Keep an eye out for all the kids heading back to school. Today is the first day back for 99% of Richmond Public Schools. To all the parents, kids and teachers heading back or that have been in school already, have a great year.

Richmond Public Schools will operate a Back-to-School Hotline Sept. 1–10
to assist parents, students and others with any questions they might have
regarding the opening of the 2010-2011 school year. Citizens may call the
Richmond Public Schools Back-to-School Call Center at 254-6188 between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. [via]

This Saturday the 28th from 10 a.m. to 12, students can get some help getting ready for school.

George Wythe High School, 4314 Crutchfield Street
John Marshall High School, 4225 Old Brook Road
East End Family Resource Center, 2405 Jefferson Avenue

The events will feature health screenings, dental screenings and performances by Richmond Public Schools bands and choirs. Supercuts will also provide free hair cuts at George Wythe High School.
…
Please Note: Back to school supplies will be provided to students accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. [via]

From the PH Facebook page;

Whew! The school is open! But our work is not done. We need your help to raise more funds. Consider donating a piece of art, service or gift certificate to our Second Annual Holiday Auction! You can email anise.meehan@yahoo.com or donate online. Thanks, as always, for your support! We couldn’t do it without you!

The auction was a big success last year and had some great items. It’ll be interesting to see what comes up for bid this year.

Kohl’s is having a competition to give away 10 million dollars. It’s based on which schools get the most votes. Each of the top 20 schools will receive $500,000. The contest is on Facebook and you can vote for any school in the H&H area. I know that the folks at Patrick Henry are working hard to get the votes. If you do decide to vote for Patrick Henry, when searching make sure and spell it out as Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts. Fisher, Westover Hills Elementary, Wythe, and Lucille Brown were the local schools I was able to quickly find.

AYP stands for Adequate Yearly Progress and tracks how schools are doing in the No Child Left Behind objectives. RTD has the big picture.

In the metro Richmond area, Hanover, Chesterfield, Henrico, Petersburg and Richmond saw declines in their scores.
—Hanover: 19 of 23 schools made AYP this year compared to 21 of 23 last year
—Chesterfield: 36 of 61 made AYP this year, compared to 49 of 63 last year
—Henrico: 36 of 67 made AYP this year, compared to 52 of 67 last year
—Richmond: 28 of 45 made AYP this year, compared to 35 of 47 last year
—Petersburg: 0 of 7 made AYP this year, compared to 4 of 7 last year

In the H&H area all of our elementary schools met the requirements. Our high schools, Huguenot & Wythe and the middle school Brown did not meet the requirements. CHPN has made a chart of Richmond schools that is much easier to read than the VDOE chart. Richmond Schools AYP 2010.pdf

George Wythe high school at 4314 Crutchfield Street will serve as one of the sites for the community school-supply giveaways scheduled for Aug. 28 from 10AM-noon.

If you would like to donate, the following items are requested and can be dropped off at the locations below:

Read more >

The long-awaited opening day for Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts is fast approaching and there are a few items that the staff is requesting. If you have these items or you’d like to make a monetary donation, it would be greatly appreciated.

Item 1) 20 ft of cubicle wall or room dividers needed -  contact Ms. Hill at lthill82@gmail.com

Item 2) Playground equipment – contact Ariel Lister at agl8v@virginia.edu

Playground / Blacktop Wish List
Outdoor

• Basketball (Balls & Hoop)
• Soccer balls
• Footballs
• Jump Ropes
• Hula Hoops
• Bubbles
• Sidewalk Chalk
• Velcro Catch (tennis ball & mit)
• Scoop & Ball Catch
• Bean Bag Toss
• Badminton Rackets & Birdies
• Street Hockey

For inclement weather recess will be held inside. We will need an supply of quiet games for grades K-5

Indoor

• Board Games
• Books
• Puzzles
• Drawing Materials (crayons & paper)

Many families in Richmond have trouble buying and filling backpacks for students returning to school in the Fall. You can help by either dropping off new school supplies or making a monetary donation. For a list of supplies, download this PDF. Supplies can be delivered 8am-4pm August 9-11 at the Arther Ashe Center. If you’re already shopping for school supplies, it’s easy to pick up extras to share. Checks made payable to Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation can be mailed to 302 North Ninth Street, Richmond, VA 23219.The events at which these supplies will be distributed are both on Saturday, August 28 from 10am-12noon at John Marshall HS and George Wythe HS.

Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts will be opening August 11th and today they posted some of the teachers who will be leading the classrooms. Today is also the last day to mail in applications for the 12 kindergarten spots that became available. Other RPS schools will open September 7, after Labor Day. Part of the charter school plan is to have the same number of school days, just spread throughout the year to minimize the lengthy summer breaks when kids seem to forget so much. You can see this year’s calendar in PDF form here. The YMCA will be offering childcare during the intersession breaks.

The RTD has an article this morning about Patrick Henry School looking to the School Board to help with busing students after a proposed plan with the Back to Bottom Bus fell through. There are about 22 students that need transportation.

Though the School Board didn’t discuss the issue at last night’s regular meeting and took no action on Patrick Henry’s request, one parent said that if the school system provides out-of-zone transportation for Patrick Henry students, the same should be done for all students attending out-of-zone schools.

PHSSA is slotted to open August 11 and as often happens during school registration, additional spots in the kindergarten classes have been identified.

Interested families need to download and complete the application and mail it or drop it off at the school on designated days over the next two weeks. Applications must by postmarked by July 23rd to be considered for enrollment. No preference will be given to families who get their applications in early.  If applications exceed space, which is an estimated 12 spaces, a lottery will be performed. Families will be notified of enrollment by July 30th. See more about the application process on their website.

The new charter school, Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, opens in its temporary location, August 11. Dress codes and supply lists have been sent out, and the teachers have been selected and should be hired shortly. The Richmond Times-Dispatch discusses the funding issues the school has been facing to update the old Patrick Henry School Building, which is an integral part of the charter contract.

The school needs to raise the $1 million to make the building handicap-accessible and for some operational expenses. Patrick Henry has found about half of that in grant funding, which will be dispersed over three years, but actual dollar support from the community has been harder to find.

“What we keep hearing from people is that they’d like to see the program up and running first,” said Kristen Larson, who has been on the Patrick Henry board for about a year and a half.

The Enrichmond Foundation is pleased to announce that with the support of our corporate sponsor, Shoe City, a $1,500 scholarship will be awarded to a deserving high-school student this summer! Shoe City annually partners with community foundations and local radio stations to award college scholarships to high school seniors throughout the Baltimore, Washington D.C., Richmond and Norfolk areas. The scholarships are awarded to students based on academic achievement, financial need and community involvement. Scholarship awards can be used at degree-granting, non-profit, four-year colleges and universities in the United States that participate in the Federal Student Aid Programs (Title IV). Scholarships are paid directly to the educational institution and cover direct educational expenses charged to the student by the college or university. Expenses could include but are not limited to: tuition and fees, room and board, books and mandatory equipment.

>> CLICK HERE to download a copy of the application >>

The application must be mailed to The Enrichmond Foundation, postmarked no later than July 1, 2010.

Enrichmond Foundation
6 North Laurel Street
Room 307
Richmond, VA 23220

A buddy and I went to the Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball game today. It was “Education Day” so there were a good number of Richmond School students. During the 7th inning stretch our own Westover Hills Elementary school lead the stadium in rousing addition of Take Me Out to the Ballpark. I can’t tell you whether or not it was a specific class or not but can let you know they did an excellent job and represented the H&H area well. Nice job Westover Hills Elementary.

Here’s a roundup of local school news.  Do you have news from your school that you’d like to share? Email us, we’d love to include it here on Hills & Heights. Click through to see info on VPI classes, Patrick Henry and J.B. Fisher Elementary.

Read more >

The Richmond Times- Dispatch is reporting that school and city officials will hold a community meeting tonight to provide information about construction and to seek input from the community about the new Huguenot High School. 6-8pm, May 5, at the school located at 7945 Forest Hill Avenue.

In a 5-4 vote, the school board for RPS approved the charter school’s use of a temporary location at Woodland Heights Baptist Church. It is unclear what would have happened if it hadn’t been approved but it would have been a huge stumbling block to the school’s opening this summer.

There are several stories online about the vote and Kristen Larson, spokesperson for the school says “Thank you to everyone who spoke, sent letters and came in support of the vote last night at City Hall. Several RPS Board members mentioned the strong parental and community support.” School District 4 Rep, Adria A. Graham Scott, voted for the move and District 5 Rep, Maurice Henderson, voted against.

Other good news from the RTD:

Jane Ellis, director of charter school lending for the North Carolina-based Center for Community Self-Help, spoke at yesterday afternoon’s board work session. She revealed that Self-Help sent a commitment letter to provide a two-year loan of $200,000 to Patrick Henry’s board for first-year renovations.

Today is a big day for the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts. Tonight the school board will vote on whether classes can be temporarily held at  nearby Woodland Heights Baptist Church. If approved, classes would start August 11 with a staff that Principal Pamela Boyd has been interviewing. The school has the funds to teach its curriculum that it gathered through several grants and at this time. Roughly 120 children have registered to attend. Letters will soon be sent out to families on the wait list to fill out the classes.

Funds for the renovation, however, have been harder to come by but Richmond T-D and RVAnews are reporting that the school board submitted a proposed lease to the charter school, which may make it easier to raise funds. Without a lease, few potential benefactors felt secure enough donating money.

If you’d like to show your support for the Patrick Henry school, please consider emailing your school board rep or attending the school board meeting at city hall this evening at 6pm.

For those that were curious about volunteer opportunities at other schools, Richmond Times-Dispatch ran a great article about different organizations that place volunteers directly in the schools. For example programs like the Carver Promise program places students with mentors from the community. And Communities in Schools has, among many things, placed healthcare resources in George Wythe High School when it became apparent that many students there receive inadequate healthcare.

With all the focus right now on Patrick Henry it is easy to forget that many Richmond Schools have some great stuff going on. One of those great things is the garden that has been planted at Southampton Elementary School.

The Southampton School is going to have a Garden Celebration & Dedication Saturday, May 1st at 12 o’clock. Come celebrate with the children, school staff and parents that have made the gardens possible and thank the neighbors, friends and businesses that have made the gardens possible. Tour the gardens, plant flowers, paint rocks, make bird feeds and more. If you can, donate a plant from your garden to the school’s friendship garden.

Mayor Jones is making construction of new schools one of the foremost priorities of his administration. A new Huguenot High School is at the top of his list. He is aggressively seeking neighborhood participation and advice as the project goes forward. This is the first chance residents will have to put together a wish list for the new school.

Building a Better Richmond Huguenot High School Project Community Input Meeting
Wednesday, May 5th, 6 pm to 8 pm, Huguenot High School, 7900 block Forest Hill Avenue, 23225

The purpose of this meeting is to provide a Building A Better Richmond status update and to drill down and get specific neighborhood-based feedback on how the newly constructed school site can best be designed for community use beyond the traditional school day.

This meeting is where everyone in the community can have input.

With a July opening date looming, where does Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts stand? The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports on the school’s funding and development status and sums up many families’ situation.

But some Richmond parents are in limbo as they look ahead to next school year. They have taken a leap of faith and applied to a school that doesn’t exist except on paper but is scheduled to be up and running in July

As of now, the school has no permanent home, no staff other than a principal, and a confirmed enrollment of 95 of the 160 students with which it had hoped to start.

The next school board meeting scheduled for May 3rd, may answer some of the questions about location and start date for the school. As previously reported, PHSSA is requesting that the school hold classes at Woodland Heights Baptist Church, while they secure necessary leases and funding to begin construction to bring the original Patrick Henry School building into ADA compliance.

To answer some of the questions raised in the article about enrollment and staffing; there will be a registration event this Thursday, April 29th from 7:30-9:30pm for families to bring in all necessary info to register their child. After this event remaining spots in the classrooms will be offered to families on the waiting list. Also individuals were interviewed this past weekend for the classroom positions at the school.

Update: RTD also ran a great article about Pamela Boyd, the new principal of PHSSA.

Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts received 90 applications for 9 teaching positions and are now looking for applicants interested in the following positions; Administrative Assistant, Art Teacher, Media Center Specialist, Music Teacher and PE/Health Teacher. You can view the job descriptions on their website and then apply online.

RVA News’ Chris Dovi has a new article up about Patrick Henry and its recent fund raiser. There is also an update on the school’s proposed temporary alternate site.

[ Fund raising is] Critical, but perhaps less pressing if the School Board approves a charter amendment to allow the school to start its first year in the basement of nearby Woodland Heights Baptist Church. The building is not only ADA compliant, but has a seemingly endless supply of unused classrooms all tailor-made for a small school. The church’s kid-worthiness is further bolstered by the fact that the plaintiffs in an ADA lawsuit settlement agreement with Richmond Schools approved the site in a letter sent to schools officials this week.

This proposal still needs to go to RPS School board for approval, but having the plaintiffs accept the location is a good sign. With a July opening date looming, some parents I’ve spoken to are concerned that the original site may not be ready in time due to hitches in acquiring leases and funding for the required ADA updates.

We are an equal opportunity supporter of local schools so happy to post about this event. Especially since I am sure we have some families that attend Swansboro.

The race is Saturday, April 17, 2010 8:30 AM and is sponsored by Reveille United Methodist Church with all proceeds to be used to promote health and fitness for the elementary students and community around Swansboro Elementary School. Projects to renovate the school yard with a playing field and a fitness trail will be started with funds raised by the 5k. Runners can register online or print out the registration form found and just mail it in.

The Run/Walk event is through historic Windsor Farms and is flat, fast, and USATF certified. We welcome and make every effort to accommodate fast serious runners, joggers, walkers, families, singles, old, young, and baby joggers/strollers. Timing will be provided by RunRideRace. Funds raised from the 5K will be used for the development of a sports program at Swansboro Elementary School.