News from Principal Dr. Schwab

Each year the children amaze and impress us with their ability to "settle in" to a new school year smoothly and efficiently. Thank you for your strong support at home in helping the children adjust to the rhythm of the new school day and to their new school responsibilities.

We are also very grateful to the 475 Cardinal Families who completed last spring's parent survey conducted by Henrico County Public Schools. In reviewing the survey results, we were pleased to see the high level of favorable responses (98-99%) in many important areas. Overwhelmingly respondents told us that our school provides a safe and well-maintained learning environment; that teachers are enthusiastic and committed to the children's education; that communication between home and school is strong; that discipline is fair and effective; that school staff is courteous and helpful; and that parents feel welcome and are actively involved at our school.

We appreciate your confidence and we are determined to maintain excellence in these areas as we move forward this year. As we reviewed the data, we also identified areas where we want to increase the satisfaction rate. For example, while eighty-seven percent of our responding parents told us that we do an excellent job addressing issues of student bullying, this year we want to increase your level of satisfaction with our anti-bullying efforts. During the opening week of school, we began working with the children to make Shady Grove a "bully-free zone," and now we are enlisting your support. Please plan to join us for a special evening parent coffee on Wednesday, October 6 at 6:30 PM. Led by our school counselor, Mrs. Sarah Moore, we will identify ways you can help your child learn to combat bullying behaviors of all kinds. Working together, we are confident that we can achieve our goal of making Shady Grove a "bully-free zone."

During the month of October, a variety of standardized testing programs provide us with data on student readiness so that we can plan instruction accordingly. This year we have some new standardized testing instruments. Third graders will now take the Cognitive Abilities Test and fourth graders will take the Iowa Achievement tests during the week of October 4. Both of these tests yield results that compare student performance on a national level. A new online test, the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) will also be used at Grades 3, 4, and 5 at the beginning, middle and end of the year to measure student achievement and growth in reading, language arts, and mathematics. This new assessment promises to provide more student-specific data than we have ever had and to thereby strengthen our ability to address individual needs.

The children will enjoy a full day holiday on Monday, October 11 while our teachers participate in staff development activities here at school. October will also feature some special "spirit day activities" organized by our SCA in support of the Maymont Foundation. Be on the lookout for more information about spirit week. Finally, the children will "smile for the camera" on picture day, October 22, when we take both individual and class pictures for the 2011 Memory Book.

We are off to a great start and we are looking forward to all the fun and excitement that lie ahead this year. We wish all of our Cardinal Families an "Outstanding October!"