• Thursday, Oct. 6, Beaufort Academy hosts Read Across America at the Pre K/K building, 9:30 a.m.  Also, don’t forget Parent Teacher conferences in the afternoon.
• Thursday, Oct. 6, Chick-fil-A night for Riverview Charter School.
• Friday, Oct. 7, No school for Beaufort Academy Students; Parent Teacher conferences are in the morning.
• Monday, Oct. 10, No school for Columbus Day (Beaufort Academy).
• Wednesday, Oct. 12, 8-11 grade at Beaufort Academy will take the PSAT
• Tuesday, Oct. 11, Picture Day for Riverview Charter School.
• Oct. 11-14, Beaufort Elementary School kicks off the book fair with Family Night at the Scholastic Book Fair Tuesday, Oct. 11 from 6-7 p.m. in the Learning Commons. The fair will be open Oct. 11-13 from 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m., and Oct. 14 from 8:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.

Beaufort Elementary School’s Literacy Luau
October 11, from 6-7:30 p.m. BES will host a Literacy Luau. It will begin with an introduction and schedule of events in the cafeteria. Then families will have the opportunity to select three stations to visit that will be set up throughout the school. Station activities include a Fishing for Letters booth, Read Alouds with activities, Bingo and Word-O games, and much more. We will finish the evening with an overview of how to help your child be a better reader.
Learning about Loggerhead Turtles
Third grade students at Lady’s Island Elementary School learned about the life of the loggerhead turtle and turtle protection from Karen Whitehead, the turtle program director at Hunting Island this week. She shared pictures and artifacts with the students demonstrating their large size and fascinating nesting patterns.

[caption id="attachment_3516" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="From left to right, Nathan Ash, Makhi Spicer, Tyreisha Blue and Taniyah Parker surround their new tutor, Gracie, at Beaufort Elementary."]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Gracie-the-tutor.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3516" title="Gracie the tutor" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Gracie-the-tutor-300x168.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="168" /></a>[/caption]

Tail Waggin’ Tutors
Beaufort Elementary School brings loveable canines to tutor students in reading. As most children have an affinity to dogs and are quite relaxed in their presents, dogs like Gracie give even the reluctant readers the encouragement they need to read aloud. Each dog and reader settles in a comfy spot with the handler discreetly in place.  The dog is a patient, attentive listener, offering no corrections, no giggles or judgment at all.  Children who don’t want to read ask if they can have another turn reading to the dog. The reader gains confidence and fluency.

Bravo Karen Beltz and Donna Sams
Two art teachers received Artsonia’s Annual Leadership Award for going beyond classroom walls to encourage family and community involvement in arts education — Bluffton Elementary School’s Karen Beltz and Coosa Elementary’s Donna Sams. The award also recognizes teachers that integrate technology into their schools’ art programs. Of the 10 teachers honored with the award, two were from Beaufort County.  “This program is a wonderful way to get parents and family members more involved in art education,” said Rebecca Dollman. Artsonia is a privately funded organization that operates the world’s largest online student art gallery with more than 12 million works of student art. Anyone can view the school gallery online at: www.artsonia.com/schools/beaufort1. Visitors can browse the artwork in the school gallery by grade level or by specific exhibits.

Educational Showcase at Lady’s Island Elementary School
September 27, LIES hosted an educational showcase including a student performance on rock formations and the annual ice cream social book swap.  Vicki Goude, the literacy coach, gave a presentation on the importance of reading aloud to improve vocabulary and Kenyatta Frederick, the math coach, demonstrated fun math games to play at home. All together the showcase reflected the art-integrated curriculum used to teach at Lady’s Island Elementary. “I really liked getting books and eating ice cream, but my mom liked learning about reading and math,” said Ellie Payne, a fourth grader at Lady’s Island.

Geri Kinton elected to Riverview Board of Directors
Riverview Charter School is proud to announce that Geri Kinton was recently elected to the Board of Directors. In keeping with Riverview’s Charter and bylaws, a special election for the board vacancy was held earlier this month, and ballots were counted on Tuesday, September 20. Ms. Kinton is the Executive Director of the South Carolina Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, and has a background in marketing, nonprofit organizations and event planning.  One of Riverview Charter School’s original Charter Committee Chairs, Geri brings a continued involvement in the school and a long-standing knowledge of the history, relationships and charter of the school.  She continues to be interested in fostering the growth and development of Riverview through serving on the board.

<em>School briefs are compiled by Tess Malijenovsky. To have your school events published, email schoolnews@beaufortislandnews.com.</em>