Summer Update #1

Dear Peabody and Watkins community,

What a year! I hope everyone's summer is off to a great start. We've been wrapping up the year, including looking back and celebrating some of our successes. I want to celebrate a few of them here.

Your child's report cards and iReady reports are in the mail as of July 5th. Report cards are also published on the Aspen Parent Portal.

Below the data and celebrations are some key events and updates for our community, including times to connect with me and others this summer.

For K-2 literacy, we see results in our DIBELs assessments at or above pre-pandemic levels! Given the last six years, we are celebrating:

• The highest percent of students reading proficiently, at 85%, up six points from last year.
• The lowest percent of students far below the benchmark, at 7%. At the beginning of the year, 23% were reading far below the benchmark, which was the highest level in the last six years. We closed a lot of gaps!
• 77% of Black students (up 12% points from last year) are reading proficiently, only 2 points from the SY18-19 high mark.
  
• 48% of students with IEPs are reading proficiently, up 7% points from last year. This is equal to SY18-19.
• 1st grade proficiency rate is 85%! 9% points higher than pre-pandemic numbers! And 2nd grade proficiency rate is 84%, which is also higher than any year since SY17-18.

Closing the gaps that we see by race and ability will continue to be the focus of our Comprehensive School Plan next year. Families can read more about our assessments here.

Student Culture

The DCPS Loved, Challenged, and Supported survey results are in, and we saw incredible growth from the fall to the spring! The overall composite index showed an increase of 6 points while our students' sense of being loved increased by 8 points, which is aligned to our goals in our Comprehensive School Plan.

Enrollment

• Peabody is 93% enrolled! We are waiting on new families to complete their paperwork and on track to be fully enrolled.
• Watkins is above it's growth enrollment target! We're in great shape with 399 student enrolled!

This data will be discussed further in the fall as we share our updated school plan for school year 23-24.

DCPS and the DC Council worked to restore some schools' budgets from the cuts we faced during the typical budgeting process. In general, almost all of our funding was restored at both schools. After working with our LSAT and talking with some of our staff, the following positions were recently approved to be added to our budget.

Peabody - these positions re restored after being reduced during the winter budget cycle.

• Music teacher.
• Office staff.

Watkins

• 5th grade homeroom teacher (we will have four HR teachers at all grades next year.)
• STEM Teacher. After conversations with staff and LSAT, this position will replace the Spanish language special we offered last year. Our science lab will re-open next school year! More information on this new and exciting position is forthcoming. This position will replace the Spanish teacher position that was reduced during the regular budget cycle.
• 2 Behavior Technicians.
• 2 Instructional Aides.

Being able to have these positions in place for our return is great news! It's bittersweet, however, having had to go through the hurtful process of staff reductions earlier in the year. Given our current enrollment for next year and the budget stabilization the council passed, I'm hopeful we won't see dramatic budget reductions again.

Our leadership team, along with our school-based personnel committees are underway to find highly qualified educators for these positions.

In addition to the above, the following positions were added during the regular budget cycle and are currently filled:

Peabody

• School psychologist, shared with Watkins.
• Part time Social Worker, shared with Stuart Hobson. (This means the Watkins social worker supporting Peabody will only serve at Watkins next year.
• Part time Special Education Coordinator, shared with Stuart Hobson.

Watkins

• School psychologist, shared with Watkins.
• A 5th special education teacher (up from 4 teachers this year.)

Summer Mailer

Our new school year information and PTA information will be emailed to families on August 7th. All of the information will also be available on our website and published as soon as possible.

Popsicles with the Principal for New Families

New to Watkins or Peabody? Come join me, Principal Berkowitz, along with AP James, AP Edmonds and Ms. Montgomery on July 27th at 4pm on the Watkins playground for some community building and fun!

Peabody Summer Play Date

Peabody will host a summer play date with all families on August 2 at 4pm. Come join AP James and Principal Berkowitz to meet new and returning families, see the building, and enjoy the Peabody playground.

Teacher Assignments

Our teachers, social workers, instructional coaches and support teams made class lists in June. We are still enrolling students and will continue to make sure classes are balanced before we open school in August. On August 21, families can expect an email from their child's teacher. This email will welcome the family to the class, serve as the means of communicating the teacher assignment, and have other information specific to the teacher's class. We will not communicate teacher assignments before August 21st and please remember that we do not take teacher requests.

Before and aftercare

Sign-ups are available now on our school website.

Sneak a Peek

Like last year, we will have time before school starts to "Sneak a Peek" into your child's class at both Peabody and Watkins. You can see your child's space, cubby, desk, etc, meet your the teacher, and drop off supplies before the first day of school.

• Watkins - August 24 at 2:30-3:30 pm followed by playground time.
• Peabody - August 25 at 9:00-10:00 am followed by playground time.

PreK Home Visits

PreK families should expect an email from their child's teacher to set up virtual or in-person home visits August 28-30th. The first day of school for PreK students is August 31st so all families and students can connect with their teacher before class begins.

Clearances to Chaperone Field Trips

Parents who would to volunteer/ chaperone on an ongoing basis, must complete the DCPS Clearance process beforehand. Upon receipt, clearance letters should be emailed to tanisha.montgomery@k12.dc.gov.