Week of September 11, 2019

DRAMA BOOSTERS MEETING 



All parents are invited to the first Drama Boosters meeting of the new year to learn about MLWGS’s drama program, 2019-20 shows, equipment upgrades, audition and set build information, volunteer opportunities, other ways to support the program, and meet key players including the producer, director, and drama sponsor. The meeting will be held in the Black Box on September 16 at 6 p.m. The Boosters hope to see many of you. If you are unable to attend but would like to be included in the future or have questions, please drop a note to Peggy Finck

SCHOOL PHOTO TIME!

Underclass (grades 9-11) photographs will be taken by Wendell Powell Studios on September 23 and 24 in the Auditorium.  

Make-ups/re-takes: Monday, October 7: Black Box 

Scheduled students will be called through their English classes from 8:40 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. Seniors are not photographed at this time. 

Photographed students will receive a proof sheet of their photograph along with ordering information and pricing at a later date. 

Senior portraits will be shot on: 
Tuesday, September 17 and Monday, October 14- all day in the Black Box

Seniors can sign up for time slots with Wendell Powell at wps@wendellpowell.com 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE FALL FESTIVAL 2019!

The 2019 MLWGS the Fall Festival is scheduled for Friday, October 4. The Fall Festival is a wonderful time for all students and their families to get together, enjoy food and activity booths, listen to live music, get to know each other better, and have fun! The booths are student run and a fundraiser for the clubs. The festival showcases and funds the clubs and activities that enrich the student experience at MLWGS.  Sign-ups for the booths are done by the clubs in conjunction with the club sponsor.

Parent volunteers enable the festival to operate. Sign-ups for parent volunteers for different roles at festival time will come out shortly. In the meantime, parent volunteers are needed for the organizing committee. Two types of committee volunteer positions are needed: organizing committee volunteer and day of full day volunteer. The full day volunteer is a new sub-group set up this year to enable parents who would like to participate on the committee but have limited time availability.

Parent who are interested in volunteering please reach out to Gopal Bhagavatula





FALL FESTIVAL ENTERTAINMENT REQUESTS

    

Interested in Performing at Fall Festival?

School Curricular Groups (Jazz Band, Orchestra, Chorus, etc.) will have designated slots.

Limited time is available for other groups. Submit ONE FORM per performer, or per group.

Online Link to sign up

DEADLINE for signing up is Wednesday, September 25.

Questions? Please contact: Jessica Lai Perez 804-295-2432 or Susan Warner  804-347-4624.

FALL FEST Entertainment Flyer







ENTER for a chance to win a $20 gift card!

Simply enroll in the brand new Great Lake Scrip Program by September 27 and you will be entered in a raffle to win one of three $20.00 gift cards to a participating retailer of your choice. This is the NO EXTRA COST TO YOU fundraiser from the MLWGS PTSA! Buy gift cards for stores you already shop, and a percentage will go directly to the MLWGS PTSA. Go to www.shopwithscrip.com to enroll, for more information, and for a full list of over 750 participating retailers. I promise you regularly shop many of them. The MLWGS enrollment code is C43669E564L28.

You can order on-line this year once you enroll!   You can even pay on-line if you enroll in Presto-Pay (think Pay Pal). Physical cards must be ordered by noon on the following dates: October 4, November 8, December 6, March 6, 2020, and May 8, 2020. If you are paying by check, checks should be delivered to the PTA box in room 100. Another advantage of enrolling in Presto-Pay is that many of the retailers participate in Scrip Now. You can order these cards and receive them immediately on your computer or phone, no waiting for deadlines! This is great for both on-line and in-store shopping. AmazonSmile is one of many Scrip Now providers. Double earn using both Scrip and Amazon Smile!

Questions? Contact your PTSA Scrip Coordinator at scrip@mlwgsptsa.org.

Link to useful videos:
What is Scrip and How Does it Work? https://shop.shopwithscrip.com/Support/videos/scrip-explained


Scrip Now and Enrolling in On-line Payment: https://shop.shopwithscrip.com/Support/videos/family-ordering

VA SCHOOLS RANK THIRD IN NATION FOR K-12 ACHIEVEMENT

RICHMOND, VA- The nation’s leading education journal today ranked Virginia’s public schools as third in the nation in student achievement based on the performance of students on national assessments in reading and mathematics, graduation rates, and achievement on Advanced Placement examinations.

Education Week’s Quality Counts 2019 report awarded the commonwealth a letter grade of B- for K-12 achievement. Only Massachusetts, with a B+, and New Jersey, with a B, earned higher grades.

“This is exciting news as our students begin a new school year,” Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane said. “I look forward to visiting as many schools as I can during the coming weeks and months and personally congratulating teachers, principals, administrators, and support professionals for all they do as we strive to make the commonwealth’s schools the best in the nation.”

K-12 achievement comprises one-third of Education Week’s three-part Quality Counts rating system. Earlier this year, the publication awarded Virginia a B on its “Chance for Success Index” and a C for school finance.

Today’s grade for K-12 achievement resulted in Virginia earning an overall grade of B- from Education Week for 2019.

The Quality Counts 2019 report is available online. Reports from previous years also are available.

Week of October 24, 2018

NEW THIS YEAR! ONLINE ORDERING OF SCHOOL PHOTOS!

Your Wendell Powell school portraits are in! To see your images, visit https://goo.gl/vAxb7v and use the gallery password dragons1819. 

-The 11th grade password is TT7V92. 

-The 10th grade password is VEFH8J. 

-The 9th grade password is 96XDW3. 

You will see several poses for each student.  PLEASE select your preferred Yearbook portrait by clicking on your favorite pose and selecting BUY PHOTO in the upper right-hand corner. The first “purchasing” option is called YEARBOOK SELECTION. This is FREE. By “purchasing’ that pose, you will indicate to Wendell Powell which one you want in the yearbook. 

In addition, of course, you can purchase prints via the same window (you are not obligated to purchase prints). If you don't make a selection, WP will likely make one for you. There will be ONE MORE DAY—tentatively, November 15, but this will be announced soon- for retakes for those who didn’t like their first set of shots, or who missed the previous three portrait days. Please contact me at mwhite@gsgis.k12.va.us, or Douglas Hinckley at wps@wendellpowell.com, if you have any questions.

THERAPY DOGS VISITING OCTOBER 26TH!

Last spring, therapy dog teams from Caring Canines visited our school. The dogs were very popular and a request was made by students to have the dogs come to Maggie Walker for an additional visit. We have been able to accommodate this with the support of school staff and the help of Caring Canines. The dogs and their handlers will be visiting our school on October 26 and later in the spring. We’re excited about offering our students an additional opportunity to enjoy the animals. 

Students must have a parent permission form to present to staff prior to entering the area where the dogs will be available (field weather permitting or the gym). A link for the form is attached to the document or students may pick up a copy in the counseling department. Questions? Contact Lisa Ebeling, School Psychologist, at lebeling@gsgis.k12.va.us or call at 354-6800, x 3260.

Click here for Dog Therapy Permission Form.

FALL ART WALK 

On Friday, November 2, the Fine Arts Department and Visual Arts Boosters is hosting our annual Fall Art Walk, in conjunction with Richmond’s First Fridays (when the art galleries on Broad and Main are all open). One objective of the art curriculum is to have the students “be aware of and participate in the local arts community."  To help avoid parking around the galleries, we will have a bus which will run a circuit from the Main St. galleries to Broad St. and back to school. The bus will continue this circuit throughout the evening until the last pickup at 9:30 p.m.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to participate in a First Fridays Art Walk- or even if you have- we’d love to see you at our event! It’s always a very fun evening. All are welcome (students, parents, family members, and faculty).

When: November 2, 2018, 6:00-9:30 p.m.

Where: Meet in the adjunct classroom (room 153, outside the Bluestone Lobby) to enjoy snacks and refreshments prior to heading to the galleries. Link to the SignUp for the reception.

Additional details can be found here: http://www.maggiewalkervab.org

SUPERINTENDENTS' LUNCHEON

Parents, do your kids need community service? The Superintendents for all the jurisdictions feeding into Maggie Walker would like to have lunch with students from their jurisdictions and learn from the students about their MW experience. This is a great opportunity for students to really connect with the leaders who determine the funding for our school. Students only please- no parents! Please speak with your students about the importance of advocacy for our school and encourage them to sign up for a slot with their jurisdictions' Superintendents. 

Dates vary per area starting November 2.  There are only a few slots left so sign up today!

Superintendents' Luncheon

SCRIP FUNDRAISER 

Reminder: The first order is November 9.

Do you ever shop or give gift cards from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Chipotle, CVS, Panera Bread, Lands End, Lowe’s, Shutterfly, Starbucks, Subway, Target, or Walmart? These are just a very small number of retailers willing to give Maggie Walker money if you purchase their gift card for your own use or as a gift.  The full list of retailers can be found at https://www.scripzone.com/certificatelist.aspx. 

Consider your upcoming holiday gift needs and plan to order by November 9. It’s a great way to support your school at no extra cost to you. Let those retailers support your children’s school! Confused? Want to know more? Contact Laura Dysart at lauradysart@verizon.net.

SCRIP Order form

ATHLETIC BOOSTERS PARENTS SOCIAL 

Please join the Maggie Walker Athletic Boosters for a social event at Ardent Craft Ales on Tuesday, November 13 from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

All parents of current and prospective student athletes are invited to meet and socialize with other parents and learn more about the Athletic Boosters. Coaches and parents of alumni athletes are invited too! This is not an event for students. There will be a cash bar. Non-alcoholic beverages and snacks will be provided without charge by the Athletic Boosters. There also will be a membership table for anyone who wants information and to join for the current year. Go Dragons!

Ardent is located in Scott's Addition at 3200 W. Leigh Street, Richmond, VA 23220. 

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE PTSA? 

It's a great deal at only $20.00 per family!

Remember all those Back-to-School Packets you received? Yep PTSA… Did you use your new School Directory to coordinate homecoming schedules? That is all PTSA. The PTSA supports lots of school programs, students and teachers.

Imagine what we could do if we had 100% participation!

Sign up at this link: Join the PTSA

We would love to hear from members what programs you would like to see featured this year. Please send ideas toprograms@mlwgsptsa.org