on Twitter

@HenricoSchools

We love our

school-community

partners!

Look for these around Henrico

Watch

Channel 99 on Comcast Cable Channel 38 on Verizon FIOS

* Student holiday** Student half day

Print your 2014-15 Photo Calendar

from the HCPS website: henrico.k12.va.us

DON’T FORGET!


Henrico County School Board

Lisa A. Marshall Chair, Tuckahoe District

P.O. Box 231203820 Nine Mile RoadHenrico, VA 23223-0420804.652.3600 School Days is an award-winning publication

produced quarterly by the Department of Communications and Public Relations of HCPS. If you have questions about School Days, call 804.652.3725 or email [email protected] C. Kinlaw Superintendent

Beverly L. CockeBrookland District

Robert G. Boyle Jr.Three Chopt District

John W. Montgomery Jr. Vice Chair, Varina DistrictLamont BagbyFairfield District

henrico.k12.va.usTwitter: @HenricoSchools

Chris OBrion - Editor, WriterApril Sage - Graphic DesignerLarry Willis Jr. - Digital Content Manager

Sp tlight On: Apps and school websites

HCPS website The mother ship. The district website is large and diverse, like the county it serves. Apply for job openings, check out calendars, follow the School Board, read news stories, watch HCPS-TV videos and more. Much more. henrico.k12.va.us

Your school website Local, local, local! This is where you’ll find the latest school news, faculty and staff listings, clubs and sports information and assorted goodies unique to your neighborhood school. http://henrico.k12.va.us/schools

PowerSchoolLet’s bow our heads and say a small prayer for the departed HCPSLink. PowerSchool is the new way for parents and students to see attendance and grades. It’s more powerful than HCPSLink (hey, it’s right there in the name) and has nifty smartphone apps for parents and students. Access PowerSchool through the division’s home page.

SchoolSpaceIf PowerSchool is Batman, SchoolSpace is Alfred. It’s not flashy, but it handles the details and does the hard work of keep-ing students and teachers connected. This is the place for assignments, notes, study guides, emails from teachers and an-nouncements. It’s even got a Batmobile (the dropbox) for whisking papers and other assignments between students and teachers.

ZippSlipPeople like autumn, but not the giant piles of leaves. Or the giant piles of school forms. ZippSlip can’t help with leaves, but by letting parents fill out and return forms electronically, the service is saving paper. Saving paper means saving trees, and that means … more leaves. Oh well. To access ZippSlip, go to henrico.k12.va.us and click on “Helpful Links.” Note: Using ZippSlip is optional.

MyPaymentsPlus Yes, there’s a 4.3 percent convenience charge, and three words are a lot to smoosh into one name, but MyPaymentsPlus can be a big timesaver. Need to pay a technology fee? Done. Pony up for a yearbook? Finished. Field trip costs? Paid. This online payment service will even send you alerts. MyPaymentsPlus can be reached from the HCPS website by clicking on “Helpful Links.” Like ZippSlip, using MyPaymentsPlus is optional.

MyLunchMoneyNo more lunch money checks disappearing in bottomless backpacks! MyLunchMoney (another smooshed three-word payment service) is aimed solely at keeping your student’s stomach from growling. You can add money to a student’s meal account by clicking a couple of buttons, or use auto-pay to bill your credit card when the account drops below a set amount. And yes, parents can sneak a look at whether that salad students said they bought was really a triple order of fries. An optional service.

NutrisliceFrom taco salads to turkey breast, Nutrislice (website and app) provides a quick view of your school’s lunch and breakfast menus. Want to see if BBQ’s on the menu for Halloween day at Fair Oaks Elementary? (It is.) Check Nutrislice!http://henrico.nutrislice.com

Do you know your ZippSlip from your Nutrislice?

SchoolSpaceHCPS

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School Days Fall 2014