Fall Edition 2019

As one the largest school systems in the Commonwealth, there is high volume and complexity in the very important services being delivered and supported each day. Developing and executing a focused and comprehensive plan has enabled our school division to continuously improve those services each year. On October 14th, the School board adopted the SCPS Strategic Plan - ENGAGE 2025: Innovative Pathways to the Future. The updated plan, informed through comprehensive school and community feedback, was developed through a diverse cross-section of our school division stakeholders. In moving forward, you can expect to become more familiar with the content as we move forward in the implementation process.

Thanks to our students, staff, parents and community partners, SCPS has experienced a strong first quarter of the school year. So much learning and collaboration has already happened! Each day, I have been able to witness the good work of our almost 24,000 students, 3000+ staff members, and countless community partners and volunteers. In this fall edition of the IMPACT Newsletter, we are proud and excited to share with you just a few powerful illustrations of this work. I hope you find the highlighted programs, events, and achievements to be both engaging and inspiring.

Enjoy a beautiful, safe, and purposeful autumn season! Dr. S. Scott Baker Superintendent

www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us

Impact Today…Vision for Tomorrow

Superintendent’s MessageIn This Issue 2 All 29 SCPS Schools Receive Full Accreditation Status

3 First Lady Pamela Northam Concludes 2nd Annual Back-to-School Tour with Visit at Courtland ES and Center for Family and Preschool Services

4 Discover Your Future and WorkForce CONNECT - Students Make Connections for their Future

6 SCPS Graduate Donates Bilingual Backpacks

7 A Biome Carnival at Chancellor High School

8 Vaping Awareness Event

8 SCPS Fall Job Fair

Nov. 11 - 6:30 p.m. Open SessionSchool Board MeetingDec. 9 - 6:30 p.m. Open SessionSchool Board Meeting

All meetings held in the School BoardMeeting Room at the Administrative Services Office.

Meetings are live-streamed at:https://www.regionalwebtv.com/spotsysb

Upcoming Meetings

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All 29 SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS RECEIVE FULL ACCREDITATION STATUS For the second consecutive year, 100% of Spotsylvania County Public Schools are ACCREDITED by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). When more rigorous Standards of Learning Assessments were introduced and implemented in 2014, SCPS, as well as most school divisions through-out the state, had some schools that were not designated as fully accredited.

“I am proud of how our school system continues to respond in meeting and exceeding rigorous state accountability measures at a time when our student needs have also grown in volume and complexity. Continuous improvement is the result of the focus, dedication, teamwork, and hard work of our students, teachers, staff, parents, and community members,” commented Superintendent Dr. Scott Baker.

The Division’s most recent round of assessments reflect: • 29/29 of SCPS are state

accredited• 27/29 of SCPS met or exceeded

accreditation benchmarks in English

• 15/17 Elementary Schools have an English pass rate of 80% or higher

• 29/29 of SCPS met or exceeded accreditation benchmarks in math

• 26/29 schools demonstrated improvement and growth in Math performance

• 16/17 Elementary Schools demonstrated improvement and growth in Math perfor-mance

• 16/17 Elementary Schools have a pass rate of 80% or higher - 9 Elementary Schools have a pass rate of 90% or higher

• 7/7 Middle Schools demonstrated improvement and growth in Math performance

• 3/5 High Schools demonstrated improvement in Math performance levels

• 5/5 High Schools exceeded 80% in English performance - 3 of the High Schools have a pass rate of 90% or higher.

“Our instructional framework, which embeds the Profile of a Virginia Graduate 5 C’s ‒ critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration and citizenship skills, has greatly contributed to Spotsylvania County Public Schools continued increase in the on time graduation rate as well as continued decrease in the dropout rate,” said Deputy Superintendent - Chief Academic Officer Carol Flenard.

The Division encourages parents who would like a more comprehensive understanding of their child’s education and assessment scores to contact their child’s school.

TOGETHER - WE PREPARE OUR STUDENTS FOR THEIR FUTURE

On time graduation rate (OTGR) is 93.2%. OTGR has increased by over 3% since 2016. It is the highest SCPS has ever achieved and exceeds the state average by more than 2%.

• Special Education Students increased to 94.7%, an 11% increase from 2018

• 4 of the 5 SCPS High Schools exceed 90% OTGR, 3 exceed 95%

Drop Out Rate improved from 6% to 3.9%. This is the lowest dropout rate SCPS has achieved to date and is almost 2% lower than the state average.

• 3 of the 5 SCPS High Schools are below 3%, 1 is below 1%

SCPS ACHIEVES HIGHEST RECORDED GRADUATION RATE AND LOWEST RECORDED DROPOUT RATE

www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us 3

FIRST LADY PAMELA NORTHAM CONCLUDED SECOND ANNUAL BACK TO SCHOOL TOUR WITH VISIT AT COURTLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND THE CENTER FOR FAMILY AND PRESCHOOL SERVICES During the last two weeks of September, First Lady Pamela Northam visited early childhood education programs and elementary schools in each of the Commonwealth’s eight Superintendent Regions, highlighting the importance of school readiness. The First Lady traveled more than 2,327 miles, making 42 stops in 27 localities where she read with students and delivered books donated by bbgb books, an independent children’s bookshop in Richmond.

“Our conversations on this tour confirmed once again that local communities are leading the way in innovative approaches to early childhood care and education,” said First Lady Northam. “We are grateful to the dedicated educators,

leaders, and local partners across the Commonwealth who are preparing children for success in school and beyond in a wide variety of settings.”

Throughout the tour, the First Lady and staff engaged with students, educators, parents, legislators, local departments of social services, and members of the non-profit and business communities.

First Lady Northam visited Courtland Elementary and met wtih the student council as well as read to one of the preschool classes. SCPS Center for Family and Preschool Services staff showcased the services provided to support Spotsylvania parents and new families to the School Division. For more information about the Center, please visit https://www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us/Domain/298.

The First Lady of Virginia Pam Northam visitedCourtland Elementary and received a tour from the student council and was the guest reader in one of the preschool classes. Students even got an impromptu science lesson on a praying mantis from the First Lady.

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DISCOVER YOUR FUTURE & WORKFORCE CONNECT HELP STUDENTS MAKE CONNECTIONS FOR THEIR FUTUREOn Wednesday, October 9 and Thursday, October 10, approximately 5,500 8th graders and 650 11th and 12th graders participated in a new 2-day regional workforce readiness event. The event was hosted by the Fredericksburg RegionalChamber of Commerce and the school divisons of Spotsylvania, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Caroline, and King George. Additionally, more than 100 businesses participated in the Discover Your Future and WorkForce CONNECT events at the Fredericksburg Expo Center.

These events were much more than students visiting a booth with pamphlets. At the Discover Your Future event, students had an opportunity to be hands on with machinery, fire and rescue vehicles, simulators, and other tools used in various jobs in our region. Students were also able to speak with the business representatives to learn about potential careers allowing them to see first-hand the wide array of job opportunities locally and get them thinking now so that we can close the future workforce gap.

According to Keith Wolfe, Executive Director of Secondary Education and Leaderhip, “these events provided an amazing opportunity for students to gain first-hand insights to careers and to see what sparks their interests.”

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DISCOVER YOUR FUTURE & WORKFORCE CONNECT HELP STUDENTS MAKE CONNECTIONS FOR THEIR FUTUREAt the WorkForce CONNECT event, high school students were able to participate in mock interviews conducted by local business representatives and attend several workshop sessions on workplace readiness topics such as resume writing, job etiquette, and social media’s impact on landing a job. High school students also had the opportunity to visit the Discover Your Future business booths.

Save the DateMake Plans to join usNovember 4 & 5, 2020 for next year’s event!

For more information or to register your business to participate

in the 2020 Discover Your Future and/or WorkForce CONNECT

events, please contact Amber Belako at

540-834-2500 Ext. 1229 or abelako@spotsylvania.k12.va.us

“The Discover Your Future and WorkForce CONNECT events are great opportunities for businesses to not only meet their future workforce, but help shape it,” said René P. Daniels, Director of Communications and Community Engagement. We greatly appreciate the support of our business community and volunteers who supported both the Discover Your Future and WorkForce CONNECT events.

Anna Carlyle, a 2019 graduate of Massaponax High School, earned her Girl Scout Gold Award through the completion of her bilingual backpack project. For her project, Anna created 25 bilingual backpacks for the ESOL students at Courtland Elementary School. Working with the English for Speakers of Other Languages teacher, Mrs. McKinney, she created a total of 25 unique bags.

In total, there were twenty-five bags, five reading levels with five bags created for each level. The ESOL students will be able to “check out” the backpacks like a library book and practice their English skills. The bags contain three bilingual books, many of which Anna translated herself, and the following: one recipe, one poem, and one activity.

The backpacks were homemade and silk-screened with the help of Anne Flues, the art teacher at Riverview Elementary School. Instead of using just English books, bilingual books were utilized to encourage parents to read with their children, the parents in Spanish and the student in English, thus encouraging the reading process and helping both to learn English more effectively.

Anna received many generous donations of bilingual books from Lectura Books, Mantra Lingua, and The Little Fig.

Anna, who has a love of languages, is a first-year student at George Mason University. Anna’s love of languages began with her study of Spanish in middle school, which she continued throughout high school. She hopes to live abroad and teach ESOL after graduation.

GRADUATE DONATES BILINGUAL BACKPACKS THANK YOU FOR

YOUR SUPPORT

FOLLOW us and Stay connected!

SpotsylvaniaCountyPublicSchools

@SpotsySchools

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This year’s Rock Out Knock Out Homelessness awareness event and donation drive held on October 25 and 26 was a huge success.

“Our community is phenomenal. We filled the box truck this year,” said School Social Worker Michelle Swisher.

All the donations will be used to stock the shelves of SCPS’ Treasure House, which provides a place for Spotsylvania County students and families to get personal hygiene items, non-perishable food items, laundry detergent, new socks and underwear, and more.

“The Treasure House is completely sup-ported by donations from the com-munity and serves about 900 individu-als each quarter,” shared Lead School Social Worker Lisa Dolan. “The goal is to provide students with the basic needs so that they can focus on their academics.”

We greatly appreciate everyone who supported this event - volunteers, donors, and event partners Southpoint Walmart and B101.5. Thank you for your continued support!

A BIOME CARNIVAL AT CHANCELLOR HIGH

Mrs. Gail Lamirata’s AP Environmental Science (Envi Sci) class put on a carnival but not just any carnival, it was a “Biome Carnival”.

The “Biome Carnival” is a hands-on project to help the AP Envi Sci students explore the eight major terrestrial biomes. In teams, the students selected a biome and then created a carnival-themed game. The game not only helped them learn more about the biome, but it was also a teaching tool for those playing the game.

The carnival was held in the Chancellor HS Library and lasted for one class meeting block. Players were asked questions about the game’s particular biome. If the player answered the question correctly, they were given a small prize and earned a turn to play the game for more prizes.

According to Mrs. Lamirata, “the students loved this project as it gave them a creative way to demonstrate their learning. For most of the students enrolled in AP Environmental Science, this is their first experience taking an AP class and it is important that they have

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opportunities for hands-on learning that is fun!” This was the first time Mrs. Lamirata had her classes do the Biome Carnival project. She was very pleased with the results.

The students also enjoyed the project. Freshmen Zander Lee stated, “the project was a lot of fun and allowed us to be creative, even if we are not artistically inclined. The best part was how excited Mrs. Lamirata was about the project, that is what made it so much fun for us!”

8020 River Stone Drive, Fredericksburg, VA 22407 P 540.834.2500 F 540.834.2550 www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us8