Thank you to the hundreds of families that came out for last week's Parent-Teacher-Conference Day; additional thanks to those that were able to schedule different times because they were shut out on the traditional days. We continue to streamline the process to reflect the needs of families to meet with teachers when there are only five minutes available. A final special thanks to the many translators who helped our non-English speaking families communicate effectively with their child's teachers.

There were a number of student-focused activities this week - the kind I think we all would have enjoyed as students ourselves. Three of our four ski trips went off with few hitches (one was rescheduled till March because of the rain). This great outing continues to grow in popularity with nearly 500 students heading to the slopes. One nice feature of the trips is that we sponsor about 20 percent of the skiers and recruit students who have never been on skis or snowboards before. A number of our teachers do the heavy lifting of chaperoning the ski trip and we thank them; a big shout-out to AP Giron who organizes all of this so that the focus is on the fun.

As part of our celebration of Black History Month, we brought in a hip-hop artist to work with our students. Originally a three-day series of workshops. we knew by the end of the first day that we needed more Konshens in our lives so we extended him for another three-day workshop next week (with different students). Our lively Speech and Drama Competition will help close our Black History Month celebration on March 10. Challenged by the discussions and ideas that have flowed during this month, we are developing an exciting school community evening around race, culture, and education in late March. I can't share too much, but know that you will want to be there so keep the evening of the 24th open.

This week, some families will receive letters about student tardies and unexcused absences to Deal. As I hope you know by now, there is a strong push in DCPS and Deal to have students arrive on time - every day - to school. This year we have worked hard to be consistent in our messaging about this. At the start of the year, we shared the consequences of missing too many days unexcused or coming to school too late. For families that do not live in the neighborhoods served by Deal, a student late more than 20 times in a school year may not be allowed to return to Deal for the coming school year. The same holds true for similar families with a student with 10 or more unexcused absences in the school year. We very carefully monitor tardies due to bus or metro delays or on those occasions where a long line extends and delays student entry in to class. We even recognize on certain days that the weather complicates some commutes to Deal! But, in the end, if a child cannot arrive to school on time for 20 or 30 times over some months, the school may just be too far or too difficult to reach. The letters are notice that there are students in this precarious position.

James Albright