DRES FAMILY MESSAGE

Hello DRES Family,

Last week was a great first week back from track out. Students were showing their SOAR behaviors. We had our first Pep Rally of the year to celebrate students that had perfect attendance for Quarter 1 and for students that won SOAR certificates for quarter 1 expectations. We will do a Pep Rally at the end of every quarter to continue celebrating students each quarter that have perfect attendance and for following SOAR expectations.

Trunk or Treat was such an exciting event! So many of our Eagles were able to make it and the costumes were amazing! Thank you, to all of the parents and the PTA for donating candy and time to make the event so successful.

We have a busy week ahead of us which you will read more below.

Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Principal Sanchez

Come join us tomorrow night, Monday, October 28 for our monthly PTA meeting in the media center at 6:30pm. The two school board candidates for District 3, Wing Ng and Jordyn Blaise (which is the district our school is in) will be attending the meeting for a meet and greet. The meeting will be a little shorter than usual to allow time to mingle and talk with the candidates.

Looking for an easy way to support the school while eating dinner?

Come to McDonalds at 9698 Falls of Neuse Rd, Raleigh, NC 27615 between 4:30-7:30pm to see some of our DRES staff at the drive thru area selling warm chocolate chip cookies. Bring cash to purchase your cookies. McDonalds allows the PTA to keep all of the cash collected from selling the cookies, plus they give a portion of the evening proceeds back to the PTA, to be used to support our school!

Students can wear costumes on October 31 if they meet these guidelines:

• Participation is not required

• No costumes are permitted that do not align with the dress code policy (exception-a hat that goes along with your costume)

• No blow up costumes, or costumes that prohibit students to be able to sit at their seats and work

• No whole face masks or makeup that make you unrecognizable to staff

• No handheld items, to include weapons

• Nothing explicitly violent or offensive to others

• Nothing that will cause younger children to be scared

• Any items distracting classroom work (e.g., lights, sound effects, etc.) are not allowed
• Administration reserves the right to decline any costume that may disrupt school functions

10/28/24- Quarter 1 Report Cards Go Home, PTA Meeting @ 6:30pm

10/29/24- McTeacher Night 4:30-7:30pm- 9698 Falls of Neuse Rd, Raleigh, NC 27615

11/5/24- No School- Go Vote!

11/11/24- No School- Veterans' Day

11/18/24- Quarter 2 Interims Go Home This Week

11/21/24- Chorus Concert- Broadway Beat at DRES- 7pm

11/27-11/29/24- No School- Thanksgiving Break

12/18/24- Chorus Concert- At Durant Road Middle School- 6:30pm

12/20/24- Last Day of Quarter 2

12/21/24-1/26/25- Winter Break/Track Out

1/27/25- First Day of Quarter 3

2/3/25- Quarter 2 Report Cards Go Home

2/24/25- Quarter 3 Interims Go Home This Week

3/28/25- Last Day of Quarter 3

3/29-4/21/25- No School- Spring Break/Track Out

4/22/25- First Day of Quarter 4

4/28/25- Quarter 3 Report Cards Go Home

5/19/25- Quarter 4 Interims Go Home This Week

5/26/25- No School- Memorial Day

5/30/25- DRES Family Night At Mudcats- Chorus Singing National Anthem

6/19/25- No School- Juneteenth

6/26/25- Last Day of Quarter 4

6/27 & 6/28/25- EOG Retests

Parents and other relatives are allowed to come eat lunch with students. Please keep a few important things in mind.

1. If a family member is coming to eat lunch with your child that is not a parent, please call the school to let us know that you are giving permission for that person to eat lunch with your child(ren).
2. Students must inform the staff member in charge of their classroom that they are going to eat lunch with their family member.
3. No other student is allowed to join for lunch, other than yours.
4. Family members are not allowed to bring lunch for other children, only yours. You never know of others allergies, dietary restrictions, etc.
5. There are multiple tall tables in the hallway to have lunch with your child. If you do not feel comfortable having lunch out there, please ask the staff members watching your child's class which table is available for you to sit at with your child. We have classes coming in and out frequently.

Thank you for following these rules and expectations to ensure the safety of our students.

If you missed the PTA meeting last Monday, here is the Title 1 Presentation that Ms. Sanchez shared.

DRES is a Universal Free Breakfast School meaning any DRES student can get breakfast each morning at school for FREE. Breakfast is served from 8:00am-8:30am. Students pick up their breakfasts and take it back to the classroom to eat.

Lunch Costs:

Full Price- $3.50 per day

Reduced Price- $0.40 per day

Snacks are available for purchase.

Students in 1st-5th grade have a 25 minute lunch period. Kindergarteners have a 30 minute lunch period.

Want to try to qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch? Sign up at the link below or stop by the school to fill out a paper copy that we can submit for you.

https://www.myschoolapps.com/

You are invited to fill out an application to see if you qualify for free or reduced price meals for your child. This needs to be redone every year. Please apply using this link: https://www.myschoolapps.com/

If you would prefer a paper copy, these are available at the school.

At DRES, we follow the WCPSS Bully Prevention expectations. We have no room for bullying at DRES. We teach our students to be safe, own their learning, act responsibly, and be respectful at all times. If your child experiences bullying please reach out to a school representative so we are aware and can take immediate action. Start by informing the teacher of the situation. The teacher will then analyze the situation and determine if they are able to address the situation. If not, they will seek assistance from the counselors or school administration to put an end to the bullying situation.

Just remember- Bullying is unwanted aggressive behavior that perceives an imbalance of power and is repeated.

One of the main forms of bullying that we see actually happens in the care of the parents outside of school that causes major disruptions to the learning environment. This is cyberbullying. We spent many, many hours and days last school year dealing with cyberbullying that happened outside of school, yet had a negative impact on the school environment. If you provide your child with a cell phone or access to a device, please be responsible to monitor what they are doing on their device. They actually could be causing the bullying, participating in the bullying, or be the target of bullying, none of which are healthy for them. Many apps used for this are: Snapchat, Instagram, Kik, and TikTok. Elementary school aged children are not yet old enough to have these accounts, yet many of them do. The age limit is in place to give time for young children's brains to develop so they can make more appropriate decisions.

Here is an article that may be useful to help with Cyberbullying.

https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it

Help us to help your children to be in a bully free and respectful environment at school!

• You are doing awesome!! Thank you for having your tags and leaving them up throughout your entire time in the carpool lane in the afternoons!!
• If your child needs assistance getting into or out of the car, please put your flashers on and a staff member will come to help.
• Please do not park and walk your child across because you do not want to wait in the carpool line. This actually slows the line down for others doing the right thing.
• If you need to buckle your child in their seats, please make sure your 4-way blinkers are on and slowly pull down to the orange cab/carpool waiting zone to take care of buckling.
• Have your child practice buckling themselves on the weekends and evenings.
• Review your child's carpool number with them by having them recognize the number when shown to them, being able to say their carpool number, and recognizing the number when you say it.
• Remember that if you are having someone else pick up your child through carpool, give them the actual tag, or they will need to go into the school to sign them out. We will not put your child in a car if the carpool tag is not visible. This is for their safety as we would never want to give your child to someone that isn't supposed to have them!

• AM- Please walk your child around to the front entrance in the mornings.
• AM and PM- Parents are not allowed to be walking around the back of the school to the modulars without checking into the front office first.
• PM- Walker parents are not allowed on campus until 2:55pm and should go straight to the pick up locations.
• K-3 students will get dismissed from the end of the Kindergarten hallway, but must first be signed out by parent.
• 4-5 students will get dismissed from the pavilion area and must be signed out first.
• If 4th or 5th graders have permission to walk home alone, they must first check out with the staff member at the pavillion.

• Your child needs to be in school for us to teach them.
• Missing more than 10 days of school is excessive and tends to lead to students being behind academically.
• Send a note to the teacher within 2 days of an absence, in order for it to be considered for excused. The note can be written, in email, or through Dojo.
• Excused attendance reasons: Injury/Illness (sick, medical, dental appointments), Religious observation, Death in Immediate Family member, Educational Opportunities that are specifically designed for educational reasons and approved in advance (Not family vacations), Military Deployment Activities

Ideas to help at home with the morning routine.

1. Go to bed on time.
2. Lay clothes at night.
3. Develop a back up plan for getting to school in case of an emergency or no bus.
4. Set an alarm and teach your child a morning routine to help get them prepared for school. Making a visual or written checklist to hang on the mirror in the bathroom is helpful for building independent reminders.

Please view the 24-25 DRES Parent Student Handbook here:

https://www.wcpss.net/Page/22935

Be sure to read this and refer to it throughout the school year. It is located on our school website in the Parents section.

Check out the new Cell Phone expectations which were added in this school year.

Be sure you are connected to your child(ren)'s teacher on ClassDojo so you can stay informed on classwide and individual communications. We need to be able to have direct communication with a parent or guardian for every student in case of an emergency, and because ongoing communication between school and home will provide the best support for your child's success.

Do you have a School Messenger account so you don't miss important texts and emails from Wake County Public Schools and Durant Road Elementary?

Read more at this link: https://www.wcpss.net/schoolmessenger