Dicken Family Newsletter
2.2.24
Principal's Corner
Dear Families,
Happy February! Black History Month will be celebrated and honored in classrooms in a variety of ways over the coming weeks. Details about Parent Involvement Day / NAAPID can be found below. At the end of the month, all classes will have an opportunity to visit the Fifth Grade Wax Museum, where prominent African American historical figures are featured. The Ann Arbor District Library has a variety of events and resources related to Black History for all ages that families are encouraged to explore.
Upcoming Dates
Thursday, February 8 - Community Night Out - Buddy's Pizza
Monday, February 12 - 10:00 Student Lighthouse Team Assembly - Parent Involvement Day / NAAPID
Friday, February 16 - Tuesday, February 20 - No School - Mid-Winter Break
Wednesday, February 21 - School Resumes
Thursday, February 22 - Kindergarten Round Up, 6:00 - 7:00 pm - Spread the Word!
Tuesday, February 27 - No School - Election Day
Appreciation
Huge thanks to the many parents who volunteered to make our annual Winter Walk such a success! Thank you to Katie Bryant for organizing volunteers, and to Ruth Facer for making sure our Dolphins were kept warm and happy with hot chocolate and cookies! Many thanks to our amazing Art teacher, Ms. Erickson, for her dedication in continuing this magical tradition with the students. Thank you again to all who were able to come out -- always such a special evening for our community!
Parent Involvement Day in honor of NAAPID
Parent Involvement Day in honor of NAAPID (National African-American Parent Involvement Day) will take place on Monday, February 12. This is a day for all parents/guardians to visit their children’s schools, see what their children experience daily at school, and to support their children’s educational experiences. Retired educator and former principal the late Joe Dulin, created NAAPID in 1995. Mr. Dulin believed parents are among a school’s most important assets. “NAAPID is not just for black people –– it’s for all people,” Dulin said. (More information on Joe Dulin can be found below.)
As part of our day’s celebration, we invite families to join us in the MPR at 10:00 for an assembly put on by our Student Lighthouse Team.
Families are welcome throughout the day, however teachers will be sharing specific times that may be ideal for you to visit classrooms. You are also welcome to visit with your students at lunch/recess and specials. We will have refreshments available for parents in the Staff Lounge thanks to our PTO Hospitality Chairs, Ruth Facer and Sarah Stanton.We ask families to check into the office upon arrival to sign in. Please remember to bring your ID for our Raptor system.
For those new to the community, here is some information on the origins of NAAPID in AAPS, founded by local legend, Joe Dulin, who passed in 2014:
Inspired by the Million Man March, National African American Parent Involvement Day was launched in 1995 by the late Joe Dulin, who at the time was principal of AAPS’ Roberto Clemente Student Development Center. His aim was to encourage parents to practice the goals of NAAPID, which include:
Promote African American parent involvement in their child’s education.
Promote and provide strategies for African American parents and students to take full advantage of the educational process at all levels of the educational system (preschool through post-secondary).
Identify and develop partnership efforts among all sectors of the community (business, school, home, etc.).
Create a national network at the state and local levels to achieve the mission and goals of NAAPID.
Offer educational workshops, seminars and institutes relating to parental involvement and eliminating achievement disparities.
Establish an annual National African American Parent Involvement Day celebration on the second Monday in February.
I would like to acknowledge that as a school and district at large, we have received varying feedback concerning NAAPID, its relevance to our efforts in Equity work today and how the tradition may evolve moving forward. I welcome your feedback on this topic. With that said, please know that there is no obligation for anyone to attend. We understand the day to day family and work demands and that all of our parents and caregivers lead very busy lives. We treat this day as an Open House, and we look forward to seeing you if you can pop by!
Noon Hour Volunteers
We are in need of noon hour volunteers on Thursdays and Fridays. If you are able to help out once or twice a week, we would be most appreciative! Those interested, please contact noon hour coordinator Jean Kim at kimhy@aaps.k12.mi.us. Thank you!
Kindergarten Round Up - February 22
Dicken is hosting our annual Kindergarten Round Up on Thursday, February 22 from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. If you have an incoming Young 5s or Kindergarten student, we hope you’ll join us! If you know of any potential neighborhood families or friends who are considering Dicken, please invite them to join us as well. Our 4th & 5th grade Student Lighthouse Team members are invited to join us that evening as student leaders to assist our teachers in welcoming our future Dolphins! We ask that the SLT students joining us wear their Dicken spirit wear (let us know if you need to borrow some) and report to the main office at 5:45 pm. Thank you!
AAPS Enrollment for 2024-25 Reminder
A reminder that enrollment for the 2024-25 school year opened on Monday, January 8th. The first application window for AAPS In-District Transfer and the ONLY application window for the Community High Lottery and Ann Arbor Open Lottery is Monday, January 8, 2024, to Wednesday, February 14, 2024. This first AAPS In-District Transfer Window only applies to those seeking a placement other than their geographically assigned school for the fall of 2024 at the following levels: Young-Fives, Grades 9 & 10, and Grade 11 for IB. Enrollment is open for new families to apply to their neighborhood school for next year as well. More information about enrollment can be found here.
***If you have a child who will be enrolling in our Young 5s program, please apply during this enrollment period. Spaces can fill up quickly. This includes families who live in Dicken’s attendance area. You MUST apply during this window as well. More information on Young 5s and Kindergarten can be found here.
The Character Effect
This week, students learned about the character strength of "creativity". A family connection can be found below.
Food Drive for Food Gatherers!
1st and 2nd Grade Student Lighthouse Team is sponsoring a Food Drive for Food Gatherers!!
Monday, 2/5 -- Monday 2/12
We will be collecting donations in a few different ways:
1. Students can bring them to their classrooms and a SLT member will put them in the collection boxes.
2. Students and families can put donations directly in the collection boxes in the lobby.
OR
3. Families can make a cash donation using the QR code below.
See attachment for most needed items and QR code
Any questions can be directed to Ms. Brogno at brognoj@aaps.k12.mi.us
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS!
SAVE THE DATE: Slauson Middle School 6th Grade Parent Information Night
Calling future middle school families: Slauson Middle School 6th Grade Parent Information Night. Current 5th graders will receive a more comprehensive letter with more details in February.
February 29th
6:00 - 7:30 pm
1019 West Washington Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan
All the Best,
Heather
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
PTO News
Message from the PTO President
Happy Friday Dolphins,
What a magical night for our Winter Walk this week. Thank you so much to our amazing art teacher, Theresa Erickson, who once again created an incredibly special night for our Dolphin community. Thank you so much to all the volunteers who helped set up, serve hot cocoa & cookies and clean up our event. We could not have had such a wonderful event with your support!
Here are a few ways that the Dicken PTO has used the funds we've raised this year to help our school this week:
- The PTO and our wonderful hospitality team provided complimentary hot chocolate and cookies to all the families who came to the Winter Walk on Tuesday night.
- Your Dolphins made special Valentine's for someone special this morning during their monthly PODS meeting. The PTO provided materials for all the students to create a Valentine this morning while talking about love and reading "The Day it Rained Hearts" this morning.
- We also kicked off our March is Reading Month preparations this week by sending teachers a Google form that they will each select a Black History month book for their classroom, a women's history book for their classroom and a book that each student in the class will get on March 1st. We hope to order these books next week!
If you have any questions about these initiatives, or have ideas for other funding opportunities, please do not hesitate to reach out!
Hallie
—Hallie Jewell, Dicken PTO President
Want to connect with other parents and caregivers outside of school?
Click here for the Dicken Elementary Parents Facebook group.
Find information about events, meeting minutes, and more on the PTO website at www.dickenpto.com
Upcoming PTO Meeting Dates
All PTO Meetings take place on the third Thursday of each month from 7 - 8:30 pm via Zoom.
All Dicken community members are welcome to attend PTO meetings.
Click here for the Zoom link.
Thursday, February 15
Thursday, March 21
Thursday, April 18
Thursday, May 16
Thursday, June 20
More Helpful Links:
Several Spots Still Open on WESO Teams!
Thanks to everyone who has already registered for WESO!
Many teams are full, but we still need one more third grader and one more fourth grader for Pentathlon: click here to sign up ASAP (team meetings begin in February!).
The Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympics (WESO) will be taking place in person at Pioneer High School on Saturday April 20, 2024..
ALL PARTICIPANTS ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE AN ADULT COMPLETE 4 HOURS OF VOLUNTEERING DURING THE EVENT ON SATURDAY APRIL 20. THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL.
If you have questions you can contact Alex Harman (248-599-2539, esotericthinks@gmail.com) or Colleen Diedrich (207-240-5542, clmaloney3@gmail.com).
Thank you!!
Colleen Diedrich and Alex Harman,
WESO Head Coaches for Dicken Elementary
Update On Used Book Sale/Swap
The used book sale/swap planning is moving along. We are hosting a Zoom committee meeting to discuss logistics on Friday, February 9th (tentative time: 10 am). For anyone that wants to join, please email Erin7register@gmail.com for the link and/or additional information.
We would love to have Dolphin help-- please reach out even if you cannot make our first meetup. There's plenty to do! And we can chat books while we're doing it!
We will begin collecting books in March with sale/swap to happen in April. More details to come.
*Two* Upcoming Community Night Out Events
Take the night off from cooking and support Dicken Elementary at two different local restaurants:
Thursday, February 8
Buddy's Pizza
3153 Ann Arbor Saline Rd., Ann Arbor
Use the promo code of "GIVEBACK" and 20% of your meal’s price will be donated back (use during dine in, take out, delivery, and pick up - does not include 3rd-party delivery apps.)
(see flyer below)
Friday, March 8
Taco King
2231 W Liberty Rd, Ann Arbor
Grab dinner at Taco King on Friday, March 8, and 20 percent of sales will be donated back to our school!
Mabel's Labels Fundraiser!
Support our Fundraiser - Dicken Elementary PTO
Buy Mabel's Labels waterproof, durable labels to help reduce classroom mix-ups and keep your items coming home!
Use code: BTS10 for 10% off your purchase
Search Dicken Elementary PTO (Ann Arbor) on the Mabel's Labels website for a portion of your purchase to go directly toward our school!