Leary School of Virginia

The 2003-2004 school year has been a year of excitement, learning, and growing for all here at Leary School of Virginia. The students began the school year with lots of energy, ready to learn and experience new challenges. It has been a very busy and fun school and an enjoyment to watch the students as they learn, grow, and achieve success in so many areas.

Each school year, the staff identifies goals upon which the students will focus. This year, one of the goals has been to strengthen unity of purpose. With this goal in mind, a school pledge was incorporated that concentrated on Safety, Respect and Responsibility. The school pledge allows everyone to uphold a level of commitment to maintain a positive school climate. The school pledge has been a nice addition to the program and the students have responded to it well. A "High Five" bonus coupon was developed as an incentive for students to earn when displaying the school pledge. In addition, a weekly drawing is held that awards prizes for earned High Five coupons. As visual reinforcement, there is a display board of weekly drawings. Daily, students enjoy seeing their progress displayed to the entire school.

To increase school spirit, a School Spirit Week was instituted in which each day, staff and students participated in various activities, including wearing favorite jerseys, wearing school colors, crazy hat day, crazy clothes day, and sports day. The week was a great success and now will be incorporated as an annual event.

Academically, the staff continued to work towards the goal of making sure that the students are developing through enriched earning activities. Students are encouraged to use critical thinking skills and problem solving skills in all areas of the curriculum. Reading continues to be a focus for all students, as well as preparing them for testing from the various jurisdictions.

This has also been a year in which community involvement has expanded, including inviting guest speakers to the school. The students were privileged to hear from a well known athlete and a well known radio broadcaster from a local radio station. Both presentations focused on the importance of young people making positive choices, thinking positively and being supportive towards one another. The students really enjoyed both speakers and were able to ask questions and get autographs. It was a great experience for all!

As students experience success in moving on to the next grade level, graduating or completing a particular subject, these are all opportunities to look forward to. The ending of the school year is always an exciting period for the students.

Overall, this has been a very successful school year; planning the end of the year events as well as plans for the Extended School Year (to be held beginning on July 1 and continuing through August 6) reminds everyone that the 2003-2004 school year is coming to a close. It has been a pleasure to see the students actively engaged in projects throughout the school and working to achieve their goals.

Lorraine Celestin, M.Ed.
Program Director