We had a fantastic celebration of Hispanic Heritage this week at Watkins. Please see the photos on our Instagram page and even more student learning will be shared next week.

We also hosted members of the White House Covid team at Watkins this week. They were interested in our practices and were overly complimentary. A member from the testing contractor, T3Shield, described our operations as the benchmark for all of the 25 schools he's visited. We could not be more proud of Ms. Carraway and the operations team who have created an efficient and effective system. We are also doing a great job at Peabody but we also recognize that the saliva production for our younger students is more of a challenge.

The Chancellor and Mayor announced that all DCPS schools will receive additional staff to support our Covid responses and procedures and a full-time substute. This is very welcomed news!

• Oct 25-29 - Spirit Week and Peabody Book Fair
• Oct 26-27 - Congressional Softball game on Watkins field. No outside activities at Watkins.
• Oct 29 - Character Book Day!
  
• Oct 29 - Nov 9 - Watkins Book Fair
• Nov 2 - Election Day No School for students
• Nov 3 - 7pm LSAT
• Nov 5 - No school for students; end of Term 1.
• Nov 11 - Veterans Day. No school.
• Nov 24-26 Thanksgiving Holiday!




Every Thursday: Asymptomatic COVID testing for students.

Monday, October 25 - Rock the Red Day: Show Your Cluster Spirit and wear red!

Tuesday, October 26 - Sport Day: Show your favorite team or sport!

Wednesday, October 27 - Wacky Wednesday: Wear mismatch, inside-out, anything goes!

Thursday, October 28 - Hat Day: Wear a favorite or silly hat!

Friday, October 29 - Book Character Day (& Parade): Dress as a favorite book character! See details below...

In my entry plan, I committed to taking a look at our mindsets and practices in light of our students' opportunity gaps and an overall sense of belonging for every one of our community members through a process called an Equity Audit. Our staff spent last year organizing for this audit and we are ready to begin the work with a community-wide call to action. We will start together at 6pm on October 28 with the support of our partners at Kindred.

Our first meeting will be about our vision for the work and some of the organizational details will be addressed. Most of our time at this first meeting will be dedicated to listening and dialogue between all participants around their experience in the cluster as a teacher or caregiver. If you are interested in engaging in this work, please join us! Please expect to share your experience and listen to others' during this first session. All voices are welcome.

Link for access is here. A detailed agenda will be shared by Tuesday next week.

After collaborating with our Family Engagement Leadership Team this summer, we want families to know that you can expect a weekly newsletter from their homeroom teachers that includes what students learned last week, what's coming up, and some evidence or artifact of learning at least every other week.

This week, 2nd-5th graders, caregivers should have received information on WIN time. If you have any questions about this information, please contact your homeroom teacher. 1st grade families also received an update on how teachers will intervene and enrich learners during the instructional block.

Student become better readers by reading! All students PK-5 should be reading daily - this includes being read to by a caregiver or sibling. Peabody staff encourages students to read independently or with someone for at least 15 minutes a day.

At Watkins, we increase the expectation with age:

Grade 1 – 15 minutes daily

Grade 2 – 20 minutes daily

Grades 3-5 – 30+ minutes daily

Caregivers - please partner with your children to support them and enjoy some reading time yourself!

We have worked with our aftercare partners and the Congressional Softball team to find a way for aftercare to continue their operations the day of the game and the entire week. Students will be allowed to participate in aftercare activities inside our building. Outside activities will still be canceled this day.

Thank you to our parent advocates and the flexibility the games organizers and security folks have shown so that this important service isn't interrupted. Flex and DPR also showed their willingness to be flexible and meet the needs of the school and our families.

• Date: October 29- November 9 (there will no book fair on days that school is closed)
• Time:
• 7:30am- 8:45am (parents will be allowed to come into the building and shop with their students)
• Students will have access to the Fair during their Specials class
• Location: Library
• Payment Options: cash, credit and debit
  
• Book Fair Volunteers: sign-up link is in the flyer

Book Fair Flyer Link

The library will be open for students who do not currently have Library as a special, so they will be able to checkout books on a weekly basis. The library days are specific to each grade level.

Grade 1 - Monday (8:10 - 8:45am)

Grade 2 - Tuesday (8:10 - 8:45am)

Grade 3 - Wednesday (8:10 - 8:45am)

Grade 4 - Thursday (8:10 - 8:45am)

Grade 5 - Friday (8:10 - 8:45am)

Once students arrive at school, they will proceed to the gym and request a library pass from an on-duty staff member. Once they have a pass, they can go to the library to select their book. We will maintain social distancing in the library; 25 students at a time will be permitted.

Any questions, please reach out to Ms. Jurkowski (Kimberlynn.Jurkowski@k12.dc.gov)

WATKINS

"Halloween" masks are not permitted. COVID masks are still required.

Book Character Day Details: At Watkins, we love to read and we love the characters we read about!

· On this day each child dresses up like a favorite book character!

· At 2:15pm, all students (starting with 5th grade) will parade around our football field and families are invited to watch (please distance for safety).

· We encourage families to send in the book or a picture of the book that has your child’s character in it. If you need help finding a book, please email your child’s teacher or Ms. Jurkowski (Kimberlynn.Jurkowski@k12.dc.gov)

· RAIN PLAN: Grade levels will have mini-parades on each floor and parents will not be able to participate.

· Details regarding costumes: Children should arrive at school with their costume on and be able to put on and take off costume independently.Please do not send in toy props; children must wear shoes with costumes, and "halloween" masks are not allowed.

We will be starting Library Clubs on November 10! These clubs will be from 7:30am - 8:10am. Please use the link to see the club offerings and to sign-up!

Library Club Flyer

• Date: October 25-29
• Time: 8am- 9am and 3pm- 6pm (Oct. 25-28). On Oct. 29: 8am- 9am and 3pm- 5:30pm
• Location: Blacktop entrance on playground side. Rain Plan: We will hold a mini-book fair under a canopy tent in the same location.
• Online Location Available Oct 25-Nov 7. Website is http://www.scholastic.com/bf/peabodyearlychildhoodctr1
• Payment Options: Credit or debit card payments are preferred. Due to the coin shortage, if paying with cash, totals will be rounded up to the nearest dollar (for example, if total is $4.51, school will collect $5.) Overages will go into the school's account to be used for Scholastic purchases.
• About ONLINE ORDERING:

1. Shipping is free when purchase is $25 or more and all orders are mailed to the family’s home address.
2. eWallets: Families members such as grandparents may “gift” books to students by setting up an eWallet. Visit the home page above for details.
3. Teacher Book Wish Lists: There will be teacher wish lists at the fair and some teachers may also set up eWallets and share the link so that you can gift the class some funds for new classroom books.

The Peabody Book Fair Team thanks you for supporting your school!

Stacy Barker, Room 104, PreK 3 Teacher

Sue Bloom, Peabody Librarian

Ebon McPherson, Instructional Coach

Najah Shahid, PreK 3 Instructional Aide, Rm 104

Maria Syquia, Room 103 PreK 3 Teacher

"Halloween" masks are not permitted. COVID masks are still required.

Book Character Day Details: At Peabody, we love to read and we love the characters we read about!

· On this day each child dresses up like a favorite book character

· At 9am, PreK 4 students (followed by PreK 3 & K students) will start a parade around our block and families are invited to watch (please distance for safety). Route will be out the C Street Playground gate, west toward 4th and around the block to Constitution, 5th Street and return to the front door.

· Permission Slips Will Go Home! We need these signed to allow students to leave the building to walk around the block.

· We encourage families to send in the book or a picture of the book that has your child’s character in it. If you need help finding a book, please email your child’s teacher or Ms. Bloom (susan.bloom@k12.dc.gov.).

· RAIN PLAN: Grade levels will have mini-parades on each floor and parents will not be able to participate.

· Details regarding costumes: Children should arrive at school with their costume on and be able to put on and take off costume independently for toileting purposes; please do not send in toy props; children must wear shoes with costumes.