Words cannot express how heartbroken we all are by yet another weekend of mass shootings. On behalf of the entire RPS family, I want to express my deepest sympathies to the El Paso and Dayton communities.
So much has been said and written over the past several years about the epidemic of gun violence in our country and yet so little has changed. Now more than ever, we need courageous political leaders who will be honest about the fact that we have an ascendant white nationalist movement in America that has exploited the Second Amendment to literally eliminate people of color, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and many others. This November, and every November thereafter, we need to do everything we can to demonstrate through the ballot box that this is not the world we want for our children.
To address gun violence at the local level, we will be holding a town hall next Tuesday, August 13, at 6 pm, at MLK Middle School. Please join us to think creatively about what we can do to end the gun violence that affects so many of our young people and their families here in Richmond.
7 topics today:
1. RPS Inspiration!
Loads of Love - This past Friday, Carver ES became the latest recipient of a "Loads of Love" washer and dryer donation from the Washington Football Team! Now, everyone in Carver Nation will have access to laundry facilities right at the school. Research has shown that this has all sorts of positive benefits for students and families alike. Many thanks to Board Member Scott Barlow, Councilmember Kim Gray, and Delegate Jeff Bourne for attending the ribbon cutting!
Alumni Showdown Basketball Tournament and Cheerleading Showcase
- This past weekend,
alumni from the 80s, 90s, and 00s from Armstrong, Huguenot, Jefferson, Kennedy, Marshall, and Wythe competed in a basketball tournament and cheerleading competition at the Arthur Ashe Center to raise funds for RPS athletic programs. Enormous gratitude to Amy Wentz, who organized the event, and to the sponsors: GIDP Foundation, Pops Bar & Grill, Market @25th
, and Radio One Richmond!
2. Rezoning
The Rezoning Advisory Committee had a very productive meeting last week at Thomas Jefferson HS. The RAC broke up into regional groups and spent about 90 minutes sifting through the various options to provide concrete guidance to the demographics firm for the next draft, which we should have by ne
xt week. I want to thank the committee members for their outstanding work!
One of the most contentious parts of the rezoning discussion has been our efforts to integrate our schools racially and socio-economically. One of the ideas on the table to achieve this is something called "paring." In this model, two schools - one with mostly one student demographic and the other with mostly a different student demographic - join together by having one school serve all the kindergarten through second grade students and the other serve all the third through fifth grade students.
A number of paring options were discussed at the last RAC meeting, including: Fox and Cary, Fox and Carver, Munford and Cary, and Ginter Park+Obama with Holton. I'm often asked if this has ever been done. Yes! See below for an excellent piece about a pairing designed to increased diversity in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools.
Here are three more ex
cellent resources about school integration:
3. New Teachers and Support Staff from Dreams4RPS
Dreams4RPS, our strategic plan, isn't one of those documents that school systems create and then leave on a shelf to collect dust. It's being implemented as we speak because we received full funding for the first year! For example,
Action 1.1 is about fostering our students' inherent passion for learning through the arts, music, languages, and more. So this year, we are
adding 10 enrichment positions:
- Chorus Teacher: Albert Hill
- Dance Teacher: Henderson
- Dance Teacher: Elkhardt-Thompson
- Music Teacher: Francis
- Music Teacher: Oak Grove-Bellemeade
- Orchestra Teacher: Division-Wide
- Theater Teacher: Albert Hill
- Visual Arts Teacher: Francis
- Visual Arts Teacher: Oak Grove-Bellemeade
- World Language Teacher: MLK
Action 3.3 is about adding "whole child" supports. Towards that end, we have five new positions this year:
- Social Worker: Broad Rock
- Social Worker: Fairfield Court
- Social Work: Miles Jones/Lucille Brown
- Nurse: Fairfield Court
- Nurse: Francis
4. Back-to-School Notes for Teachers and School Staff
It's hard to believe, but we're back in session in just a few weeks! A few updates:
- We WILL have $150 Amazon cards again! Returning teachers should look for an email with the Amazon link during the last week of August. New teachers will receive the email shortly after school starts.
- One of the pieces of feedback I have received almost universally from teachers is that they need uninterrupted time to set up their classrooms and prep for the year. Makes sense to me! So this year, teachers will have two full days to use as they see fit during pre-service week. Here's the whole schedule:
- Wednesday, 8-21: Principal-led professional learning and activities
- Thursday, 8-22: Principal-led professional learning and activities
- Friday, 8-23: Uninterrupted prep time for teachers
- Monday, 8-26: Division-led professional learning by content area
- Tuesday, 8-27: Division-led professional learning by content area
- Wednesday 8-28: Division-led professional learning by content area
- Thursday, 8-29: Principal-led professional learning and activities
- Friday, 8-30: Uninterrupted prep time for teachers
- Lastly, we have decided not to hold a rally at the Ashe Center this August. Over the past year, I've heard a wide array of opinions about the rally. Though many staff members enjoy it, the majority of teachers I've spoken to would prefer to have dedicated time in their classrooms to prepare for the year (see above). Another reason to skip the rally: it's quite costly to transport everyone to and from the Ashe Center for this one-hour event. That said, we will still have an inspirational opening at each of the division-led professional learning sites on Monday, August 26, to kick off the year!
