Trailblazer Newsletter

Area Board Meetings are organized by School Board district. All meetings will be streamed live and recorded. Meetings will begin at 7 p.m. in the host school’s theater and are preceded by a Board Governance Team Meet and Greet at 6:30 p.m. Learn more: https://gcpsk12.org/Page/31016.

Care Team Journey Bags are the perfect way to help support our community in all different stages of their journey.

The PTSA is partnering with PDSHS care team to provide journey bags that are geared to help a student or family in need over a holiday break, or those who have had a traumatic event like the loss of a home.

By sponsoring a Journey Bag, you're helping to provide a student with some normalcy, resources and support when they need it most.

https://pauldukeptsa.memberhub.com/store/items/841036

Thank you for helping to make this a special event for the Class of 2023 as we help celebrate our seniors!

Your donations will go towards covering material costs associated with the mosaic project. This special event will offer our seniors not only a chance to make lifelong memories with their friends and classmates but also serve as a reminder of how much they are loved and supported by the whole community. Thank you in advance for your generosity in helping to make this senior celebration one that they'll never forget!

https://pauldukeptsa.memberhub.com/store/items/725559

As the weather gets warmer, the request for deodorant has increased. Please consider donating a few items to the Care Team. We place hygiene items in the female restroom and outside of the Counseling Office for students to take. Another frequently asked for item is toothpaste. We have updated our Amazon wish list to reflect the need.

Don't forget to change the address to Paul Duke when ordering!

Care Team Wish List

This week is School Social Work Week!

Social workers support teaching and learning to help ensure that #EachAndEvery student remains in school, graduates, reaches their fullest academic potential, and grows socially and emotionally.

#SocialWorkBreaksBarriers that affect students' academic achievement. Thank you to all of our social workers for your commitment to excellence, empathy, and equity in education!

Have you cleaned out your closet lately? Those shoes that have been sitting there unworn, actually have value! The PDS Mentors are collecting gently worn, used and new shoes and we need your help. We’re looking for all types of shoes: sneakers, boots, dress shoes, sandals, athletic and casual shoes. We want them all!

Have a safe and relaxing Spring Break next week! Students and staff return to learning on Monday, April 10. District offices will be closed on Friday, April 7.

Note that GCPS does not offer meal service on student holidays.

If you plan on participating in a sport next year, you must have a physical on file. This physical WILL COVER you for any sport during the entire 2023-2024 school year.

All Youth Athletes/Cheerleaders can get a physical on this day.

DATE: Saturday, April 22, 2023 TIME: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

LOCATION: Norcross High School Cafeteria

We are excited to announce we will be offering summer school for our students at Paul Duke this summer! We will offer morning and afternoon sessions.

The dates will be Monday, June 12th – Thursday, July 6th. Morning sessions will be offered from 7:00am-11:00am and afternoon sessions will be offered 11:30am-3:30pm.

Please stay tuned for more information on how to register your student for summer school courses at Paul Duke this summer!

If you have any questions, please email Ashley Worley (ashley.worley@gcpsk12.org).

*Transportation will not be provided*

Abigail Donkor won the district CTAE Student of the Year! She was awarded a $1500 scholarship and was recognized by her nominating teacher Brooke Skelton! Abigail has been very instrumental in the production of PDS TV. She has been involved with both DECA and TSA winning several competitions as well as participating in GHP and doing an AVTF internship this year.

Odyssey of the Mind teams from Norcross High School and Paul Duke STEM High School - competed at the state tournament of Odyssey of the Mind. Both teams earned first place in their respective problems.

On Tuesday of this week, our Marketing Program earned CTAE Industry Certification. Over the last year, Lauren O'Connor, Ashley Wright, and Bradley Dial have worked continuously to meet these certification standards. The vast majority of marketing programs in GCPS and Georgia are not certified, so please know this is a HUGE deal.

Tuesday, the team hosted guests from the GADOE, American Marketing Association, district office, and a fellow Gwinnett high school for an Industry Certification visit, which resulted in The American Marketing Association officially certifing our school's Marketing program, recognizing us as an exemplary program in the state. This process began in April of 2022. The process also provided a $10,000 grant for equipment and supplies

Industry Certification works much like the STEM certification in that teachers and students showcase how our program meets and exceeds industry standards. The students listed below all played a part of the presentation and did an amazing job displaying their presentation skills and passion for the program.

Baylor Brown

William Baum

Ayden Darwish

Richard Pham

Sherlyn Rajxac

Jimena Garcia

Dayanara Ramirez

Mihir Pai

Tristan Kim

Rohan Pai

Aglaia Jarrin

Rohan and William from Paul Duke STEM competed at the Georgia Tech Inventure Prize competition which involves coming up with a new idea with the goal to possibly make it become a reality. The competition had over 3000 entries and three rounds of competition including online and regional judging. Today was the State round where Rohan and William placed 2nd for High School Level with their Door Bully project! Congratulations to these two!

Two of Mr. Skelton's video/film students, Jaiden Clarke and Jack Goldberg have produced videos that will be featured at the GCPS Student Media Festival as Festival Favorites. A screening and awards ceremony event will be held at the ISC on Thursday, March 30 at 7:00 pm.

The Gwinnett County Foundation Scholarship catalogue is now available. Click here to access.

If you missed the FAFSA Night event here is the PowerPoint presentation

FAFSA PowerPoint with recorded directions

Gwinnett County has purchased a wonderful college and career planner called Naviance. Counselors will be showing students all of the features in their classrooms, but as parents, you have access to explore as well. You will need to be logged into your student's Eclass page for access.

Please click on the links below for quick "how to" videos.

How to link your Common App to Naviance

Career Assessment and Exploration

Student Journey in Naviance

Student Tour and Overview

*Click the link twice in order to open*

Georgia Gwinnett College Instant Decision Day - Wednesday, March 29 from 10:30 - 11:37 in Media Center - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4EAAAC2DA4FDC34-instant1

Applying to a college who requires supplemental writing prompts? Take a look at this website!

Supplemental Essay Guide 2022-2023. Essays are listed by college with writing tips!

Love working on cars and want to make it a career? Check out Gwinnett Tech's diploma program!

For only a $5 donation to the Counseling Care Team!

Form found in MYPayments Plus under School Fundraisers

A Certificate of Enrollment is required to test for both driver's permit and driver's license. Students must submit a request form to receive this document. The request forms are available in the front office. The cost for this document is $3.

If you lost your ADAP certificate, you may get a replacement from the front office. ADAP certificates can be replaced for $5.

Please note there is a 48-hour turnaround for Certificate of Enrollment and replacement ADAP certificate requests.

Eligible licensed student drivers must provide proof of insurance, a valid driver's license, and a completed parking application. Click here for an application. Additionally, students must pay $70 for their parking pass. Click here to pay through MyPaymentsPlus. Students parking without a valid parking pass will be subject to disciplinary consequences including a boot on their car.

Click here for INSTRUCTIONS FOR MINORS

Are you planning on doing some community services but don't know where to start?

Contact Ms. Dobbs in the Parent Center or email at olaya.dobbs@gcpsk12.org

We need students who:

*Love their community

*Have a passion helping others

*Bilingual preferred but not required

Communication is really important to us and we want to make sure you are up to date with PDS school communications.

In addition to verifying that your cell phone number is accurate in the system, you also will need to subscribe to the text message service if you wish to receive emergency texts from the school system. You can do so by texting the word “SUBSCRIBE” to the number 67587. You will receive an immediate response by text. If you do not, please contact your wireless provider, as some providers do not accept texts that use short code (SMS) messages. (Note: If you subscribed to receive text messages last year, there is no need to resub­scribe unless your number changed.)

SchoolMessenger messages from Gwinnett County Public Schools will come from the number 1-844-248-6644. Please add this phone number to your contacts so you can easily identify the call as coming from Gwinnett County Public Schools. If you miss a phone message, you can call this number to retrieve and replay phone notifications.
https://www.gcpsk12.org/Page/26742

Parents, if you have any changes to your student's phone numbers, emergency contacts, etc. please note that these can be made by you in the Parent Portal. However, address changes need to be made at the school. Thank you."

Parents, if you’re on Facebook, join the Paul Duke Stem High School (PDSHS) class groups, a virtual community hosted by the PTSA, open to all PDSHS families, we look forward to seeing you there to share information, opportunities and maybe even a laugh. Find the graduating class that corresponds to your students and stop on by

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pds.ptsa.co2024

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pds.ptsa.co2025

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pds.ptsa.co2026

We look forward to connecting, and as always thank you for your support!

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Diamond Partner ($5,000 Donation or more)

Email: olaya.dobbs@gcpsk12.org
Website: https://www.gcpsk12.org/pauldukestemhs
Location: 5850 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Norcross, GA, USA
Phone: (470) 323-3600
Facebook: facebook.com/PaulDukeSTEM
Twitter: @Paul_Duke_STEM