The Tiger Tea

This week is National School Counseling Week! We are grateful for our school counselors: Mrs. Bonaparte-Moore and Mr. Gustavson.

Report cards will be distributed to students Thursday, February 9th. School counselors will be meeting with scholars in the coming weeks who may be in danger of being retained. If your scholar is in danger of being retained, you will receive correspondence in the mail.

Every Day Counts! Please ensure your scholar is in school each day! A school's chronic absenteeism rate must be below 25% to meet state requirements towards accreditation. Our current rate is 27%. This rate includes both excused and unexcused absences. We still have plenty of time to decrease the rate. We are currently in the 5th month of school. If your scholar has 10 or more days absent, they are considered chronically absent. One way to help is if your scholar has an appointment or event to attend during the school day, whenever possible, send them to school either before or after the appointment so that they can be counted for the day.

Highlights from last week!

• Element Meetings!
• Congratulations to the Boys Basketball team on a season well played!
• PTA Spirit Night at Hardywood! Thank you to all who were able to participate!
• Congratulations to the following students who won awards at this year's Scholastic Art Competition: Ruth Wagaman-Eure, Fotini Tzavellas and Heidi Pierce

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond is currently having a show of all of the Regional Art Winners:

• February 3rd through February 20th: Show of GOLD KEY + SILVER KEY ART + WRITING works + Projections of Honorable Mention works will be held at The Visual Arts Center of Richmond. Writing awardees will have their names on the wall and the work will be available to read.
• All are welcome!
• We are located at 1812 West Main St.
• Our Hours are 9am to 9pm every day of the week.

February 6- 10

National School Counseling Week

February 9

PTA Meeting

February 10

7th Grade PBIS Field Trip

February 13- 17

Spirit Week- More information forthcoming

February 16

Black History Month Program

February 17

3:30 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. Valentine's Day Dance

February 22

Spring Pictures

Tennis Clinic @ VCU

February 23

NJHS Talent Show

8th Grade Semester Awards

February 24

6th Grade Semester Awards

7th Grade Semester Awards

Element Meetings

February 25

10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. For the Love of Tigers Event

The NJHS is sponsoring a Valentine’s Dance afterschool on Fri Feb 17th from about 3:30-5pm. The theme is: LOVE IS IN THE AIR! There will be music, a limbo contest, crafts and special snacks for sale (cash only!). There is no dress code and students will not be given time to change clothes during class time! There will be an activity bus provided for transportation home. If you plan to pick up your student, please arrange to be out front by 5pm! Students can buy a ticket to attend the dance for $125 Tiger Bucks on PBIS by Wed Feb 15th to attend! See the PTA if you are interested in helping with some of our volunteer needs!

The NJHS is hosting a donation drive for the VCU Children’s Hospital from Monday, February 6th to Friday, March 3rd. Requested items include travel tissue packets, small notebooks, adult coloring books, word puzzles, mechanical pencils and ink pens, unmedicated and unscented Chapsticks, along with individually wrapped mints or other citrus flavored candies. Drop in your elements’ bin outside of the library. At the end of the drive, we will count the donations, and the element with the most donations will receive 250 element points. Your donations are greatly appreciated!

Belmont Community Resource Services has opportunities for students to volunteer. Each week they feed 400+ families. Other opportunities to do a food drive, make Valentine cards, or collect paper bages are available. If interested contact Helen at director@bcsrva.org

For more information you can also visit their website at www.bcrsrva.org

Attention: Thomas Jefferson High

School Baseball would like to invite 8th grade boys from

Albert Hill Middle School who love baseball to join the

Vikings JV baseball team.

We are presently working out every Wednesday at TJ

from 4:30 – 6 pm. Activity buses leave TJ at 6:30 pm for

students who need transportation home.

Practice officially starts on Monday, February 20, at

4:30. A completed physical is required by the Virginia

High School League in order to participate. For any

questions please contact Coach Henry at

hhenry@rvaschools.net

GO VIKINGS!!

2024 YAVA Teen Judge Applications – Richmond Public Library is currently accepting applications from students between the ages of 12 and 18 to serve as judges for the 2024 Young Adult Virginia Author (YAVA) Award. Selected teens will participate in a year-long judging process during which they will read, evaluate, and rate the nominated books, and ultimately select the next winner. Applications must be submitted by Tuesday, February 28.

Newtowne Tutoring run by students at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School. Newtowne offers free tutoring to elementary, middle, and high school students for any subject. This program takes place once a week after school on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 pm until April. Tutoring is currently offered in-person at the Bluestone Lobby at Maggie Walker (1000 N Lombardy St). Students who participate can opt-in to wear masks according to personal comfort levels; tutors may or may not wear masks. Safety protocols such as sanitizing tables will be implemented.

Newtowne Tutoring is not directly affiliated with the Richmond Public Schools system. It is a program run by Maggie Walker. Newtowne Tutoring has been in operation for several years and is monitored by club sponsor, Ms. Hana Voight.

If you are interested, in signing up please fill out this Google Form below.

https://tinyurl.com/Newtowne2022.

Eighth grade scholars interested in interview prep for specialty schools should email or google chat Mr. Gustavson (dgustavs@rvaschools.net) to sign up.

Scholars are encouraged to use the Tigers T.A.L.K. QR code if they need mental health support or if they would like to report instances of bullying or unkind acts anonymously. The QR code is monitored by one of our school counselors.

Our athletic director is Mr. Kyle Kimbrell. If you have any questions regarding middle school athletics, please email him kkimbrel@rvaschools.net

All scholars must have a VHSL Physical to tryout or participate in sports.

Flag Football

Students interested in trying out for Flag Football need to sign-up during Lunch this week (February 6-10). In order to participate you must have a completed VHSL physical. Tryouts will begin Monday, February 27 and end on Wednesday, March 1. Please see Mr. Easter or Mr. Kimbrell with questions.

Head Coach: Mr. Easter (teaster@rvaschools.net)

Tennis

Tennis tryouts for all students will begin Monday, February 13th. All students are welcome to participate in tennis for the entire season whether or not they make the team. Students do not have to have previous tennis experience. There will be a clinic for all participants and weekly matches with other middle schools based upon skill level. All interested players should turn in a completed physical and signed permission form to Mr. Yavorsky in room 218 or Ms. Gabbert in room 113. Rackets are available to use for tryouts and matches.

Head Coach: Mr. Yavorsky (dyavorsk@rvaschools.net)

Assistant Coach: Ms. Gabbert (egabbert@rvaschools.net)

Please help us encourage all of our scholars to learn and recite the Hill Way! Give scholars a pop-quiz!

P: Prepared- I will be in school on time ready to learn.

R: Respectful- I will conduct myself in a way that honors myself, my school, and my community.

I: Integrity- I will do the right thing and make positive choices.

D: Determination- I will not give up in the face of adversity. I am resilient.

E: Exceeding Expectations with Excellence- I will do my personal best everyday.

Every Tiger, Every Day!

Albert Hill is a Title 1 School. Our fantastic Title 1 coaches, Ms. Greenhill (Reading) and Ms. Newkirk (Math) are always available to answer your literacy and mathematics questions. We thank them for sharing information regarding our Title 1 status at Back to School Night Thursday, September 22, 2022.

Title I, Part A provides financial assistance through state educational agencies to school divisions and public schools with high numbers or percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic content and achievement standards.

School divisions target the Title I funds they receive to public schools with the highest percentages of children from low-income families. RPS Title I funded schools are school-wide programs that are designed to upgrade their entire educational programs for all students, particularly the lowest-achieving students.

Please view this schoolwide Title 1 Presentation to learn more! This information can also be found on our school website.

Every Tiger, Every Day! Every Day Counts!

School attendance is vital to scholar academic success at all levels.

The Virginia Department of Education defines “chronic absenteeism” as missing ten percent or more of the academic year for any reason (18 days). Truancy is the act of accruing one or more unexcused absences. Though the definition of absenteeism may differ from truancy, the National Center for School Engagement asserts that the outcomes of a student missing class remain constant regardless of how truancy or absenteeism is classified. Several studies suggest that chronic absences frequently lead to notable academic problems.

• Parent/guardians are encouraged to call the school on the day of their child’s absence, but MUST send a written note requesting absences be considered excused upon returning to school. All written notes MUST be submitted to the school within five (5) days of the last absence.

• Excused absences are typically those that have resulted from conditions beyond the control of the students or parents/guardians. The only excuses for absences that shall be deemed acceptable for consideration are:

• Personal illness (if over three days, the school shall require a note from the doctor)

• Personal court appearance (student)

• Death in the family (mother, father, spouse, son, daughter, sister, brother, grandparent, aunt, uncle, nephew or niece)

• Religious holidays regularly observed by the student

• Extenuating circumstances as approved by the school administration

Scholars are asked to voluntarily accept the #distractionfreechallenge and turn in cell phones to a secured cell phone bin in each class. Scholars are rewarded for their participation and receive cell phones back at the end of each class. The RPS cell phone policy is referenced in the student and caregiver handbook and Student Code of Responsible Ethics. #offandaway #Tigersdistractionfree