PCPS PSAs and news

1) Mobile Dentists will visit Vernon Johns Junior High School and Peabody Middle School on Feb 13 2) Parent-Community Summit, Feb 21 3) Upcoming School Board meetings: Feb 9 and 10, re: budget 4) Petersburg High School Boosters are a blessing in tough times 5) Westview – where learning begins in Petersburg 6) Petersburg students encounter history first hand 1) Mobile Dentists […]

January 30, 2009; 9:28 AM • by brenda p

1) Mobile Dentists will visit Vernon Johns Junior High School and Peabody Middle School on Feb 13
2) Parent-Community Summit, Feb 21
3) Upcoming School Board meetings: Feb 9 and 10, re: budget
4) Petersburg High School Boosters are a blessing in tough times
5) Westview – where learning begins in Petersburg
6) Petersburg students encounter history first hand

1) Mobile Dentists will visit Vernon Johns Junior High School and Peabody Middle School on February 13, 2009.

Mobile Dentists provide a free dental examination, cleaning and sealants for students. Parents must return a signed permission form in order to have their child participate. The form has been sent home with students and is also available at these two schools. Please share this information with anyone you know who has a child at these two schools.

2) Parent-Community Summit, Feb 21

The Petersburg City Public Schools will host a Parent-Community Summit, to be held at Peabody Middle School. Community organizations, family resources and activities will be available. Click here for a copy of the flyer with all the details.

3) Upcoming School Board meetings: Feb 9 and 10, re: budget

The Board of the Petersburg City Public Schools will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, February 9, at the Petersburg School Board Office, 255 South Boulevard E., to discuss the 2009-2010 budget for the Petersburg City Public Schools. The meeting is open to the public but public comment will not be taken.

In addition, the Board of the Petersburg City Public Schools and the Petersburg City Council will hold a liaison meeting at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 10, at the Petersburg School Board Office, 255 South Boulevard E. The agenda will be a discussion of the 2009-2010 budget. The meeting is open to the public but public comment will not be taken.

4) Petersburg High School Boosters are a blessing in tough times

The Petersburg City Public Schools continue to benefit from the dedicated efforts of the Petersburg High School Booster’s Club. At the end of last year, Boosters announced that a total of $36,000 had been raised in 2008 for various needs of the school district, including $15,000 for the Petersburg Academic Sports League, $2,000 for student scholarships and funding for the PHS marquee and the stadium fund.

5) Westview – where learning begins in Petersburg

The proud graduates who cross the stage every June at Petersburg High School did not earn their diplomas overnight. The key to their success is years of teachers’ patient efforts – and a foundation that is now set at Westview Early Childhood Education Center.

In this former elementary school in the western section of the city, its walls brightly decorated with murals by artist Jerome Wiggins, Petersburg’s youngest learners come together to prepare for their long journey to higher education or the world of work. Within the building’s 18 classrooms are housed two programs for their benefit: Head Start, a federally funded program that dates to 1965; and the Virginia Pre-School Initiative.

Principal Quvarda Bailey not only oversees the day-to-day educational issues but must also cope with the unique challenges of her pint-sized pupils: teary eyes, sniffly noses and the occasional tantrum.

She and her staff are aided by several volunteer “Foster Grandparents,” who help ease the transition from home to classroom.

Head Start offers daily experiences that provide for development of skills for life, whether educational, physical and emotional. Head Start statistics show that a large percentage of children who enrolled in the program go on to graduate from high school and establish stable families.

The Virginia Pre-School Initiative provides similar assistance for children not served by Head Start.

Together, these programs not only directly guide young students into elementary education, through the Houghton-Mifflin professionally designed curriculum, they also go beyond academics to work with a student’s entire family for healthy development. Workshops are offered in parenting, job skills, nutrition, budgeting and child development.

6) Petersburg students encounter history first hand

Citie of Henricus Historical Park employees have been making field trips to the Petersburg City Public Schools. It’s not because ruins of a past civilization have been discovered there, but to enhance classroom studies.

The visits are due to a grant from the Cameron Foundation, which has allowed the Citie of Henricus Park in Chesterfield County to partner with Petersburg City Public Schools to offer hands-on, interactive programs in the schools. The programs are varied and are followed up with visits to Henricus, with transportation also provided by the grant.

Walnut Hill Elementary School (WHES) Kindergarten and 1st grade students had a Virginia Peoples assembly at school. SOLs that were covered were History and Social Studies (K.1, K.2, K.4 and 1.4, 1.6 and 1.12). The students in grades two through five had a Mapping the James assembly. SOLs covered during this assembly are History and Social Studies (2.4a-c, 2.5b, 2.6, 3.5c-e, 3.6, VS.1, VS.2, VS.3, USI.1, USI.2a-c) and Science (2.8b, 3.6a-c. 4.5, 4.8, 5.7 e,f).

During the assemblies, the students are active participants in the programs. Henricus Park employees, Margaret Carlini, Anne Garland, Melinda Senn and Catherine Collins, bring their knowledge and expertise to the programs.

WHES students will learn about the Powhatan Indians in a program called People of the River: The Powhatan Indians and about the founding of Henricus in a program called Success of the Citie: Life on the 1611 English Citie of Henricus.

January 30, 2009 9:28 AM 0