DRAGON DIGEST
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 15 / MARCH 22, 2019
PRINCIPAL'S LETTER
Dear DeSana Parents,
Spring Break is just around the corner! In just one short week at 4:15 PM we will all be looking forward to a break that is often filled with laid-back days and fun times, and . . . one that is much deserved by students, parents and DeSana staff alike . . . and one that is needed at this time in order to rejuvenate our souls.
Upon everyone’s return to DeSana on Monday, April 8th, there will be just a little less than two months left in this school year . . . less than two months filled with GA Milestones End of Grade (EOG) and End of Course (EOC) assessments . . . last units of study to complete the teaching of all of the curriculum standards at each grade level . . . the winding down of the Track & Field and Golf seasons . . . end of year Band concert . . . DeSana’s Battle of the Bands . . . 8th grade trip to Savannah . . . 6th grade field trip to the TELLUS Museum . . . DeSana’s Day of Good Deeds (D3 Day) . . . Spring Football Practice . . . the 8th Grade Semi-Formal . . . and end of year grade level special events. It will be fast and furious, with LOTS of FUN times!! And it will all be important . . . but none as important as for all of our young Dragons to finish the school year strong and on a positive note (more on that when we get back from Spring Break!).
So I hope all of our young Dragons and their families will take time over Spring Break to just chill . . . do what you love to do . . . or do nothing at all. I hope you are able to carve out some family time together and make some new and wonderful memories while having fun and enjoying being in the moment with each other. Whether you are traveling near or far, please stay safe in your travels.
On behalf of all of our fabulous staff here at DeSana, here’s wishing you an exceptional Spring Break! Enjoy!!!
Not ashamed to admit to counting down the hours to Spring Break (160 hours and 30 minutes as of today at 4:30 PM!!)!
Best wishes for some fun in the sun!
Terri A. North
Principal
DESANA DAY OF GOOD DEEDS
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR D3 DAY!
D3 Day is May 21! We need 100 volunteers to help our DeSana Day of Good Deeds a success! Please Use this link to sign up today. There will be two training times available for our volunteers - - -Monday, May 13 at 8am or Thursday, May 16 at 6pm. Set a great example for your student by signing up to serve with us on D3 Day!
T-SHIRT DONATIONS STILL ACCEPTED
Thanks to everyone who turned in the t-shirt form and donation by the March 15th deadline! It is NOT too late to still turn yours in! Click here for the form. Checks should be made payable to DeSana Middle School or cash is fine too! Exact change of $5 is appreciated unless you choose to donate more which is very MUCH appreciated! There is still time to be a family sponsor. Click here for that form.
PTO
DENMARK SPRING FLING
You won't want to miss the inaugural Spring Fling at Denmark on May 4th! Spring Fling is a Community Day with Farmers' Market, 5K Race, Family activities, and local craft & food vendors! Vendor inquiries please contact president@denmarkptso.com.
OFFICERS NEEDED FOR 2019-2020
The DeSana PTO Board has openings for a President, two Vice Presidents and a Secretary for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year. Please give consideration to participating. It is such a wonderful way to be involved in the life of the school! Officer nomination forms are available here.
ACADEMICS
GEORGIA MILESTONES ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER
The Georgia Milestones assessments will begin shortly after Spring Break. Please make sure your child is present and on time each morning and has gotten good rest and a healthy breakfast. Also, remember that cell phones are not allowed in the testing environment, so students should leave their phones, smart watches, and other devices at home or in their lockers.
Testing will typically last from 9:00am-1:00pm on test days, as follows:
6th Grade:
- April 10 – ELA Section 1
- April 11 – ELA Sections 2 & 3
- April 12 – Math
7th Grade:
- April 16 – ELA Section 1
- April 17 – ELA Sections 2 & 3
- April 18 – Math
8th Grade:
- April 22 – ELA Section 1
- April 23 – ELA Sections 2 & 3
- April 24 – SS
- April 25 – 8th Grade Math EOG
- April 26 – 8th Grade Sci EOG
- April 29 – Algebra I EOC
- May 6 – Physical Science EOC
If you would like more information about the EOG or EOC, please read the “Georgia Milestones Questions and Answers for Parents” document on the Georgia Department of Education website by clicking here.
For questions or concerns regarding test administration, please contact Mike Sloop, Assistant Principal at msloop@forsyth.k12.ga.us or 770-667-2591 Ext. 491507 or the Forsyth County Schools Assessment Division at 770-887-2461. Thank you for your cooperation and support during testing!
NINE WEEK PROGRESS REPORTS GO HOME WITH STUDENTS TODAY!
Students will bring home their 9-week Progress Report for the second semester on Friday, March 22nd. This report will give you and your middle schooler some excellent information about how he/she is doing in all of his/her classes at this half-way mark for the second semester. Please remember: This report will show how your child is progressing in his/her Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Literacy, and 8th grade Spanish class thus far. It is not a final grade. The final grade for the second semester comes at the 18-week juncture. This Nine Week Progress Report will also give you/your young Dragon his/her final grade for the second nine weeks’ Connections classes.
The format for this Nine Week Progress Report looks different from the Progress Reports you received at 4 ½ weeks (and different from what you will receive at 13 ½ weeks). This Progress Report will show your child’s formative average, summative average and his/her present course average thus far for each academic course. It will also show your young Dragon’s absences for each course.
Another feature for DeSana students and parents on this Nine Week Progress Report (and it will also be included on the Semester Report Card) is an assessment of your student’s work habits in the areas of Assignment Completion, Participation, Responsibility, and Interpersonal Skills. These are all behaviors that have the potential to impact academic achievement in significant ways. Thus, we want to report to you and your young Dragon how he/she is doing in each of these areas. A “2” is the standard for each of these areas, so you will hope to see a “2”for your child in each category, in each class. That means he/she is meeting the standard in these work habits.
With only nine weeks left in this school year, this Nine Week Progress Report should give you some good information to better inform you and your student as to exactly where he/she stands in mastering the standards for the second semester. As always, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your young Dragon’s teacher(s)!
IMPORTANT REMINDERS TO PARENTS REGARDING ADVANCED STUDIES COURSES FOR 2019-2020 SCHOOL YEAR
If your 6th or 7th grade child wants to take an Advanced Studies class next year, forms are available on our DeSana website and in our front office and must be turned in by Friday, March 29th at 6:00 PM at the DeSana Front Office. This is a firm deadline.
Rising 7th grade students may take up to three advanced classes. [Accelerated Math counts as an Advanced Studies class.]
Rising 8th grade students may take up to four advanced classes. [Accelerated Math counts as an Advanced Studies class.]
2019-2020 ADVANCED STUDIES COURSES INFO SESSIONS FOR RISING 7TH AND 8TH GRADERS
DeSana's Administration will host Advanced Studies Courses Information Sessions for rising 7th and 8th grade students and their parents on the remaining dates/times:
Saturday, March 23, 9:00-10:00AM*****
Monday, March 26, 6:30-7:30 PM
Thursday, March 28, 6:30-7:30 PM
*****These sessions will be translated for our Spanish-speaking families.
All sessions will be held in the DeSana media center.
We are offering multiple sessions to hopefully accommodate your family, so please choose the session that is most convenient for your family. These sessions are designed for both parents and students. We will discuss the reasons why your child may consider taking an advanced studies course(s), how advanced studies courses differ from on-level courses, the benefits of your child challenging himself/herself academically, and the procedures for registering for advanced studies courses here at DeSana.
The PowerPoint presentation, Readiness Forms, and Registration Forms are posted on the DeSana website. An important date to remember is Friday, 3/29. Registration forms will be taken up to 6:00 PM on 3/29. After this time, registration is closed. This is a firm deadline. All registration forms must be hand delivered to our DeSana front office and the parent/student will receive a receipt for their registration form. We hope you are able to attend one of the Rising 7th/8th Grade Advanced Studies Sessions!
PRIDE AWARDS
On Monday morning, March 25th, our DeSana faculty, staff and administration will host our PRIDE Award Celebration for the third quarter of this school year. Thirty-seven sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, who were selected by their teachers, will be honored at this formal occasion for exemplifying the following wonderful attributes and characteristics:
Practices Random Acts of Kindness
Ready and Willing to Work Hard
Integrity Coupled with Responsible Behavior
Demonstrates Outstanding and Honest Efforts
Exceeds Expectations
Parents and family members of the honored students are invited to attend this celebration and join with DeSana teachers and administrators in honoring our young Dragons as they each receive a PRIDE Award certificate, generously donated by our awesome Business Partner, Omega Learning on Peachtree Parkway, a Dragon PRIDE pin, and a personalized plaque, made expressly for our DeSana PRIDE Award recipients by our fabulous and very generous Business Partner, All-American Specialties. A huge shout out and thank you to Keith Williams of All-American Specialties for designing and donating the individualized plaques for each PRIDE Award honoree, and to Rosemary Albright of Omega Learning for her very generous donation of each PRIDE Award certificate!!
We look forward to an awesome morning as we recognize some extraordinary students and toast the pride of DeSana!
RISING 9TH GRADE INFORMATION
The registration process has ended for 8th graders going to 9th grade next year. Students and parents will be able to see the completed 9th grade schedule on Parent Portal on March 26, 27, and 28. If you have any concerns about their 9th grade schedule, you will need to contact your child’s high school after March 28th.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE LOCAL AND STATE COMPETITIONS
This year our Spanish 1 students had the opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency in the language by participating in two competitions. First, students competed at the Forsyth County World Language Expo on March 14th at West Forsyth High School. This competition offered students the opportunity to choose from various categories to demonstrate mastery in the Spanish language. The results were wonderfully staggering in all categories. The participants in the Forsyth County Schools World Language Expo by category were:
Dramatic Interpretation:
First Place:
Kanishka P
Priya R.
Second Place:
Victoria O.
Greetings Conversation:
First Place:
Karthik C.
Sujith Y.
Other Participants:
Delaney G.
Sneha S.
Cooking Time Conversation:
First Place:
Dillon J.
Pranav K.
Sid S.
Second Place:
Akshat B.
Eeshan M.
Meeth N.
Third Place:
Tomi A.
Shanmathi G.
Kiruthika L.
Other Participants:
Saahil G.
Ben W.
Owen W.
Art Category:
First Place:
Kushmin W.
Ashley G.
Second Place:
Nammi V.
Antonio C.
Third Place:
Gayathri P.
Art Categories County Winners:
Kushmin W. – 2nd Place
Other Participants:
Neha E.
Mia E.
Nandhini H.
Kirkland M.
Hellen N.
Arohi S.
Anish V.
Isabella W.
Rachel Y.
Sedona Z.
Our second competition was sponsored by the Foreign Language Association of Georgia. This was a statewide contest where students demonstrated their level of proficiency during an interview process with Spanish teachers from across the state. During the interview students conversed with the judges, and answered questions based on a randomly selected topic. This contest awarded three levels: Gold for Superior, Silver for Excellent, and Bronze for Notable. Twelve of our DeSana students took on the challenge. We are very proud to announce that 10 of them achieved the Superior Gold level, while two other students classified in the Excellent category, receiving the Silver medal award.
The students who participated in the Foreign Language Association of Georgia state competition were:
Superior Level:
Nathan B.
Saahil G.
Druvitha L.
Jeevan N.
Victoria O.
Ishita T.
Rahul V.
Tejaswini V.
Arin W.
Kushmin W.
Excellent Level:
Karthik C.
Srihitha J.
Congratulations to all participants and thank you to all the parents for their support for this year’s competitions.
DRAGON ACADEMY FOR THE 2018-2019 SCHOOL YEAR - - - AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ADDITIONAL LEARNING & ASSESSMENT TIME FOR STUDENTS!
Dragon Academy is an opportunity we offer students throughout this year from 4:15-6:15 for completing, taking or re-taking formative and/or summative assessments (i.e. unit tests, projects, essays, quizzes. etc.). Dragon Academy happens at least two times a month --- on Fridays --- with teachers and an administrator supervising each session. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to drastically improve both their learning and their grades. Students are be invited by their teachers . . . or they may invite themselves . . . to attend Dragon Academy if they are missing work or need to re-take an assessment to show better mastery of the standards or complete a project. Although students have about two hours to complete their work, once they complete all that they came to accomplish, students are able to call their parent to come pick them up. Snacks and drinks are sold for a very reasonable cost so students may focus on their work, not on their gurgling stomachs! Any necessary school supplies are provided for students to use to complete their work, as needed.
Please mark your calendars now for these Dragon Academy dates for the rest of the school year:
· March 29
· April 19 & 26
· May 3 & 10
ATHLETICS
DESANA MIDDLE FOOTBALL/COMPETITION CHEER
Coach Bell will be hosting an informational meeting for students interested in Football/ Competition Cheer next fall, on Tuesday, March 26th in the Media Center, immediately following morning announcements. There will also be a parent informational meeting on Thursday, March 28th at 6:00 PM in the DeSana cafeteria. This meeting will provide information about tryouts, summer schedule, camps, fundraisers and more! Please make plans to attend if you have a student planning on trying out. Don’t forget—tryouts start on April 24th. All athletes must have a physical on file BEFORE April 24th to be eligible to try out. Please contact Coach Andrea Bell at ABell90@forsyth.k12.ga.us if you have any questions.
THE ARTS
ART SHOW
Please join us in congratulating the following students, whose work was selected for the Cumming First United Methodist Church’s Festival of the Arts. This is a judged show with representation from almost every elementary, middle, and high school in the county.
Aarohi S.
Abigail D.
Aleena N.
Gerardo B.
Isabel R.
Isabella S.
Isabella W.
Ivana S.
Jacob A.
Katelyn E.
Katie W.
Kelis K.
Lorena G.
Neha E.
Quinn J.
Rachel Y.
Srilekha A.
Suleyman I.
Thea V.
Zac C.
The show will run from Saturday, March 23rd – Sunday, April 7th.
CHORUS NEWS
We are extremely proud of our DeSana Choruses and their performance at the Georgia Music Educator’s Association Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE) last week!
LGPE is our version of the Milestones and is a way to assess how well a choir is meeting the Georgia standards for Chorus/Music Education. Below are the results of our evaluation:
6th Grade Chorus- Superior in performance and Superior in sight reading.
7th Grade Chorus- Superior in performance and Superior in sight reading.
8th Grade Chorus- Superior in performance and Superior in sight reading.
Congratulations to all of our students who worked extremely hard to maintain the high standards we strive for at DeSana!!
ACTIVITIES
6TH GRADE FIELD TRIP
Tellus Science Museum Field Trip Permission Forms went home with all 6th grade students this week. Students should return their signed permission form along with $30 cash or check written out to DeSana Middle School to their science teacher. The Field Trip will take place on Tuesday, May 14. Students will leave DeSana around 9:15 that morning and arrive back at school around 2:15 in the afternoon.
PARENT 411 - HELPFUL LINKS FOR YOU
MANY THANKS TO OUR AMAZING BUSINESS PARTNERS!
*ALL AMERICAN SPECIALTIES
*BROWNS BRIDGE CHURCH
*CHICK-FIL-A @ THE COLLECTION
*DUNKIN DONUTS
*DR. HOM PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY & ALPHARETTA COMPREHENSIVE DENTISTRY
*HI FIVE SPORTS
*MARVEL SOCCER
*MILTON DENTAL SPECIALISTS
*NORTH GEORGIA PROMOTIONS
*OMEGA LEARNING
*RBM OF ALPHARETTA
*RISPA
*VERTICAL CHURCH
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.