Back to the Basics!The more that you read,

The more things you will know.The more that you learn,The more places you’ll go.

—Dr. Seuss

WHAT’S INSIDE: ConvocationHighlights | Pg. 3 First Day Fun | Pg. 4

HCPS’ Newest Elementary School | Pg. 5

2 October 2013 school days

Enthusiasm makes for great start to new school year

W elcome to Fall! On behalf of the Henrico County School Board, it is my

pleasure to bring greetings at the start of what I know will be another successful year for Henrico County Public Schools.

I want to begin my remarks by taking a look back. I was over-whelmed by the enthusiasm that I saw in each of the five magisterial districts during our convocations in late August. The positive energy brought forth by our teachers and staff showed just how ready and excited we are to help our students reach new heights. The events were an enormous amount of fun, and I hope you take a moment to en-joy the convocation photo spread in this issue and on our website at www.henrico.k12.va.us.

Our “back to school” efforts were among the best I’ve ever seen.

Teachers were smiling, our schools were inviting, and our buses picked up and delivered your children safely and on time. There were a few minor hiccups, of course. There always are. But I’m so proud of the months of planning and work that went into delivering a positive student and parent experience. I hope you share some of the same feelings. Many of you also took advantage of our new online fees and forms ser-vices. With some keystrokes and a few clicks of a mouse, parents were able to provide necessary student information from the comfort of their own homes. What’s more, the new services allowed our “fee nights” at the middle and high schools to run more efficiently than ever. We’ll always give you the opportunity to prepare your forms and pay fees in the traditional ways, of course, but we hope you’ll consider these new services in future years.

I also want to take this oppor-tunity to encourage you to get in-formed about the upcoming meals tax referendum. On November 5th, voters will be asked to consider giv-ing Henrico County the authority to impose a four percent tax on pre-pared foods and beverages. If ap-proved, the tax would add 40 cents to a $10 tab and would generate ap-proximately $18 million that would be dedicated exclusively to Henrico County Public Schools. Without ad-ditional revenue, the school division faces cuts that will directly impact our classrooms. I ask that you take a look at the important information that is available for your review. Visit the Henrico County meals tax web-site at www.henrico.us/mealstax.

It’s going to be a tremendous year. I look forward to seeing you at our schools!

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick C.KinlawDeputy Superintendent of Schools

On the CoverEric Riley is a kindergartner in Ms. Southward’s class at Glen Lea Elementary School.

School Safety Tipsfor Parents

Traveling to and from school every day can be daunting for students, but together we can

make this the safest school year pos-sible! Please review these safety tips with your children, and feel free to learn more by visiting the Safety and Security page on the HCPS website: henrico.k12.va.us/SafetySecurity.

Teach children to arrive at the bus stop early, stay out of the street, watch for cars, and wait for the bus to come to a complete stop beforeapproaching the street. Be prepared to show a photo ID when picking up children from school or at the bus stop.

Teach children never to bend down in front of the bus to tie their shoes or pick up objects. The driver might not see them.

If your child walks to school, walk the route with him or her, pro-viding safety awareness tips along the way.

Help children form a walking team from the neighborhood, so they are not walking alone.

Teach children not to go near the car of a stranger if the stranger calls them over to the car. Ensure that children who ride their bikes to school wear helmets.

Make sure your emergency contact information is always up to date.

Teach your child his or her phone number, address, and the contact information for a few other responsible adults in case he/she cannot reach you.

Have a SAFE and happyschool year!

school days October 2013 3

Convocations make believers out of HCPS teachers and staffA week before the start of the school year, Henrico County Public Schools held convocations for

each magisterial district and central office to motivate and inspire teachers, administrators and

staff. This year’s theme, “I Believe In You,” was meant to leave HCPS employees feeling reener-

gized and enthusiastic.

Beach balls, spirit contests and positive messages from Deputy Superintendent Dr. Patrick Kinlaw

and County Manager John Vithoulkas set the tone of each event and sent the message that the

2013-14 school year was going to be the best yet.

“I believe that the Henrico County Schools and the Henrico school family are among the best in

the country,” Kinlaw said. “I believe the best is yet to come for Henrico Schools. I believe there is

nothing that you wouldn’t do to ensure the success of our students and I believe that you provide

the light that helps our students find their way.”

Deputy Superintendent Dr. Patrick

Kinlaw addresses an enthusiastic

crowd.

Godwin Principal Beth Armbruster(R) and Associate Principal Leigh Dunavant smile for a photo while rocking Godwin t-shirts.Henrico High School is ready for a

nything as

teachers and administrators smile for a photo

while wearing hard hats.

The Kaechele Elementary staff sports teal and

orange jerseys to show their school spirit during

convocation.

Teachers and administrators from Highland Springs

Technical Center get rowdy during the Varina

District’s convocation.

Lakeside Elementary teachers smile in their spirit wear during the Brookland District convocation.

4 October 2013 school days

Backto school

Students in Hermitage

Technical

Center’s Veteri

nary Science

classes

warm up to some of th

eir “patients.”

Students at Glen Allen High School stop and pose for a quick photo on the first day.

Little ones at Gayton Elementary line up like pros on the first day of school.

Bang

with aHighland Springs Technical Center students are

excited to start another school year.

Students at Elko Middle School learn how to use lockers for the first time on the first day of school.

Preschoolers at Chamberlayne Ele

men-

tary eat breakfast while learning

manners

and eating etiquette.

Kaechele Elementary students are excited for an enjoyable school year in a new school.

school days October 2013 5

Q. What is your background as an educa-tor in Henrico?

A. I have been in Henrico County for 23 years. I started out as a teacher at Fair Oaks Elementary School in 1990 and moved throughout the county in various roles from there. I started to become involved in administrative tasks and duties and was an administrative aide and resource teacher. I was named an assistant principal at Carver Elementary School and worked my way up from there. I have now been the principal at three elementary schools: Baker, Tuckahoe and now Kaechele.

Q. What makes you especially excited about Kaechele Elementary School?

A. In particular I loved building the new school from scratch. I have had the opportunity to be in a variety of schools in Henrico County with needs great and small. There has been a lot of diversity within my school career in Henrico, so I really wanted the opportunity to take all of that and pull it together and create a community. Kaechele will not be like any other school community; it will be its own. It is exciting to me to take pieces of experi-ences that I have had here and there and blend them together. We are building a new school community and really making history because we are the foundation of

Q&Awith Kaechele ES Principal–Cindy Patterson

Henrico County has a new elementary school off of Pouncey Tract Road. Kaech-ele Elementary opened just in

time for the 2013-14 school year. Below are some fun facts about the newly-built school in western Henrico.

Fun Facts:• Theschool’snamesakeAt a surprise presentation at the Octo-ber 2012 school board meeting, David A. Kaechele (pronounced CACK’-lee) learned that the new west end elemen-tary school would be named after him. Kaechele has represented the Three Chopt District for nearly 33 years and the Henrico community, as well as the Henrico County School Board, thought it would be appropriate to recognize his years of public service with this rare dis-tinction. “I am honored by this, but if you could find a name that people could pro-nounce perhaps…you’re going to have a lot of explaining to do over the years,” Kaechele said with a laugh. “It’s been a great honor to serve for all those years…and it’s nice to enjoy it.”

• Kaechele Elementary School isLEED(LeadershipinEnergyandEnvironmentalDesign)CertifiedKaechele Elementary has obtained LEED Silver status and is the first elementary school in Henrico to do so. LEED Silver status means the school earned 50-59 points out of a possible 100 points in five major credit categories, which include: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, En-ergy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality.

• Theschool’scolorsaretealandorangeAccording to Kaechele’s new principal, Ms. Cindy Patterson, teal and orange are already seen throughout the school, especially in the tiles and the furniture. They also represent the bright and vi-brant student population that Kaechele houses.

• TheschoolmascotisacoyoteTo help build a Kaechele community before the start of the school year, Ms. Patterson and Ms. Hyman, the school’s librarian and information specialist, came up with the idea to let students vote on the school’s mascot. After a fun and enthusiastic voting process, the school mascot (an orange coyote with a teal bandana) was chosen.

• Kaechele’sthemeis“TEAMUpforLearning”Learning is TOGETHER. Together we are better.Learning is EMPOWERING. Empow-ered learners shape their world.Learning is ACTIVE. Active learners are engaged.Learning is MEANINGFUL. Meaning-ful learning is active and reflective.

• For the 2013-14 school year, Kaechele will open the building with approximately 400 students and 20 classroom teachers. The school at full capacity will hold about 680 students.

Kaechele Elementary School opens for the2013-14 school year

what this school will become 60 years from now. It’s very exciting.

Q. What has it been like to meet the new students and parents of this school?

A. The students and parents have been fabulous! I think everyone has a level of excitement because we are doing some-thing new and we have an opportunity to create something that is very different. The majority of the students are coming from Colonial Trail, so since I have been housed at Colonial Trail since the opening (of Kaechele), there is a familiarity. Kaechele is laid out exactly the same way as Colo-nial Trail so that should hopefully make for an easy transition as well. We have had two spirit events so far and we had a great response from families. We have an active PTA already, which really speaks to their energy and their enthusiasm.

Q. What has it been like to have the school named after Mr. Kaechele, who is an active member of the Three Chopt community?

A. I think it is a unique opportu-nity for the school to be named after Mr. Kaechele. To actually have a person who can come and be a part of our school events and create that history is phenomenal. How many children can actually say, “We know the person for whom our school was named?” Mr. Kaechele was very humble and is just a gracious person.

Q. What do you want learning to look like at Kaechele?

A. We really want to embody the division’s vision and mission in what our mission is here at Kaechele. When it comes to what we want learning to look like, we hope it will be embodied in our theme of “TEAM up for Learning.” We want it to embrace collaboration, respect and re-sponsibility of one student to another. We also want it to be empowering and want students to believe in themselves and say, “I really can make a difference.” Learning is constantly changing, it is not stagnant. We want to make sure learning is meaningful and relevant and active. We have to realize kids today are potentially training for jobs that don’t even exist yet.

Kaechele Librarian Shannon Hyman (L), Kaechele Principal Cindy Patterson (R)

6 October 2013 school days

Foundationtees off foreducation

Joe France of France Environmental squats down to set up his putt for a birdie.

Clayton Clevey of the VALIC team aims

straight during HEF’s 15th

Annual Golf

Tournament.

The Henrico Education Foundation (HEF) could not have asked for a more beautiful day at its 15th Annual Golf Tournament

at Hunting Hawk Golf Club. The event raised more than $46,453 for the foundation, which helps schools and students around Henrico County. Thanks to the 25 teams that came out to support HEF, the foundation will be better able to enrich learning experiences, provide grants for educators and develop community collabo-rations for the 2013-14 school year. “This year’s tournament was extraordinary for several reasons,” said HEF’s Executive Di-rector Susan Stanley. “The foundation board was pleased to welcome four new teams to the event and looks forward to their return. We had a gorgeous fall day, a team of 15 volunteers and 50 area businesses that made donations to our raffle, but the best thing to come out of the event was the Henrico community coming together for a great cause: our students and teachers.”

(L to R) Julie Gray, Bob Lowerre, Joe

Amico and Robbi Moose represented the

UVA Curry School of Education.

The Moseley Architects team stopped o

n the

green to pose for a

photo (L to R) Julian

Parr, Rick Linnenbringer, Mike Schnurman and

Stewart Roberson.

school days October 2013 7

HolmanMiddlewelcomesstudentbranchofHenricoFCU

Holman Middle School and Henrico Federal Credit Union partnered up to open a student branch. The “Huskie

Branch” will allow students to work with teachers and parents to develop financial responsibility as well as important money management skills. “We believe it is important to teach financial literacy to our students as early as possible while providing them authen-tic learning experiences,” said Holman’s principal, Brian Fellows. The bank’s grand opening was on October 2nd and was a big success. Fellows hopes to begin advertising with Holman’s feeder elementary schools soon to encourage parents to open sav-ings accounts for their children in order for students to get an understanding of money and finances early. “At Henrico Federal Credit Union we believe it is our responsibility to support the community through service and education,” said Robyn Clark, the financial education manager for Hen-

rico Federal Credit Union. “Following the Virginia graduation requirement of financial literacy, we found a need. Our mission at Holman Middle School is to help prepare our students with financial education before they enter high school. We have created engaging financial ac-tivities that provide hands-on learning experiences for the students.” Holman Middle is the first middle school in the county to open a student branch. Other student branches are locat-ed at Deep Run, Henrico and Hermitage High Schools. “We are grateful for our partnership with the Henrico Federal Credit Union as it gives our students the opportunity to have a branch of their own at our school. The Huskie Branch is going to be run by our students for our students. We are proud to be the only middle school in Henrico County with such a partner-ship,” Fellows said.

there were some hiccups in the beginning, she wants to set an example for what can happen if families choose to adopt older children. “The myths about older foster kids being troubled and too far gone aren’t all true,” Ellena said. “That’s why I want to tell my story. I want to express to people

Life after adoption: A transformation for the betterA Varina sophomore advocates for adoption, speaks about her turbulent past and bright future

When Ellena was six years old, she would take her little brother by the hand and walk the few yards

to the nearest dumpster. She and her brother would then hoist themselves up and rummage through the trash for any food that was still in the package. With a mother who was an alcoholic and a dad who had a short temper, Ellena had no one to depend on but herself. After years of home visits by social services, she and her siblings were removed from the trailer they all crowded into and were placed into foster care—Ellena was eight.

Since then, Ellena has been adopted, and while it was hard at first, now she couldn’t be happier. Ellena is a spokes-person for the “VA Adopts Campaign for 1,000,” an effort to match 1,000 adoptive families with 1,000 children in Virginia’s foster care system. According to Ellena, a lot of times families don’t want to adopt older kids because of the stigma that comes with them. While she admits that

that all the work that they put in does provide a result.” Ellena plays tennis, is the Vice President of Varina High School’s Key Club, does community service, makes the honor roll and is a bubbly, outgoing girl. All that is a big change from the little girl that her mother, Lori adopted seven years ago. “When she first came to me, she was a scared little girl, she locked her bedroom door, and was with-drawn and shy,” Lori said. “She has made a total transformation into a very mature, responsible and out-going individual.” Ellena credits her transforma-

tion to the safety, consistency and struc-ture she receives on a daily basis from her mom. “Overall, being adopted has helped my social qualities and my confidence. I am always doing projects, going to school, and participating in clubs and

sports,” Ellena said. “Before, I went to five different elementary schools and was always just in survival mode. I only could think about now; I couldn’t think about the future. I couldn’t even think about what would happen two hours from now.” Ellena hopes to be a marine biolo-gist or a veterinarian and wants to go to Virginia Tech. “She’s a turnaround kid,” Lori said. “To think she lived the life she did and is so successful today is amazing. She sets an example for what a kid can be if you just give them a chance.” Ellena and Lori agree that speaking about and advocating adoption is thera-peutic. “I’m an open book,” Ellena said. “I never will regret my past because it made me who I am today, I just hope people will see how important it is to give older (foster) kids a chance. (Being adopted) has helped me so much.”

Ellena

Ben Kuttenkuler and his parents sign him up for a savings account at Holman Middle’s “Huskie Branch.”

8 October 2013 school days

Henrico County School Board Contact Us Awards & Credits

Beverly L. CockeChairBrookland District

Lamont BagbyFairfield District

John W. Montgomery Jr.Varina District

Lisa A. MarshallVice ChairTuckahoe District

Robert G. Boyle Jr.Three Chopt District

Patrick C. KinlawDeputy Superintendent

P.O. Box 231203820 Nine Mile RoadHenrico, VA 23223-0420804.652.3600www.henrico.k12.va.usTwitter: @henricoschools

School Days is an award-winning publicationproduced quarterly by the Department of Communications & Public Relations of HCPS. If you have questions about this publication, call 804.652.3724 or email ajenks@henrico.k12.va.us.

Natalie Allen - EditorChristie Harman - Production ManagerLarry Willis Jr. - Website Manager

piva

Spotlight On: Man Up

The mission of the Man Up Fatherhood Initiative is to enhance the well-being of students by increasing the

number of children growing up with an involved, responsible and committed male role model through proactive and educational programs. The objective of this mission is to inspire males in the Henrico County community to become better men and fathers to their children and to the chil-

dren of the community. This is accom-plished through collaborative efforts of Henrico County Public Schools, the Parent Advisory Council and the com-munity at large to provide activities that encourage male participation in the lives and education of children. “I have already seen the impact we have had on men who attended our events. This program is built to empower and encourage men to be more involved and to be better role models for their

children and other children in the community. Men need to know how important their role is to their family no matter the dynamic, said Darryl Wil-liams, Man Up Co-Chair. “We provide a platform where men can feel comfort-able discussing their challenges or issues in order to find solutions.” The HCPS fatherhoodInitiative is open to father

Henrico’s Fatherhood Initiative

Henrico organization’s “Service Above Self” motto benefits students in need

For the third year in a row, the Henrico North Rotary has kept to its motto, “Service Above Self,” and donated backpacks stuffed

with school supplies for children in need. “It makes me feel very happy to be able to do this,” said Jane Cox, a member of the rotary. “Having been in education I know the needs of many students, hav-ing been a teacher I know the number of students that didn’t have pencils or paper. This is one of the projects our members participate in so enthusiastically.” After the backpacks have been stuffed to the brim with pencils, paper,

glue sticks and composition notebooks, they are donated to homeless students all over the county. “Any time someone offers to do something like this, it is representative of a lot of money and time and care,” said Deb Reed, Henrico County Pub-lic Schools’ homeless education liaison. “Out of the goodness of their hearts (the rotary members) are buying supplies for children whose parents can’t buy them and it is just a really caring gesture.” The number of homeless children in Henrico continues to grow with an all-time high of 959 for the 2012-13 school year. The definition of homeless accord-

ing to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act includes stu-dents living in hotels, students sharing housing with another family, students in shelters, and Unaccompanied Youth (students who are not in the care of an adult). This is applicable to families who have lost their homes due to situations including eviction, foreclosure, natural disaster or domestic violence. Betsy Somerville, an intervention coordinator for Henrico, is in charge of distributing many of the backpacks and supplies. “It’s very rewarding to see a stu-dent’s face light up when he sees a brand

new backpack filled with brand new supplies just for him,” Somerville said. “Many of these children have only had worn out hand-me-downs before. The appreciation and the excitement they show make me hopeful that the stability and support we try to provide will be part of a suc-cessful school year for each child we work with.”

figures of Henrico County Public Schools students. If you are interested in joining the HCPS Fatherhood Initiative, contact Darryl Williams, Federal Programs Lead Family Advocate at 804-389-8326 or by email at dawilliams1@henrico.k12.va.us.