Hills and Heights

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1: New Works by Steve Hedberg
Fri Sep 3 6:00 pm
Steve Hedberg exhibits new works and a multimedia installation documenting a summer road trip down historic Route 1.
Crossroads Book Club
Fri Sep 3 10:00 am
Meet the first Friday of each month to discuss a book and enjoy some java.
South of the James Farmers Market
Sat Sep 4 8:00 am
Forest Hill Ave & 42nd Street SATURDAY'S from 8 am - 12 pm May 1, 2010 - December 4, 2010 For map & directions: http:...
recycling week
Mon Sep 6 5:00 am
bi-weekly recycling pick-up
Huguenot Neighborhood Team meeting
Tue Sep 7 6:00 pm
Meetings are on the first Tuesday of every month @ 6PM. Meetings are held at the 9020 Stony Point Parkway, First Floor m...
Patrick Henry School Board Meeting
Tue Sep 7 7:30 pm
Patrick Henry school board meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. are held at WHBC-EC, 611 W 31st...
James River Outdoors Coalition Monthly Meeting
Wed Sep 8 6:00 pm
Meets at Reedy Creek Nature Center. JROC was formed to "provide resources to complete improvements in the James River Pa...
Kings & Wings
Wed Sep 8 8:00 pm
Informal chess club that meets every Wednesday at O'Toole's for beer and chess. Focus on the beer. All levels welcome.

CLASSIFIEDS
Dining room table for sale - Knob Creek. Solid cherry, double pedestal. With the 2 leaves, extends to 100+
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ACADEMIC TUTOR for Hills & Heights neighbors by experienced Reading Specialist, including study techniques and test preparation. Call 804-230-1973 for more info.
The Clothesline Children's Consignment Sale is September 9-11 at the Bon Air Comm. Ctr. (8725 Quaker Lane, Richmond 23235). New parents/grandparents may register for our preview sale. Join our mailing list & get more info at www.theclothesline.biz.
Local Shop in BonAir-Serendipity Art and Consign-2717 Buford Rd. We carry Local Original Art in a wide variety of mediums and home furnishings on consignment.
Care Cleaning - Your Cleaning is our Business. We arrive ready to clean with supplies, equipment & experience to make your home shine! Several clients in your neighborhood agree. We would be delighted to have you join our client family. Call 745.0020
Need a helping hand with your house cleaning? Hand-I-Maids can help! For a complimentary estimate, contact us at 804-330-0270 or visit our webisite to learn how Hand-I-Maids can help you! www.RichmondSpringCleaning.com.
WE BUY HOUSES! Cash Paid, Quick Closings! If you need to sell and don't want to wait for a year while your house sits on the market, call us! 804-307-8139 or www.Sell-in-Richmond.com



tagged with: Patrick Henry School Initiative


October 6, 2008

Will It or Won’t It?

I don’t even have to say what this is about, do I? 6PM tonight, and at least one School Board member is still taking your questions/comments.

September 18, 2008

As the Charter Turns…

There had been some rumblings to this effect, but Style’s article was the first confirmation I’d seen that Denise Lewis (aka Principal Lewis @ Lucille Brown) was indeed no longer on the PH Charter board. The article suggests that internal pressure might have led to the resignation, while RPS, of course, denies such a thing.

True drama or manufactured controversy? You be the judge.

September 2, 2008

Patrick Henry Charter School not to be?

The RTD is reporting that the “proposal to establish a charter school for grades one through five at Patrick Henry Elementary School in South Richmond died this evening when the School Board deadlocked on whether to sign a contract”.

May 28, 2008

The Voice…

still doesn’t seem to like the PH charter school.

May 19, 2008

board votes YES to Patrick Henry Initiative

The Richmond School Board met this evening at 6PM to consider a host of what looked to be rather typical items and also to receive and vote upon a recomendation from the Charter School Review Committee (SR07-08-72)(agenda). Dispatched to the back corner of a room adjacent to where the schoolboard meeting was taking place, part of the overflow crowd, the obvious draw was the Patrick Henry Initiative vote.

Read more >

May 19, 2008

Patrick Henry vote tonight

Just a quick reminder that the School Board will vote on the PH Charter school at tonight’s meeting. The agenda confirms that it’s to be held during the 6PM portion of the meeting.

Prior to the vote, George Wythe students will be recognized by the board for various reasons.

May 16, 2008

And another…

The Virginia NAACP has come out in opposition to the Patrick Henry charter school. The REA and Richmond Council of PTAs also reiterated their opposition.

May 13, 2008

The Defender weighs in

I’m not sure whether this one falls more under “All Education All The Time” or “High Comedy.” Either way, the Richmond Defender has a small blurb on the PH charter school (No website, but PDF here). Their first couple of questions are some that we’ve heard a lot the last couple of weeks:

Will the proposed charter school be open to all Richmond children, including the disabled? Will the school’s requirement of “parental involvement” and a staggered, year-round school schedule be an obstacle to working parents?

But the knee-slapper comes at the end:

And what will be the involvement of the Lexington Institute, the neocon Virginia think tank that has been advising the project?

Now, not being involved with the effort, I don’t know anything about the Lexington Institute, who they are or even if they’re actually involved. But of the people I do know who are involved and/or supportive of the the PH effort, “neocon” is the last descriptor that would come to mind.

Never a dull moment in Richmond…

May 6, 2008

PH/School Board roundup

Ross at RVANews (among other places) came through big and summed up last night’s meeting nicely. Between that and the constant updates from Gray & other folks here, it was a pretty impressive reporting effort, especially when compared to other articles that didn’t say too much we didn’t already know.

The next milestone comes May 15, 5PM, in a public meeting between the PHI folks & the school board. Let’s hope that someone affiliated w/ RPS actually reads the proposal thoroughly by then.

May 5, 2008

PH Charter vote moved

Gray brought this up comments to another post, but I thought it warranted a more prominent mention. The school board discussion on the Patrick Henry charter school initiative is scheduled for the 4:30 portion of today’s meeting, with a closed meeting to follow. It’s likely too late to do anything about it, but contacting your board rep today might be therapeutic, if not exactly productive.

May 2, 2008

Clarification

I’ve received some questions about this site and occasional editorializing, and its relationship with RPS and the PH School Initiative. So I’ll take a potentially long-winded moment to clarify things below the fold.

Read more >

May 2, 2008

Patrick Henry Charter School Initiative Needs Your Help

The Patrick Henry Charter School is open to any Richmond City elementary student and the upcoming School Board vote, likely to occur on 5/5/08, will impact every child and district within the city limits. They’re asking for your help. See their mailing for all the details: PDF here, Word doc here.

May 1, 2008

The Voice on the Patrick Henry charter school

Not surprisingly, their take isn’t exactly enthusiastic. While the article doesn’t out-and-out accuse the PH Initiative of promoting school segregation, it certainly floats the suggestion. REA President Wade Ellegood (who, you might recall, is on the committee to recruit a new RPS Superintendent), is particularly opposed:

I think they are making a major mistake by allowing this charter school even though it has not met the criteria of the state…Outside of that 90 percent of what’s in their application does not meet state standards and it does not make any sense for us to invest in something that doesn’t meet state standards.

Richmond City Parent Teacher Association President Tichi Pickney Eppes is only slightly less disagreeable towards the concept, stating that “all of our elementary schools are accredited. So if that is the case we don’t necessarily need another chartered elementary school. The kids are doing fine it would appear in their current environment.”

If you’ll pardon the editorializing again….Does Mr. Ellegood include the 7 or 8 current RPS schools that didn’t meet Adequate Yearly Progress in his comments about not investing “in something that doesn’t meet state standards?” And does Ms. Eppes really believe that all of “the kids are doing fine…in their current environment?”

Finally, the article mentions “traditional charter schools that are operating currently in RPS.” Would someone be so kind as to inform me which RPS schools are charter schools? Because the state Dept. Of Education seems to think there are only 3 (with a 4th due in August) public charter schools in Virginia, and none are in the Richmond area.

April 22, 2008

Patrick Henry Charter update

At last night’s school board meeting, the PH Charter group had their proposal returned pending more information. Meetings with the school board to provide that information should occur soon, with a tentative vote scheduled by the board for May 5.

March 5, 2008

Patrick Henry School Initiative gets some Style

The Patrick Henry School Initiative gets a nice writeup in Today’s Style. PHSI President Richard Day:

My sense is there’s a good chance [the School Board] will shoot it down, but they won’t probably give us any solid, supportive reason.

Seeing the way RPS works, I fear he’s probably right, but either way, they’ve led a remarkable effort and I think they’re to be commended for their efforts. It’s a shame the entire school system can’t manage to work as hard as this group has.

December 28, 2007

Patrick Henry Charter update

The folks at the Patrick Henry School Initiative are making progress with their efforts….

We have submitted our application for 501-3C status (thank you for your donations!) and are raising funds now for PR “get the word out” costs and other incidentals. We will have a fundraising campaign for school related projects once we have charter approval. Please send your donations, large and small, to:

The Patrick Henry School Initiative
P.O. Box 2459
Richmond, VA 23218

We need your calls, e-mails and letters!

The application for the Patrick Henry School Initiative was submitted to the School Board clerk on October 7th.

As the School Board reviews the proposed charter, now is the critical time for the public to voice support of this project. The more calls and letters our school board members receive, the clearer it will be to them how important this initiative is for the community.

If you support the Patrick Henry School Initiative, please take five minutes to call or e-mail your School Board Rep. Contact info is listed below.

A few talking points:

– An innovative curriculum in the city.
– Will keep you from leaving for the county.
– Puts to good use a school asset.
– Outdoor classrooms and a green education are incredible opportunities.
– Promotes diversity, because any city resident can attend.
– I hear that parents must be involved, and I like that.

Additionally, yard signs bearing the slogan “Patrick Henry CHARTER SCHOOL NOW” should be available from the group. Contact them for more details.

October 25, 2007

Patrick Henry update

Susanna from the Patrick Henry School Initiative passes along the following:

The Patrick Henry School Initiative submitted its charter school application to the Richmond City School Board in the beginning of October (YEAH!!!)

The proposed charter school would be open to any elementary school aged child in the city.

Read more >

October 9, 2007

Neighborhood schools largely absent from plan

The latest in a long line of RPS school renovation/closure plans is making the rounds and, perhaps not unexpectedly, our local schools are completely missing from the first 5-year phase. The second phase (circa 2012) would see Swansboro Elementary renovated/expanded and Huguenot High replaced with a new building at its current location.

4th District Representative/Board Chairman George Braxton has been pushing a new Huguenot High for quite some time. Personally, I’m surprised that neither Westover Hills nor Redd Elementary schools have been targeted for closure/consolidation, considering they’re roughly 7/10 mile apart, but then Patrick Henry has only been closed a couple of years…

…which seems like a good opportunity to mention that the PH School Initiative folks should be meeting tonight, 8PM, at the Berryman Community Center, 400 West 32nd Street.

September 10, 2007

Patrick Henry Initiative update

Jess from the PH School Initiative passes along an update:

We are now in the process of editing our charter application! It looks like all is going according to our timeline of submitting it to the school board by mid September.

We have an exciting announcement for those of you who thought you might live too far out of our proposed radius of 1 mile from the school. According to the law, we have to offer admission to all Richmond residents if we do not fill to capacity. While we will strive to keep Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts a neighborhood school, we are gratified to know that many of our friends in surrounding neighborhoods will not be excluded from Richmond’s first true charter school.

So, what’s stopping you from getting involved? Your child could be in our first class of 2008! Come to our next meeting at the Berryman Center(W. 32ND /McDonough) every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.

June 6, 2007

Patrick Henry Festival

The Woodland Heights Civic Association and the Patrick Henry School Initiative are teaming up to present the Patrick Henry Festival on June 16, celebrating 85 years of school at the AV Norrell/Patrick Henry Building.

More details below the fold…

Read more >

April 12, 2007

Extended life for Patrick Henry Elementary?

Gina from the Patrick Henry School Initiative wants to get the word out about their effort to establish a charter school in the Patrick Henry (aka Norrell) Elementary building. Their Mission, per their website:

Our mission is to provide a K-5 community-based school with meaningful involvement by parents and community. The school endeavors to provide our diverse socio-economic neighborhood community a traditional, academically-rigorous curriculum with high standards, focusing on the sciences and arts. Students will achieve academic excellence, develop personal values, foster an appreciation for the arts, and internalize scientific core understandings necessary to become effective citizens in an evolving natural and technological world. The school’s focus on community will include mandatory parental involvement, interactive experiences with the natural learning environment of Forest Hill Park, and extensive partnering with the local science and art museums and centers. The school seeks to provide a traditional neighborhood community atmosphere within the larger city limits. Patrick Henry Charter School will foster an environment where students, parents, staff, and the community are necessary partners in the educational process and achievement of all children.

To support their efforts, the group is having a yard sale @ the school this Saturday, 8 AM.

For more information, visit their website or take a look at their talking points (Flash Player required to view).

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