Donors Choose Projects

A few of our teachers have recently set up projects on Donors Choose! Looking for a neat gift idea? Make a contribution in honor of someone to help out our students!

Providing a Good "Bass"
Our band director, Mr. Lee, is looking to get a tuba, something our band currently lacks.

Together We Make The Difference
Ms. Ellison, one of our exceptional education teachers, would like to get ten Chromebooks for her classroom to get students more engaged, improve collaboration, and make learning fun! *Donations to this project will be matched dollar for dollar by Google.*

Chromebooks for Stellar Students! - FULLY FUNDED!
Science teacher Ms. McPhillips wants a set of five Chromebooks so she can conduct virtual labs and simulations related to science concepts. *Donations to this project will be matched dollar for dollar by Google.* 

New School Sign

From our PTA President Anne Ewald:

After almost 1½ years, Albert Hill finally has a marquee sign to showcase our beautiful school!  If you haven’t driven by the school in a couple weeks, it’s worth the trip to see it in person.  But in the meantime, here is a photo.

Since this is Thanksgiving week, there is no better time for the PTA to express their gratitude to all of those who helped to get this job done!

First, thanks to our community partner, the Museum District Association.  They were kind enough to donate $2,500 and offered repeatedly to assist even further if we needed it.  Thanks also to Senator Glen Sturtevant, our then School Board Representative, who requested a $2,500 allocation for the sign from a discretionary fund of the Board. Those two early donations got us well on our way to our fundraising goal!  Many thanks to all of our other donors – there were over 55 people/families/companies who contributed to the Annual Fund – but especially to our “Gold Star” donors.  They include the Carillon Civic Association, Cutshaw Automotive, Kevin & Sarah Gross, Andrew & Amy Hartley, Christina & Sean Murphy, Julie & Charlie Seabury, and Susan Seabury.

With all this support, raising the money seemed to be the easy part of the job. There was a long, drawn out process to get the design approved by the City’s Urban Design Committee so that the sign complemented the historic nature of our building.  This led to the brick base which is beautiful but created major problems with our budget.  Enter Deanna Lewis with Heirloom Restoration who became the PTA’s “project manager” for the sign.  Deanna led efforts to obtain even more donations for the sign from Riverside Brick & Supply Co. who donated the bricks, both Home Depot & Lowe’s who each donated $100 in supplies, Essex Concrete who donated the concrete, and McCauley Masonry who constructed the base at a fraction of the cost that others proposed. Deanna was instrumental in getting the base constructed and saved the PTA a lot of money in the process!

Again, much appreciation to all who helped in some way, whether big or small, and may we all feel a little extra pride in our school as we drive by it!

Enjoy your weekend!
Anne Ewald
AHMS PTA President

Science Fair Project Schedule

A downloadable PDF version is also available by clicking here.

Sports Equipment Donation from the Washington Redskins & Good Sports!

Ms. Newkirk passed along an email from Good Sports this afternoon that is exciting news for Albert Hill -

"Congratulations! I am pleased to inform you that Albert Hill Middle School has been selected as a recipient for a donation of brand new sports equipment, apparel & footwear through the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation and Good Sports. Both parties are impressed with your initiatives in the Richmond community to keep kids physically active and we look forward to supporting your efforts. More details about the donation will be provided in the coming weeks."

Article on NBC12 about the donation.

Good Sports - http://www.goodsports.org/
Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation - http://www.redskins.com/community/about-us.html

Art Class Updates

From our art teacher Ms. Russell, "Students were studying Fauvism and the Blaeu Reiters in art class, where these artists used extreme, often unrealistic colors, but their works have a lovely vibrancy. Amelia, Grace, Jameia, and Aziah all painted studies from those artists' collections before painting their own pieces in the same style."

Also, a few photos from field trips art students recently took to the VMFA:

On a recent walking field trip to the VMFA, art students walked by the new mural near Black Hand coffee shop and offered some insightful interpretations.

Students prepare themselves well to be their own docents and here are studying the expressive qualities of this Delaney painting of Marian Anderson.

Principal Knight's Farewell Letter

May 28, 2016

Dearest Albert Hill Family:

I’m sure by now that many of you have heard murmurings about this being my final year at Hill.  Thus, it is with great sadness that I write to confirm that those rumors are true.  This, in fact, will be my final year.  And while I realize that there is wide-spread speculation about the reasons for my departure, I can assure you that it is for nothing more than coming to the tough, but necessary decision to prioritize my children’s needs and to do what is in the long-term best interest of my family, both personally and professionally.  

While I can’t thank you all enough for embracing and supporting me, my real reward is you allowing me to be a part of your children’s lives.  Thank you for trusting me.  With that, know that ‘The Hill’ has left an indelible mark on my heart and I will take with me nothing but the fondest of memories. 

And if you haven’t figured it out by now, the true secret to my success is the team I have that walks alongside me every day.  The teachers and faculty on ‘The Hill” are bar none, inarguably the most committed and caring group of individuals I’ve ever met.  I was blessed to share this season of my life with them and am all the better for having had the privilege of getting to know them and working with them.

Additionally, I would be remiss if I did not thank Dr. Bedden for believing in me and giving me this opportunity to serve you all and your beautiful children.   I also want to publicly thank my Executive Director, Mr. Jeffers, for his tireless support throughout my tenure.   Because he has worked so closely with me, he has more than a working knowledge of the needs and desires of the Hill community and I know he is poised to work hand in hand with you all through this transition to identify a dynamic replacement.  

Moreover, I know you all realize that Dr. Bedden and his team have the extremely challenging charge of reshaping the academic landscape in RPS, with unbelievably scarce resources, and under very difficult conditions, to ensure that all of our students are successful.  In working with them, I know that their heart is in the right place and that they work interminably each day to get closer and closer to realizing that effort.  In light of this, I ask that you support them, as you’ve so kindly done me, to remove all obstacles to student progress and to keep the focus on student achievement.  

In the meantime, I can assure you that I will do my part to leave our little schoolhouse better than I found it.  I look forward to spending to my final days honoring your children through service, enjoying my Hill family and celebrating the beautiful moments that remain on ‘The Hill’.

Sincerely,

Shante’

LaShante’ Knight

Principal Albert Hill MS

The original letter in PDF format can be accessed here.

Kings Dominion Music Festival

From our band director Ms. Wisniewski, "The Albert Hill Middle School Band performed at the Kings Dominion Festival of Music on Saturday, May 7th. The band is comprised of 22 sixth and seventh graders. These students performed "Celebration March", "Shockwave", and "Dragon Slayer" and earned third place at the festival!"

"Shockwave"

"Celebration March"

"Dragon Slayer"

National Teacher Appreciation Day at the White House

Congratulations to our very own Ms. Lisa Coates for being invited to the White House yesterday. She took part in the program for Teacher Appreciation Day that recognized the National Teacher of the Year, state Teachers of the Year, and great educators from across the country.

Ms. Coates with the Secretary of Education John King.

The President with the National Teacher of the Year.

Ms. Coates in front of the White House band. 

Ms. Coates shaking hands with the President.

Tiger S. T. E. A. M. Lab

Photos from the ribbon cutting ceremony for the future site of the Tiger S.T.E.A.M. Lab. Assistance in putting it together was provided by VCU service learning student Shannon Fasing. (Thanks Ms. Coates for the photos!)

National Spanish Exam Results

From our Spanish teacher Ms. Midyette:

Congratulations to the following outstanding students who placed in this year’s National Spanish Exam! These students are among the top Spanish students in the country:

Honorable Mention
Level 2 Classroom Experience
Jamie Hays
Helen Lehman-Rios
Frances McCoy

Honorable Mention
Level 2 Outside Experience
Andrés Brozna

Honorable Mention
Level 2 Bilingual
Ashley Delgado

Bronze Medal
Level 2 Classroom Experience
Anna Murray
Amelia Seabury

Thank you to the PTA for sponsoring the exam, and thank you to all of the students who took the exam and put forth their very best efforts!

Maggie Walker International Language Fair

This past Saturday 46 of Ms. Midyette's Spanish students attended the Maggie Walker International Language Fair. There, students learned about different languages and cultures by attending workshops designed and taught by Maggie Walker Governor's School students.

Cornhole Set Raffle to Benefit AHMS Athletics!

Check out this handcrafted cornhole set made by our very own Health & PE teacher Mr. Ellegood. Wouldn't it make a great addition to your next outdoor event? We're going to raffle off two identical sets at the student/staff basketball game on May 22nd. Tickets are $10 and the proceeds will benefit the Albert Hill athletic department. Tickets can be purchased at the science fair tonight or during school hours from either Mr. Ellegood or Ms. Newkirk.

Principal's 2nd Semester Letter

February 19, 2016

Greetings Hill Families and welcome to Semester 2!

Third quarter is now underway! We have just finished up our benchmarks and now that we know where we stand, we are gearing up for what we know will be a rigorous final half of the year.
We welcome this second semester with great enthusiasm for all that awaits us. Between now and year’s-end, you can expect us to continue our pursuit of excellence, one child at a time. Our talented faculty is committed to pushing students to new heights while shoring up learning gaps. We know we have your support, but now we must motivate students to invest in themselves with the same depth that we have. During this half of the year, we look forward to continuing to see the tenets of Paw Pride reflected in every learner. While our talented team continues to work at that effort, we look forward to the many ways to celebrate and recognize the good works of our students; and we invite you to join us. We have our annual Science Fair, Black History Program, Poetry Night, Tiger Rallies, field trips, and Grade 8 Senior Week to look forward to.

On the academic side, we plan to further develop our readers with a school wide read anywhere campaign and an AR book challenge. In math and science, we are going to work harder at building computational fluency, while building in opportunities for students to strengthen number sense and reasoning skills. This is going to be important in these two content areas, especially math, because this year, the math test is a computer adaptive test in all grade levels. This means that questions given to students are based on how a student responds to a question, which then determines the difficulty of the next item. A correct response leads to a more difficult item, while an incorrect response results in the selection of a less difficult item for the student. So, practice is going to be critical! Therefore, I have asked teachers to increase the homework load, still making it reasonable, to give students an opportunity to really practice both complex and rote skills.

In sum, we have our work cut out for us. I will continue to call upon you to partner with us to ready our students for the rigor that awaits them; and I know I have your support. Therefore, I thank you in advance and look forward to sharing this second semester with you and your children.

Regards,

Shante’

The original letter in PDF format can be downloaded here.

Science Fair!

This year's school science fair will take place on Thursday February 18th from 6:30-8pm. 

6:30-7:00: Science Fair Awards in the auditorium

7:00-8:00: Science Fun in the Cafeteria (hands-on crafts and activities as well as snacks) and Explore the Science Fair Projects in the Gym

Earn $5 in Tiger Bucks!!

2016 Maggie Walker International Language Fair - Saturday, March 19

Dear Students and Parents--

Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies is once again hosting an International Language Fair for Middle Schoolers. The purpose is "to gain an understanding and appreciation of our ever-changing globalized world through hands-on exposure to a unique variety of languages and cultures."

The fair will take place at Maggie Walker Governor's School (1000 N. Lombardy Street / Richmond, VA 23220) on Saturday, March 19, 2016, from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. It costs $5 per student.

The fair will include "a welcome ceremony, a variety of workshops led and designed by Maggie Walker students before and after a lunch break, a closing ceremony, and an international dessert sampling. Students will choose one language of interest, which will be taken into consideration when assigning workshops, and to expose students to all languages, other workshops will be assigned via lottery... Workshops will incorporate the following languages: Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, German, Russian, American Sign Language, and Arabic."

The fair is a wonderful experience, and I would like to give 5 Tiger Bucks to each student who attends. Please let me know via email if you plan to attend, and be sure to include an emergency phone number. Then, please send in the $5 fee to me by Thursday, February 11. You must pay by check, and checks can be made payable to "Maggie Walker Governor's School."

Again--

What: International Language Fair for Middle Schoolers

When: Saturday, March 19, 2016 from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm

Where: Maggie Walker Governor's School (1000 N. Lombardy Street / Richmond, VA 23220)

Registration Deadline: Thursday, February 11

Cost: $5/student

*You must pay by check, and checks can be made out to "Maggie Walker Governor's School."

¡Gracias!

Best regards,

Señorita Midyette

PTA Meeting and Test Prep for Success Night - CANCELED!

A message from Principal Knight about tonight's PTA Meeting and Test Prep for Success night. It has been canceled and rescheduled for a later date.

"Dear Albert Hill Families:

This is Principal Knight with an important message about this evening activities. Please accept this as official notification that we are planning to reschedule tonight's PTA meeting and Test Prep for Success Night due to the impending storm. Our decision was made with much deliberation and has been done in an effort to respond to our faculty and families' needs to complete last minute preparation for the weather event.

While disappointed about the turn of events, we look forward for rescheduling when we are not competing with the weather so that the hard work of our teachers is not in vain.

Thanks again for understanding. Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions."