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Quick Notes
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 |
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School Calendar
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Wednesday |
Jan. 16 |
12:15-12:45
p.m. |
Lunch-A-Month
(12:05-12:45 for Middle School) – Parents Welcome
(taquitos, chips & salsa, popsicle, lemonade)
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Friday |
Jan. 18 |
1:00 p.m. |
C.S. Local
Hero Award Ceremony
Talmadge Recital Hall, Hollins University. Normal Dismissal.
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Monday |
Jan. 21 |
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School
Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
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Wednesday |
Jan. 23 |
12:15-12:45
p.m. |
Pizza Day
(12:05-12:45 for Middle School) – Parents Welcome
No pizza day for Seminar students.
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Wednesday |
Jan. 30 |
12:15-12:45
p.m. |
Lunch-A-Month
(12:05-12:45 for Middle School) – Parents Welcome
(pasta w/ marinara sauce, bread, cookie, lemonade)
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Monday |
Feb. 4 |
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Conference
Day
No Classes.
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Tuesday |
Feb. 5 |
7:00 p.m. |
CHS Fat
Tuesday Celebration
Jefferson Center, Fitzpatrick Hall
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Wednesday |
Feb. 6 |
12:15-12:45
p.m. |
Lunch-A-Month
(12:05-12:45 for Middle School) – Parents Welcome
(chicken nuggets, potato chips, Valentine cookie, lemonade)
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Monday |
Feb. 11 |
6:15 p.m. |
Board of
Trustees Meeting
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Wednesday |
Feb. 13 |
12:15-12:45
p.m. |
Pizza Day
(12:05-12:45 for Middle School) – Parents Welcome
No pizza day for Seminar students.
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Monday |
Feb. 18 |
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School
Closed for Presidents’ Day
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Wednesday |
Feb. 20 |
12:15-12:45
p.m. |
Lunch-A-Month
(12:05-12:45 for Middle School) – Parents Welcome
(cheeseburger, BBQ chips, brownie, lemonade)
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Notes from
the Development Coordinator (Carissa)
Springtime and
Strawberries are Just Around the Corner
We are already working hard to
make the Strawberry Festival even more successful for Community
School by attempting to get ALL the Festival expenses
underwritten. Strawberry Festival is well known and well loved
throughout the Valley, but we have never had our costs
completely covered by sponsorships. We spend approximately
$30,000 to organize and run the festival. Wouldn’t it be great
if we had sponsorship dollars to cover those expenses? The
festival earnings would go even further toward keeping our
tuition costs low!
If you think your company, or
someone you know, might be interested in sponsoring the
festival, please contact me. If you provide a contact name, I
will reach out to them with a request or (even better) work with
you to provide material you could drop by in person on behalf of
our school. Last year, we raised about half of the necessary
funds in cash donations. If we could identify ten new cash
sponsors, we’d be well on our way! Contact Carissa on campus or
by email
(carissa@communityschool.net).
Thank you for supporting C.S. and the Strawberry Festival.
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Free Event at the
Jefferson Center
Thursday, January 17
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Jefferson Center
Recital Hall
RSVP: 343-2624x217 or
kclaytor@jeffcenter.org
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Families are invited to attend the INSPIRE Artist
Showcase, a free event at the Jefferson
Center. Jefferson
Center’s INSPIRE Artists-in-Schools program features a dynamic
roster of talented artists representing different cultures and
traditions, including Latin jazz, West African music and dance,
Appalachian clogging, and other styles of music, dance and
visual arts. The full roster of INSPIRE artists can be viewed at
www.jeffcenter.org/inspire. The INSPIRE Artist Showcase is a
chance for teachers, principals, administrators, and families to
experience what these artists have to offer in a free,
once-a-year smorgasbord of arts and entertainment.
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Local Hero Award
Ceremony
Friday, January 18
1:00 p.m.
Talmadge Recital Hall
Hollins University
Regular
dismissal at 3:15 from the C.S. campus. Normal ASP program.
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Since 2002, Community School has
sponsored the Local Hero Award in honor of Martin Luther King,
Jr. We solicit nominations from all over the Roanoke Valley in
search of individuals whose efforts in the community have
exemplified those of Martin Luther King, Jr., and have made a
positive difference in the lives of many. This year, we have
added a twist. Our call for nominations was targeted toward
young people in the Roanoke Valley who stand as role models for
other young people. Three young people will be receiving the
awards this year. Our middle school students create the awards
and lead the ceremony recognizing the recipients. Most of our
students will attend the ceremony, and we invite all parents to
attend as well.
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Attention Parents: Special Education Advocacy
Training in Roanoke
Date: January 23
Time:
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Location:
Blue Ridge Independent
Living Center,
1502-B Williamson Road NE
Contact: Dana Jackson (540-342-1231)
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The VA Dept. of Education's Draft Special
Education Regulations make major cuts to parents' abilities to
partner with schools.
Virginia has
encouraged parental participation, and relied upon school-parent
partnerships to improve the success of students with
disabilities, for many years. Indeed, current Virginia
regulations require "parental consent" before a student's
special education or related services can be reduced or ended.
The Draft Regulations cut some of these rights!
Various organizations will host meetings around the
state to help provide citizens with the information they need to
advocate for their rights. These advocacy training sessions will
help you understand the regulatory process, highlight the most
critical changes in the proposed regulations, learn how to
develop effective public comment, and determine which public
officials need to hear your concerns.
The process of revising the special education
regulations should serve to strengthen public protections for
students and parents, not weaken them. Unless students and their
families share their perspective on special education through
public comments, the process will likely allow changes that take
away current rights. You can RSVP
to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1838/t/5138/event/index.jsp?event_KEY=35329
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CHS Fat
Tuesday Celebration
Feb. 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $10 each
New: Free childcare onsite. |
Get ready to
celebrate! Community High School is hosting its annual Fat
Tuesday fundraiser on February 5 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the
Jefferson Center's Fitzpatrick Hall. Come and indulge in
decadent desserts and savory appetizers, enjoy wine and beer
from the cash bar, groove to the sounds of Blue Mule, shop at
the silent auction and art sale, and maybe even have your
fortune told. Free childcare is available onsite. Tickets are
available in the C.S. office for $10 each. Don't miss it! This
event is Community High School’s major fundraiser of the year.
Come out and support our partner school.
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Attention
All Middle School Students: Middle School Auditions on Feb. 7
From
3:30-5:00 p.m. |
This year for
Arts Festival, under the joint leadership of Kim M and Lisa, we
will present the musical “Tom Sawyer.” There are nineteen
speaking parts, along with extras as school kids, townspeople
and newsboys. Auditions for the speaking parts will be held
Thursday, February 7, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Please mark your
calendar! See Kim or Lisa for more information. Students going
to Bolivia will be able to participate, as we will begin
rehearsals in April.
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Students
Plant New Trees on Campus
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Active Learning
Our Christmas tree fund drive was a wonderful
success. We received five beautiful trees for the evergreen row
now growing along our border with the Hollins
University apartments. Thank you to all the families who helped us
with this project. You’ll be hearing from us again next fall.
The Students of
the Garden Design and
Land Use Management Friday Group
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Sibling Applications
for Fall 2008
Call now if
you are interested in a new sibling enrollment for next fall. |
We invite any siblings of current C.S. students
who are considering joining our school next year to submit an
application now. Siblings of current students have priority for
available spaces, but we need to know how many siblings are
interested in order to reserve those spaces. Please call
Victoria to discuss sibling applications and to arrange a
student visit. Re-enrollment information for current students
will be sent home in mid March.
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Family Email Addresses |
I would like to thank all of the parents and
families who have sent me email addresses. If you have not sent
yours, please take a moment to send me an email with “Family
email” in the subject line and identify yourself in the body of
the message. Thank you! Carissa
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C.S. Returned Check Policy
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Community School
has enrolled in a new free service through our bank to help us
recapture any returned checks. Any check that has been returned
will no longer be processed by the business office, but will be
handled by FARS. If you have any questions, contact Sue at:
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Caribbean Fest
DVD Available
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Quest
Music Academy, our Caribbean
Fest Concert partner, has produced a DVD of the event. The DVDs
are available for $18 (two or more for $15) and can be ordered
through Quest Academy, 1519 Mabry Ave., SE, Roanoke, VA
24014. Checks should be made out to
Quest Music
Academy with “Show DVD” in the memo line.
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School Email
Address Discontinued
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Due to the
overwhelming amount of spam, we have
closed the account for the main C.S. email
address (learn@communityschool.net). You can still reach C.S.
faculty and staff members through their individual email
addresses. You can find these addresses on the school website
(http://www.communityschool.net/teacherpages.htm).
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Weather-Related School Closing & Delay Information
Please
note: C.S. does not follow the other systems; we make our own
decisions regarding weather closings and delays. |
If there is any chance of a weather-related
school closing or delayed opening, please check one or more of
the following: WSLS-TV 10 and WDBJ-7 or WVTF (89.1), Q-99 FM and
K-92FM radio stations. Best bet for accurate, timely
information: call Community
School (563-5036) after 6:00 a.m. on the morning of a potential closing and listen to the voice mail
message or check the C.S. web page. Please recheck the listings
throughout the morning as our opening status occasionally
changes as weather conditions change. On days of a delayed
10:00 a.m. opening:
classes start at 10:00 a.m., and there is no Before School Care.
You may drop off your children beginning at 9:45 a.m. If weather requires an early school dismissal, we will
post it on our web page and on the TV and radio stations listed
above. |
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