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Clark's Corner Message From the Principal |
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Greetings Parents and Community Members,
Welcome back once again to Clark's Corner. I hope this message finds you and your family well and enjoying the wonderful weekend.
Highlights from Mr. Clark
- CRCT Testing - The next two weeks will be a bit different, and our schedules will be off a bit during the morning time due to the CRCT testing for our students in grade 3, 4, and 5. The families of these students received letter in TIP last week. To help with this, we ask that parents support the testing environment by limiting checkouts and bringing students to school a few minutes earlier than normal so they have additional time to start their day in a calm manner. We also ask parents help children get a good night's sleep and have a healthy breakfast each morning. As we know from research, hydration also helps, so children should drink plenty of fluids the day before each testing day to prepare. In years past, room parents have provided additional/special snacks and water specifically for children during the testing sessions; however with new regulations and restrictions to protect the testing environment, we are asking that these no longer are provided. All regular snacks and water will continue, we are just talking about the additional water and snacks for the testing period. We thank the parents for their support in the past, and if parents have already brought in snacks or water, the homeroom teacher will be able to use these at a later time.
- Instructional Highlights - Last week we had a wonderful time at our annual Evening of the Arts. There were so many pieces of art on display in the gym for the children and parents to see it was amazing. The tremolo orchestra played as well and we enjoyed the spring band performance. Also, there was a brief musical performance by our drumming group. I would like to thank Mrs. Fleury, Mrs. Miller and Ms. Esartia for working so hard a putting this event together and their performances. There were also many parent volunteers who provided wonderful efforts to make this night special. It was another truly wonderful collaboration between the staff and the parents to made this evening such a success. This past week Kindergarten started an activity to combine their standards to learn the calendar, the alphabet, and writing. On each of the remaining days, Kindergarten will focus on one letter of the alphabet each day. I can't believe we only have less than 26 days left of school. This past week marked the end of the 13.5 grading period and Progress Reports will come home this Thursday in TIP.
- General Information -This Tuesday I will present a general State of the School address to focus on accomplishments and highlights of the year. Mellie and Shari will also take part and present updates and achievements of our PTO. All of the School Council nominations are in, the bios will be posted on April 30, and the elections will be held on May 11th. We are having a meeting this Wednesday to amend our bylaws and discuss Birthday topics and treats as mentioned below. As always, these meetings are open to the public and parents are welcome to attend. Also, we are working on a collaborative effort to present a survey to our community and get some feedback on activities of the year and plan for next year. This survey should come out very soon.
Have a great week! Have an outstanding day today. I hope you find this information helpful and useful. Please do not hesitate to contact me or the appropriate school personnel if there is anything we can do for you. Take care and have a great week! |
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Co-Presidents Report
A huge thank you to Terri Polk, Ms. Fleury and all the volunteers who worked tirelessly to prepare the terrific Art Show last night. Way to Go! We hope all parents are planning to attend the "State of the School" address by Mr. Clark and the PTO meeting on Tuesday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. At the PTO meeting, the general PTO membership will be voting on the slate of officers for next year. All are encouraged to come and support these volunteers. We would also like to take this opportunity to ask for any feedback about events held this year or any suggestions for next year. As we plan for next year we want to give everyone an opportunity to be involved. Various groups are meeting throughout the next few weeks to reflect and give input about events, policies and activities. Feel free to join these groups or send feedback via email to a school council rep or one of us. On Wednesday, April 25 a group will be meeting to discuss birthday celebration suggestions and policies. The meeting will take place in the media center from 3-4 p.m. We will let you know about other various committees that will meet to start the plans for next year. If you would like to be a part of this process, email us! We look forward to another great week at school!
See you around the school!
Mellie and Shari
mokeefe@bellsouth.net
shariwassell@gmail.com |
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School Calendar
The DeKalb County School District Calendar Committee has recommended to Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Atkinson that DeKalb Schools adopt a new balanced calendar for the 2013-2014 school year, one that includes more instructional opportunity for students throughout the year.
The School District Calendar Committee recommended that the District not make changes to the upcoming 2012-2013 school year calendar, which the DeKalb County Board of Education approved in 2010.
Based on the committee's suggestions, the Superintendent will make a recommendation to the Board of Education in May regarding a process to build a new 2013-2014 calendar. The School District calendar for the 2012-2013 school year will not change.
An online survey seeking community and employee input on the School District calendar recorded more than 36,000 responses, which were incorporated into the Committee's recommendations.
"I'd like to thank the Calendar Committee and the many people in the DeKalb Community who provided their ideas and input regarding our 2013-2014 school calendar," Dr. Atkinson said. "Working with parents, teachers, students and the community, we will build a 2013-2014 calendar that will provide ample instruction throughout the year and help improve student success."
For more information about the DeKalb County School District, visit www.dekalb.k12.ga.us. |
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Parent Teacher Tennis Event
A big thank you goes out to Georgetown Recreation Club for hosting the 1st Parent Teacher Tennis Event. We had 28 participants in the tennis matches and many children and families there to cheer on the players throughout the day. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other outside of school and enjoy some very competitive and fun matches.
Thanks also to Atlanta Bread Company for the delicious brownies and snacks. Look for another parent teacher tennis event this fall.
 | | Parent Yvette Megathlin and Principal Johnathan Clark partnered on one court while parent Maggie Chiles readies for her match on another court |
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Teacher Appreciation Cards
In last week's TIP, you should have received information on making cards for one or more teachers so that a "World of Thanks" Flipbook can be presented to each teacher and paraprofessional during Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you to all of your children who turned in their card(s) by Friday, April 20! If your child has not turned in their card(s) yet, please return them as soon as possible in the envelope that was included with the TIP packet. There are over 1400 cards to assemble into flipbooks so we need your card(s) as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Callahan at callahanfamily4@bellsouth.net or Julie Smith at jmsmith97@bellsouth.net. If you need additional cards, you can get them at the front office. Thank you for your help! |
Dunwoody Elementary Science Olympiad
Dunwoody Elementary School had 21 students in grades 3-5 participate in the Dekalb County Elementary Science Olympiad this past Saturday. The event was sponsored by Fernbank Science Center and was held at Druid Hills Middle School. We competed in 25 of the 28 events and the team won second place in 3 events and first place in 3 events. An amazing 2/3 of our students came home with medals! The students on the Dunwoody Elementary team were Adyasha A., Keith B., Aditya B., Noah C., Reuben C., Iain D., Shubham D., Filippo D., Derek E., Will F., Arjun G., Robbie G., Ian L., Shrika M., Alix M., Jonah R., Nethra S., Shreshtha S., Erik W., Sophie Z., and Evan Z.
Our Pentathlon team consisting of Keith B., Aditya B., Alix M., Jonah R., and Sophie Z. took home the gold medal in this popular race event, where each student has to answer a science question before performing a physical challenge. The DES team medaled in two onsite building events, with Filippo D. and Ian L. winning first place in Pasta Bridge, and Noah C. and Robbie G. taking the silver medal in Mystery Architecture. We also did well in the test-taking events. Filippo D. and Erik W. won first place in the Rock Hound event. Adaysha A. and Shubham D. came in second in Starry, Starry Night, and Derek E. and Evan Z. also won the silver in Deep Blue Sea.
Faculty & Parent Club Sponsors in photo (left to right): Back row: Jenn Mattison, Carla Nugent, Karen Baker (parent sponsor), Front row: Jeannette Beck and Adrienne Thornton. Also pictured are Science Olympiad Team Members. |
DHS Band Boosters Ice Cream Festival
Dunwoody High School Band Boosters are proud to announce:
1st Annual Ice Cream Festival
Sunday May 6 from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
Dunwoody Farmhouse, Dunwoody Village
Participants should make 2 gallons (or more!) of homemade ice cream. A panel of judges will vote on several top categories.
DHS band ensembles will perform around the farmhouse throughout the event... with special guests, the PCMS Jazz Band and the DHS Chorus.
To make this 1st Annual Ice Cream Festival a huge success,we need many Scooper participants. So sign up to make some ice cream, enjoy a fun family event, and help raise funds for the DHS band!
To participate, please click here to enter our website and complete the online application. Website is : www.dunwoodywildcatsicecreamfestival.eventbrite.com. |
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PTO Website
In an effort to keep our DES families informed of local happenings we have posted Dunwoody events, activities and even summer camps on the PTO website under "News & Events." Be sure to check the website often. The community garden needs our vote; for more information go to www.dunwoodypto.com . |
Tiger Talk Newsletters Archived Ever need to find an old newsletter to get an announcement? Tired of searching through your thousands of emails for it? All newsletters are archived on www.dunwoodypto.com. Look for "Tiger Talk" under the "news" menu. |
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How to Send an Announcement Using Tiger Talk
Tiger Talk is the weekly e-newsletter of the Dunwoody Elementary School PTO. Every Sunday, we publish information that is pertinent to the students and parents of DES. The submission deadline for each issue is 10 p.m. on Wednesday. All announcements must be brief and sent in writing as an email to Dunwoody.TigerTalk@gmail.com. Announcements will run for two weeks prior to the event or as applicable. If you have any questions about Tiger Talk, please contact the editors at Dunwoody.TigerTalk@gmail.com.
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Important Dates |
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Mon., 4/23
CRCT Testing Begins for
Grades 3-5
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