The Signal Hill Wellness Committee is sponsoring a Health Fair on Saturday, March 24, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  The Health Fair will include: aerobic activities, health-wise sessions, vendors, jump rope, etc.  Save the date!

During the morning of the parent/teacher conference half-day, students were treated to a presentation on Martin Luther King, Jr.  The presentation was a combined project by all of Signal Hill's specialist (art, music, physical education, library, French, guidance and computer) teachers.  To prepare students for the mini-assembly, quotations by Dr. King were part of morning announcements through the week.  The presentation began with students viewing the video:  "Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." from the book by Doreen Rappaport.  Students perused a table with books and puppets illustrating the concept of diversity as they entered the room.  Artwork by African-American artists was also featured.  To demonstrate how Dr. King met, sang, walked and talked with people to lift their spirits, the event ended with students learning the history of the spiritual song "We Shall Overcome".  Students sang and some classes signed the song using American Sign Language.  Students had the benefit of learning about this time in history and about Martin Luther King's amazing life.  They overwhelmingly enjoyed the mini-assembly.

Ms. Wrenn will be undergoing surgery this month which will require her to be away from Signal Hill for four to six weeks.  Mr. Fred Melnichak, an experienced retired principal from Prince William County will serve as acting-principal during this time. Ms. Nichols will be here too, to make sure Signal Hill operates as usual, during Ms. Wrenn's absence. 

I know that all of the staff and students will continue to demonstrate the high quality that Signal Hill represents and will make Mr. Melnichak feel very welcome. I am proud of you all and I will miss you.  I look forward to seeing everyone again in February.
- Ms. Wrenn

As you may know, we are transitioning to an electronic gradebook this year.  If you do not see grades for your student, please be patient.  We continue to work through some challenges with the transition to the new system, and all grades will soon be posted.  Please contact your teacher directly for an update on your child's progress.

Book Fair Success!
Thank you!
Please follow the link for more details.

We have had an incredible opening day at Signal Hill.  Thank you to all of our parent volunteers and staff members who are working hard to make sure every child is having a wonderful start to the school year.   As part of our continuing effort to work in partnership with our parents, we will be offering a workshop on Tuesday, September 13th on the program 1-2-3 Magic.  This is the discipline program which all of our staff members use at Signal Hill.  We will show the DVD and discuss it during and after the presentation.  The program will begin at 6:00 PM and end at 8:30.  The DVD is about one hour and forty-five minutes long.  It is an incredibly helpful program and if you are interested in attending, please email Ms. Wrenn at WrennCL@pwcs.edu.   This is an adult-only opportunity and we will hold it in the library or the Panda Cafe depending on the number of participants. Please do not bring children as there will not be provisions for their care during our meeting. We hope to see you there!

It's GOTR time again!  This year it is a bit different.  The program begins September 26th and ends November 20th with a 5K at the Jiffy Lube Live venue.  The shorter season allows the race to be held earlier and hopefully not in the snow!  Practices will be held every Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 to 9:00 AM.  Girls in third through fifth grade may register on line at www.gotrnova.org by September 12th.  A pre-season newsletter was sent home with all eligible girls and there is more info on the website.  The team is limited to twenty girls and they are selected by computer lottery by the Girls on Run,  Northern Virginia office and they send us the final list. We hope we have another full team this year.  Please contact the coach, Ms. Wrenn at WrennCL@pwcs.edu if you have any questions.

Just a reminder that Signal Hill is an all bus school.  That means we have no walkers.  All students are either driven to school or ride the school bus.  Students, please remember that the bus is a courtesy and that good behavior is necessary to keep your journeys to and from school safe.  Students who in any way endanger other children with distracting or mean behavior will not be allowed to ride the bus.  We do not want any child to lose this privilege. However, if a child displays inappropriate behavior he or she will be removed from the bus. You will receive our school discipline plan, which outlines bus riding expectations at the beginning of the school year.  Please read it carefully and remember that the ride to and from school each day should be safe, relaxing and fun for all.

• On June 30, the link for Edulink Intouch Online will be removed on school sites.

• After July 10, contents in “My Files” and “My Calendar” will be deleted. Before July 10 parents and students are advised to make back-up copies of their “My Files” since the files will be permanently deleted.  Click here for instructions. The “My Calendar” contents cannot be saved or exported so they should be manually copied.

• After July 10, parents and students will not be able to view classroom Web pages until the end of the summer when the new classroom Web pages have been created.