Glossary
A/B Honor Roll – an award given to students who receive at least a B in major subjects and make satisfactory progress in all other areas. Certificates are sent home with report cards at the end of the first three nine weeks reporting periods.
After School Enrichment – After school classes organized by the PTA for Shady Grove students. These classes are available in the fall and winter. Please see the After School Enrichment section of our website for more information.
Back-to-School Night – an evening in September when the first PTA meeting is held and parents have the opportunity to meet their child’s teacher and see the classroom.
Benchmark Assessments (also known as HATs, or Henrico Assessment Tests) – diagnostic assessments administered at the end of the first semester for students in grades 2-5 in reading, mathematics, science and social studies.
Book Room – a large resource center for teachers designed to provide books at every reading level to be used for small group reading instruction. Houses thousands of books at various reading levels and provides easy access to all books by having them in one space. This is a resource for classroom instruction and the books stay on school property for use during the day.
Box Tops – a terrific way to raise money for Shady Grove while you take care of your family. Each box top cut from products earns $0.10 for our school! You can also shop online through the box tops marketplace for more ways to earn money for Shady Grove. Please see the Box Tops section of our website for more information.
Cardinal – the Shady Grove mascot and the Virginia state bird
Cardinal Donor – a wonderful way to support the PTA and Shady Grove Elementary. Each year our check-writing campaign identifies a donation amount that qualifies as a Cardinal Donor. This level of donation includes two PTA memberships, an SGES car magnet and a complimentary copy of the student directory where Cardinal Donors are acknowledged.
Cardinal Scholar – an award given to students who receive an A in major subjects and achieve satisfactory progress in all other areas. Major subjects are reading, mathematics, language, social studies, spelling and science. Certificates are sent home with report cards at the end of the first three nine weeks reporting periods.
Cardinal’s Nest – our school store, which is open certain days each week all year long for students to purchase pencils, erasers and other fun school supplies. The profit from our school store is donated to our sister school in Henrico County.
Destination Imagination – an after school program in which teams compete in academic competitions to solve open-ended challenges. Each challenge enables the student teams to learn and expereience the creative process from imagination to innovation, using 21st century skills (creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, citizenship and courage) to build on their unique strengths.
Enrichment Period – time allocated during the school day to dig to deeper levels of curriculum. See also SOL Waiver.
Field Day – a fun day each spring (usually early May) when the children and teachers spend half of the school day outside playing games they have learned in PE during the year
Field Trips – Each grade may take up to one field trip per semester to enhance curriculum and instruction. Field trips may or may not require a fee. Parents must grant permission in order for a child to participate. Parent volunteers may be asked to attend field trips as chaperones to ensure HCPS guidelines are met for student to adult ratios.
Fifth grade graduation – On the last day of school each spring, a special ceremony is held for 5th graders and their parents to celebrate the end of elementary school. The ceremony is typically held first thing in the morning, followed by a reception in the school dining room.
GaGa Pit – A recent addition to the Shady Grove playground used to play GaGa. This exciting game is a variant of dodgeball combining dodging, striking the ball, running and jumping for some fun exercise!
HCPS – Henrico County Public Schools, our school district
Homeroom Teacher – Your child’s main teacher. This teacher teaches all core subjects in lower grades. Upper grades swap classes for subject matter expertise or skill differentiation.
Homework Notebook – Children in grades 3-5 are provided a Shady Grove Homework Notebook each year by the PTA. Teachers encourage the children to use these notebooks to write down their daily assignments and important information. Establishing this good habit in elementary school will benefit your child when he/she goes to middle school and has to keep track of assignments in several different classes.
Jingle Bell Jam – an eagerly anticipated annual event during the last week of school before winter break. Students and teachers gather in the multi-purpose room to sing and dance to upbeat (and often wild and crazy) holiday music.
Lunch Accounts - Parents can prepay for their child’s lunch account by sending in a check to the school cafeteria. Parents may also pay online and view their child’s purchase activity by using mylunchmoney.com. Please see the Parent Resources section of the SGES website for more details about lunch accounts.
MAPs (Measures of Academic Progress) – diagnostic assessments administered in the fall and spring for students in grades 3-5 in reading and mathematics.
New Student Mentor – a “buddy” assigned to each new student in his/her classroom to help him/her get adjusted to the school.
nListHelp – a website used by each classroom and the PTA for coordinating volunteers, organizing donation of supplies and communicating event information. Your child’s Room Parent will contact you with information about joining your child’s teacher’s nListHelp site. You can join PTA sites by viewing the Volunteers section of our website and clicking the links to various committees.
Open House – Usually on the Thursday before the first day of school. At Open House, children can meet their teacher and drop off their supplies. Parents can learn about, join and support the PTA as well as purchase spirit wear, yearbooks, and the school directory.
PALs (Phonological Assessment of Literacy Skills) – diagnostic assessments administered in fall, winter and spring for students in grades K-2.
Promethean Board – an interactive white board found in many classrooms at Shady Grove. The county and the PTA continue to work together toward the goal of having one in each classroom.
Resource classes – art, music, PE and other classes outside the major subjects
Rock-a-thon – the PTA’s annual fundraiser for the Thomas Fernald Scholarship for former Shady Grove students. Please see the Rock-a-thon section of our website for more information.
Room Parent – A parent who assists the teacher with communicating with parents and with coordinating parent volunteers. There is one Room Parent per classroom.
SCA – Student-elected and student-led Student Council Association. Leadership consists of president and vice president (5th graders), treasurer and recorder (4th graders), with a representative for each class from all grades. Lower grade classrooms are provided with an upper grade representative. Elections for leadership are in the spring. Two teachers provide support and guidance for the SCA. The SCA coordinates many community outreach projects, such as Wild for Maymont, Henrico Christmas Mother, Helping Hands for the Homeless, etc.
SGES Spelling Competition – Competition to test students’ ability in spelling. The winner of the SGES contest for grades 3-5 moves on to the county competition.
Shady Grove Stove – a cookbook created by the SGES PTA in 2012 to raise money to purchase new technology equipment for our school. Copies are still available for $15.
SOLs – Virginia’s Standards of Learning that describe the Commonwealth’s expectations for student learning and achievement in grades K-12 in English, mathematics, science, social science, technology, the fine arts, foreign language, health and physical education, and driver education.
SOL Waiver - The Virginia Department of Education and the Governor of the Commonwealth provide an accreditation-rating waiver to schools that have displayed consistently strong student achievement. Schools that have had a student pass-rate of 95 percent or better for three consecutive years maintain the rating of “Fully Accredited” for three years even if they do not meet the mark on any single Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment. The purpose of the waiver is to give teachers the opportunity to take the curriculum to richer and deeper levels and to move away from the drill and practice approaches often associated with multiple-choice tests. Waiver schools in Henrico County strive to focus on engaging students in rigorous and relevant 21st Century learning. Shady Grove is pleased to be part of a group of Henrico County Public Schools that will operate under the accreditation-rating waiver this year.
Spirit Nights – PTA fundraisers and family activities at which families enjoy a meal or activity together at a specified local vendor. The vendor donates a portion of the proceeds back to the school. For more information, see the Fundraising section of the website.
STEM Lab – The Science, Technology, Engineering and Math lab at Shady Grove. This lab is available to all teachers to use to enhance their classroom curriculum by doing experiments or other activities. The PTA provides operating funds for the STEM lab each year.
After School Enrichment – After school classes organized by the PTA for Shady Grove students. These classes are available in the fall and winter. Please see the After School Enrichment section of our website for more information.
Back-to-School Night – an evening in September when the first PTA meeting is held and parents have the opportunity to meet their child’s teacher and see the classroom.
Benchmark Assessments (also known as HATs, or Henrico Assessment Tests) – diagnostic assessments administered at the end of the first semester for students in grades 2-5 in reading, mathematics, science and social studies.
Book Room – a large resource center for teachers designed to provide books at every reading level to be used for small group reading instruction. Houses thousands of books at various reading levels and provides easy access to all books by having them in one space. This is a resource for classroom instruction and the books stay on school property for use during the day.
Box Tops – a terrific way to raise money for Shady Grove while you take care of your family. Each box top cut from products earns $0.10 for our school! You can also shop online through the box tops marketplace for more ways to earn money for Shady Grove. Please see the Box Tops section of our website for more information.
Cardinal – the Shady Grove mascot and the Virginia state bird
Cardinal Donor – a wonderful way to support the PTA and Shady Grove Elementary. Each year our check-writing campaign identifies a donation amount that qualifies as a Cardinal Donor. This level of donation includes two PTA memberships, an SGES car magnet and a complimentary copy of the student directory where Cardinal Donors are acknowledged.
Cardinal Scholar – an award given to students who receive an A in major subjects and achieve satisfactory progress in all other areas. Major subjects are reading, mathematics, language, social studies, spelling and science. Certificates are sent home with report cards at the end of the first three nine weeks reporting periods.
Cardinal’s Nest – our school store, which is open certain days each week all year long for students to purchase pencils, erasers and other fun school supplies. The profit from our school store is donated to our sister school in Henrico County.
Destination Imagination – an after school program in which teams compete in academic competitions to solve open-ended challenges. Each challenge enables the student teams to learn and expereience the creative process from imagination to innovation, using 21st century skills (creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, citizenship and courage) to build on their unique strengths.
Enrichment Period – time allocated during the school day to dig to deeper levels of curriculum. See also SOL Waiver.
Field Day – a fun day each spring (usually early May) when the children and teachers spend half of the school day outside playing games they have learned in PE during the year
Field Trips – Each grade may take up to one field trip per semester to enhance curriculum and instruction. Field trips may or may not require a fee. Parents must grant permission in order for a child to participate. Parent volunteers may be asked to attend field trips as chaperones to ensure HCPS guidelines are met for student to adult ratios.
Fifth grade graduation – On the last day of school each spring, a special ceremony is held for 5th graders and their parents to celebrate the end of elementary school. The ceremony is typically held first thing in the morning, followed by a reception in the school dining room.
GaGa Pit – A recent addition to the Shady Grove playground used to play GaGa. This exciting game is a variant of dodgeball combining dodging, striking the ball, running and jumping for some fun exercise!
HCPS – Henrico County Public Schools, our school district
Homeroom Teacher – Your child’s main teacher. This teacher teaches all core subjects in lower grades. Upper grades swap classes for subject matter expertise or skill differentiation.
Homework Notebook – Children in grades 3-5 are provided a Shady Grove Homework Notebook each year by the PTA. Teachers encourage the children to use these notebooks to write down their daily assignments and important information. Establishing this good habit in elementary school will benefit your child when he/she goes to middle school and has to keep track of assignments in several different classes.
Jingle Bell Jam – an eagerly anticipated annual event during the last week of school before winter break. Students and teachers gather in the multi-purpose room to sing and dance to upbeat (and often wild and crazy) holiday music.
Lunch Accounts - Parents can prepay for their child’s lunch account by sending in a check to the school cafeteria. Parents may also pay online and view their child’s purchase activity by using mylunchmoney.com. Please see the Parent Resources section of the SGES website for more details about lunch accounts.
MAPs (Measures of Academic Progress) – diagnostic assessments administered in the fall and spring for students in grades 3-5 in reading and mathematics.
New Student Mentor – a “buddy” assigned to each new student in his/her classroom to help him/her get adjusted to the school.
nListHelp – a website used by each classroom and the PTA for coordinating volunteers, organizing donation of supplies and communicating event information. Your child’s Room Parent will contact you with information about joining your child’s teacher’s nListHelp site. You can join PTA sites by viewing the Volunteers section of our website and clicking the links to various committees.
Open House – Usually on the Thursday before the first day of school. At Open House, children can meet their teacher and drop off their supplies. Parents can learn about, join and support the PTA as well as purchase spirit wear, yearbooks, and the school directory.
PALs (Phonological Assessment of Literacy Skills) – diagnostic assessments administered in fall, winter and spring for students in grades K-2.
Promethean Board – an interactive white board found in many classrooms at Shady Grove. The county and the PTA continue to work together toward the goal of having one in each classroom.
Resource classes – art, music, PE and other classes outside the major subjects
Rock-a-thon – the PTA’s annual fundraiser for the Thomas Fernald Scholarship for former Shady Grove students. Please see the Rock-a-thon section of our website for more information.
Room Parent – A parent who assists the teacher with communicating with parents and with coordinating parent volunteers. There is one Room Parent per classroom.
SCA – Student-elected and student-led Student Council Association. Leadership consists of president and vice president (5th graders), treasurer and recorder (4th graders), with a representative for each class from all grades. Lower grade classrooms are provided with an upper grade representative. Elections for leadership are in the spring. Two teachers provide support and guidance for the SCA. The SCA coordinates many community outreach projects, such as Wild for Maymont, Henrico Christmas Mother, Helping Hands for the Homeless, etc.
SGES Spelling Competition – Competition to test students’ ability in spelling. The winner of the SGES contest for grades 3-5 moves on to the county competition.
Shady Grove Stove – a cookbook created by the SGES PTA in 2012 to raise money to purchase new technology equipment for our school. Copies are still available for $15.
SOLs – Virginia’s Standards of Learning that describe the Commonwealth’s expectations for student learning and achievement in grades K-12 in English, mathematics, science, social science, technology, the fine arts, foreign language, health and physical education, and driver education.
SOL Waiver - The Virginia Department of Education and the Governor of the Commonwealth provide an accreditation-rating waiver to schools that have displayed consistently strong student achievement. Schools that have had a student pass-rate of 95 percent or better for three consecutive years maintain the rating of “Fully Accredited” for three years even if they do not meet the mark on any single Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment. The purpose of the waiver is to give teachers the opportunity to take the curriculum to richer and deeper levels and to move away from the drill and practice approaches often associated with multiple-choice tests. Waiver schools in Henrico County strive to focus on engaging students in rigorous and relevant 21st Century learning. Shady Grove is pleased to be part of a group of Henrico County Public Schools that will operate under the accreditation-rating waiver this year.
Spirit Nights – PTA fundraisers and family activities at which families enjoy a meal or activity together at a specified local vendor. The vendor donates a portion of the proceeds back to the school. For more information, see the Fundraising section of the website.
STEM Lab – The Science, Technology, Engineering and Math lab at Shady Grove. This lab is available to all teachers to use to enhance their classroom curriculum by doing experiments or other activities. The PTA provides operating funds for the STEM lab each year.
