Principal's Message Nov 22 - Dec 1

Dear Peabody and Watkins community,

In this season of thanks, I want to express my gratitude to our staff and caregivers for the rich experience our students and families have in our schools. The Cluster is a place that accepts all students and families and I am so grateful to work with staff and families that care so much about the well-being of our students. Three recent events only added to my sense of pride for our schools that I'd like to share with the community.

First, our Loved, Challenged, and Prepared survey data came out recently. Read more about it here, but one highlight of our data is that our students reported an all-time high in terms of their sense of belonging. Our school plan directly names students' sense of belonging and it our data now supports this work is making a difference. In September our team led students to discuss and listen to different perspectives around respect. How students feel respected by other students increased 10 points over last fall's question. This means more respect for everyone and also tells me that when we put a concentrated effort into an initiative, we can yield significant results. We discussed these results and more at a recent LSAT meeting - stay tuned for those notes to be shared soon. Even more importantly, the entire Watkins staff action-planned around the data in grade level teams and their initial ideas to respond to the data are compelling and equity-forward.

Speaking of LSAT, our community is faced with a potentially significant change in boundaries. At this week's LSAT meeting, our community members demonstrated their commitment to equity and diversity by the questions that were asked about the potential changes and how they could negatively impact our diverse student body at Peabody and Watkins. Our LSAT chairs shared especially compelling and equity-minded points of view that I believe represented my views as well. Also, our Equity Team members offered to be a listening ear to any community member who would want to process these changes with a partner. I'm very proud we have a team ready and willing to support.

Lastly, Watkins hosted our Cluster IV principal's meeting on Wednesday. All the cluster principals in attendance visited 1st-3rd grade classrooms and the overwhelming theme in their feedback to me was that since the last time they visited (before the pandemic) the nurturing culture of our teachers and the depth of learning on display by our students was really impressive.

These three recent events alone and together helped me to zoom out a bit on the long-term perspective of my time at Peabody and Watkins and see some of the significant progress we've made since the pandemic. All of this progress is to the credit of our committed, caring staff and families. Thank you for giving so much to our schools. I hope everyone has some fantastic family time next week and a chance to share gratitude with loved ones.

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Update on Term 1 report cards: all grades by teachers have been entered. Central office will publish report cards on or around November 20th. Our office staff will have paper copies sent home before November 27th.

Please see below for more information about:

• Family Support
• New school boundary proposals
• Cluster Equity Survey
• Stuart Hobson Open Houses
  
• Peabody Anti-Racist, Anti-Bias Curriculum Extension
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Essay Contest
• Welcome Watkins Science Teacher!

Link to our cluster calendar!

Quick look ahead. Click above to see details:

Hopefully you caught the DCPS message sent earlier in the week. We are sending home testing kits today at Peabody and Monday at Watkins. We are NOT requiring testing to return. Please use the kits as you wish.

This year, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) is conducting a Boundary and Student Assignment study (“Boundary Study”) to review DCPS boundaries and feeder patterns, and District-wide public school student assignment policies. The DME, guided by an advisory committee, is developing recommendations based on analytic findings and community input. These final recommendations will be submitted to the Mayor in March 2024.

In my conversations with the DME, the current proposal is to expand the Peabody and Watkins boundary to the south just south of Peabody (those addresses are currently zoned for Brent) and contract the eastern-most part of the boundary westward (these addresses are currently zoned for us but would be re-zoned for Payne. These changes not only impact elementary school zones, but also middle school feeder patterns. I don’t have specific addresses to share, but we can expect to hear these details on Tuesday night.

Access the meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093770303?pwd=Z1h0NDJuM0w0c0hyUUtIRk5jelg0QT09

Meeting ID: 880 9377 0303
Passcode: 311972

Tell us your thoughts about how equity and inclusion issues impact our school community.

Responses to this survey are anonymous. We are not collecting names or other personal identifying information. The Equity Team, including school leaders, will share a summary of results and use the information to develop and evaluate caregiver-led and school-based equity initiatives. As we undertake this work, it is crucial that we hear a wide variety of voices and viewpoints. For this reason, the survey will be open until November 30, 2023.

The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. You can access using the QR code below. We appreciate your time and thank you in advance for your participation.

Peabody is implementing an Anti-Racism and Anti-Bias curriculum extension this school year. For more information, visit our website https://www.capitolhillclusterschool.org/equity-inclusion

Next week we will read: What I Like About Me by Allia Zobel-Nolan

Ms. Stacy Taylor (stacy.barker2@k12.dc.gov) leads this work at Peabody. She and I are happy to engaged. We had our first caregiver preview on Parent-Teacher Conference Day and we will continue to do so before the launch of each unit.

What about Watkins? The Watkins team is working on a 1st grade version of this extension. We will have more to share soon, but for now nothing is planned to launch in 2023. We will certainly share updates soon!

We have been promoting this essay contest to students this past week. 4th or 5th graders may be interested. Please provide support at home and/or connect with Ms. Pullings.

As of November 3, our Science teacher, Mr. Roger Vargas is hired! We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Vargas to our team and so excited for science content to begin at Watkins. AP Edmonds thoughtfully crafted an onboarding plan for him. Science has not started right away, but Mr. Vargas is visiting classrooms and getting to know our staff, kids, and the curriculum.

Science classes will start November 20th. It will be a weekly special for 1st-5th graders and library will move to every-other-week.

Back by popular demand, we are restarting the Watkins WatchDOGS (Dads [& Others] of Great Students) Volunteer program!!

What is WATCH D.O.G.S.?
WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads [& Others] Of Great Students) is a family and community engagement educational initiative.

What is the goal of a WATCH D.O.G.S. program?
To provide positive caregiver role models for the students, demonstrating by their presence that education is important.


Who are WatchDOGS and how does WATCH D.O.G.S. work?
WatchDOGS are fathers, mothers, grandparents, and uncles/aunts who volunteer for at least one day each year at an official WATCH D.O.G.S. school. WATCH D.O.G.S., a K-12 program, invites caregivers to volunteer at least one day at their child’s/student’s school for part or all of the day during the school year. Identification will be checked upon entrance.

Is this program only for Dads?

Absolutely not!! We welcome all caregivers to volunteer.

What do WatchDOGS do (while they are at school)?
During the day, WatchDOGS may read and work on flash cards with students, play at recess, eat lunch with students, patrol the school entrances and hallways, assist with traffic flow and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own students, but other students as well. Many school principals have reported that the mere presence of a WatchDOGS volunteer dramatically reduces reports of bullying. On the day of their participation, WatchDOGS participants are given a brief review of their involvement and they wear an official WATCH D.O.G.S. name tag identifying them as a WatchDOG.

What days can I volunteer and how do I sign up?

WatchDOGS participant days will be every Wednesday. Please sign up at least a week in advance so we can notify school administration and teachers of your visit using this link to the WatchDOGS sign-up list: https://signup.com/go/xxkWcuc

Make sure you are checking class dojo for sports updates from Athletic Director, Coach Drakeford. Please send sports questions her way on dojo or latavia.drakefod-allen@k12.dc.gov.

Peabody and Watkins teachers have some big plans and big wishes for your kids and their classrooms this year. Please consider fulling some of those wishes from their wish lists.

Hello parents and guardians! We're back again for another year of FoodPrints at Peabody and Watkins Elementary and we are looking for parents to volunteer in our classroom and garden!

We'll have a maximum number of four (4) slots available for parent volunteers for each class. We'll be adding more dates in the coming weeks so be sure to check back frequently if you don't see your child's class as yet. Please reach out if you have any questions to ms. Natasha natasha@ffm.org at Watkins and Ms. Aubryn aubryn@ffm.org at Peabody.

The sign up genius also has the schedule for classes.

Thanks again for your support of FoodPrints!

Peabody caregiver sign up

Watkins caregiver sign up

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.

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. Upon receipt, clearance letters should be emailed to tanisha.montgomery@k12.dc.gov.

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