Dear Decatur Virtual Family,

Welcome to October. This is the midpoint of the semester, Please log in and see your student's grades and encourage them to keep up with and ahead of deadlines. Students should be about halfway through their courses at this point. Students should attend live lessons and utilize the teachers in their online courses to do their best.

Ms. Whatley

The PSAT will be on October 11th. This is an opportunity offered to all 10th and 11th-grade students. Students should have received an email with room numbers and times. It will be important to be on time. Students testing at DHS will arrive at 8:35. Students testing at Wilson Center will arrive at 8:00. If students missed the digital readiness session they may pop into Ms. Whatley’s Google Classroom at noon any day next week M-Th and she can help them update their Chromebooks.

Please meet Ms. Whatley at the front door of Beacon Hill Middle School at 8:00 am. She will let you in the building and escort you to the media center to get your picture taken. Parents may come with Ms. Whatley or wait in the car. Please email Ms. Whatley to confirm that you will meet her at 8:00 am on October 8th.

It was wonderful to see students at our September meet-up. Thank you to everyone who attended and a special thank you to district and school staff who came to interact with our students.

Each month on the Early Release days DVA will have meet ups. There will not be check ins or student sessions on these day so that our kids will be freed up to attend. We hope all students will take advantage of these opportunities to meet up and interact with peers and adults each month. They will all be at 12:00 pm at various locations around Decatur. Please Mark your calendars:

Oct 30, 2024

Nov 22, 2024

January 22, 2025

February 26, 2025

March 26, 2025

April 30, 2025

We had a great time in August and September. We look forward to seeing you in October. More details about the October meet up in the next newsletter.

The form to sign up for Spring Semester will open on October 11, 2024. Parents/Guardians who want their student to attend DVA by choice in the Spring semester need to complete the Online Interest and Contract Form by the first week in December. This contract is for students new to DVA or those who were not by choice Fall semester and wish to continue in DVA for the Spring Semester.

Do you have a question, concern, or need to set up an appointment with your DVA School Counselor?

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Jones use this easy booking link https://drkimberlyrjones.youcanbook.me/

Learn about a new dual enrollment opportunity with DeVry University and let Dr. Jones know if you are interested in pursuing this.

If you are taking an AP Class that is offered at DHS, follow the instructions from your GAVS teacher for signing up and registering for the exam. The AP Coordinator at DHS is Ms. Karina Green, kgreen@csdecatur.net.

If you are taking an AP class that is not offered at DHS, then you will need to follow these instructions to find a testing location for your AP test (You can start by checking with Druid Hills High School). Fees are determined by each individual testing location. These courses include:

• AP Biology
• AP Chemistry
• AP Computer Science
• AP Environmental Science
• AP Government
• AP Human Geography
• AP Lit
• AP Macroeconomics
• AP Microeconomics
• AP World History

DVA Meet and Greet

DVA Student Orientation

Pearson Orientation

Making Your Schedule Work.

October 11 and 14: GAVS Fall Student Holidays: students must check-in

November 25-29: Thanksgiving Holidays
November 30-December 6: Final Exams Week

December 13-14: STAR Reading and Math

December 10: Pearson Classes end
December 12: Final Grades Released

Decatur Virtual Academy Handbook 2024-25

DVA Brochure

Honor Contract

Please see your school newsletter for important news from your home school.

DEF's Lighten the Load program began with an elementary school teacher who told us that one of her students dreaded school breaks because he and his siblings counted on having two meals a day at school. Our Lighten the Load program has evolved since then, but we're still committed to helping remove obstacles - like food insecurity - for our kids.

The number of weekend food bags we provide has DOUBLED this year, and we need your help to ensure we're able to continue to meet this need. This is our community, and these are OUR kids. Please consider donating to DEF, or purchasing items from our Lighten the Load wish list today.

Joe’s Fund, DEF’s behavioral health fund, provided ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) workshops multiple times each year. These two-day workshops are open to ANY CSD staff member or Decatur community member. We held a refresher course just this week, and the next trainings will be: October 10-11, February 27-28, and March 13-14. Help us make Decatur a suicide-safe community - sign up using the QR code. Interested in supporting this important work? Donate here: https://decatureducationfoundation.org/donate/.

A Season of Giving is a neighbor-led organization that brings joy to local children and seniors through gift-giving.

For Assistance: To apply for gift assistance, please complete our online application at Apply by October 31st. We are excited to support children through 12th grade again this year.

Sponsor a Gift: Donors can purchase gifts based on individual wish lists for children or seniors. If you would like to be a sponsor, please fill out the form at Sponsor.

Donate Directly: If you prefer, you can make a donation, and we will do the shopping for you. Simply Donate at our website!

Volunteer: We would greatly appreciate your help! If you're interested in volunteering, please go to Volunteer and sign up.

Need Help or Have Questions? If you encounter any issues with the forms or have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at aseasonofgivingdecatur@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support and generosity of the Season of Giving!