Principal's Message Nov 21 - Dec 2

Dear Peabody and Watkins community,

Term 1 is in the books (literally - K-5 report cards are coming soon!) and we are almost at our Thanksgiving break. I am incredibly grateful for the dedication, care, and enthusiasm of our teachers; the advocacy and engagement of our caregivers, and of course the loving energy of our students. Next week, I hope everyone has a chance to recharge, reconnect with loved ones, and some space for themselves.

In addition to enjoying loved ones, staff and caregivers must attend to the Test to Return procedures listed below. In short, all students and staff must furnish a negative covid test after the holiday. Details are below!

Important Peabody UPDATE:

Starting today November 18th, AP James will be on leave until January 3, 2023. In her absence please refer all questions or concerns to Principal Berkowitz and Mrs. Montgomery. Mrs. Montgomery will be on site on Mondays and Tuesdays. Principal Berkowitz will be at Peabody on Thursdays. Other days, Ms. McPherson will be our designee. We wish her well and are looking forward to her return in January.

• Nov 21: Peabody Picture Day
• Nov 22: Watkins Picture Day
• Nov 22: Watkins Leap
• Nov 23-25: Thanksgiving Holiday - no school for students.
• Nov 28: Library week for Watkins
• New date: Dec 2: Watkins Term 1 Awards Ceremony. In person and virtual for caregivers.
• Dec 9 and 10: Lion King Performance at Stuart Hobson including Kinders, 1st, 4th, and 5th graders!
• Dec 10: Virtual EdFest
• Dec 14: Family Wellness Night at Watkins, 6- 7:15pm (details to come)
• Dec 20 Watkins Winter Showcase, 6pm
• Dec 22 last day of school for 2022!
• Jan 11 Peabody make up picture day
• Jan 12 Watkins make up picture day

All students and staff should provide evidence of a negative COVID test before returning to school post Thanksgiving break on Mon. 11/28. The following steps should be completed on Sun. 11/27:

1. Take a COVID-19 test on Sunday, November 27
2. Go to DCPSstrong.com/testing to upload your student's test results

Please also bring a picture or the actual test to show at the door. This will help to expedite the arrival process on Monday.

Students may be required to test on site or return home if they arrive without a negative test.

Please join us on Saturday, November 19th from 2:00 - 4:00 PM for that other Fall Classic -- the Third Biannual Cluster Kickball Tournament!

We'll be playing on the field at Stuart-Hobson Middle School (410 E Street NE).

• Pre-K - 2nd Graders: Your games will be played from 2-3 PM
• 3rd - 8th Graders: Your games will be played from 3-4 PM

Come one, come all! Bring the kids, a water bottle, and get ready to have some fun! We'd also love a few more volunteers to be team captains or to manage the snack table. Please sign up here if you know you're able to lend a hand: Volunteers for November Kickball Tournament.

We hope to see you Saturday!

Report cards are nearly final and should be published to the Aspen Parent Portal before the Thanksgiving break. Given the new report card format, the publish date is in flux. Report cards for K-5 students will be put in the mail on Monday, Nov 28.

Field Trips have resumed and we welcome parents to join as chaperones. Parents who would to volunteer/ chaperone on an ongoing basis, must complete the DCPS Clearance process beforehand.

Exceptions

Exceptions may be granted to the DCPS Clearance process in the following situations:

1. You are volunteering for a one-time, on-campus event, like Career Day or Field Day. Please email the Clearance Team at dcps.clearance@k12.dc.gov to confirm whether you qualify for a clearance exception.
2. You are a potential volunteer with an active secret or top-secret federal security clearance. Individuals in this group should complete the Federal Security Clearance Verification letter in lieu of being fingerprinted with DCPS. The original signed verification form and a copy of a state issued photo ID to dcps.clearance@k12.dc.gov

Peabody's picture day is scheduled for Nov. 21 and Watkins' will be Nov. 22.

Families interested in purchasing pictures are highly encouraged to pre-order pictures online to avoid sending your child to school with money.

Peabody pre-order link: https://classicphotographyimaging.simplephoto.com/search/peabody2022

Watkins pre-order link: https://classicphotographyimaging.simplephoto.com/search/watkins2022

If you opt to pay for pictures via cash in the picture day envelope, please do not send your child to school with the money until picture day.

Would you like to join your child's class in our gardens? Up to 4 caregivers can join each class on Wednesdays (Watkins only) and Fridays. Please sign up for your child's class only.

Peabody sign-ups

For the Watkins schedule, the 1st-3rd grade classes will go in the afternoon, so look for your child's afternoon teacher, not homeroom teacher on this schedule.

Waktins sign-ups

We are celebrating outstanding Panthers from the first term! Students will receive awards based on their report card grades, effort, and participation in classes from the first term. We will have two assemblies in the multipurpose room; 9:40 for 4th and 5th graders and 2pm for 1st-3rd graders.

Although all caregivers are invited to attend, they should not expect every child to win an award. Our teachers are finalizing report cards and selecting awardees now. Teachers will communicate with caregivers to inform them if their child is winning an award on or before November 22. Caregivers can determine awardees sooner as students that receive all 3s and/or all 4s on their report card will be recognized.

The Start of Library Classes

Library classes started on Nov. 14, and all classes visited the library during the week. Library classes will be held on a one-week-on, one-week-off schedule (every other week). In library class, we talked about library rules; we read a story about a bunny who loves the library (“Bunny’s Book Club”) and discussed it (older grades showed off their knowledge of onomatopoeia and alliteration); students received new library cards and personalized them; and students checked out loads of books (maximum of three).

Books are due two weeks after they are checked out, which coincides with their regular library class time. I’m planning to set up automatic email reminders so that parents know when “library day” is and can help their students remember to pack their books for return.

In addition to library class, students will have the opportunity to visit the library on (limited) passes before school, during lunch/recess, and after school on certain days of the week. Your students will receive details about the passes soon.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

I would like to thank all the parents who have contributed to the successful re-start of the library program at Watkins--by helping to make PTA grants happen, by sending lovely plants to the library, and by volunteering.

I was thrilled to receive a PTA grant to beautify the library, increase usability with good signage, and create a cozy reading nook. I haven’t yet created the nook, but I will update and send pics when it’s ready. Several families have sent in plants, which are enjoying the sunny space alongside your students.

Finally, many parents and grandparents have come to volunteer. We cut out stenciled letters for signage. We placed tiny stickers on book spines to assist in shelving by book category. We created hundreds of library cards for classes. We removed mountains of paper trash. We attacked a crammed storage closet and emerged victorious!

My volunteer signup sheet is now out of date, but I will send out a link after I’ve figured out how much help/which days make sense going forward. In the meantime, if you want to volunteer or just come in to say hi and see the progress, send me an email at cory.langley@k12.dc.gov.

Thank you all!!

Free Books

I created a “free book” cart outside of the library door. If your student brings home what looks like a library book, but with the call number and barcode covered by black marker, that’s a free book. They can keep it (or pass it on to a friend). These are books that are weeded out of the collection for various reasons (in accordance with DCPS library guidance), but are still of interest and in good enough condition to give away to students.

Library Club

We finalized the membership of Library Club (4th and 5th grades only) on Nov. 16. The members are: Zeve Ben-Shalom, Zaira Jones, David King, Penelope Thomas, Roxy Silverstein, Ellie Benitez-Pergola, Banks Hudgens, Christian Athouriste, and Aiden Mazloom.

We are still working hard to provide an excellent and affordable aftercare option for all of our students and families. We have engaged in the voucher process for over a year and although we have a walk through with OSSE next week, I am ready to explore all other options. Flex and our school team have worked diligently to meet the requirements of the process, but I've decided that it's time to explore another provider that is accessible to more of our families.

To be clear, Flex is not being asked to leave, but we are considering another provider to offer programming in addition to Flex. I have already shared this information with Flex leadership and on-site staff.

Who will that provider be? I'm not sure, but I want to have a thorough and inclusive process that involves caregivers to help with the selection. Kathy Zeisel is the Watkins LSAT representative and has agreed to lead this search committee. If you are interested in joining the effort, or even suggesting providers, please email her at zeiselk@gmail.com.

What is the process? In short, we will collect information on local providers - cost, programmatic descriptions, and more - and then compare the options. If one or more meets our needs, we'll solicit them to provide aftercare at Watkins.

This community building time has been so much fun! Caregivers can continue to join us at school using this link will provide access to all of the Panther PRIDE Community Meetings.

When are the next celebrations?

5th Grade - Nov 4, 2:30

4th Grade - Nov 18, 2:30

3rd Grade - Nov 18, 9:05

2nd Grade - Dec 9, 9:45

1st Grade - Dec 9, 9:10

Email addresses are often entered into our systems with mistakes. If someone you know (partner, friend, neighbor) isn't getting school communication please have them email their names, their child's name, email addresses and phone numbers and any other information to either PeabodyESEnroll@k12.dc.gov or WatkinsESEnroll@k12.dc.gov. Our team will correct the errors asap.

If you somehow are unsubscribed from Blackboard, please email your appropriate school inbox above and Adia.Howard-Stroud@k12.dc.gov who will fix the issue on Blackboard.