KHS News

Quick Announcements:

• Spirit Night at Chick-fil-a on February 20th
  

• Scholars to College's OPEN HOUSE Wednesday, February 20th & Thursday, February 21st 6-8pm

• Bully Buster Assembly on Thursday, February 21st in the gym starting at 9:00.
  
• There is school on February 22nd to make up for the snow day on Dec. 10
  
• New Scholar Applications are now be accepted. Deadline is February 22, 2019

This newsletter contains the following information:

• School News
• PTSO
• Lunch Menu
  
• Counselor Corner
  
• Sports at KHS
• Classroom News
  
• Community News

Upcoming Events:

1. Career Day is March 22nd
   
2. Spring Break March 25th-29th, 2019
   
3. Soar Celebration April 5th
4. Teacher Appreciation Week May 6th-May 10th
5. Spring Performance May 16th: Grades K-2 @ 5:30 pm and Grades 3-5 @ 6:45 pm. See Classroom News section for additional information.
   
6. The 3rd grade end of year trip has been scheduled for Friday June 7th! More Details to come!
   

2019-20 New Scholar Applications:

We are now accepting K-8th grade new scholar applications for our 2019-2020 lottery. Applications are available on our website and in our Main offices. Friday, February 22, 2019 is the deadline for all lottery applicants. The lottery will be held on Friday, March 1, 2019. All sibling applications are required to be submitted by the application deadline in order to be considered for sibling preference. Applications are available in our front offices or online at: https://goo.gl/forms/ECCmKlYs7gewlhOW2

2019-2020 Intent to Return:

The 2019-2020 Scholar Intent to Return forms were sent to all current Kestrel K-7th grade families. Please complete the easy-to-complete online form by Friday, February 15th. The link to the form is: https://goo.gl/forms/dKMZ8NI8QbO1mMtO2

Kestrel Heights School will make up our inclement weather days as stated below. The NC State Calendar law requires school districts to provide either 1,025 hours or 185 days of instruction in a school year. Due to the length of our school day, we are able to utilize our accumulated instructional time to make up days missed.

• December 10th - make up on February 22nd
  
• December 11th - make up on May 24th
  
• December 12th - use banked instructional time
  
• December 12th (2 hr delay) - use banked instructional time
  

We will have a Bully Buster Assembly on Thursday, February 21st in the gym starting at 9:00. This assembly lasts for 30 minutes and students will be given an activity book and have a chance to earn 2 free tickets to a Durham Bulls game!

We have a few exciting updates regarding our PBIS program we would like to share with you.

For third quarter, the end of quarter reward is our DJ DANCE PARTY! This event was extremely popular with scholars last year and we are very excited to be hosting it again for our SOARing Hawks this quarter. In order to earn entry into the event, scholars will need to earn ten SOAR stickers throughout the quarter and have zero days assigned to ISS or OSS.

The dance party will be held on April 5. This means the last day to earn stickers for entry to the event will be April 3, in order to allow time to plan for the number of students who will be in attendance.

The update we are most excited to share with you is that starting this quarter, you and your scholar will be able to better track progress toward earning entry to the quarterly celebration. You will see an assignment in PowerSchool under "Homeroom" for SOAR stickers. Each week, as your scholar earns SOAR stickers, they will be reported in this assignment. The assignment will be recorded out of 10 points (the minimum threshold for earning entry to the party), and the number of stickers your scholar has earned will be entered as the score.

For example, "Jane Doe" earns 1 SOAR sticker this week. On Friday when her homeroom teacher enters grades, they will enter 1/10 for her "SOAR stickers" assignment. Next week, "Jane Doe" earns 2 SOAR stickers. Next Friday when her homeroom teacher enters grades, they will update her total to 3/10 for her "SOAR stickers" assignment.

Please note that this "assignment" will not affect your child's grades on their report card and is for tracking purposes only. We will continue to do weekly drawings to recognize scholars who have earned SOAR stickers in a particular week.

In this manner we hope that you will be feel more involved and connected in the PBIS program here at Kestrel. Please remember that your scholar has until April 3 to collect all 10 SOAR stickers, so keep encouraging them to demonstrate Safety, Ownership, Attitude, and Respect!

If you have any questions or suggestions about the PBIS program as a whole please do not hesitate to reach out to Ms. Villegas, Ms. Kennedy, or Ms. Callahan, who can bring your thoughts to the PBIS committee. For specific questions about your child's stickers earned, please reach out to their homeroom teacher.

Thank you for your support!

Get your Box Tops ready!!! The deadline to submit Box Tops is Friday, February 22. Please label your clippings with the teacher name and grade level on them. The grade level with the most collected will earn a pizza party, compliments of the KHS PTSO!

Program Description

Scholars to College is a free, four-year college-readiness program designed to assist ambitious, academically-focused, underrepresented first-generation students from Durham County for success at selective four-year colleges and universities. Scholars are supported to develop academic rigor, college-going competency, and to enhance their socio-emotional development and leadership skills.

Who is Eligible?

Students must:

• reside & attend school in Durham County, NC and
• demonstrate financial need as evidenced by submitting a copy of their most recent income tax return (2017 or 2018) with sensitive information removed to verify that their income levels demonstrate need according to federal income guidelines. Families may check for eligibility using this guide: http://bit.ly/S2Cincomechart2023 in English and http://bit.ly/SPANISHS2Cincomechart2023 in Spanish

Who Should Apply?

Applications open each February for current 8th graders in Durham County. Students that are a good fit and typically succeed in Scholars to College:

• are intellectually curious (bright, hungry, with high intrinsic motivation)
  
• enjoy challenge, rigor
• are historical high achievers in the classroom (grades and standardized tests-e.g. EOGs/EOCs)
  
• have parent support toward the goal of graduating from a four-year college
  

How Can I Learn More?

Attend

Scholars to College's Open House* 2019!

Wednesday, February 20th OR Thursday, February 21st

6-8pm @ the Emily Krzyzewski Center

904 W. Chapel Hill Street

Durham, NC 27701

invitations are for families of 8th grade students in Durham County only

register at http://bit.ly/S2Copenhouse2019

and

Visit our website at http://www.emilyk.org/programs/scholars-to-college/

Application Deadline: Thursday, March 14th, 2019

Qualifying families may access the application at

http://bit.ly/S2C2023app in English and in Spanish at http://bit.ly/S2Cespanol2023

*Open House attendance is not required in order to submit an application

--

Camille Wilson, Associate Director of College Readiness

(she/her/hers)

Emily Krzyzewski Center
904 W. Chapel Hill Street
Durham, NC 27701

cwilson@emilyk.org

(w) 919.680.0308 x 2004

(c) 919.672.4435

(f) 919.680.0309

Be a Game Changer for students in Durham. Learn more here.

Upcoming Parent U Events: Our popular parent education series, Parent U, is ready to start back up for the 2018-2019 school year. These parent nights are focused on providing specific helpful information in topics many parents wonder about. If you would like to attend a Parent U session, YOU MUST RSVP at least one day before the event. If less than 5 parents RSVP, the event will be cancelled.

Upcoming Parent U events include:

Executive Functioning (February 21)

Anxiety (April 23).

Hello Friends! Career Day is March 22nd and we would LOVE for you to talk to our students about your amazing profession! Volunteers presenting to K-2 students will present from 8:15-10:15. Volunteers presenting to 3-8 students will present from 8:15-11:05. Feel free to call or email Mrs. Kennedy or Mrs. Callahan with questions or concerns. Thanks for volunteering!

Volunteer Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4ba9ac28aafd0-khes3

Hawks Ultimate Frisbee finished the season with a record of 10-3 and picked up 2 victories in their championship tournament. GREAT JOB FLIGHT RISK!

The Lady Hawks basketball team lost a close game in the first round of their conference tournament. Hawks boys basketball fell in the semi-finals, finishing the regular season in 2nd place.

Spring Sports Tryouts begin this month; Soccer and baseball 2/19- 2/21, Track and Field tryouts will be 2/26 - 2/28. Visit https://kestrelhawks.bigteams.com/ for more information.

Baseball

Feb. 19- 21

3:30 - 5:00

Meet at Kestrel Heights MS Gym

Jerry Hensler

hensler@kestrelheights.org

Girl’s Soccer

Feb. 19- 21

3:15 -

4:45

Meet at Kestrel Heights Field

Abby Hooker

abbyhooker@kestrelheights.org

Softball (girls)

Canceled due to lack of Student interest

Co-ed Track and Field

Feb. 26-28

3:15-4:30

Kestrel Heights MS

Dale Edmonds

edmonds@kestrelheights.org

Want to try out for the Track Team? Get into shape with Coach Dale's running camp! ALL participants MUST have a completed Athletic Packet.

Camp will be start Monday, February 11th, 3:00pm-4:30pm, Mondays-Thursdays.

Please email Coach Dale with any questions:

edmonds@kestrelheights.org

Kindergarten:

Kindergarten is excited to see all of our scholars 100th Day Projects on Tuesday, February 19th! Be creative! Remember to read, read, read!

1st Grade:

This week we have been really enjoying fun math and reading activities with a Valentine’s theme!

2nd Grade:

2nd grade will start their Science Unit on Plants and Animals and how they help one another. Around the World Culture Projects will be presented this week-we are super excited.

3rd Grade

Please look to Dojo for regular updates.

4th Grade

Mr. Belcher returns Monday, February 11th! The address to the site is https://sites.google.com/kestrelheights.org/4th-grade-2018-19/home.

5th Grade:

We’re wrapping up the iReady Benchmarks and excited to see the growth our scholars have made during the first 1/2 of the year. Please see the grade level website for more detailed information on upcoming assignments and announcements. Please check the grade level website for detailed information about upcoming dates and assignments.

http://sites.google.com/kestrelheights.org/5thgrade

6th Grade:

Do not forget to check power school and the 6th grade web page. The link is http://kestrel6thgrade.weebly.com/ and each teacher will be updating their class page.

7th Grade Math

Greetings Parents,

Would you like to receive daily updates about classwork and homework in math?

Sign up for Ms Devlin's Remind Math Blast!

Text: @4dev7

To: 81010

*Honors, please email Ms. Devlin to get signed up*

if you have any questions or have trouble signing up please email Ms Devlin: devlin@kestrelheights.org

8th Grade:

What's up in 8th grade? A lot! This week we've had a great time seeing the 8th grade National History Day projects come together and almost a 3rd of our scholars will be headed off to regionals in the near future to stand in competition against several other NHD projects from the area. Also, in celebration of Black History Month, scholars will have the opportunity to see and experience "Freedom Train" at the Duke Energy center this upcoming Thursday, a play dedicated to the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman. They will also be traveling to the North Carolina Natural History Museum to dive into the rich history of our state. Stay tuned for a lot more news on upcoming year end events like our 8th grade year end trip, our end of the year semi-formal dance and 8th grade promotion!

English Language Learners (ELL) Program - Ms. Rivera

Dear Parent or Guardian,

During the next 3 weeks, English Language Learner (ELL) students in grades kindergarten through eighth will take the ACCESS test. ACCESS provides a standardized measure of the efficiency of academic language for ELL students throughout the state of North Carolina, and in other states. With this information, we will be able to monitor annually the individual progress of each ELL student.

Aprendices del Idioma Inglés (ELL) - Ms. Rivera

Estimado Padre o Tutor,

Durante las proximas 3 semanas, los estudiantes Aprendices del Idioma Inglés (ELL) en grados de kindergarten hasta octavo, tomarán la prueba ACCESS. ACCESS proporciona una medida estandarizada de la eficiencia del lenguaje académico para los alumnos ELL en todo el estado de Carolina del Norte, y en otros estados. Con esta información, podremos vigilar anualmente el progreso individual del cada estudiante de ELL.

Buenos dias familia!

This quarter, we have been talking about "Afrolatinidad", what a wonderful topic and conversations we're having. We are celebrating each others backgrounds! We are also learning the "Alfabeto" and lots of new words to expand our Spanish Vocabulary. Please, practice with your child at home.

Our Spanish class is in need of a few items: Lysol spray, Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer. Please send these items in with your scholar at anytime.

Please, email me with any questions: mariafoushee@kestrelheights.org

Gracias,

Mrs. Foushee

This week in AIG....

A few sixth grade AIG students took a "field trip" to Lowe's Home Improvement of South Durham to spend some grant money awarded from the Lowe's Toolbox for Education Grant. Kestrel AIG was awarded with $3,000 to spend on robotics kits, ipads, and building materials for regulation size First Lego League competition tables.

K-5 PE is starting an adventure activities mini-unit, having tons of fun. Middle School students are learning about Team Handball, a game that is very popular in Europe and played all around the world.

Doctor’s Notes

If your scholar needs to be excused from physical activities, please provide a doctor’s note.

Gym Shoes

Your scholar will need gym shoes (sneakers, tennis shoes) to participate in activities. They must have a flat bottom (no heel) and the foot must be fully covered. Sandals, Crocs, clogs, dress shoes, boots and any heeled shoes are not appropriate for class.

As often as I can, I will highlight a student who has gone above and beyond in their work and/or their behavior. I'll call it, "Tell Me Something Good".

Tell Me Something Good...

In my sixth grade class, EVERY SINGLE student has turned in their first project on time. Way to go and keep it up!

Ms. Mohn,

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/artmohn/

Hello Dance Families!

In honor of Black History Month, the Elementary & Middle School Dance students will be "traveling" to the continent of Africa and visiting 4 different countries, learning the traditional dances and music from the different tribes.

We "safely" arrived to our first destination - Guinea, West Africa. We were greeted by people from the Malinke tribe, and they taught us the dance, Coucou. This is a dance of celebration for different occasions: Weddings, births, good harvests. With any "happy" event, there's a lot of energy that's required/needed for this dance. Have your dancer show/teach you at home. We are planning to arrive in Ghana on Monday, and meet with people from the Ashanti tribe to learn the dance, Kpanlogo (another celebration dance). We're so excited!!!!!

Additionally, please MARK YOU CALENDARS for the Elementary Spring Performance - May 16, 2019. Grades K-2 will perform at 5:30 pm and Grades 3-5 will perform at 6:45 pm. This a mandatory performance for all scholars.

Lastly, the Dance Dept. is in need of a few classroom supplies: Facial tissues, Disinfectant Wipes and Paper Towels.

Thank you for your support!!!! ;o)

To all Recorder and Choir club parents and Scholars

Recorder and Choir have now started up for the spring summers

Choir is on Tuesday afternoons from 3:15pm to 4:00pm and recorder club is Wednesday afternoons 3:15pm to 4:00pm

Do you know, a scholar in grades 3-12 who needs a home computer? Kramden Tech Scholars is a core program to assist scholars in grades 3-12 without a working home computer. To date, Kramden has served scholars in more than 70 North Carolina counties and has relied on principals, teachers, guidance counselors, and school social workers to identify and nominate deserving scholars. Once they qualify the scholar, he/she will become a Kramden Tech Scholar, and receive a computer along with ongoing technical support from the Kramden team. If you are interested in nominating a scholar check out their website (listed below). They also have materials available in spanish if needed.

https://kramden.org/kramden-tech-scholars/

Choosing the right school is an important decision. We strive to provide a welcoming and diverse community where your children can thrive. Our lottery-based enrollment process ensures an equal opportunity for all prospective students. We are now accepting applications for our 19-20 school year!

Website: kestrelheights.org
Location: 4700 South Alston Avenue, Durham, NC, USA
Phone: 919-484-1300
Facebook: facebook.com/KestrelHeightsSchool/
Twitter: @KestrelHeights