Monday, January 22, 2024
A Word From Dr. Gurley
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Dear Cville Schools community –
Happy New Year! Although we are just a few weeks into 2024, you'll see in this newsletter that we have a lot of good news and accomplishments to share, from improved culture at CHS to the City of Charlottesville clearing our waitlist for eligible school bus riders.
Our focus for the moment is developing the budget for the 2024-25 school year. With an anticipated $3 million decrease in state funding, our request of the City will be higher than last year even if our needs were just to maintain current positions and programs. Of course, just as our enrollment grows, our needs grow also. To learn more and share your perspective, join us on Tuesday, January 30, 7pm at our community zoom meeting focusing on the budget. Register here.
Dr. Gurley |
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🔎CHECK YOUR CALENDAR!
- TODAY Monday, January 22: Deadline for nominating a teacher for Golden Apple Awards. If the staff member you are wanting to honor is not on the form, email your answers to Beth Cheuk.
- Wednesday, January 24: Last day of 2nd Quarter.
- Friday, January 26: Teacher Workday. Schools closed for students.
- Tuesday, January 30: Community Budget Zoom, 7pm. Register here.
- Saturday, February 3: Cville Schools Job Fair -- help spread the word & find our next great teacher or staff member! Share on: Facebook | Twitter | Linked In
- Friday, February 9: Professional Learning Day. Schools closed for students.
- Monday, February 19: Schools and offices closed for Presidents Day.
| REMINDER: 2024-25 CALENDAR FEATURES START DATE OF AUGUST 14, 2024 |
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In May 2023, the School Board approved the 2024-25 academic calendar. Next school year, school will start about one week early, with the first day of school on August 14, 2024. The year will also end about one week early, with the last day of school on May 30, 2025. (Quarter end dates have been adjusted.)
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🎉 Staff Celebrations
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🎊Congrats to our Teachers of the Year!!
As part of the state’s teacher of the year program, please join us in congratulating each school’s teacher of the year! And special congratulations to Clark ESL teacher Catherine Gray, named our division teacher of the year, who will represent us in the state competition!
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Burnley-Moran: Ryan Trott
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Clark: Catherine Gray
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Greenbrier: Katie Plunkett
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Jackson-Via: Lily Brookman
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Johnson: Leslie Scally
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Venable: Cicely Shelton-Barnes
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Walker: Summer Wagman
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Buford: Mika Kawakami
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CHS: Joseph Patterson
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Lugo-McGinness Academy: Harry Hill
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Charlottesville's Teacher of the Year, Catherine Gray, with Dr. Gurley and Clark Principal Ms. Carmella Johnson.
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📜 History Coordinator Alicen Brown Gets State Shout-Out
The January issue of The Quill (the newsletter from the VDOE’s history and social science program) profiled our own Alicen Brown! The column describes the work our history and social science teachers do every day to teach accurate, inclusive history; promote responsive inquiry; and develop students’ critical thinking skills. Thanks for your leadership, Dr. Brown!
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❄️ Weather Closings and Other Alerts in ParentSquare
When there are school closings or other urgent alerts, we use ParentSquare to send out texts and emails (no phone calls). We also update our website, post on Facebook and Twitter, and notify area media stations.
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Need to change your notification settings within ParentSquare? Log in here. Click the arrow by your name in the top right corner, then My Account>Notifications. (To receive urgent alerts such as closures or safety messages, be sure to leave “alerts” on.) To edit your notification settings via the app, click the menu lines in the top-left corner (again, My Account>Notifications.) Find ParentSquare's guide here.
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Need to update your contact information? Call your school so they can update your student’s records.
Know someone who wants to get weather alerts? They can find information and sign up here.
(Thanks to Mia, kindergartner at Clark Elementary for the cute penguin art!)
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🚍 City Expands Bus Drivers, Routes & Eliminates Waitlists for Eligible Students
Congratulations to our colleagues in Pupil Transit, who manage our school bus operations. They have hired additional bus drivers and have added all bus-eligible students to newly streamlined bus routes (that went into effect on January 2).
Who is eligible for the bus? Students are eligible for the bus if they live .75+ miles away from an elementary school, 1.25+ away from Buford/Walker, or 1.50+ miles away from CHS. Walk zone distances are rounded up to reach natural boundaries such as the end of a cul-de-sac. Learn more about CCS transportation here.
✍️ CHS Principal Survey (open to all)
The principal search at CHS will soon accelerate. Share your input in this survey (and if you are interested in serving on the search committee, let us know in the survey.)
✔️City of Promise Partnership with CCS, UVA
Beginning with a pilot at Venable Elementary, the nonprofit City of Promise, Charlottesville City Schools, and the UVA School of Education and Human Services are working together to offer supports for academics, mental health, and basic needs to address learning disparitities. Learn more about the "Launchpad" project here. |
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📷Good News Glimpses
- Left: Muralist and Charlottesville High School grad Jae Johnson speaks to Greenbrier 4th-graders about his work, including the recent mural he and Jake Van Yahres (also a CHS grad) completed at CHS recently.
- Middle: Walker 5th-grader Masihullah Haidary built a roller coaster model at home and brought it to school to show his engineering teacher, Mr. Adam Kuchta.
- Right: Jackson-Via students have been making the most of our recent snow during recess!
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"Humor" is the character trait of the month at Burnley-Moran. As Dr. Korab says, “We’re serious about our work in the classroom, but that can come with big smiles and deep laughs!”
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In December, Johnson fourth-graders took a field trip to the NBC 29's weather station.
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- Left: Venable students worktogether to move a hula hoope around without letting go of each others' hands.
- Middle: Wildrock staff brought bird-themed fun to Clark's campus for some outdoor time. More pix & info here.
- Right: Buford students have just wrapped up a persuasive writing unit with a "Shark Tank"-style competition.
 There's too much news for just one photo so here's a CHS round-up:
- 🏀CHS basketball teams are bringing the heat! The girls remain undefeated while the boys are 14-1. Want to cheer on the Black Knights? Find schedules & buy tickets here. Remember to bring clear bags only to games.
- 🏅The day after playing buzzer-to-buzzer for CHS Girls Basketball, multi-sport star Elaina Pierce broke the 1000m meet record at the VMI Walt Cormack Invitational with a time of 2:58, qualifying for Adidas Nationals! Here's her recent profile in the Daily Progress (photo top left, above, courtesy Cal Cary, Daily Progress).
- 🎓 A leader on the basketball court and one of our School Board student representatives, Quels Allen (photo, top right) was named the regional girls' nominee for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program by Region 5 of the Virginia School Boards Association.
- 🎵 Senior choir student Cecelia Morrison (photo, bottom left) has earned positions in the All District Choir, Virgininia's Senior Honors Choir, and now the Southern Region's Advanced Treble Choir comprised of singers from eleven southern states as part of the American Choral Directors Association.
- 🎭 Tenth-grader Zaharra Colla is one of two teenagers who have been selected as playwrights for 24-7-24, a theatre collaboration taking place this weekend at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.
- 💲 CHS recently was one of 150 schools nationally to earn the Blue Star School designation, which indicates that at least 80 percent of students passed the 2022-2023 W!se Financial Literacy Certification Test.
- 📝Lugo-McGinness continues to find great ways to connect learning and growth -- English students are writing memoirs.
- 🛠️CATEC recently held a successful Programs Expo to help potential students understand their options. Still have questions? Come to CHS's Curriculum Night on Monday, January 29th 5:30-7pm to learn more about CATEC!
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📰 Media Spotlight: Positive School Culture at CHS
Read about the recent efforts of CHS faculty to bring our Black Knights opportunities for fun and community-building in this profile on Cville Tomorrow .
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🗞️ Media Spotlight 2: Successful Launch of Knight School
Thanks to Lugo-McGinness Director Lamont Trotter for leading a team to get Knight School smoothly launched, offering a new and supportive learning environment for high schoolers.
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School Board Updates: 24-25 Budget Development, Possible Safety Changes at CHS & More
The mini-minutes from the January 4 School Board meeting cover a variety of topics:
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Budget updates, including an increase in the state’s estimation of our local ability to fund public education. This often accompanies a decline in state funding -- CCS anticipates receiving $3 million less from Virginia for next year's budget. The Board held its first budget worksession on January 18.
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Updates about the improved culture at CHS, along with discussion of planned and possible additions to security infrastructure. Under discussion is the possibility of adding weapons detectors -- stay tuned for more info and a survey.
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The approved “Program of Studies” that describes next year's course offerings at Walker, Buford, CHS, LMA, and CATEC.
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Want to learn more or give feedback about the draft 24-25 budget?
A Zoom community zoom meeting will be held, Tuesday, January 30, 7pm. Register here.
Congratulations to our Former Board Chair, Mr. James Bryant!
Former School Board chair, CHS retiree, and Cville Schools alumnus, Mr. James Bryant received the Alicia B. Lugo Award for community service. Read more here.
New Year, New Board
At their January meeting, the Board elected Ms. Lisa Larson-Torres as chair and Mr. Dom Morse as vice-chair. They and Ms. Emily Dooley are joined by four new Board members: Ms. Amanda Burns, Ms. Shymora Cooper, Mr. Chris Meyer, and Ms. Nicole Richardson. You can read their statements and brief bios here. |
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