Greenbrier Principal Search

The Greenbrier PTO has been advised that the Charlottesville City Schools division will begin advertising for the position of Greenbrier Principal in late November with a January deadline for applications. It is our understanding that CCS presently hopes to have the next "Super STAR" hired in February or March.

School Board Candidate Q&A

On Tuesday, October 16, the Greenbrier PTO will host a City School Board candidate question and answer session. Our PTO meeting will be from 7:30 - 8:00 p.m. (please note the new, later time) and the Q&A session will be from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Please send an e-mail Willa, Lorie, or the PTO mail box now and let us know what topics you would like covered. You should also post your suggestions here as a comment so that others can see what's on your mind. We will spend the first half of the session asking the candidates to address certain topics and then we’ll open the second half to questions.

Please come and learn more about the people whose potential decisions will impact all our children.

Thanks,
Willa and Lorie

City Council Candidate Forum

This Wednesday, October 10th, the Greenbrier Neighborhood Association is sponsoring a forum for all five City Council candidates (two of whom live in our neighborhood) . Three seats are open in November, which means that a majority of our future City Council for the next 4 years will be at Greenbrier Elementary School's auditorium at 7:30 pm -- 9:30 pm to respond to any questions or comments you have. Please be sure to come and hear from and about the individuals whose decisions will be affecting our daily lives much more than any state or national office holder. The forum is of course open to anyone, so feel free to invite or bring others as well.

Clothes Closet

Ms. Parmar, Greenbrier's guidance counselor, is seeking donations for the Greenbrier clothes closet. If you have any of the following, please drop the items off at the main office:

• Pants sizes 5-12 (especially sweatpants or pants made of stretchy material).
• Shirts sizes 5-12 (anything easy to slip on).
• A few lightweight sweatshirts or sweaters.

Please no

• ponchos,
• capes,
• tank tops,
• button-up shirts,
• socks,
• shoes,
• underwear,
• pajamas,
• winter coats (yet anyway), or
• adult size items.

It is helpful if families only send us a few carefully chosen items. If we are given large bags or boxes of stuff, we quickly run out of room to store it. It also really helps if things are freshly laundered and free of stains and rips.

Thanks for your help!

Change to 10/11 PTO Council Meeting

The PTO Council will hold a meeting Thursday October 11th at 7:00 PM in the Walker Media Center. Rosa Atkins (Superintendent) and James Henderson (Assistant Superintendent for Administration) will attend. The meeting will allow PTO representatives and members of the school community to talk about school issues in an informal setting.

Previously, our PTO received an agenda announcement for the meeting listing the topic of middle school configuration. This subject has been debated for many years in this community and continues to be of interest to all in the community. We've been advised that school officials are continuing their study of the subject but would prefer to defer discussions on this till later in the year.

Please still feel free to come to the meeting if you'd like a chance to hear from Ms. Atkins and Mr. Henderson in an informal setting.

Thanks,
Willa and Lorie

Suggestion - Water Fountain?

Yes, it's been hot the past few days, and it won't be long before cooler weather is here for the long haul, but how would you feel about adding a water fountain or two to the playground. It seems the kids spend a good bit of time running around out there and yet there's no water available until they go back into the building (if it's P.E. or recess) or until they get some at home (if it's after school). Does anyone think adding water fountains to the playground (or under the overhang) would be worthwhile?

PTO Meeting Speaker

At last night's meeting it was suggested that the PTO extend an invitation to speaker to make a short presentation at the monthly PTO business meetings. Suggestions were: a nutritionist or a reading specialist. Is there someone you'd like to hear from? Would you like to make a presentation? Post your suggestions here!

Reminder- Charlottesville City School Board Candidates' Forum

Please plan to attend the Charlottesville City School Board Candidates' Forum

WHEN: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 @ 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: City Council Chambers

Open to the public -- questions from the community are welcomed and encouraged. All of the certified candidates have confirmed participation.

Sponsored by:
The League of Women Voters Charlottesville/Albemarle
Quality Community Council
Center for Freedom of Expression
Virginia Organizing Project

This event will also be televised and broadcast on public access TV.

For more information, contact Carol Hogg at (434) 974-7592.

You Can't Get Enough Pizza! The Return of CiCi's Night!

Mark you calendars: The first CiCi's Pizza night of this new school year will be on Thursday, Sept. 27. Thereafter we'll have Cici's pizza nights on the fourth Thursdays of each month for the remainder of the school year (with the probable exception of November - we'll keep you posted). If you haven't been before, come on out and support a good cause - CiCi’s donates 10% of the evening’s sales to Greenbrier, plus it’s lots of fun for the kids. CiCi's is at 240 Zan Road, in the Seminole Square Shopping Center. See you there!

Another Easy Way to Help Raise Money for Greenbrier

Vocelli Pizza, located in the Woodbrook Shopping Center near Kohr Brothers, will donate $1.00 to Greenbrier for each logo collected from one of their home delivery or carry out pizza boxes. Simply cut out the green logo on the front of a large or extra large pizza and place it in the plastic bin outside the Greenbrier office or in one of the “box tops” boxes near the school entrances on Kerry Lane or Greenbrier Drive. They will be redeemed with proceeds benefiting Greenbrier. To order a pizza, call Vocelli’s at 800-707-1111.

School Board Candidates Forum

There will be a Charlottesville School Board Candidates Forum at 6 p.m. on September 19 at City Council Chamber. School board candidates will answer 3 questions from the Forum sponsors and then from audience members. Sponsored by the Charlottesville League of Women Voters, Charlottesville Quality Community Council, and the Virginia Organizing Project.

Greetings from Alaska!

The Steddums (formerly of Greenbrier, now in Alaska) wanted to write something for the school blog because their children miss their friends so much....

Alaska is the most beautiful place we have lived in our 20 years with the Army. There are mountains everywhere, and we even have a moose family that lives in our yard. That is real cool. Right now the temperature is 48* and our high today is 61*. The warmest it's been this summer is 72* and that felt pretty warm to us. At 48* people wear shorts and no jackets, not something we would have done down there. Right now we have 14 hours of daylight but when we arrived in June, there was 20 hours. We lose 5 minutes of daylight each day so pretty soon we will only have daylight for 4 hours each day. We are told it is supposed to start snowing in about 4 weeks. Kimo and LeiLani love their school and are making new friends quickly. Though I must say that school-wise, Greenbrier is way more advanced than they are up here.

It has been a shock and adjustment but I do believe it's going well. We miss all of our friends from the area and I personally miss walking into the school and having everyone know my name. Greenbrier was more than our school, everyone became our family and during our year without the kids' dad, everyone made us feel like they were there if we needed anything and I do thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Be on the lookout for an Alaskan basket at the silent auction and bid bid bid. You may even find a note in there from us.

Take care and have a wonderful school year. We miss you all very much and hope to hear from you soon.

The Steddums

PTO Mailing List

Lorie and Willa have done a great job building and maintaining the PTO's e-mail list, but updating it to reflect its members' changing e-mail addresses can be a challenge. We think it is time to take another step forward and migrate the mailing list to avenue.org. This will help simplify the management of the list and ensure that all PTO mailings are always sent to the same group of addresses.

Soon you will begin receiving PTO-related mailings through avenue.org courtesy of the "Greenbrier PTO Mailing List" (a/k/a pto.frogblog@gmail.com). Be on the look-out for the new messages! Occasionally, users have reported that these messages wind up in their "spam" folder, so check there occasionally for PTO messages. If you find a PTO message in your spam folder, just add the sender to your "approved" list or otherwise identify us as non-spammers. Don't worry, we won't try to sell you cut rate pharmaceuticals, approve your loan application, or wire the king of Nigeria's money to you - ha ha. All kidding aside, though, the new list will not be used for commercial purposes, and avenue.org will not share your e-mail address with anyone else.

For safety reasons we have established the list as a "closed" mailing list - meaning that the PTO must approve additions to the list and address changes. If you need to update the e-mail address you have on file with the PTO, please e-mail pto.frogblog@gmail.com with the new information. If you have any other questions about the new mailing list, please get in touch with Lorie, Willa, Sabra Timmins or me, and we can give you more information.

Fun Fair Silent Auction

Last year, the PTO doubled the proceeds of the Fall Fun Fair by adding a Silent Auction. We're looking for your help this year to make this year's auction even better. Please begin thinking about something fun that your family could donate to the auction.

Popular items last year included theme baskets (movie night, arts and crafts, books etc.), gift certificates, lessons (knitting, yoga, etc.), artwork, and baked goods. Some generous parents also donated their time and talents, such as an afternoon riding along with a horse vet or a kitchen design consultation.

The sky's the limit, and we'd love to use this blog as a place where people can suggest and discuss donation ideas. Maybe you've got tons of ideas, but limited time and budget. A less creative soul might appreciate your suggestion! Anyone?

Please have your donation turned in by Friday, September 28 so that we can get organized in time for the Fun Fair on October 5th.

Please contact the Silent Auction co-chairs if you have any questions or to make a donation. Donations can also be placed in the PTO mailbox in the Greenbrier office.

Beth Gehle
Kristy Amacker
PTO Silent Auction Co-Chairs
elizabeth.gehle@ccs.k12.va.us

Minutes 8/28 PTO Meeting

The minutes of the August 28 PTO meeting were e-mailed out this afternoon. If you did not receive a copy, please send an e-mail to pto.frogblog@gmail.com and we will get you one.

Mark Your Calendar

The first Cici's Pizza Night will be on September 27th. More details to follow!

Fun Fair

Although it seems the year has just begun, the Fall Fun Fair is really just around the corner. Do you have ideas about how we can make this year's Fun Fair even better? Let us know your thoughts and suggestions!

Principal Search

At a Greenbrier staff meeting yesterday afternoon, CCS superintendent Rosa Atkins announced that the position of Greenbrier Principal has not yet been filled. The search for a new Greenbrier Principal will continue, and applications will be accepted now through June 19. It is hoped a new principal will be named by July 1. A more detailed timeline of the selection process will be available soon.

In other news, Mr. Vernon Bock has accepted the job as principal at Johnson Elementary. The new principals of Walker upper elementary and Buford middle school are expected to be announced today.

Greenbrier Principal Forum - Part III

Due to a scheduling conflict, the final candidate for the position of Greenbrier Principal will be presenting at 6:30 P.M. this evening at Buford. If you wish to see this candidate please arrive at Buford in time for the 6:30 P.M. start of that program.

Childcare Available this Afternoon

Childcare will be available for parents wishing to attend this afternoon's Principal Forum. If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity please bring your children to the child care room at Greenbrier. We look forward to seeing you at this important event.

Additional Greenbrier Principal Forum - 3:30 P.M. TOMORROW

This afternoon, a group of parents, faculty and staff of Greenbrier met with Mrs.. Atkins in the Greenbrier Library for an update on the search for a new Principal for Greenbrier. Mrs. Atkins informed those present that she had reviewed the feedback forms submitted after Tuesday's Principal Forum. Based on her review of the feedback, she determined that it would be advisable for the Greenbrier community to have the opportunity to meet two additional candidates for Principal. Those in attendance agreed that an opportunity to meet with additional candidates would be appropriate.

As a result, an additional Principal Forum has been scheduled for TOMORROW, Friday, June 1, at 3:30 P.M. at Greenbrier. Two additional candidates shall be present - the first at 3:30 and the second at 4:15. The format will be the same as Tuesday's Principal Forum and each candidate will address the same questions that were submitted on Tuesday.

Due to the short notice for this meeting, Greenbrier is still in the process of determining whether child care will be available, and we will send a follow-up e-mail message when we know more. We hope you will attend this important event tomorrow.

Walker Principal Forum

For those of us in need, childcare and light refreshments will be available at Walker for the its Principal Forum this Thursday, May 31, from 5-8pm.

Honoring Dr. Giglio

The PTO would like to put together a scrapbook for Dr. Giglio to honor her time at Greenbrier. The book, markers, scrapbook pages and other supplies are available in the Greenbrier library. We invite parents and other adults to stop by and sign the book. If you are particularly creative, please add your own 12x12 scrapbook page. We'll add more plastic page protectors as necessary. The book will also be available at Field Day on 31 May. Students will be adding to the scrapbook separately. Thank you for participating in this project.

Principal Forum - Meet the Finalists

Next Tuesday, May 29th, from 5 - 8 pm, the three candidates to be the next Principal of Greenbrier are expected to attend a forum in the Greenbrier auditorium. Free child care will be available on site at Greenbrier.

Gertrude Ivory will introduce each candidate. Each candidate will be allotted approximately one hour. Each candidate will first address the community with her/his own thoughts and then respond to questions. The candidates will each address the same set of questions.


Parents will be given index cards at the start of the event on which to write questions, and all questions will screened to eliminate duplication. Parents will be given a feedback form after the forum which can be turned in for consideration by the Superintendent.

We hope you will attend this important event.


FYI.......The Principal Forums for Walker and Buford are as follows:

Walker - Thursday, May 31
Buford - Friday, June 1

New Program for Three-Year Olds

Children who will be 3 by September 30, 2007, are eligible to apply for the new 3 year old class that will be held at Clark school. Applications and questionnaires are available at Greenbrier (and other city elementary schools) or by calling 245-2813. This program is open to all children who live in the City who are potty trained.

From the brochure: The core curriculum, "The High Scope Cognitively-Oriented Preschool," is taught by a certified early childhood teacher and an assistant. Spanish is taught regularly and a formal music program is taught by a certified music teacher.

Wanted: Loving Home for Special Dog

Katrina Steddum and her family will be moving to Alaska in 5 weeks. They have a wonderful 8 year-old Chow/Lab dog (weighs about 50 pounds), and they are concerned that the extreme climate change will be too much for her. It has been a hard choice for her family, but they think it is best for the dog to find her a new home in here in Charlottesville.

Katrina says the dog loves kids, other animals, and to run and play, but she would also be happy to stay inside all day and cuddle with her toys. She does enjoy a peanut butter cracker sandwich at night, and Katrina can give her new owner her supply of those plus all of her other items.

If anyone is interested, please contact Katrina. If you need contact information please send us an e-mail, and we will provide her contact information to you.

Wanted: Empty Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Tubes

Please send in empty paper towel and or toilet paper tubes for a project that Ms. Shelton/Mrs. Schraeder have planned.

PTO Council Meeting

Here is a synopsis from the PTO Council meeting (05/10/07):

Two representatives from the Y were present to ask us to spread the word to our schools about a public forum on Wednesday, May 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Carver Rec. The Y and Parks & Rec are going to present a proposal to the public about plans to build the Y's new facility in McIntire Park. It would be a community center for everyone, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, socio-economic status, etc. The Y has been working with both the city and county Parks & Rec departments to figure out future collaborations. For example, Parks & Rec could use the Y's facility to hold classes. This facility would supplement the existing Parks & Rec facilities (including pools), not replace them. It would be accessible by city bus and, the Y hopes, make McIntire Park more of a community gathering space than it currently is. For more information: www.piedmontymca.org.

That's all that was discussed. There's another meeting in June and then a break until the new school year.

submitted by Jennifer Brecht, Greenbrier's PTO Council Rep.

Greenbrier Honored as "Title I Distinguished School" for Third Consecutive Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 30, 2007

Greenbrier Elementary Honored for Third Year in a Row

Greenbrier Elementary School was honored for the third consecutive year as a “Title I Distinguished School” for meeting federal benchmarks in reading and mathematics, maintaining full accreditation for two consecutive years, and having mean test scores for both English and mathematics at the 60th percentile or higher.

“The success of these school divisions and schools is evidence that all children — regardless of their economic status — can learn and achieve when they are given effective and focused instruction,” said Virginia Board of Education President Mark Emblidge.

It is among 136 Virginia schools honored by the Virginia Board of Education for raising the achievement of economically disadvantaged students and for exceeding state accreditation standards and the annual objectives of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB).

Each Title I Distinguished School receives a framed certificate and an outdoor banner celebrating its status and achievement. The recognition is based on achievement during the 2005-2006 school year.

For more information about the awards, visit the Department of Education web site at http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/PC/pressroom.shtml.

Superintendent's Visit - Follow Up

Let's offer a big "Thank you!" to Ms. Atkins for her visit to Greenbrier this week. How do you think the visit went? Could someone please post a short summary of the discussion for those in the community who were unable to attend? Thanks much.

Summer's on the Way

From the weather you might think it can't get here soon enough, but summer will be here before we know it. Of course along with the warm weather and sunshine comes the responsibility to keep our kids entertained with stimulating (and educational) activities. How do you plan to keep your kids happy, motivated, and learning this summer? Recommendations for summer reading and educational web sites would be great!

Superintendent to Visit Greenbrier Elementary

Rosa Atkins, along with Leah Puryear and Ned Michie (school board members) will be at Greenbrier at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, 4/23. What topics would people like to hear Mrs. Atkins discuss? There will be plenty of time for questions but I'm wondering if there are some common questions we all have. Let's try to have a great turn out for our special guests.

What's up with the Frog Blog?

Are there topics you'd like to see us cover here? Do you have something you'd like to share with the Greenbrier Elementary Community? Post a comment and suggest future topics for us to post on the Frog Blog.

Greenbrier Parent/Student Handbook

Share your thoughts about the Greenbrier Parent/Student Handbook. What do you like about it? Are there changes that could improve it? Post your comments and let us know.

Greenbrier PTO Frog Blog