Principal's Message March 6 - 10

Dear Peabody and Watkins Community,

Wow, what a week! We came back from break with incredible events at Peabody and Watkins this week to celebrate Black History, Read Across America Day, and a pizza and dance party just so we could have fun together. Our schools' Black History Month Committees, the Peabody Literacy Committee (in partnership with Stuart Hobson) and our PTA did an amazing job planning and executing four fantastic events that enriched our students and parents understanding and connection to black history, brought even more joy to reading, and brought us together to strengthen our sense of community. A lot has happened since break!

And we are also looking forward to Parent-Teacher conferences next week on Thursday. Families should have received opportunities to sign up. Please keep in mind that there is often more caregivers to meet with than there is time in the day. If you weren't able to sign up with your child's teacher, please email them directly to schedule time. Our teachers want to connect with every caregiver!

Link to our cluster calendar!

Quick look ahead:

Parent-Teacher conferences are almost here! Our teaching teams will reach out with details and sign-ups for the conferences on or before Feb 28. Some teams will do a group conference based on student data and share strategies to support learning at home while other teams will have individual caregiver-teacher conferences. Our goal is for all caregivers to have dedicated time with their child's teacher. Most conferences will be virtual for safety, scheduling, and both educator and caregiver access. If there is a need for an in-person conference, please contact your child's teacher.

Peabody families, please join Principal Berkowitz at Watkins for a school tour, 1st grade class visits, and conversation with the 1st grade team. We will meet in the library at 10am and wrap up by 11:30.

Hello 4th and 5th Grade Families,

Action item: please take a couple minutes to review and submit this permission slip OR scan the QR Code below by Monday, March 6 for your child to attend this trip: https://tinyurl.com/SHMS-Trip

Please note that this is a grade level field trip. We hope that you will consent for smoother school-wide operations. If you choose for your student not to attend, they will stay in the building with adult supervision.

On this day, students will learn about Stuart Hobson's academic and extracurricular activities via a school tour, extracurricular exhibition, music performance and mini pep rally.

Trip: 4th & 5th Grade Step Up to Middle School Day

Date: Wednesday, March 8

Location: Stuart Hobson Middle School

Transportation: School Buses

Departure Time: Approximately 9:50am (we ask that all attending students arrive to school on time)

Return Time: Approximately 12:15pm

Who: 4th and 5th Grade Boys and Girls

What: Outdoor Track

When: Sign ups begin Monday 2/13

Where: https://www.thedciaa.com/participation-forms

Participation Forms | thedciaa

Complete all forms to participate in sports. All students must complete a participation packet every school year. Additionally, the medical forms must be completed within the prior 365 days.

www.thedciaa.com

Please click the link above to complete participation packet and upload a recent UHC form completed by a doctor. If you have already completed these forms and your child was eligible to tryout or play a sport you do not need to resubmit.

If you have questions about clearance or would like to inform Coach Drakeford your child is interested in becoming apart of the track team, please email her at latavia.drakeford-allen@k12.dc.gov

Would you like to join your child's class in our gardens? Up to 4 caregivers can join each class on Wednesdays (Watkins only) and Fridays. Please sign up for your child's class only.

Peabody sign-ups

For the Watkins schedule, the 1st-3rd grade classes will go in the afternoon, so look for your child's afternoon teacher, not homeroom teacher on this schedule.

Waktins sign-ups

Email addresses are often entered into our systems with mistakes. If someone you know (partner, friend, neighbor) isn't getting school communication please have them email their names, their child's name, email addresses and phone numbers and any other information to either PeabodyESEnroll@k12.dc.gov or WatkinsESEnroll@k12.dc.gov. Our team will correct the errors asap.

If you somehow are unsubscribed from Blackboard, please email your appropriate school inbox above and Adia.Howard-Stroud@k12.dc.gov who will fix the issue on Blackboard.

Field Trips have resumed and we welcome parents to join as chaperones. 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.

Exceptions

Exceptions may be granted to the DCPS Clearance process in the following situations:

1. You are volunteering for a one-time, on-campus event, like Career Day or Field Day. Please email the Clearance Team at dcps.clearance@k12.dc.gov to confirm whether you qualify for a clearance exception.
2. You are a potential volunteer with an active secret or top-secret federal security clearance. Individuals in this group should complete the Federal Security Clearance Verification letter in lieu of being fingerprinted with DCPS. The original signed verification form and a copy of a state issued photo ID to dcps.clearance@k12.dc.gov