The Tiger Tea

I hope everyone had a restful and rejuvenating spring break! We hope to see you Wednesday, April 12th for the PTA Spirit Night at Torchy's Tacos (flyer below). All proceeds support our students, teachers, and staff.

As we come back from spring break, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate all of your efforts to help us move the needle on chronic absenteeism at Albert Hill to prepare our scholars for success. As a result of your support parents and diligently working through the daily challenges, we were able to achieve a 2.45% drop in our chronic absenteeism rate! Our current chronically absent rate is 25.39%

We are just above the 24% goal, and I know that with your continued support we will meet our goal of being at or below 24%. Over the next two weeks of school, through April 19, we have the potential for another 1.34% reduction. Let's go students and families. We can do this! If your scholar has an appointment please send them to school and sign them out either before or after the appointment. Every student counts! Every Tiger, Every Day!! Remember excused and unexcused absences count against our chronic absenteeism rate.

Highlights from before spring break!

• Kudos to the 8th grade team for planning an awesome PBIS skating field trip for our 8th grade students!
• Our Spring Tiger Rally was a success. Despite the late cancellation of the bouncy houses due to weather, our team and volunteers rallied together to make it an amazing event for our scholars! Thank you scholars for earning admittance through positive behaviors!
• Kudos to all of our volunteers and donations for the Spring Tiger Rally! We cannot do this without your generosity!
• A huge thank you to our PTA for coordinating donations, volunteers, and ensuring that we always have everything we need for our students!
• Our 8th grade students visited Richmond Technical Center! If you have not looked into the course offerings at the Technical Center, please do so. There are so many wonderful FREE opportunities happening at RTC!

April 3-7

Spring Break

April 17

Report Cards Distributed

April 17- 22

Tigers Serve Events

National Volunteer Week

April 20

ELA Night

April 24

Spring Panorama Survey Begins

April 25

Bus Driver Appreciation Day

April 26

Administrative Professionals Day

National Junior Honor Society Updates (NJHS)

7th Graders who qualify to apply to NJHS (no C's so far this year AND 89% average of Semester 1 grades) will receive information emails on Monday, April 10th about the application and an information meeting to be held during school. Please remind your student to check their emails on Monday, April 10th.

Yearbook Pre-Sale and Photo Request
Get your Yearbook here during the pre-sale! Ms. Howard is in need of photos of events from this school year for the yearbook! Any parent or student events during school hours or after school are welcome.

Please send your photos to mhoward@rvaschools.net through email attachment or zip-drive for large size images.

Donations and Volunteers Needed for Spring Tiger Rally

Click here to volunteer at the event on Friday!

Click here to contribute some of the needed materials Please sign up for materials by Thursday.

Albert Hill Pop Up Party

Breaking news... the perfect attendance pop up party for Wednesday, April 12th has been changed to a FOOD TRUCK event! All students who have perfect attendance March 27th-31st and April 10th-11th will be able to participate.

The "Be Cool and Stay in School' Snow Cone event will be moved to Friday, April 21st for any students with perfect attendance from Monday, April 10th- Thursday, April 20th.

Golden Messages of Positivity

From the NJHS comes a new opportunity to uplift you! This season of the year there is a lot of work and stress and sometimes you just need a positive word. The NJHS has hidden Golden Messages of Positivity throughout the school. Keep your eyes posted for a golden envelope, and once you find it, it's yours! You can keep the message or pass it along to someone in need of a pick-me-up. Special challenge: Can you collect all 6 messages? The colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) are assigned to the messages. If you find or trade for all 6, you can deliver them to Ms. Howard in room 201 for a special treat.

Technology Replacements

If you have lost your Chromebook charger, please bring $5 to the main office. Mr. Prest will replace your charger when you show the receipt. If your chromebook is lost or stolen, please send an email to Mr. Jacobs or Mrs. Ivy for the replacement procedures.

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

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.

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.

Co-ed Softball

Head Coach: Mr. Brouder (gbrouder@rvaschools.net)

Track

Spring track meet will be May 3rd at John Marshall High School

Head Coach: Ms. West (twest3@rvaschools.net)

Flag Football

Head Coach: Mr. McLane (jmclane@rvaschools.net)

Tennis

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