Dear Families,

We are very excited about the upcoming

weeks here at EIS. We are entering SOL test-

ing time, and we are beginning to plan our end

of year events. A letter went home with stu-

dents last week with information about SOL

testing, and there is more information related

to testing contained in this newsletter. As stu-

dents prepare to take their SOL tests, it is very

important that they come to school every day

prepared to learn. Our teachers are currently

working diligently with students to review for their SOL tests, and students will

benefit greatly from these activities. If you have any questions about the up-

coming SOL tests, please feel free to contact me anytime. You can also get in

touch with your child’s teacher for ideas to help your child prepare at home.

Last year, we hosted a “Breakfast of Champions” for students and families at

EIS the first morning of testing for each grade level. We hope that you can join

us for this amazing event again this year. More information about this breakfast

can be found in this newsletter.

This week at EIS we are celebrating teacher appreciation week! We are so

thankful for the wonderful teachers we have here at EIS. They work hard eve-

ry day to ensure that each day is a great day for learning.

Included in this month’s newsletter is some information about upcoming events

at EIS. We hope you enjoy reading through the newsletter this month to learn

more about the amazing things that will be going on in our school. If you have

any questions about our upcoming events or activities here at EIS, please feel

free to contact me at any time at hgentry@essex.k12.va.us or 804-443-3040.

Thank you for your continued support!

Best regards,

Heather Gentry

Principal

U P C O M I N G E V E N T S :

Essex Intermediate School M A Y , 2 0 1 7

M A Y 1 - 5 – B O O K

F A I R

M A Y 1 - 5 – T E A C H E R

A P P R E C I A T I O N

W E E K

M A Y 2 – P A R E N T

N I G H T F O R T H E

B O O K F A I R U N T I L

6 : 3 0 P M

M A Y 8 – S C H O O L

B O A R D M E E T I N G

A T 7 : 0 0

M A Y 9 - B A N D C O N -

C E R T A T E H S A T

6 : 3 0

M A Y 1 2 - W I Z A R D

O F O Z P E R F O R -

M A N C E A T E I S A T

7 : 0 0 P M

M A Y 1 3 - W I Z A R D

O F O Z P E R F O R -

M A N C E A T E I S A T

7 : 0 0 P M

M A Y 1 5 - J U N E 9 –

S O L T E S T I N G

M A Y 1 6 – 5 T H

G R A D E B R E A K F A S T

O F C H A M P I O N S

M A Y 1 6 – P T O

M E E T I N G A T 6 : 0 0

P M

M A Y 1 7 – 6 T H

G R A D E B R E A K F A S T

O F C H A M P I O N S

M A Y 1 7 – I N T E R I M S

G O H O M E

M A Y 1 8 – 7 T H

G R A D E B R E A K F A S T

O F C H A M P I O N S

M A Y 1 9 T H – 8 T H

G R A D E B R E A K F A S T

O F C H A M P I O N S

M A Y 2 6 – E A R L Y R E -

L E A S E A T 1 2 : 3 0

M A Y 2 9 – S C H O O L S

C L O S E D

P A G E 2

Dear EIS Families, After weeks of waiting, the Scholastic book fair has finally arrived and is open for business at EIS. All students had the opportunity to preview the fair and create wish lists. The following in-formation will help you navigate your way through our book fair wilderness:

Book Fair Dates: May 1st-5th Shopping hours: 8:00-3:30 daily Special Family Night: Tuesday, May 2nd- The book fair will be open until 6:30 p.m. There will be book giveaways as well as refreshments and all purchases will be discounted 15%. We’d love for you to stop by! Payment: Cash, checks, and major credit cards are accepted. Checks should be made payable to EIS. There is no sales tax on purchases. If you have any questions, please contact me at 804-443-3040. Remember, all purchases benefit our school! End of the year Information With June fast approaching, it’s time to start getting the library books back for end of the year inventory. Please note that all student library books will be due to the library by Friday, May 19th. This will allow enough time to review student accounts and clear any record of overdue books. Students are responsible for any lost or damaged books and may have to pay all or a portion of the original cost. I really appreciate your help with this matter.

Accelerated Reader: On Tuesday April 25th, 63 students who met their AR points goal for the third nine weeks were invited to the library to watch a short video and enjoy a pizza lunch. Upon entering, each student was given a raffle ticket. Several prizes which included posters, books, school supplies, and gift certificates to the book fair, were given away during each grade level lunch block!

EIS Library News

Each month, students from each grade level are nominated by the EIS staff for exhibiting our behavioral expectations and going above and beyond at our school. From these nominations, our staff members choose a boy and a girl for our “Student of the Month” for each grade level. For the month of April we recognized the following students as our PBIS Students of the Month. 5th Grade:

Lamara Henley– Lamara never settles for average work. She strives to be the very best she can be. She also tries to keep others on task during small group activities. She has an upbeat personality and is always pleasant to interact with.

Keshawn Johnson- Keshawn is always on task, and he is very cooperative. He has a positive attitude and is a great example to his peers.

6th Grade:

Logan Hinson– Logan is a hard worker who always wants to do well. He tries his best at all times.

Kaileigh Sisson- Kaileigh always comes to class ready and willing to learn. She is always on task and puts forth her best effort. She is polite with a pleasant personality.

7th Grade:

Shamari Garnett– Hardworking Shamari is an outstanding student. She is extremely bright, respectful, and has an overall positive demeanor that not only makes her an easy student to teach, but also adds to the overall atmosphere of the class. She is also very responsible and prepared.

Jamarre Veney- Jamarre is very hardworking and respectful. He treats both peers and teachers with respect every day.

8th Grade:

Tommy Gonzalez-Ramos– Tommy continues to put forth great effort in class and is always an active participant in activities.

Jasmine Rush- Jasmine always participates in class and has a smile ready for everyone.

Congratulations to our Students of the Month for April. We look forward to honoring these students at a special luncheon on May 4th at EIS.

Students of the Month

Left to right- Keshawn Johnson, Jamarre

Veney, Logan Hinson, Kaileigh Sisson, La-

mara Henley, Tommy Gonzalez-Ramos, Jas-

mine Rush, and Shamari Garnett

Breakfast of Champions!

Parent involvement continues to be a focus at EIS. We believe it takes

all of us working together to experience success. This partnership be-

tween home and school will help our students be successful on their

SOL tests. The morning of students’ first SOL test this year, we would

like to send students off to their testing session with a “Breakfast of

Champions”. We invite parents and family members to join us in the

EIS cafeteria where we will provide some final words of encourage-

ment to students and then send them off to take their test by walking

down the hallway to parents and family members cheering them on.

Please join us the morning of your child’s first SOL test (see schedule

below) from 7:45-8:05 AM for this fun event. Students will eat their

school breakfast, and we will have light refreshments for parents to en-

joy as well. You will eat and visit with your child, helping to ease any

nerves and helping to assure them they will do well on the test, then

at 8:05, we will send the students through the hallway to our cheers

and encouragement. We hope that you can join us for a “Breakfast of

Champions!”

5th grade– May 16th

6th grade– May 17th

7th grade– May 18th

8th grade– May 19th

P A G E 5

Dear Parents/Guardians,

SOL testing is quickly approaching. We believe that by working together as a team, we can ensure

that our students do well on the upcoming tests. Please note the SOL schedule included in this

newsletter. With our students’ and teachers’ hard work, your encouragement, and a high level of

student motivation, we can achieve good test results.

Throughout the year, teachers have been planning instruction around SOL objectives and pacing les-

sons in order to ensure all topics tested have been covered. We have also established review time

as we approach the testing dates. Students have received additional support during enrichment as

well as during after school tutoring sessions.

Please encourage your child to do his/her best on all of these tests. The scores obtained on these

tests are important for your child as they help us measure competencies and highlight learning

strengths and areas for improvement for each child. These scores are important for the school as

they help us to gauge our instructional effectiveness and also determine next year’s school accredi-

tation. We will continue to need your help to maximize student performance on these tests.

*Please be sure your child attends school on all review days and testing days. Please do not schedule any appointments on testing days. It is important that your child is at school by 8:10 each morning because testing will begin first thing in the morning. Students who attend school on the day of their SOL tests perform better than those who have to make up their test on another day at another time.

*Students need a good night’s sleep so they are well rested and ready for testing each day. Please ensure that your child goes to bed early each night before testing.

*Students need a good breakfast the morning of testing. If your child eats breakfast at home, please be sure they have a nutritious breakfast. Students may also continue to get a free breakfast at school each morning.

*Finally, please encourage your child to try their best, take their time on the tests, and check over every answer.

We appreciate your support! If you have any questions about SOL testing, please feel free to con-

tact me at hgentry@essex.k12.va.us or 804-443-3040.

SOL Testing Information

mailto:hgentry@essex.k12.va.us

P A G E 6

SOL Testing Schedule- EIS

Monday, May 15th- Algebra 1

Tuesday, May 16th- 5th Grade Reading

Wednesday, May 17th- 6th Grade Reading

Thursday, May 18th- 7th Grade Reading

Friday, May 19th- 8th Grade Reading

Monday, May 22nd- 7th Grade Math

Tuesday, May 23rd- 5th Grade

Wednesday, May 24th- 6th Grade Math

Thursday, May 25th-8th Grade Math and Geometry

Friday, May 26th- Early Release Day

Monday, May 29th- Memorial Day- No School

Tuesday, May 30th- 5/6 Compacted Math

Wednesday, May 31st- Reading Retakes

Thursday, June 1st- 5th Grade Science

Friday, June 2nd- 8th Grade Science/Civics

Wednesday, June 7th- Math Retakes

Thursday June 8th- Science/Civics Retakes

Students who score between 375-399 on their SOL test are eligible to retake the test.

Permission slips for retakes have been sent home with students. If your child has not

returned their retake permission slip, please return it to school ASAP.

SOL Testing Schedule

Our drama club is busy preparing for our upcoming spring production. The group will be presenting The Wizard of Oz. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed our fall play, and we had a full house for both productions. Our students have been working incredibly hard on our spring production, and we are so proud of their efforts. The productions will take place on Friday, May 12th and Sat-urday, May 13th at 7:00 PM in the EIS cafeteria. Admission is $3.00 per per-son. All proceeds from the play will be used to support future drama produc-tions at EIS through the purchase of props and costumes for upcoming plays. Please plan to come out and support our drama club for one or both of the productions! We hope to see you on there!

The Wizard of Oz!

Save the Date!

The 7th and 8th grade promotion ceremonies will be held at Essex High School

in the auditorium on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. The 8th grade ceremony will

be at 5:30 PM and the 7th grade ceremony will be at 7:00 PM. Letters with

more information about the ceremony will be sent home with students next

week.

From Your Instructional Coaches

As you and your child(ren) reflect on this school year, the following

questions can move your conversation along:

1) Is there an experience from this school year you’ll remember for the

rest of your life?

2) Which of your many accomplishments from this school year makes

you most proud? What did you learn from your challenges?

3) What are the three most important things you learned this year?

What makes them so important?

4) What is something that was hard for you at the beginning of school

and is now easy for you?

5) Who is the person at school who made the greatest impact on you,

this year?

6) What six adjectives best describe this school year?

7) What advice would you give to students coming into your grade next

year?

8) What goals might you set for next year?

Reading is fun! Sports are fun! You can do both for free! A library card is

free and you can read your way onto a Parks and Recreation team. Just

sign up for the Read and Roll Challenge. If you read enough you will get to

participate in Indoor Soccer for free! Entry forms are available in the EIS

front office.

Here’s what you do:

1) Pick up a check sheet in the EIS front office.

2) Show that you or your family have a library card.

3) Earn AR points at your school and create book reviews to share with

your school and your library.

*Grades 5-8, earn five points and write two book reviews or earn

eight points and write one book re-view.

4) Attend your school’s AR event.

5) Turn in Check Sheet at the Essex County Parks and Recreation Depart-

ment or the Essex Public Library.

6) Send a thank you to the sponsor who paid your way onto the team.

Read and Roll Program!