Embedded Files
During their regular meeting on Thursday evening, the Danville School Board heard the following communication items:
Director of Finance Sharon Barksdale communicated two accounts payable warrants to the board.
Director of Services for Exceptional Children Dr. Tia Hairston gave an overview of the upcoming OEC Field Day, which will be held Thursday, April 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Dan Daniel Park. This event will be modeled after the Special Olympics, but since the organization did not hold face-to-face events this year, Danville Public Schools planned their own.
At the field day, students with significant cognitive disabilities will participate in sack racing, parachute games, inflatables, sensory stations, football throws, and much more. Currently, there are 134 student athletes signed up, as well as 108 student buddies, 94 volunteers, and 50 staff members. For more information, reach out to Dr. Tia Hairston.
The board took the following actions:
Approved personnel recommendations brought forward by Chief Human Resources Officer Dr. Natalie Halloran. Chief Operations Officer Dr. Wayne Lyle introduced Ms. Shamela Flowers as a new Coordinator of Support Services for the Office of Exceptional Children.
Approved Director of IT Marcus Chaney’s recommendation for the Provision of E-Rate Internal Connections (RFP-2022-496).
Approved the annual special education plan, which is the grant application for use of state and federal funds for special education programing, brought forward by Dr. Tia Hairston. This plan includes a new graduation coach position at the high school level and an early childhood itinerant teacher.
Approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Danville Public Schools and Piedmont Governor’s School for Mathematics, Science, and Technology brought forward by Coordinator of Advanced Learning Kim Agnor.
Books for Kids
Over the next few weeks, Kindergarteners at ALL of our elementary schools will be receiving brand new books donated by our wonderful community partners. The Books for Kids program has been providing books to our students at Schoolfield for several years, and now that program is in all of our schools. Each school will have an opportunity for our partners to come in and read books with the kindergarteners. This week, Park Avenue, Schoolfield, Virtual Academy, and Johnson students received their books read them with parents, teachers, or our guest sponsors. We thank Charles and Carol Majors, American National Bank, Center for Pediatric Therapies and Supply Resources, and First Piedmont Corporation for donating these books for our students to have as their own and take home to read with their families. We appreciate your dedication to fostering lifelong readers and learners!
Johnson
Virtual Academy
Schoolfield
Park Avenue
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you know, the more places you will go." - Dr. Seuss
Books for KIDS at Schoolfield!
On Thursday, April 7th, Schoolfield had the honor of hosting their annual Books for KIDS. event. Students were given a book of their personal choice including titles such as; How to Catch a Unicorn, What Makes a Hero, and Pete the Cat Pizza Party. Mr. and Mrs. Majors donated a new book for EVERY Kindergarten student. Students loved reading their new book with our donors, staff members, and our wonderful parents who attended. Schoolfield Jags LOVE to read and showed the utmost respect for the generous donation we received. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Majors!!
DPS alumnus attends Grammys with nominated group
GW Alumnus Kevin Newton attended the 64th Recording Academy Grammy Awards on April 3, 2022 with the Imani Winds. The group was nominated for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for their most recent recording Bruits. This was the group's second Grammy nomination. Kevin Newton is a 2011 graduate of GWHS, who first learned to play the French horn at Bonner Middle School and refined his skills at GWHS, VCU and the Manhattan School of Music. Kevin did not play on the nominated recording but joined the group immediately after its release when Jeff Scott, 2nd from the right, retired. Kevin is currently on tour with Imani Winds and pursuing a doctorate at Stony Brook University in New York. He also teaches horn performance at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and plays with other New York area groups when his schedule permits.
From left to right - Kevin Newton (French Horn), Toyin Spellman-Diaz (Oboe), Brandon Patrick George (Flute), Monica Ellis (Bassoon), Jeff Scott (retired French Horn), and Mark Dover (Clarinet).
Important Upcoming Dates:
April 9 - 13th Annual Bridge2Bridge Race, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Danville Community Market. Click here for more information.
April 12 - DPS Fine Arts Show in the GW Auditorium from 5 - 7 p.m.
April 14 - Bonner Middle School Band Concert at 6:30 p.m. in Bonner's Auditorium
April 15 & 18 - Spring Break Part 2
April 22 - Deadline to register for Summer Learning Programs
Westwood Teacher of the Year
Ms. Claudia P. Woods was selected by her peers as Teacher of the Year at Westwood Middle School. Ms. Woods has been a passionate educator for over 25 years. Currently, she is a 7th grade Science Teacher. We salute and congratulate Ms. Woods on this accomplishment.
Setting goals at Park Avenue
Park Avenue Kindergarten teachers came prepared to dig into recent student writing samples and create goals for their students.
Assistant Principal Appreciation
This week, Gibson celebrated their Assistant Principal, Mrs. Logan! Gibson loves you and are thankful for everything you do for the Gibson Bulldogs daily.
Middle School Sports Update
Hooray!! The Boys’ Bonner-Westwood Middle School Soccer team won 3 to 0 defeating Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School.
Hats off to the Bonner-Westwood Middle School Track Team and Girls’ Soccer Team for competing in this week's events. Job well done!
Park Avenue students learn about soil
This week, William Ricketts' third grade class at Park Avenue started their Science study on soil. In order to gain a better understanding of the different types of soil and their makings, the class was divided into four different groups and each given a different soil sample including: potting mix, small gravel, mixed gravel, and sand. The students had to evaluate the sample on the following criteria: particle size, texture, color, and ability to retain water. The students then were asked to make a hypothesis is the soil would grow a plant. All work, as they came up with there answers, were document on a display which is now being displayed in the third grade hall. The students really seemed to enjoy this experiment and getting to get their hands dirty in the name of Science. On a side note, in order to test their hypothesis, each group planted lima bean seeds in their soil and now are excited to wait and see if they were correct.
SEL strategies at work
Mrs. Bartee, a Special Education Teacher at Westwood Middle School, and her class were recognized for diligently researching Mercury on their Chromebooks while listening to music. Listening to music was an incentive for staying on task while exploring interactive curriculum.
National Unicorn Day at Gibson
Unicorn magic is real at Gibson. Today, students recognized National Unicorn Day (April 9th) by wearing sparkles, glitter, sequins, headbands, unicorn attire, hats, and more! Our students enjoyed celebrating how they are all unique just like a unicorn! A special unicorn motorcyclist dropped by Gibson today. The students were thrilled! (Dr. Price-the unicorn)
Westwood students learn hands-on
Students in Mrs. Irvin’s 8th grade math class constructing three-dimensional models from drawings. They drew the front, side, and top views from their models.
Food Goodie Bags for Jaguars
On their way out for Spring Break, Schoolfield Jaguars were given food bags to ensure a full stomach was kept while they were away from school. Schoolfield distributed 50 food bags from our Jaguar Care Closet. The food donations were provided to support our Schoolfield Jaguars and parents as they engage in their endeavors away from the schoolhouse. Schoolfield is ONE team, working TOGETHER to provide all of the necessary resources to see our Jaguars succeed in and away from our schoolhouse.
Spring has sprung at Northside!
The students in Mrs. Clements, Miss Bratton, Mrs. Shorter, and Ms. Yeates' Classes celebrated Spring with Mrs. Bagby by making a fun flower banner to decorate Northside Preschool.
Gibson students worked all week with the Evidence Based Strategies of math. They include Mathematical Language, Word Problems, Representation and Number Line during their math instruction.
Perfect Attendance Incentives at Schoolfield
On Friday, April 8th, Jaguars were entered into a raffle for having perfect attendance. Each student who had 100% attendance for the week had their name placed on the wheel of names. Twenty names were chosen at random and each student was awarded a “jag bag.” Schoolfield encourages positive attendance records to keep our students learning in school daily.
Measuring height at Gibson
Students used items from around the classroom to make authentic connections to their measurement standards in kindergarten at Gibson.
Listen and share! On this week's episode, Superintendent Dr. Angela Hairston, Chief Operations Officer Dr. Wayne Lyle and Dr. Dewey Cornell discuss threat assessments. Click here to listen on Spotify.
Tiny Tidbits: An exciting update from DPS
DPS has recently received new buses! In the past week and a half, we have received have three new 65-passenger buses with air-conditioning. We should receive a fourth soon!
Got content for the Friday Feature? Email it to ldavis2@mail.dps.k12.va.us
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