It has been a wonderful August, and I can't believe we are already heading into Labor Day Weekend and September next week. Thank you for sharing your beautiful children with us.

Our staff has been teaching routines, building community, and getting to know our amazing students. At the Welcome Back Assembly, I gave your children a challenge: to show up every day EXACTLY the way they are. To be proud to be different and to be honest when they make mistakes. I also made them a promise: that all the adults surrounding them in the gym will love them for being different and will celebrate their mistakes as they learn from them.

Please reinforce this at home - we don't want your child to try to "fit in" by being someone they are not. We want them to BELONG by being their true and authentic selves.

You Belong,

Abby

September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic American Heritage Month
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.

Arabic PSD 2024-2025 Calendar COMING SOON

Spanish PSD 2024-2025 Calendar HERE

• Thurs, Aug 29: First Fire Drill at Dunn (details below)
• Thurs, Aug 29: Community Connections (Classroom Parent Information Night - details below
• Mon, Sept 2: NO SCHOOL, Labor Day
• Tues, Sept 9: Enrichment Cycle 1 Begins (details below)
• Tues, Sept 9-13: Safety Week at Dunn (details below)
• Tues, Sept 10: Fire Drill
• Wed, Sept 11: School Resource Officer Visits to Classrooms
• Thurs, Sept 12: First Lockdown Drill (3pm)
• Wed, Sept 11: 5th Grade Walking Field Trip to Lee Martinez Park
• Wed, Sept 11: A+ School Accountability Committee (SAC) Meeting, 3:45-4:30pm in Library (details below)
• Wed, Sept 18: PTO Meeting at Mugs on College, 5:30-7pm
• Fri, Sept 20: September International Citizens Assembly (details below)
• Sat, Sept 28: Dunn PTO Fall Carnival, 10a-1p

Each school in PSD holds a fire drill monthly, and two scheduled lockdown drills - one in the fall and one in the spring. The purpose of these drills is to practice safe procedures, so that if there were ever an actual emergency, our community knows what to do. We also have one unannounced lockdown drill in November.

In September, we spend one week talking about safety at school. We have our monthly fire drill on Tuesday. Our incredible School Resource Officer, Jaclyn Shaklee, visits classrooms to introduce herself to build relationships with our students on Wednesday. Thursday, we hold our first lockdown drill. We explain that this is to practice. We focus on age-appropriate communication and maintaining a calm environment during these drills. Some resources I have shared with our staff to support students with drills are ATTACHED HERE.

Please let your teacher know if your child has experienced trauma or loss that causes you to be concerned about their response to drills.

If you choose to opt your child out of the SRO classroom visits or the drills, please contact our front office at 488-4825, then press 5.

Please plan to join us at the Community Tables on the front lawn of the school at 4:45 - we will have information from our PTO, clubs that you can sign up for, and Hailee Cisco, our Health Tech will be available to discuss anything regarding medications, immunizations, or other health needs. If you cannot be there to speak with her between 4:45 and 5:15pm, she will be in the front hallway throughout the evening.

Are you interested in learning more about Dunn's planning process?

Can you commit to meeting throughout the year to provide your input on our school improvement plan, budget priorities, and our implementation of school goals?

We hope to have an A+ SAC who represents our Dunn community, with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.

Meetings will be held in the library from 3:45 to 5pm. Topics include:

• 9.11.24: A+ Member Roles and Responsibilities, School Improvement Plan Process
• 9.25.24: Beginning of Year Data Review, School Improvement Plan
• 1.8.24: Middle of Year Data Review
• 2.12.25: Dunn Budget Priority Input
• 4.2.25: 2022-2023 Budget Overview
• 4.16.25: Topic Determined by A+ SAC Team
• 5.22.25: End of Year UIP Data Review

Email Abby (ahimlie@psdschools.org) if you are interested.

At Dunn, we work hard to support every student to achieve success academically, socially, and emotionally. Every six weeks, our grade level teams meet with the Enrichment teachers, English Language Development (ELD) teachers, Counseling team, and Administration to review data collected and to identify students who would benefit from additional support in an academic or social/emotional area. Students are identified for additional small group support with an Enrichment, ELD teacher, or counselor for six weeks in a targeted area of need. Support may be in a small group outside of the homeroom classroom or through the Support teacher pushing into the homeroom classroom. Support teachers will send an email to families of identified students to explain what the group will look like at the start of each six-week cycle. Your child may participate in one cycle of support and return to the homeroom classroom, or may require additional cycles of support. We have 30-minute blocks in our schedule where these groups occur, so that students do not miss the core academic instructional blocks. If your child is not identified for a small support group, they will receive differentiated instruction in the classroom from the homeroom teacher during that time. We look forward to collaborating closely with you in order to provide the best support possible for each of our learners.

Each month, Dunn has a unique tradition: International Citizen Assemblies. Throughout the school year, every child in our school is recognized by their teacher for demonstrating one of the traits of the IB Learner Profile. We recognize these students during the assembly. You will receive an email from the front office the week before the assembly, so that you can plan to attend, as families are welcome to join us. The assemblies are the last Friday of each month, with a few exceptions that will be communicated. We look forward to celebrating your child with you!

We love to support our local businesses - CHECK OUT DUNN FAMILY BUSINESSES HERE.

Do you have a local business? Please enter your business information in the LINK HERE to share your information, so we can spread the word!

• *WHAT: Your Dunn PTO keeps our community connected by hosting free events (Fall Carnival, End of Year Movie Night at The Lyric, Valentine's Family Dance), and provide funding and support for Dunn activities and staff (Breakfast with Buddies, Teacher Appreciation) just to name a few! Curious about what goes on behind the scenes at Dunn? Want to help support teachers with mini grants? Your Dunn PTO is a wonderful way to learn more about the Dunn community while donating a small piece of your time.
• *WHO: This fun group of engaged parents is a great way to build relationships with other caregivers, amazing teachers, and our dedicated principal, while finding creative ways to support this wonderful school.
• *HOW: Simply show up to our first meeting on August 21st at Mugs Old Town! For questions please email: dunnelementarypto@gmail.com or call/text Jacquelyn Eisenberg-Nelson at 303-921-3600.
• *WHEN: Monthly Wednesday meetings, 5:30-7pm (8/21, 9/18, 10/23, 11/20, 12/11, 1/15, 2/19, 3/26, 4/23, 5/21). Can't commit to a monthly meeting? No problem! Just email us and we'll let you know about one off events that you can get involved with.

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Email: ahimlie@psdschools.org
Website: https://dun.psdschools.org/
Location: 501 South Washington Avenue
Phone: 970-488-4825
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dunn-IB-World-School-833838369983073/
Twitter: @dunn_ib