School Uniform Sale05/12/2014 Once again, Jessica Graham will be overseeing our school's uniform sale, which will take place May 19-20. Here are some important details about the sale. Please contact her directly, if you have questions. She can be reached by clicking here. From Jessica: Several people have been preparing already for the uniform sale this year so here are some instructions. The sale last year went really well, so I am planning on doing it the same way this year. It is really simple. I encourage you all to participate! Even if you don't buy anything, others will benefit from buying your used uniforms. 1. Gather any uniforms your child may have out grown! Inspect them to make sure they have no rips stains or tears. Sew them up, clean them, or cull the hopeless. 2. Hang them up on hangers! Make the curve of the hanger face the left when looking at the front of the item. If you JBF, it's just like there. If you do not know what I'm talking about see attached picture. Make sure to button all buttons, zip all zippers! 3. Put a tag on it! This can be a simple sticker, an index card, or any scrap of paper. Include on the item: YOUR NAME, how much you want for the item, what size and gender item is for. Mine would say: JGraham Girls sz.14 3.00 Pin it on with a straight pin or a safety pin on the top right of the item when you are looking at it. When someone buys your item, we remove the tag to disperse $ at the end of the sale. 3 Easy steps. That is all there is to it! Bring your items to the school chapel room the afternoon of May 16th or the morning of the 19th. You are welcome to come shop for your child May 19th or 20th. We will have someone here before school and after. If you want to come in the evening or during the school hours text me or call and I will try to be here for you. Pick up anything you want back by May 21st. Anything left we donate to the school. I will send you an envelope home with the money for items you sold. Please DO NOT: Bring in a pile of clothes not hung up and not marked Bring in items not on our uniform list like light blue polos or khaki jumpers Expect your items back after May 21st Let Jessica know if you have any questions. If you have any clothing racks you can lend us that will be fantastic. Let me know. VBA is not responsible for lost stolen or left items. Teacher Appreciation Week05/09/2014 Here's the note our teachers received as part of teacher appreciation week (it was attached to a giant bucket of candy and gift cards): "You are such a SWEET TART for everything you do. You deserve 100 GRAND every PAYDAY. We know sometimes the kids act like AIRHEADS and NERDS. It must be hard to contain your SNICKERS when those little SUGAR BABIES tell you MOUNDS of NUTRAGEOUS stories. They can really come up with some WHOPPERS. I want you to know that I am grateful for your work. You bring such (ALMOND) JOY to the classroom. You are the REISEN our kids are SMARTIES instead of DUM DUMS. Thank you for RAISIN(ETTES) our children to a higher level. You are a LIFESAVER and are worth a MINT. HUGS and KISSES." We have had a wonderful teacher appreciation week! Thank you so much for supporting our teachers. We are blessed with an incredible faculty. They come early, stay late, and invest much into our children. I am so thankful for each and every one of them! While they certainly deserve much more, this past week, we showed our love by: Hosting a special lunch for them; Providing a manicure (just the ladies, of course); Providing a chair massage; Smoothies and ultimate cupcakes; Customized posters on each door; Container full of candy and gift cards. A MEGA THANK-YOU needs to be given to Lonna Leach, Christina Cox, and Casey Odom for overseeing the events of the week! Thank you ladies! To our school families, thank you for your support and participation! The 10 Word (Including Numbers) Blog Post!05/04/2014 Yearbooks: Order, you Must by May 12, $20. Forget Not!Don't Miss These Events!04/23/2014 Just wanted to be sure all of our families knew about these two upcoming events! I hope you will join us! SAT Testing Begins Next Monday!04/14/2014 The Stanford Achievement Test provides our school with an opportunity to evaluate our program. This series of standardized tests is administered to all VBA students in kindergarten through grade 11 during the week of April 21. The results allow school administration and parents to see how our students compare to other students who take this same test. SATs are not used to determine whether or not a student advances to the next grade level. In fact, our teachers do not spend time “teaching the test” as has been the case with standardized testing in the public school. SATs are simply one tool that we can use to evaluate our school. Also, we all must remember that this is only one measurement of student progress. Sometimes parents may be alarmed if a student does not test well, and while some investigation would be appropriate, the student may have simply had a bad day or not understood some questions because of how they were worded. In the end, SATs are a good tool for our school to use to evaluate the effectiveness of our program. I did want to share some helpful hints for our parents as we prepare for the tests. First, be sure that students get plenty of rest during SAT week. Students who are not well rested do not typically test well! Second, please be sure that your student(s) is/are here and are on time! This would not be a good week to take a family day. Also, if your student is under the weather please do your best to evaluate the severity of the sickness. While we do not want to spread sickness to other students, a schedule difficulty is created when students are absent. It is also important that students are on time! Tests begin near the beginning of the school day, and tardy students cause the entire class schedule to change. Please be especially mindful of being to school on time! Third, be sure that students eat a good, healthy breakfast each morning. Foods that are high in sugar content may cause the students to “crash” mid-morning, which of course, could have a negative impact on their testing. With that, classes will also be breaking for a snack time. Your child’s teacher will communicate with you regarding the specifics of snack time, but once again, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of sending healthy snacks! Fourth, encourage your students to take their time. Our teachers will be on the lookout for students rushing through the test, but we need you to reinforce the importance of this with your student. While these tests do not affect student promotion, we do want them to do their best so that we have an accurate reflection of their progress. We are looking forward to a great week of testing! As always, if you have questions, do not hesitate to contact Matt Ticzkus. We're looking forward to a great week! |