Principal's Message Feb 20 - Mar 3

Dear Peabody and Watkins Community,

The run up to break is behind us and break is here! This week was both exhausting and exhilarating hosting four open houses at each campus. Along with our team of caregiver and student hosts, it is so easy for me to humbly brag about our great schools. Each tour explored every corner of each building and attempted to touch on all of the joyful and rigorous experiences our students have at our schools. I tend to go on and on about Peabody and Watkins (and some feedback let me know I gushing too much about Stuart Hobson too) because I am so proud of what we offer our students and families. Thank you all for making it so easy for me to promote our schools with such a deep sense of pride.

And we have so many opportunities to celebrate our students and build community when we return. Please keep these dates and events in mind! Further details are either below or coming soon.

Feb 27 all students and staff test to return. Details below!

• Feb 28 - Watkins HBCU Homecoming and Blacks in Wax Museum
• March 2 - Read Across the Hill at Peabody
• March 2 - Watkins Panther Party
  
• March 3 - 5th Grade Ski Trip
• March 8 - 4th and 5th graders step up day at Stuart Hobson
• March 9 - Parent - Teacher Conferences. No school. Sign ups will be after break.
• March 10 professional development Day, no school.
• March 22 - Watkins Open House for Peabody families
• March 31 - Cluster Party and Auction
• April 4 - DC Science (5th grade only) and PARCC (3rd - 5th grades) begins - more info below.

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.

Our Community Based Organization, Catholic Charities is hosting another informative event for caregivers. Ms. Heath (Watkins) and Ms. Julia (Peabody) are our social workers by way of our partners, Catholic Charities. Please join them!

All students and all school-based staff — including partner staff, school-based service providers, and Early Stages team members — will be expected to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school on February 27 by uploading results to the centralized database. All schools will receive another delivery of test kits to support this endeavor.

All families and staff will receive district-wide communications. This information will be included on the DCPS Strong website.

Friends and community are welcome to join Barbara's family in a celebration of her life at 2pm, Sunday March 5 at the Hill Center. You can read more about her amazing life, including her service to our community in this Washington Post obituary.

You can also read more about Barbara and make a donation in her honor to FreshFarm.

Keep up the great reading Peabody readers! We have passed the 3,000 books read mark but we set our goal high at 8,000 books so let’s see if we can make it! Read LOTS over the February break, send in those reading logs (or complete the e-log form here: https://rb.gy/dwobom) and get ready to celebrate on March 2nd Read Across the Hill Day!

Peabody readers, dressed in cozy PJ’s, will join students across the country on Thursday, March 2nd to celebrate the nation’s 25th READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY! It also marks the end of our Winter Zoo-tastic Reading Challenge! Students from Stuart Hobson will join our PreK students as buddy readers in the morning and are visiting other Hill schools too, hence the second event name, “Read Across the Hill Day”! During Specials Class time, all students will choose a free book to take home, do an art activity, move their bodies to some fun Zoo-tastic songs, and do LOTS of reading!

Peabody students (and siblings), put on your PJs and grab your stuffies and get ready for some bedtime stories with Ms. Bloom! March 2nd is Read Across America Day (and Read Across the Hill Day) so what better way to wrap up that awesome day! See you at 7pm! The link is here: https://bit.ly/3GfDq0k

All families are invited for a night of community-building fun! Please see flyer below.

It's almost time for PARCC!

To prepare our students for success in college, career, and life, we have set the bar high. The PARCC assessment is computer-based and matches the high expectations of the Common Core State Standards, requiring students to think critically and solve real-world problems. It assesses what your child is learning in school and helps teachers and parents know if students are on track for success in college and careers.

We are finalizing our schedule internally, it will share it with families soon.

PARCC Test Items Release

The Chancellor's Letter to all families

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

Twice a year, we ask students in grades 3 and higher to complete a survey about social emotional learning for DC Public Schools, the Panorama Student Survey, to help DCPS and school administrators better understand what students think about their school experiences and their social and emotional learning. This spring, the student survey will be open from March 1 to March 31

Families can read more and opt out using this link.

A new, updated signup for Watkins Library volunteers has been created that spans the rest of the school year. The updated signup sheet includes opportunities for parents to attend/support their student’s homeroom class during library time. It also includes opportunities to help when classes are not being held in the library, in the mornings, afternoons, and afterschool. For afterschool shifts, it’s OK to bring your children to the library with you. Sign up here: https://signup.com/go/dRbMGvH.

Families, basketball season is upon us. See schedule below for the schedule and come out to support our Panthers as they embark on a successful season!

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