1. education
2. school

CCS Superintendent Message
A publication from Dr. Rosa S. Atkins for
the Charlottesville City Schools community
March 18, 2015
Dear Community Members:
As I represent Charlottesville City School across the area,
the state, and the nation, I often hear from others about our
reputation. “Charlottesville City Schools…” they say.
“You have such an incredible visual and performing arts
program.” Why, yes. But then another person will walk up
and tell me: “I’m so impressed with your science and
engineering programs and the accomplishments of your
students.” Why, yes. “Aren’t you the ones who use
gardens as extensions of your classrooms?” “Aren’t you
All in one weekend: CHS students prepare for Hairspray, earn science
the ones who were leaders in bringing technology into the awards, win in regional basketball, and receive all-state musical honors.
classrooms?” Yes and yes. “You routinely place students
in elite universities!” “You have such a strong AVID program to help first-generation college students prepare for higher
education.” “We use the Spanish elementary curriculum you developed!” “You have students from around the world,
and such a strong ESL program to serve them.” Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
I am proud of the diversity of our students and the equally strong and broad programs we offer to meet their many needs
and interests. No matter what your child’s path or strengths, thank you for partnering with Charlottesville City Schools.
–Dr. Rosa S. Atkins
Upcoming Events:
Mar. 16-25: Art Connections at the CHS Small Gym. CCS-wide student exhibition.
Mar. 21: Art Connections Saturday Celebration, 10am–2pm
(demos and family art activities)
Mar. 25: Art Connections Open
House, 4–8pm (student performances
begin at 6pm)
Mar. 27-29: The CHS spring musical
will be Hairspray! Fri & Sat @ 7:30pm;
Sun @ 3pm. To reserve tickets, email:
[email protected].
($5 for students and $10 for adults)
CCS Updates
Snow Make-Up Day: Friday, April 3, will be a snow make-up day.
CATEC received a $500,000 donation from an anonymous donor to fund scholarships to
support continuing education for adult and high school learners.
Students across the division will be hosting or visiting authors as part of the Virginia
Festival of the Book.
Congratulations to 23 students whose writing will appear on a bus near you, courtesy of
Charlottesville Area Transit’s Bus Lines poetry program.
CCS hosted its 3rd annual Google Apps for Education Summit, drawing 400 teachers from
across the state and beyond.
Virginia Festival of the Book at Clark
CCS Special Achievements
Music Updates: The Buford Orchestra earned straight superiors, achieving its 16th
consecutive superior (with 27 As and 1 B+). The CHS Concert Orchestra also earned
superior on grade 5 music, and the CHS String Ensemble earned straight superiors on
grade 6 music, the highest level. (This group has earned superiors since 1984; this year,
they earned all As and A+s.) Also at CHS, the Charlottesville Singers earned excellent
and the Knightengales, superior. The CHS Symphonic Band earned excellent on grade 5,
and for the 3rd year in a row, the Wind Ensemble earned superior on grade 6. Combined
with its superior rating for marching band, CHS will be a Virginia Honor Band for the
28th time, the second most in Virginia! In addition, 7 students earned all-state musical
honors. Senior Geneva Knight will hold first chair, flute, joined by Micah Hunter-Chang,
David Kriete, Pearse Lee, Saoirse Lee, Caleb Rose, and Mary Stelow. (As a reminder,
senior Kadin Sullivan earned a spot in the Virginia State Honors Choir.)
Alexis Taylor at the state
health occupations meeting.
Basketball updates: Boys and girls had a very strong season, winning Conference
23 and advancing in regional play. Both Mitch Minor and Jim Daly were named
Conf 23 Coaches of the Year. Bri Jordan is the latest Student-Athlete of the Week.
Juniors Caton Yang and Josh Press-Williams successfully defended their state
championship in public forum, earning spots at nationals. Eve Allen, David Cohn,
Nicolas Damiani, Gabriel Lipkowitz, Mollie Pepper, Sam Rimm-Kaufman, Cara
Warren, and Ellen Yates also qualified for the state debate and speech championship.
Charlottesville High School
CATEC highlights: Senior Alexis Taylor placed 2nd and 4th in HOSA’s health
occupations state event. The 2nd-place finish was for job-seeking skills; the 4th was for the nursing assistant
competition. And at the District SkillsUSA culinary arts competition, senior Jackson Gitchell placed 1st.
For the second year, senior Nia Kitchin won a regional Gold Key award through the
Scholastic Art Awards. The piece, “Blood on Paris,” will be exhibited at the Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts this spring and is also eligible for a national award. She also earned
an honorable mention in drawing/illustration.
Nia Kitchin’s
award-winning work
The academic/pop quiz team qualified for nationals with a top-10 finish among a field of
140 teams in the 3-2-1 Challenge earlier this year.
The upcoming spring musical Hairspray received a nice write-up in Charlottesville
Tomorrow and The Daily Progress, focusing on how the performances showcase the
school’s diversity.
Students learning Mandarin at CHS recently celebrated Chinese New Year by making dumplings. In addition, teacher
Daniel Stolkowski has been invited to speak at the National Chinese Language Conference.
Through a partnership with the State Department and U.Va.’s Center for Politics, CHS will host students from Chile and
Argentina who are visiting the U.S. through the Youth Ambassadors Program. Caroline Clark and Riley Covert will
participate in a panel discussion for the group. (As part of the same program, teacher Karen Nelson and senior Emily
Bambury went to South America last summer.)
Thanks to City Schoolyard Garden, Buford students are using their hoophouse to start
4,775 seedlings that will be distributed for the gardens of 13 different community
organizations.
Science demos for
Chinese visitors to Buford.
A delegation from China recently toured Buford, highlighted by student
demonstrations in the science labs.
Middle Grades
Led by senior Maddie Bright, CHS hosted a regional Science Olympiad event attracting
about 1000 competitors, parents, and coaches from across the state. During the event, CHS
placed 5th and qualified for the state tourney. On the same day, a group of CHS students
competed in the state First Tech (Robotic) Challenge, where they placed 12th. Tilden
Fernandez, Elizabeth Kromkowski, and Sam Rimm-Kaufman represented CHS at the
Piedmont Regional Science Fair.
Recent special evenings and programs at Buford include an African-American
history assembly, the first-ever Family Reading Night, and Parent University.
UVA Med Center is hosting Buford 7th-graders for tours and presentations to
expose the students to careers in medicine.
James O’Brien (grade 8) and River Malia (7) were chosen to participate in the
middle school reading for the Virginia Festival of the Book.
Bees abound! Sixth-grader Reece McKee will go to states for the National
Geography Bee. Sydney Lewin (grade 8) and Jonathan Lerdau (6) represented CCS in the regional spelling bee.
Walker students raised money for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, and their gift was increased when they turned down a
class party by saying, “Save the money you would have spent on us, and give it to the Food Bank.”
Alexandre Warner (grade 5) and Juan David Teosol-Paz (6) earned 2nd and 3rd place in the
American Legion Post 74 essay contest, among more than 500 regional entries.
At Burnley-Moran, 2nd-graders opened a museum about Native American cultures.
Clark’s after-school activities include a new chess club and a maker’s club, part of a
partnership with engineering students at U.Va.
Elementary Schools
All-elementary news: Elementary students continue to participate in the “Harvest of the
Month” program; this month children received kale chips and later planted kale seeds.
And in another garden-history connection, elementary schools have started their peas in
the “first pea to the table” competition, a local tradition begun by Thomas Jefferson.
Finally, elementary students celebrated Read Across America to honor Dr. Seuss. Guest
readers, visits from the Cat in the Hat, and other fun literacy activities abounded.
Greenbrier recently held its 3rd annual Science Night, with four experiment stations.
One recent evening, students polished and performed their acts to prove that Jackson-Via’s Got Talent.
New clubs at Johnson include the Parent-Child Book Club and space-related fun with U.Va’s “Dark Skies, Bright Kids”
program, which includes rocket launches, planetarium visits, and more.
Venable 3rd- and 4th-graders have been invited to serve as the children’s chorus for a performance of world-renowned
musicians Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spaulding when they play at the Paramount on March 24.
School Board Meeting: March 12
At the March meeting (delayed a week due to snow), the School Board heard a construction update from the Valley
League Tom Sox baseball team, which will be developing (at their own expense) the facilities at Charlottesville High
School’s baseball fields. CHS will serve as the home field for the Tom Sox beginning this summer. The Board also
heard reports about the role of attendance officers and the division’s retention and recruitment plans. Register here to
receive notices of future Board meetings. We livestream at ustream.com (search for Charlottesville City Schools).
Venable Spring Fair, 5:30-8pm
Art Connections Saturday Celebration, 10am-2pm
Camp ExL registration opens
Art Connections Open House, 4-8pm
Buford International Night, 5:30-7:30pm
26: Burnley-Moran Potluck, 5:30pm
27: End of third grading period
27-29: CHS presents Hairspray (see p. 1)
April
20:
21:
23:
25:
2: School Board Meeting, CHS Media Center, 5pm
3: Snow Make-Up Day: Students come to school
6-10: Spring Break
14: Walker Open House for Rising 5th-Graders
15: All-City Choral Festival, MLKPAC, 7pm
17: Fun Nights at Clark, Jackson-Via, and Johnson
18: Prom
March
Upcoming Meetings & Events