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Calendar At a Glance |
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Thursday, May 23 - End of Year parties and Last Day of School
Monday, May 27 - Memorial Day
Monday, August 12 - First day of 2013-2014 School Year
View the complete calendar on the Dunwoody Elementary PTO Gmail Calendar |
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From the PTO Co-Presidents
As this school year comes to a close, we must recognize our wonderful DES teachers, staff and fabulous volunteers for making this a terrific year! We are thankful for all who stepped in for events, who donated their time, talents, supplies and food this year. We are grateful to all of our Committees who worked tirelessly this year to bring us Cultural Arts, Fall Day, Tour de Dunwoody, Family Events, Visiting Authors, Staff Appreciation and Field Day, just to name a few. Our Committees work very hard all year to bring our students wonderful programs and events. Thank you to our current Executive Committee for all of your hard work and time spent here at school as well as our interim Principal, Ms. McIntyre for stepping in for Ms. Sanders while she is on maternity leave. You have done a phenomenal job here at DES and we have been so grateful to have you!
 We had a wonderful Honors Program on Wednesday where we celebrated the many outstanding accomplishments of our wonderful students. It was a great day filled with words of encouragement and motivation. Thank you to all the wonderful staff for making this such a memorable day. To our rising 6th graders, we are extremely proud of each of you for working hard and moving up! Congratulations on your many accomplishments and may you do great things in the future.
Field Day - What can we say? Two days of action packed, fun-filled activities was just what our students needed after many months of studying and working hard. Everyone from our volunteers to our teachers let loose and enjoyed our Field Day festivities! Thank you to our Field Day Committee for working so hard and to our wonderful P.E. teachers for making these days AWESOME!
 Yearbooks will be delivered to classrooms on Monday for those students who pre-purchased earlier in the school year. Students will have an opportunity to sign yearbooks during Social Studies on Monday. Many thanks to our amazing yearbook staff who worked all year long and created our most personal custom designed yearbook to date. It is definitely a Must-Have! If you didn't pre-order a yearbook, you can still purchase one for $35 on the mornings of May 20th-May 22nd, while supplies last!
Tuesday will be our last day for backpacks and book bags to be carried to school!
Last day of school is THURSDAY! Dismissal procedures will be the same throughout the week. However, due to class parties and the number of parents who will be in the school on Thursday, please be sensitive to the fact that children will not be participating in their normal class schedule. As such, if you wish to check your child out early or take them home after the completion of class parties, please communicate those plans with your homeroom teacher in writing so that everyone can be prepared. 11Alive News will be filming in Dunwoody on Friday, May 31st! Some of our Dunwoody Singers will be performing that morning. If you wish to be a part of this opportunity, you will want to arrive at 4:30am at the Dunwoody Farm House as filming begins early! Come out and enjoy an early morning with 11Alive! For those that want to get a jump on their back to school shopping, we have the teacher supply lists available on the Dunwoody Elementary School website and a link to this information from the PTO website. These lists will remain available through the summer and into the new school year. So start your shopping today. We want to again thank all of the parents that helped out at the school throughout the year from classrooms to the cafeteria and media center; to the clubs, afterschool activities and events; to the front office - there wasn't a place at DES that wasn't touched by a parent volunteer. Thank you! Please watch the video on the link below for a short message from the staff and students at DES. Also, if you earned your 10 hours of volunteer time and received an email about picking up an appreciation gift at the school, please claim your gift before May 23rd. After this date, the gifts will be returned to our school store inventory. Thank you PTO Video (will open in a new window) On behalf of the PTO, we would like to wish all of our DES families a safe and happy summer! We look forward to seeing many of you back here in August for Registration and Open House. For those of you who will not be returning, we would like to thank you for making DES your home away from home this year. Best wishes for a great last week of school and a wonderful summer break, Amy LeVasseur and Shari Wassell PTO Co-Presidents amylevasseur@gmail.com shariwassell@gmail.com |
Dunwoody Elementary Directory
The Directory Committee is busy preparing for the 2013-2014 School Directory. We want to make sure all information is as accurate as possible and need your assistance. Please review your family contact information in this year's directory. If everything is accurate, then you don't need to do anything! If you would like to make changes or request that your family contact information is added, please send an email to directory@dunwoodypto.com
and we will ensure your information is updated for next year. |
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Your Opinion is Requested
We would like to inform you of an issue we are pursuing which may impact the future population of DES. As you may know, the school building was opened in 2009 as a 4th/5th Grade Academy. In 2011, we were redistricted to a Pre-K through 5th Grade Elementary School. State law provides that a school shall begin accepting intra-district transfer students after it has been open for four years. Despite the fact that DES has only existed as a Pre-K through 5th grade school for two years, the District plans to place students residing outside our attendance zone at DES starting this fall.
We believe the District's interpretation is incorrect as essentially we have only existed as a Pre-K through 5th elementary school for two years and should not be eligible to accept transfers until the 2015-16 school year (i.e. the beginning of our 5th year). If necessary, the School Council is prepared to ask for a hearing before the School Board to address this issue. We believe an additional two years will allow the DES community much needed time to identify our instructional and space needs, implement programs, establish a baseline of academic performance, and build our school culture.
We want to stress that we are in no way trying to exclude any students from DES. Indeed, it is a compliment to our school community that others outside our attendance zone and cluster would want to attend our school. However, in that our 2-year old elementary school is still evolving, coupled with recent budgetary cuts reducing staff and increasing class size, we feel it is important that this law be correctly applied during our early development. If you have any feedback or comments on this issue, please contact any of the school council members which can be found on the DES website under School Council. Thank you and best wishes for a relaxing summer. |
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Class Photos
If you ordered class photos and have not received them yet, please email me at carchibald@comcast.net and give me your child's name, grade and homeroom and which size photo you ordered. Or, if you have any other issues regarding pictures, please let me know so that we may resolve them before the end of the school year. Thank you! |
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Summer Registration Hours
Summer Registration Hours for students NEW to DeKalb County Schools:
June 4 - June 27, 2013 and July 9 - July 30, 2013
Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am-1pm
August
9-11am every day until school starts |
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World Record in Reading
Dunwoody Elementary School joins with schools around the world in the biggest summer challenge ever!
This summer, more than 960 students at Dunwoody Elementary will try to set a new world record for reading. They are participating in the Scholastic Summer Challenge, a global literacy program designed to prevent summer reading loss by encouraging kids to read for the world record. During the summer-long challenge, DES students will compete for top reading honors with schools around the world by logging as many reading minutes as possible from May 6 through September 6, 2013. The top 20 schools - those logging the most minutes - will be listed in the 2014 edition of the Scholastic Book of World Records. Last year, more than 4,000 schools participated in the challenge, logging a total of 95,859,491 reading minutes. Top honors went to Brooksville Elementary School in Brooksville, Florida, where students logged more than three million reading minutes during the summer break. "The Scholastic Summer Challenge is a great way to encourage our students to read as much as possible during the summer months, while giving them a fun incentive to compete against other schools across the country," said Lauren Long, EIP Reading Teacher, DES. "Our goal is to expose more kids to the joy of reading and, of course, we also want to try to make it into the Scholastic Book of World Records' top 20." To learn more about the program, visit www.scholastic.com/summer.
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| Lauren Long (EIP Reading
Teacher, DES) with some
second grade DES students | Students in Robin Hollis' third grade
classroom enjoy reading |
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PTO Audit Team Needed
The PTO is looking to create an audit team of 3 individuals to complete the PTO audit. The audit should be performed following the end of the school year, during the month of June. The audit report will be presented to the Board of Directors before or during the October Board meeting. If you are willing and available to assist with this important task, please contact PTO Treasurer, Judi Carlson at carlsondjnj@me.com. For more information, please refer to the PTO audit checklist. |
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Don't Stop...Save Box Tops This Summer!
Clip and save box tops all summer long to earn easy money for DES.
- Clip your valid Box Tops and place them in a baggie.
- Save them and look for submission deadline info in Tiger Talk starting in August.
Please note - Box Tops do have an expiration date. Check for any Box Tops that expire soon, especially during the summer months. We do not receive money for expired Box Tops. Please submit them before school ends. |
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PCMS Committee Chairs for 2013-2014
Peachtree Charter Middle School (PCMS) is seeking committee chairs for 2013-2014:
- Co-Chairs Directory
- Chair Public Relations (PR)
- Co-Chair Book Fair (already have 1 chair)
- Co-Chairs Box Tops
- Clinic and Social Worker Liaison
- Co-Chair School Store (already have 1)
- Living Classroom/Outdoor Organic Garden Co-Chairs
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Thank You Local Businesses!
Thanks to manager, Beth Sokol-Lesho, and garden manager, Kevin Wojcik, at the Dunwoody Village Parkway Ace Hardware for loaning our school some beautiful plants as decor for the upper grades' Honors Program this past week. We also appreciate Huntington Learning Center for sponsoring the 5th grade Honor's Day keepsake program.
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Auxiliary Staff Member of the Year -
Mr. Frank Brake!
Dunwoody Elementary School is proud to announce that Mr. Frank Brake received recognition as our 2012-2013 Auxiliary Staff Member of the Year. Mr. Brake has worked for DeKalb County for seven and a half years and at Dunwoody Elementary as Plant Engineer since July 2009, before the school opened. Mr. Brake is an integral part of the Dunwoody Elementary family. He is an extremely dedicated and hard worker and is loved by all. Mr. Brake is one of those employees that goes "above and beyond" and is available to assist everyone with a smile on his face. He keeps the school running smoothly and efficiently. Mr. Brake's work philosophy is "If you are not going to do it right, don't do it at all." And one can be certain that when a task is performed by Frank Brake, it is done right! Congratulations, Mr. Brake! You certainly deserved this recognition!!
Pictured: Frank Brake (Plant Engineer, Dunwoody Elementary School) with
4th grade students (left to right): Sierra Tianyvu, Anna Zhao, Justin
Kaufman, Daijah Kelley, Jasiah Daniel, and Justin Nettles. |
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Teachers Make a Difference Award
Klare McKee, Discovery teacher, and second grade DES teacher, Avis Holbrook were in the "top ten" runners-up for Georgia United Credit Union and Star 94's 2013 "Teachers Make a Difference" recognition! Teachers could be nominated by parents, coworkers, and/or students. There were well over 400 nominations. Ms. Holbrook and Ms. McKee received a trophy, a $100 Visa gift card, a "goodie bag," and an ice cream sandwich party for their class. Kim Wall, representative from the Credit Union, came out to distribute the awards.
 | | Photo (left to right) of Georgia United Credit Union's Tilly Mill Branch Manager Colette Leal with Klare McKee, DES Discovery teacher, and DES second grade teacher, Avis Holbrook and Logan Mason, Business Development Officer at Georgia United. |
 | | Teachers that were nominated at DES: (left to right) Avis Holbrook, Klaretta Young, Chrissie Shelton, Klare McKee, Jenn Mattison, and Mary Margaret Warshaw (not pictured) with Logan Mason (from Ga. United Credit Union). All teachers that were nominated received a certificate and a goodie bag. |
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Dunwoody Boys' Lacrosse Camp
The DHS boys' lacrosse team will be coaching a camp at Dunwoody Baptist Church the week of June 3 from 9:30 to 12:30 for 6-14 year olds. Each day will feature a different skill and on Friday combine all skills with a scrimmage game. Register online at www.dbc.org/campunite, Visa and MasterCard accepted online. Please help spread the word and potentially build a feeder team for the fastest growing sport in the Southeast. |
Attention rising 5th grade girls that will be attending Peachtree Charter Middle School - Dunwoody High School Girls Lacrosse is ready to teach you how to play the fastest growing sport in the nation! Our coaches from the Georgia Tech girls lacrosse squad are ready to train the beginner, as well as advance the skills of the seasoned player. We will once again be holding conditioning/training classes beginning in early September and invite you to join us. You must have goggles, a mouth guard, lacrosse stick, and a copy of your insurance card to participate. In addition to our V/JV teams, we are establishing a middle school team for 6th & 7th graders as well. Watch for more announcements in the Peachtree news blast in August. Visit us at: www.DunwoodyGirlsLacrosse.org |
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More Camp Information
Tiger Talk receives many requests for camp announcements in our community this time of year, so we have created a page on the DES PTO Website dedicated entirely to all the great camp options available for our children this summer. This page will be updated regularly throughout the spring, so check back often!
DES PTO Website/News & Events/Camps |
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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, or click HERE. |
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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 Tuesday. 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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LIKE us on Facebook and Twitter!
Our school's Facebook page and Twitter account will be used to promote upcoming school events and communications. We will also allow comments from our DES community but through daily monitoring we will remove anything that is not appropriate. We're excited about this new opportunity to share all the good things happening at our school.
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