Principal's Message Feb 13 - 17

Dear Peabody and Watkins Community,

Today we celebrated Watkins' students achievements from the second term of our school year. We recognized honor roll students and those students that showed perseverance, respect, integrity, and dedication to excellence throughout the term. Importantly, we also recognized the students who were upstanders - those that did the right thing by being kind, getting help, or stopping unkind behavior. Congratulations to all of our Panthers!

We also have some K-5 data to celebrate. The two major assessments that we use in DCPS to measure students' progress and also identify skills to be learned are DIBELs and iReady. DIBELs stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, which we asses our K-2 students in skills like identifying letter sounds, reading fluency and other skills. We use iReady in math (and ELA too, but the emphasis is in math) with students in grades K-5 for the same reasons related to mathematical thinking and development.

For both assessments, our middle of the year data show that the percentages of our students furthest from proficiency dropped more than they have in the last five years. For literacy we see a 10 percentage point reduction, and in math we see a 15 point reduction. The percentage of students in this category is also the lowest it's been since the pandemic started for both literacy and math. For literacy, the 13% of students in this range is equal to that in the 18-19 school year. For math, we are still a few points behind were we were that year: 9% today vs 5% in SY18-19.

This is great news to know that our regular, tier I instruction and our interventions are working to catch students up. Our proficiency rates are still a few points behind the pre-pandemic numbers, but it is clear that we are catching up and for that I am proud of our students, teachers, and caregivers who are all working hard to support learning in school and at home.

Link to our cluster calendar!

Quick look ahead:

Next week we will be conducting another “Safety Week” to ensure all members of our school community are aligned with expectations and procedures in the event of an emergency. During this time we will conduct an unannounced fire drill and a shelter in place drill. Occupants would “Shelter in place” in the event of a potential danger in the building or outside (i.e. gas or chemical release).

Dates for shelter in place drills at both campuses:

• Peabody—Tuesday, 2/14 at approximately 9:30am

• Watkins—Thursday, 2/16 at approximately 2pm

Shelter in Place Protocols:

Once the notification is made PA:

1. Students are to be cleared from the halls immediately and report to nearest available classroom.

2. Assist those needing special assistance.

3. All windows and doors should be closed and locked, and no one should leave for any reason. Display Emergency Procedures Guide cover in door window to indicate the following:

a. Red Side Out – Need Assistance/Help,

b. Green Side Out – No Assistance Needed/All Clear

4. Close all windows and doors, and seal gaps using clothing, coats, blankets, or rugs.

5. Students and staff should stay away from all doors and windows; and move to interior walls or center of classroom and sit on floor.

6. Foreperson should simulate turning off heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.

7. Document attendance.

8. Wait for further instructions and notification the drill is complete.

Congratulations to our first equity dialogue group for completing our first mini-dialogue sessions of the year! These caregivers and staff members met for 90 minutes five nights virtually to engaged in conversations about race, identity and more. It's a major commitment and accomplishment for this team! And I heard the group wants to continue their conversations even more! And they will, as part of our larger, comprehensive Equity Team that's almost 40 people! Welcome!

Our 2nd mini-dialogue group is almost full and will start soon! If you are interested in joining the 2nd or 3rd group, please reach out to Maggie Adams at maggiemaeadams@gmail.com for more information. You can also check out our updated equity and inclusion page on our website.

Our Community Based Organization, Catholic Charities is hosting another informative event for caregivers. Ms. Heath (Watkins) and Ms. Julia (Peabody) are our social workers by way of our partners, Catholic Charities. Please join them!

All students and all school-based staff — including partner staff, school-based service providers, and Early Stages team members — will be expected to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school on February 27 by uploading results to the centralized database. All schools will receive another delivery of test kits to support this endeavor.

All families and staff will receive district-wide communications. This information will be included on the DCPS Strong website.

Our 8-week 8,000 book Winter Zoo-tastic Reading Challenge is well under way! Keep up the great reading at home and send in those reading logs! Remember, you DON’T need to read about animals – that’s just a fun theme for our challenge and our logs! Want an option for an E-log? Click on this link and fill out the form: https://rb.gy/dwobom

The last two winter reading events will be on Thursday February 9 and, after February Break, Thursday March 2. Let’s go crazy reading together and log even more books for our zoo-tastic reading challenge. The link is here: https://bit.ly/3GfDq0k

Who: 4th and 5th Grade Boys and Girls

What: Outdoor Track

When: Sign ups begin Monday 2/13

Where: https://www.thedciaa.com/participation-forms

Participation Forms | thedciaa

Complete all forms to participate in sports. All students must complete a participation packet every school year. Additionally, the medical forms must be completed within the prior 365 days.

www.thedciaa.com

Please click the link above to complete participation packet and upload a recent UHC form completed by a doctor. If you have already completed these forms and your child was eligible to tryout or play a sport you do not need to resubmit.

If you have questions about clearance or would like to inform Coach Drakeford your child is interested in becoming apart of the track team, please email her at latavia.drakeford-allen@k12.dc.gov

A new, updated signup for Watkins Library volunteers has been created that spans the rest of the school year. The updated signup sheet includes opportunities for parents to attend/support their student’s homeroom class during library time. It also includes opportunities to help when classes are not being held in the library, in the mornings, afternoons, and afterschool. For afterschool shifts, it’s OK to bring your children to the library with you. Sign up here: https://signup.com/go/dRbMGvH.

Families, basketball season is upon us. See schedule below for the schedule and come out to support our Panthers as they embark on a successful season!

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

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.

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