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Perspective Newsletters
Spring 2004
LEARY SCHOOL JOB SITE
Page 5
 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.
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Program Information Leary School
of Virginia
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Total Number of Students:
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114
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Gender:
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Male
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97 |
Female
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17 |
Jurisdictions:
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Alexandria City
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7 |
Baltimore City
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2 |
District of Columbia
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72 |
Fairfax County
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5 |
Loudoun County
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1 |
Montgomery County
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4 |
Prince George's County
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22 |
St. Mary's County
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1 |
Lorraine Celestin, M.Ed.
Program Director
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