August 26, 2016
Employee of the Week:
Please join in recognizing Mr. Timothy Adkins, Custodian
at Gretna Elementary School, on his selection as
Employee of the Week for Pittsylvania County Schools.
Please click on the following link to find out what
employees do to make this A Great Place to Learn and
Work!
http://www.pcs.k12.va.us/staff/employee-of-week/
Appreciation is expressed to all staff for their work to
enhance the instructional programs and academic
expectations to ensure that every child is learning at
high levels. A measure of these efforts was highlighted
in last week’s Wrap-Up where the Division consistently
out-performed State averages on the Standards of
Learning tests administered in 2015-2016. Principals
have shared how team members have worked tirelessly to
safeguard student learning. They have told of the many
hours associates have devoted to unpacking the Standards
and aligning the curriculum, the countless instances in
which individuals have used planning time or stayed
after school to tutor students, the number of hours
dedicated to professional development targeted at
improving student learning, the devotion of colleagues
to ensure that students have nutritious meals and that
the buildings and grounds are clean, and the insistence
that the bus rides to and from school are safe and
orderly. Thank you.
State Board of Education:
The State Board of Education is revising the
Standards of Accreditation (SOA) to ensure that all
children in the Commonwealth have access to public
schools that pursue academic excellence and continuous
improvement while preparing their students for success
in college and the workplace. Revisions to the SOA will
include diploma requirements aligned with the Profile of
a Virginia Graduate and new standards for school quality
and improvement. Please click here Educational
Initiatives for more information.
To provide opportunities for input from the public, the
Virginia Board of Education held two public hearings in
Central and Southwest Virginia this week for feedback on
accreditation, graduation and new federal education
requirements. The public forums were held in Abingdon
and Lynchburg this week and featured a round-table
discussion before the event was opened to the public for
comment. Two additional forums were previously held in
Manassas and Williamsburg. The Board will accept input
through early fall, when it will consider the
information gathered, and in late fall submit a plan to
the Governor’s office and the Virginia General Assembly.
The hope is to have the plan complete and ready to
implement with the start of the 2018-2019 school year.
Virginia Students Again Outscore Nation on ACT:
Commonwealth Achievement Increases, While Nation
Declines
The Virginia Department of Education announced this week
that Virginia students again outperformed their peers
nationwide by significant margins on the American
College Test (ACT) as the number of the Commonwealth’s
high school seniors taking the college-readiness
examination continued to grow. Virginia’s public school
students meeting the ACT’s college-readiness benchmark
in each assessed content area in 2016 was 15 or more
percentage points higher than the percentages
nationwide. The college-readiness benchmarks identify
students whose ACT scores indicate that they are
prepared for first-year college English composition,
reading, algebra and biology.

Approximately 31 percent of 2015
Virginia graduates from public, private, and
homeschooled students took the ACT. This is an increase
from 30 percent the year before and 25 percent in 2012.
The overall composite score for Virginia high school
graduates for public, private and homeschools was 23.3.
In 2016, 21,824 Virginia public school graduates took
the ACT, compared with 18,298 of the State’s 2012 public
school graduates (a 19 percent increase in
participation). Even though the number of Virginia
students taking the ACT continues to grow, the SAT
remains the dominant college-admissions test in the
Commonwealth.
Compensation Study Update:
The employee orientation and outreach sessions during
the week of August 29, 2016, have been extended to
September 1, 2016, to ensure that bus drivers have an
opportunity to attend. Please be reminded that all
employees are invited and highly encouraged to attend
one of the orientation sessions. The revised schedule is
as follows:
-
Monday, August 29, 2016, at 3:30 PM - Gretna High
School and Tunstall High School Auditoriums
-
Monday, August 29, 2016, at 6:00 PM - School Board
Office Boardroom
-
Tuesday, August 30, 2016, at 3:30 PM - Chatham High
School Auditorium
-
Wednesday, August 31, 2016, at 3:30 PM - Dan River
High School Auditorium
-
Thursday, September 1, 2016, at 10:00 AM - School
Board Office Boardroom
Employees who cannot attend a session
are encouraged to watch the video of the session on our
website. Employees will be randomly selected to attend
focus groups to provide feedback on current compensation
and classification practices. These employees will be
individually notified.
Mark Your Calendars:
-
PowerSchool Assessment & Analytics (Interactive
Achievement) Pretest Window (EL, MS & HS) Ends
September 9, 2016
-
Initial MAP Assessment Window Ends September 16,
2016
-
PALS Screening - Grades 1-3, Ends September 23, 2016
-
PALS Screening - Grades PK-K, September 21, 2016
through October 19, 2016
-
Volunteer Fingerprinting @ Chatham High School,
September 1, 2016 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
-
Progress Reports Sent Home – September 2, 2016
-
Labor Day, Holiday for Students and Staff –
September 5, 2016
-
Character Word of the Month - Trustworthiness
Please send media requests to: http://www.pcs.k12.va.us/media/.
This may be (1) to request media presence on site to
cover an upcoming event or (2) to request media coverage
(without media on site) of an upcoming event or (3) to
report news from a past event. Thank you for
identifying the great things happening in the schools!
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