DRAGON DIGEST
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 / FEBRUARY 2020
FEBRUARY CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Friday, February 7 - 4 1/2 Week Progress Reports Go Home
Friday, February 7 - Picture Day for Clubs
Friday, February 7 - Bingo for D3 Day in the cafeteria 4:45PM and 6:30PM (two sessions)
Friday, February 7 - Dragon Academy in the Media Center 4:15PM
Friday, February 7 - Second Payment Due for 7th Grade Whitewater Trip ($50)
Saturday, February 8 - Science Olympiad at Forsyth Central HS
Saturday, February 8 - The Great Dane Experience at Denmark HS for Rising 9th Graders 9AM
Saturday, February 8 - Once Upon a Mattress Musical at SFHS 2:30PM
Saturday, February 8 - Once Upon a Mattress Musical at SFHS 7:00PM
Monday, February 10 - Local School Council Meeting in the Front Office Conference Room at 7:30AM
Tuesday, February 11 - Avengers Assembly for Accepted Alliance Academy Students 9AM
Tuesday, February 11 -Track Information Meeting at 9AM
Tuesday, February 11 - DeSana Oratorical Contest in the Media Center 9:30AM
Tuesday, February 11 - Basketball Teams and Cheer Squad Banquet in the cafeteria 6:00PM
Tuesday, February 11 - Hispanic Parent Partnership Council Meeting at 6:00PM
Wednesday, February 12 - Blue Block Day
Thursday, February 13 - Candygrams Distributed During 7th Period
Thursday, February 13 - Blue Block Day w/ AOL Time
Thursday, February 13 - Hoops for Hearts Basketball Tournament During Connections
Friday, February 14 - Student/Staff Holiday - No School
Monday, February 17 - President's Day - Student/Staff Holiday - No School
Monday, February 17 - Track and Field Praactice Begins
Tuesday, February 18 - Professional Development Day - No School for Students
Wednesday, February 19 - Blue Block Day w/ SEAD Time
Wednesday, February 19 - Denmark Community of Schools Family Connect Night
Thursday, February 20 - Blue Block Day w/AOL Time
Thursday, February 20 - First Day of Golf Practice at Crooked Creek
Thursday, February 20 - DeSana Cultural Arts Night at 6:00PM
Friday, February 21 - Sucker Day Sponsored by PRISM Club
Friday, February 21 - DeSana 8th Grade Students Visit Denmark HS from 9AM-12:30pm
Friday, February 21 - Dragon Academy in the cafeteria at 4:15PM
Monday, February 24 - Grade Level March eNewsletters go out this week
Monday, February 24 - FBLA State Competition in Covington
Monday, February 24 - Track and Field Parent Information Meeting in the cafeteria 6:15PM
Wednesday, February 26 - Blue Block Day w/AOL Time
Thursday, February 27 - All State Chorus
Thursday, February 27 - Blue Block Day w/AOL Time
Thursday, February 27 - DMS Oratorical Competition - County Semifinals
Friday, February 28 - All State Chorus
Saturday, February 29 - FCS Job Fair at SFHS 8:30AM - 11:30AM
Saturday, February 29 - All State Chorus
Monday, March 2 - National School Breakfast Week (through March 6)
Monday, March 2 - Read Across America Day
Monday, March 2 - National School Social Workers Appreciation Week (through March 6)
Tuesday, March 3 - Dragon for a Day - 5th to 6th Transition Activity
Tuesday, March 3 - D3 Day Steering Committee Meeting 8AM
Wednesday, March 4 - Blue Block Day w/SEAD Time
Wednesday, March 4 - On-line Help Sessions for Class Registration - 8th to 9th grade Transition - 6:30PM
Wednesday, March 4 - Parent Portal Opens for students/parents to check classes - 8th to 9th Grade Transition
Thursday, March 5 - Band All State Tryouts
Thursday, March 5 - On-line Help Sessions for Class Registration - 8th to 9th grade
Transition - 6:30PM
Thursday, March 5 - Blue Block Day w/AOL Time
Thursday, March 5 - DMS Oratorical Competition - County Finals
Friday, March 6 - Band All State Tryouts
Friday, March 6 - March Dragon Digest Goes Online
Friday, March 6 - Dragon Academy at 4:15PM
PRINCIPAL'S LETTER
Dear DeSana Parents,
At DeSana, we recognize the importance of our students’ total well-being. While academic achievement is integral to our young Dragons’ lives, there is more to an education than reading, writing and doing math. Most everyone understands the importance of academic success, but not as many understand the significance of emotional intelligence and social emotional skills, and the valuable role they play in one’s life. Research shows that emotional intelligence is a greater predictor of success than IQ and employers are looking for talented individuals that have exceptional social and emotional skills such as communication, conflict resolution, problem solving, and other “soft skills” that are better indicators of a valuable employee than skill set alone (IBM Institute for Business Value, 2018).
Specifically, companies are looking for:
1) Willingness to be flexible, agile, and adaptable to change.
2) Time management skills and ability to prioritize.
3) Ability to work effectively in team environments.
4) Ability to communicate effectively in business context.
These top performance skills and intelligences are better indicators of success in the workplace. While academic skills may prepare students for taking tests, reading comprehension, math skills, and other abilities needed for college and employment, they alone are insufficient for having a successful career or for life in general (Whalen, 2019).
Social and emotional skills are also essential for successful relationships in life. Having empathy and understanding others, being able to attend and listen to others, showing gratitude and compassion, and other such attributes are all the pieces of what makes a relationship puzzle fit. Young people who have these skills have better quality friendships and work better with others. These skills are good predictors of which young adolescents will go on to succeed later in school and in life (Whalen, 2019).
The good news is that social and emotional skills can be taught. So that is why three years ago we started developing our own social and emotional learning program here at DeSana. We call it our S.E.A.D. Initiative --- which stands for social, emotional and academic development. We began implementing our S.E.A.D. Initiative last year. There are three main parts to a good social and emotional learning program, all of which are equally important, and all of which we are working on so that each part becomes how we do things at DeSana. The first part is making sure our practices/processes/procedures/expectations all focus around what is best for our kids’ social and emotional well-being. The second important piece is about working in social and emotional lessons or mini-lessons as the opportunities present themselves in classroom lessons. It’s about intentionally planning such mini-lessons and seizing the moment! The third part to a well-designed social and emotional program is delivering quality, engaging lessons on specific social competencies to help students better understand what these competencies are and why they are important to develop.
Our S.E.A.D. Initiative is based on five social-emotional competencies that all students should master. At DeSana, we decided to give each of these five competencies a new tag-line . . . ones that we thought our kids could better understand and relate to. Click here to read more about each social-emotional competency, the goal for each, and the key specific competencies for each main competency. Below is an overview of each of the five main social-emotional competencies . . . our tag line for each . . . and the months that we focus on each competency so that you can help emphasize and reinforce the competency we are focusing on each month.
v Self-awareness Light the Way August & January
v Self-management Create Balance September & February
v Responsible decision-making Leave a Legacy October & March
v Relationship skills Be There When You’re There November & April
v Social-awareness Strengthen Your Community December & May
Our teachers have been leading some inspiring S.E.A.D. lessons with our students two times a month since last year, (all of these lessons are created by a cadre of teachers here at DeSana --- our S.E.A.D. Design Team --- who know our kids well and the areas that we see a need to most work on with them), and we have been able to see some results from this initiative in our young Dragons’ words, actions and good deeds.
One of my main reasons for writing to you in this edition of our Dragon Digest is to let you know about our S.E.A.D. Initiative in case you have not heard about it from your young Dragon (imagine that! ), and to invite you to continue at home, with your young Dragon(s), the discussions we have in each S.E.A.D. lesson here at school, two times a month.
Starting with our next S.E.A.D. lesson on Wednesday morning, February 19th, we will send out to every parent whose email address is in our student data base, Infinite Campus, a brief synopsis of that morning’s S.E.A.D. lesson along with the challenge we give our kids at the end of each S.E.A.D. lesson. That way you will be in the know and can help your young teen follow up with their S.E.A.D. challenge, in addition to continuing the discussion from their S.E.A.D. lesson as a family. Also, in each monthly eNewsletter that we send out to parents at the beginning of each month, we will include a synopsis of the S.E.A.D. lessons for that month.
Parents, I know it is a very overused cliché, but I so believe now more than ever - - - it takes a village to raise a child. At DeSana, we want to ensure that not only are we providing each and every young Dragon with a top-notch education, but that we are also looking out for each of our student’s total well-being and are helping to grow their emotional intelligence, along with helping teach them some valuable social-emotional skills. And for this we want and need you as a partner.
With this being the month of February --- a month when there is much talk about matters of the heart --- what better time to begin partnering with us in our S.E.A.D. initiative. The care and the development of our students’ young hearts are just as important to us, if not more important, than the development of their minds. Thanking you in advance for your continual help with our S.E.A.D. Initiative!
With warm wishes & Happy Valentine’s Day,
Terri A. North
Principal
DESANA DAY OF GOOD DEEDS
BINGO FOR D3 DAY IS TONIGHT!!
Our fourth annual D3 Day BINGO is TODAY, Friday, FEBRUARY 7th! You may buy card packs at the door and concessions are available as well. Sessions at 4:15 and 6:30PM. All funds raised will be used to purchase materials for our D3 Day community service projects.
FOOD DRIVE: BIG CHANGES COMING TO FOOD DRIVE
The 2020 food drive has begun! We are collecting food from January 27-February 28th, one month only! We are collecting peanut butter and jelly, cereal, and mac and cheese again. Our goal is for each child to bring in one of each item in the 5 week period. The competition this year is between grade levels. The grade level with the most food collected (percentage based) will get an extended lunch with music in the gym with ice cream (or popsicles). The grade level teachers that win will receive a catered lunch generously donated by Giorgio's Family Kitchen in Cumming. Please remember to support our food drive which helps stock the pantries of The Place, Bald Ridge Lodge, and Jesse's House. Don't forget to bring a few cans to bingo to get entered into a special drawing. We can only make D3 Day a success with all of your help.
PTO
FORSYTH COUNTY PTO IMPRESSIONS CONTEST WINNERS
Many congratulations to the following Dragon students who had winning entries at the county level of the PTO Impressions contest:
Literature Winners
6th grade
Rhea M.- First Place
Aadhav T.- Second Place
Divine C.- Third Place
7th grade
Anika T.- First Place
8th grade
Gabriella O.- First Place
Music Composition Winners
6th grade
Sahithi C.- First Place
7th grade
Thea V.- First Place
Photography Winners
8th grade
Shailee S.- First Place
Quinn J.- Second Place and Third Place
Visual Arts Winners
6th grade
Maryam M.- First Place
8th grade
Katrina P.- First Place
Aleena N.- Second Place
2020-2021 PTO BOARD NOMINATIONS
The PTO is accepting nominations for PTO Officers for the 2020-2021 school year. We are looking for five volunteers.
Please use the form on the PTO webpage (https://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/domain/4561) to submit nominations. You may nominate yourself or another person. If nominating someone else, please talk with that person before submitting their information. As far as the time commitment is concerned, there is one 60-90 minute PTO Board meeting every month. Board members usually share other tasks as interests and schedules permit. Please submit nominations by March 18, 2020. If you have any questions about the roles and responsibilities, please email desanadragonspto@gmail.com. Thank you for serving!
PTO DISCOUNT CARD FUNDRAISER
The PTO is so excited to kick off the annual fundraiser! This year we are proud to offer a Discount Card for sale for $10 – the discounts on the card will more than pay for it! There are amazing offers to local businesses like: $10 off a purchase of $50 or more at Dick’s Sporting Goods, discounts at Coffee Nut, Black Diamond Grill, Pizza Hut, Jiffy Lube, Panda Express, Dairy Queen, IHOP, Chilis, Subway, Whichwich, Brusters, Papa Johns, Salsarita’s, Krystal, Escape Games, and Gyro Café!
The top seller from each grade wins $100 cash, the second highest seller gets $50. The PTO appreciates your support! Cards are available for purchase here: https://form.jotform.com/200047481170142
THANK YOU
The PTO is so appreciative of the time and supplies DeSana families donate. Without your help, we wouldn’t be able to provide potlucks, serve donuts to Academic Award recipients, or fund teacher grants. Please accept our sincere thanks for all the ways you serve. We are grateful for your kindness and generosity.
ACADEMICS
FROM THE MEDIA CENTER -2020 Focus on Reading Challenge!
Students who read a variety of books have a chance to be rewarded with a Kindle Fire HD tablet! Students may read books in a variety of categories, fill out review slips, and return them to the media center in order to be entered into the contest. The contest runs through the end of March; ask your child if he/she has entered yet!
4 1/2 WEEK PROGRESS REPORTS GO HOME WITH STUDENTS TODAY!
Parents, how is your young Dragon progressing so far this second semester in all of his/her classes? Today, Friday, February 7th is the 4 ½ week juncture of this second semester, and thus, is a great time for parents to take note of how their middle schooler is starting off this second semester in each class. While parents (and students!) may check their child’s grades daily/weekly via Parent Portal . . . and we highly encourage you to do so . . . we are sending home with students today a paper copy Progress Report for some or all of their seven classes. This gives you and your student an opportunity to see how he/she is progressing in each class, thus far.
For our 6th Grade Students: Students will receive one Progress Report Sheet from each core class (Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies) that tells their average thus far and how they have done with each formative and/or summative assessment. These Progress Reports are teacher-generated. For Connections classes and Enrichment classes, Progress Reports will only be given to those students with a present grade of 75% or below. Work Habits are not assessed.
For our 7th & 8th Grade Students: Only those students with a present grade of 75% or below in their core academic classes (Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Spanish for 8th graders who take it) will receive a paper copy of their grades (formative and summative assessments) to take home to show their parents. These Progress Reports are teacher-generated. For Connections classes and Enrichment classes, Progress Reports will be given to those students with a present average of 75% or below. For students who do not receive a paper copy of their grades, the expectation is that parents will check their child’s grades on Parent Portal. At any time a parent may request a hard copy of their student’s grades by contacting the teacher directly. Should a family not have access to the internet to check their student’s grades on Parent Portal at Progress Report time, please notify your child’s Dragon Time teacher. Work Habits are not assessed.
We encourage each parent to take a few minutes to sit down with his/her young Dragon and go over and discuss his/her academic progress thus far this second semester. Let us also give you a word of caution as you look at the averages for your child’s classes at this 4 ½ week juncture. A student’s average at this point may include few or not any summative assessments, which will count as 80% of his/her total average for the semester. Thus, your child’s course average may be a bit skewed, one way or the other, depending on how many formative (which count 20% of a student’s total average for the semester) and summative assessments have been given, and how your child has performed on any of the assessments given thus far.
Parents, please do not hesitate to contact any of your child’s teachers should you have any questions or concerns about your young Dragon’s academic progress for these first 4 ½ weeks of the new semester. Please know we want and need you involved in your child’s education during these important middle school years. We appreciate your support so very much!
8TH TO 9TH GRADE TRANSITION INFORMATION
DENMARK HIGH SCHOOL TRANSITION INFORMATION
There are two important dates approaching. Saturday, February 8th, is The Great Dane Experience at Denmark from 9:00 – 11:00 AM and Friday, February 21st, 8th Grade Student Visitation Day at Denmark for 9:30-12:00 PM.
9th Grade Great Dane Experience will be an opportunity for you to explore Denmark, pick up a registration packet (if you do not already have one), meet coaches, club sponsors, counselors and school staff to learn more about all the opportunities that Denmark has to offer.
8th Grade Student Visitation Day will be a field trip where we transport students by bus to Denmark and they will have another opportunity to tour the facility and experience a day in the life of a Denmark student.
In early February, DeSana teachers will do recommendations for the three core required classes of English, Math, and Science. On March 4th at 8:00 AM, the parent/student portal on infinite campus will open and it closes on March 11th at 4:00 PM. During this time, you will need to follow the instructions found in the Denmark Course Registration Packet and sign up for a total of 7 courses and a minimum of 3 alternates. Also at this time, you will see what recommendations for core classes our DeSana teachers made regarding your child. If you are not in agreement with this recommendation, you may follow Denmark’s wavier process found in the Denmark Course Registration Packet. The on-line wavier opens Monday, March 16th at 8:00 AM and closes on Monday, March 23rd at 4:00 PM.
Click here for an Information Flyer about transition activities for Denmark High School.
ALLIANCE ACADEMY of INNOVATION TRANSITION INFORMATION
The above information about course registration for Denmark holds true for the type of registration process for Alliance Academy of Innovation. Below are special dates they have shared:
Avengers Assemble – February 11th 9:00 – 11:30 AM
Parent Portal opens/closes – March 4th through March 11th
Waiver process opens/closes – March 16th through March 23rd
Course verification – March 31st – April 2nd
ATHLETICS
2020 DESANA TRACK AND FIELD
Important Dates:
Boys & Girls Tryouts are February 19-20, 2020 4:30-6pm in the DeSana Gym
February 24, 2020 @6:15 pm Parent Informational Meeting
ALL ATHLETES MUST HAVE AN UP TO DATE PHYSICAL ON FILE NO LATER THAN 2:00 pm ON WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2020
THE ARTS
DOODLE FOR GOOGLE
The annual Google doodle competition has begun! Want to win a $30,000 college scholarship, a $50,000 Google for education package for DeSana, and your artwork to be featured on the google homepage for a day? The theme this year is “I show kindness by…” See Mrs. Petit for an entry form and more information or checkout the Doodle for Google website by clicking here.
CULTURAL ARTS NIGHT
DeSana Middle School will host its 2nd annual Cultural Arts Night on February 20, 2020. On this night, we will celebrate our school's rich cultural makeup with food, performances, and art representing different cultures. Entry to the event is free, but there is a $5 cost to sample the food from the various cultures. If you would like to participate by hosting a booth, please contact Sarah Fogg (sfogg@forsyth.k12.ga.us) or Stacey Hannel (shannel@forsyth.k12.ga.us).
ACTIVITIES
DECA
On Friday, January 31st , 680 Forsyth County students participated in the DECA State Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. DECA, is an internationally recognized marketing student association. To compete at the State Career Development Conference students had to qualify at our regional event. DeSana Middle School was proud to have three young Dragons represent us: Shriya K., Chetana K., and Disha M. All three did incredibly well. Two of the students really shined, with Chetana placing 7th in the promotional pitch event and Disha placing 4th in the Principles of Business Management & Administration event. Disha’s 4th place finish also meant that she qualified to move on to the DECA International Career Development Conference. Congratulations ladies!
FBLA RESULTS
Congratulations to the following DeSana students for winning medals in the 2019-2020 FBLA Region competitions! All students have qualified to compete at the FBLA State Conference in February.
Student Competition
Aadhav T. - Business Concepts
Sanjita K. - FBLA Creed
Kaavya B. - Elevator Speech
Kaavya B. - Introduction to Business Communication
Ritya G. - Invention Convention
Oviya K. - Invention Convention
Sriya R. - Invention Convention
Prisha B. - Invention Convention
Christy E.- Invention Convention
Shailee S. - Invention Convention
Roshni K. - Public Speaking
PARENT 411 - HELPFUL LINKS FOR YOU
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
DESANA'S NEXT LOCAL SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING
The next meeting of DeSana’s Local School Council (LSC) is scheduled for Monday, February 10th at 7:30 AM in the front office conference room.
OUR FEBRUARY BREAK IS ALMOST HERE!
All FCS students and staff will be out of school on next Friday, February 14th and the following Monday, February 17th (President’s Day). Our DeSana office will be closed on these two days. Students will also have a day out of school on Tuesday, February 18th as teachers and administrators have a professional learning day. That means our young Dragons will have a very long five day weekend to enjoy! We hope all of our young Dragons and their families, whether traveling near or far, stay safe. And we look forward to seeing all of our students back with us on Wednesday, February 19th, ready to rock and roll with their learning!
MANY THANKS TO OUR FANTASTIC BUSINESS PARTNERS!
*ALL AMERICAN SPECIALTIES
*BROWNS BRIDGE CHURCH
*CHICK-FIL-A @ THE COLLECTION
*CITY CHURCH
*GEORGIA ORTHODONTICS AND CHILDREN'S DENTISTRY
*NORTH GEORGIA PROMOTIONS
*OMEGA LEARNING
*RBM OF ALPHARETTA
Forsyth County Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, or gender in employment decisions or educational programs and activities.