Dr. Fehrman's Friday Follow-Up
October 15, 2021
Stronger Together Shout-out
I had the honor to attend the unveiling of the STAR Student Soapbox Car this week! A collaboration between DEF, DHA, and Decatur Makers helped the STAR Afterschool Program students design and build their soapbox car for the Madison Avenue Soapbox Derby this weekend. I even got a personal tour of the design and engineering that went into making the car. The students were able to share a great deal of information about the mechanics of the car and even how they plan to improve the design next year. We definitely have some budding mechanical engineers ready to take on F1! To make the event even better, the Decatur Recreation Bulldog Cheer Squad performed! I can’t wait to see the STAR Students compete on Saturday at the derby! Thank you DEF, DHA, and Decatur Makers for this amazing collaboration!
School Visits
This week I spent time at Talley and Decatur High School. Both visits were fabulous! At Talley, I visited three 4th grade classes, Ms. Charity Duernberger, Ms. Jennifer Barrenger, and Ms. Emily Treibel. All three classes were working on their understanding of texts. Students were reading and dissecting the text to determine if the text was compare/contrast, informational, or descriptive. All three teachers led highly engaging lessons where students were the leaders of their own learning. Well done Talley!
At Decatur HS, I was able to see a variety of classes, Ms. Johnson’s IB Psychology class, Herr Eickhoff German class, Mr. Ehrlich’s Wind Ensemble class, and Ms. Walker’s IB Literature class. Every time I visit classes at DHS, I feel like I’m in a college class, not a high school class. Ms. Johnson’s students were learning about Transitive Memory and engaging through their Chromebooks. Herr Eickhoff’s students were sharing their timelines with a small group and were speaking 100% in German. I was so impressed with their high level of proficiency. The students in Mr. Ehrlich’s class were playing the most spectacular piece of music. I could have listened to the band play all day. Finally, we ended in Ms. Walker’s IB Lit class, where the students were deeply engaged in discussing Martin Luther King’s Vietnam Speech.
Job(s) Well Done
Thank you Talley PTSA for supporting the staff at Talley! Every Friday, the PTSA sponsors a treat cart for the staff at Talley! What a nice treat for Team Talley!
Thank you to Beth Lewis at DHS for organizing another Blue and Gold Squad this year! Beth Lewis started the Blue and Gold Squad several years ago as an opportunity for CSD staff to be personal cheerleaders for our student-athletes. Thank you Beth for organizing this valuable program!
School Nutrition
As we wrap up National School Lunch Week, I want to give a big shout-out to our school nutrition team. Thank you for all of your hard work to ensure our students have healthy and delicious meals each day.
I also want to highlight one of the members of the school nutrition team, Patricia Davis. She has served within the City Schools of Decatur Cafeterias for over three decades. Davis walked into the school doors of CSD in 1992. In June, she will officially hit her 30-year mark as a Cafeteria Manager. The City Schools of Decatur appreciates her relentless work ethic and her 30+ years of service to our District!
View Article here: https://www.csdecatur.net/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=40&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=11067&PageID=1
Student Advisory Team
I have selected the members of my Student Advisory Teams, and I am so excited to start meeting with them next week. This group will be an integral part of our work by providing the student voice and perspective. Students are an often overlooked stakeholder group in the educational conversation. I am looking forward to hearing from students about the issues they want to take on as a student body. Two topics I will bring to the team are getting the student perspective on grading in CSD and creating a Student Bill of Rights. I was so impressed with the applicants and the accompanying letters of recommendation.
COVID-19 Information
The weekly COVID testing rolled out at a few of our sites this week. All sites will be up and running next week. The company conducting the testing will send text messages and emails directly to parents with the test results. We are hitting a few hiccups as we implement weekly testing, so please bear us as we iron out the kinks. We have heard that some text messages went out this week with missing information regarding the results. We have notified the company, and that should be fixed going forward. In addition to the text messages, parents will always receive follow-up communication from the school for any positive results. Another issue that arose is when a student tests positive with a rapid test and has two or more symptoms based on the chart our nurses use but then receives a negative PCR test. We discussed this with the DeKalb Board of Health. DeKalb BOH informed us that we need to treat these as positive cases and implement isolation and contact tracing. We updated information on the Weekly Testing page if you have additional questions.
The consent form will remain open for any parents that wish to sign up. Please note that there may be a one week delay between signing the consent for testing and your child being tested. Any positive test results discovered during the weekly testing will be reported in the weekly COVID report on Mondays.
Visit https://www.csdecatur.net/covid19 for more information about the weekly testing.
Avoid the FLU event
Our Avoid the FLU clinics are still open to all staff, students (must be accompanied by parent/guardian), and families.
They are still offering other vaccines covered by insurance (pneumonia, shingles, Tdap, and Hepatitis A & B). We ask that you let your building nurse know, before the scheduled date of the clinic, if you are interested in other vaccines.
Upcoming Dates are listed below:
Glenwood
October 19, 2021
3-5 pm
Renfroe
October 20, 2021
4:00-5:30 pm
Find out more information here: https://www.csdecatur.net/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=40&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=11005&PageID=1
E-SPLOST and Senior Homestead Exemption
Two issues are on the current ballot that impact City Schools of Decatur - E-SPLOST and Senior Homestead Exemptions.
Click these links to learn more:
To learn more about elections in Decatur, go to https://www.decaturga.com/cmo/page/elections-and-voting.
Equity Department Updates
Connection Sessions are conversations between CSD's Equity Director, various invited guests, and the CSD POGM community. Community members will be introduced to a person who is integral to supporting the school system, and we will discuss their thoughts, interests, and concerns regarding City Schools of Decatur. Each session uses a racial equity lens - always asking the question -
"What does race have to do with this?"
These sessions may not always have the answers but will offer a viable opportunity to explore perspectives and share thoughts. Members of Decatur's POGM community are invited to join the discussion and pose their own questions.
Each meeting can be accessed using the following link: https://tinyurl.com/2yuj2tbs.
October 19th, 2021 - Dr. Lillie Huddleston - Associate Superintendent of Equity And Student Services
November 15th, 2021 - Mr. Rodney Thomas - Executive Director of Student Services