The Little Judges' Docket

We are so excited to have everyone back at school tomorrow! We also have our VACDES Night at the high school this week on Tuesday. Our students will be singing the National Anthem for the basketball games. All VACDES students get in free to the games (both boys and girls) and parents pay $7. Please come and have our Little Judges support the Handley Judges Tuesday night, January 6th at 5:45. We sing at 6pm.

Ms. Pat's Holiday Shoppe was a huge success! Thank you to all that volunteered, donated money or items for the shop, and families that participated. What a great way to continue to remember Ms. Pat and all the things she did to support every student and staff member at VACDES.

We also have a lot of coats in our lost and found. Please make sure you have your child look for any missing coats or feel free to drop by and we can walk you to the lost and found to check yourself.

Snow Day Packets should be at home! This a packet of work for up to 6 days worth of snow days. Each day that we are considered a virtual day, students should complete one worksheet in reading and one in math and read with an adult for 15 minutes. We will count the student present for the virtual day if they return the work they did. Please keep the packet in a safe place at your house so you will be ready as needed. We will also have them posted on the school webpage.

Please have your student to school as close to 7:30am as possible so they have time to put their belongings away and eat breakfast since we have announcements at 7:45am and instruction begins at 7:50am. If you are a car rider, the parking lot will be blocked off at 7:45am so if you are later than that you will need to walk your child into the office to sign them in. We will have safety drills (fire drills and lockdown drills) per Virginia state code during the first month of school and sporadically throughout the year. We will make sure to let you know in the newsletter the weeks they will be happening.

Thank you as always for your support for our school. We need to work together as a community to make our students successful because we are creating Local leaders today - Global leaders tomorrow!

Lisa Pluska, Ed.D.

Principal, Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary School

540-665-6330

Report cards will be sent to your email on January 7th. If you are not receiving them, please contact the office to make sure we have your correct email address. This is the time of year that we are really pushing to get more kids on grade level and to get them reading regularly. We are excited to say that our students are gaining ground academically.

Midyear assessments start this week. K-3 will be doing VALLS (Reading), VKRP (Math) for K, and midyear growth assessments will start next week for 3rd and 4th grade.

NEW Progress Reports and Report Cards

New this year: Families will receive quarterly progress reports and report cards via email and in the PowerSchool Parent Portal under “Student Reports.” Schools will no longer send paper copies home with students. Here is a link with directions. Please ensure your contact information is correct using the PowerSchool Parent Portal or by contacting your school’s Registrar. Students receiving special education services will continue to receive printed progress notes.

Reading is so important for students to be successful in life. The statistics show that if a child is not reading on grade level by 3rd grade, they really struggle to keep up with their peers and they struggle to graduate on time. We are focusing on every student being on grade level by the end of the year. If you see that your child is struggling with reading, reach out to the teacher or our Reading Specialist, Robin Packard. She can give you tips on working with students at home. The best thing you can do is read with your child every day. It can be in any language and with lots of pictures. Just let your child see that reading is fun and important to you as well!

Triple points on Monday just for coming to school. It's so important to come to school every day that you can. Studies show that if students start out with strong attendance in school, it stays with them and they continue to attend school. In order to be on grade level, students have to be here to get the instruction.

Thank you for continuing to ensure your student is at school. It truly takes us all working together to make sure our students are successful. Just a reminder as to how important it is to be in school every day. If your child is sick, of course we understand. Please make sure to talk to your students about the importance of hand washing. We always tend to have sicknesses when everyone comes back.

We will have our second quarter event on January 9th! Make sure to remind your student that we really want to have enough points to be able to choose our event. Everyone gets to do an event of some type. The way they earn points is by being at school, and following the rules of the school (see below).

We have started a special reward for students in 3rd and 4th grade at the end of the day. If they have followed the rules and completed their work during the day, they have a chance for a 15 minute choice time at the end of the day. They can choose recess, gym, art and library (games). If the student struggled to follow the rules or complete work, they go to study hall to complete their assignment for that day. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Every day on the announcements we will be talking about the three school wide rules -

1. Keep hands and feet to self and use kind words;
2. Stay in your assigned area; and
3. Follow directions quickly and quietly.

If you are interested in volunteering, please see below! Make sure you let the office staff or your child's teacher know before filling out the application so we can make sure you are on the volunteer list.

January 6 - VACDES Night at Handley - 5:45pm

January 9 - PBIS Event

January 12-15 - Midyear Growth Assessments for 3rd and 4th grade

January 19 - No School

• Here is the link for the Student/Parent Handbook .
• If there needs to be a change in transportation, please call the office (not the teacher) at 540-665-6330 before 1pm to let us know. Car riders must come to the back of the school by Pleasant Valley, walkers to the bus loop doors, and bus riders will be let off the bus on Van Fossen Street and coming in the front door and on the bus in the afternoon on the Van Fossen St side. Staff will be there to help guide and get your child into the school safely.
• If you arrive after 7:50 A.M., you must accompany your child to the office to sign your child in.