DMS Newsletter
February 22-26, 2021
Dates to Remember
March 3rd--Midterms
Ms. Newton's Notes
Hello DMS Families!
Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), our district level assessment, is complete. Please be sure to check your emails for teacher communication about your student's progress. If you have questions, please reach out!
Karen Newton
Assistant Principal
A Note from the Principal: Angela Saunders
Happy Friday dearest Families,
As part of our second semester review, we have completed a midyear review and updates to our 20-21 Parent-Student handbook. On page 77, you can find a list of our updates that have been made. Our handbook is an important resource for you and your child. Inside, you can find our school policies and procedures, our calendar and a list of important contacts. Please take a moment to look over the handbook. Once you have done so, please complete the following acknowledgement form. If you prefer a print copy of the acknowledgement to sign, please contact the school.
Parent-Student Handbook- English
Parent-Student Handbook- Spanish
Parent-Student Handbook- Accessible
Please click and complete this form to acknowledge receipt: Acknowledgement Form
Have a great week!
Angela Saunders!
Ice Cream Lab
Throughout the month of February, Gregg Hall staff will be focusing on teaching our students the PBIS goal of Compassion. They will be expanding on the topic of having compassion for others and why is it important. We cam up with a fun idea, we told our students that we will give the winner who is the most compassionate student in the dorm, pizza at the end of month. The students were hyped!
Super Bowl Sunday, we had a fun party, ate pizza, ice cream and hot chocolate. The girls stayed up late until 10:30pm. We made a bet with one of our students, Amorita, that if her NFL team Kanas City lost the game, we will put toothpaste on her face and take a picture. We had the student’s parent permission! The picture is below - hilarious! We all are looking forward to Valentine’s Day party next week!
The McLane Hall staff met with the boys about how gossiping can be negative and spread false rumors. Staff and students discussed the possible negative effects of gossiping. We discussed kindness, respecting others and how to use positive language to support others.
The students enjoyed participating in a Super Bowl party. The students showed wonderful positive behavior the week before the game and earned the chance to stay up a little later and watch the whole game. For dinner, they had chicken wings, pizza, ice cream and soda. The boys socialized and enjoyed chatting and guessing who would win. Many boys volunteered to help clean up and were very cooperative. The boys had a lot of fun and were thankful for the party.
We celebrated the cold weather and positive behavior in the dorm with hot chocolate bombs. The hot chocolate bombs were made of shells of chocolate with hot chocolate mix and marshmallows inside. The boys practiced on their listening and responding techniques as staff taught them how to make the hot chocolate in the new way. Staff supervised the students and helped them pour warm milk over the chocolate bombs and watch as they dissolved and made delicious hot chocolate. The boys did a good job with helping clean up and following directions.
We had some new students join the dorm recently. Staff and students welcome the new students. Some boys put in extra effort to be hospitable to the new students and help teach them about the dormitory routine and general rules. It is a gradual change for the students, but they are doing well with the help of their new friends.
Parent Engagement Workshop
Our Parent Engagement Workshop on 2/12 was fantastic! If you couldn’t attend, don’t worry, we took notes during each presentation to share with you.
McKinney Vento Homeless Act
This program is designed to address the problems that homeless children and youth have faced in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school.
You may qualify for McKinney Vento services if you share other persons' housing due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason. FSDB has a program that can help find resources for your family.
Homeless Liaison, Chris Boortz: 904-827-2284 or boortz@fsdbk12.org
Informed and Included
Michael Johnson from the Communications & Public Relations Department shared a variety of ways to stay connected with the school. We explored the FSDB website and social media pages together. Did you know that one of the fastest ways to find the information you are looking for on the website is to use the quick links?
Use this link to the FSDB Zenfolio page to see all the great pictures of your kiddo. Use the “find your photos” tab at the top of the page, then type your child’s lunch number in as the Gallery ID. If you don’t know the number just contact, the front desk of your school. They can help you out.
Misty Porter, FSDB Parent Liaison, discussed the Parent University program, a series of education classes just for FSDB parents. We spent some time looking at the updates to our Parent Services Website. https://www.fsdbk12.org/parent-services There’s tons of great information here about upcoming classes just for FSDB families. The newest portion of the Parent Services page is Informed and Included. This area discusses the many ways that FSDB parents can be a part of the team.
FSDB’s Librarians are AWESOME!
President POP in
Our new President, Tracie Snow, is all in! Since transitioning into her new role as FSDB’s president she has attended 3 out of 3 Parent Engagement Workshops! At the end of each workshop she pops in to answer parents’ questions.
Don’t miss out on our last Parent Engagement Workshop! We will meet one more time on April 23rd. Remember to visit the Parent Services webpage to learn more.
ASL Classes Continued
FSDB Parent University is hosting two virtual sign language classes for FSDB families starting in January and continuing weekly through March. Beginner (ASL I) and intermediate (ASL II) classes are available via Zoom. Please contact the teacher if you are interested in attending.
Beginner Class (ASL I)
Day: Thursday, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Dates: Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28 | Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25 | Mar. 4, 11
Link: https://bit.ly/3igMrJr
For more information, contact Janelle Berry via email at berryj@fsdbk12.org
Intermediate Class (ASL II)
Day: Monday, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Dates: Jan. 4, 11, 25 | Feb. 1, 8, 22 | Mar. 1, 8
Link: https://bit.ly/3ltsno7
For more information, contact Sonia Garcia-DeKnight via email at garcias@fsdbk12.org
FSDB Parents, we want to hear from you! Complete the survey if you are interested in signing up for ASL classes.
Contact Us
DMS Office
PH: 904-827-2530
VP: 904-201-4600
Health Care Center
PH: 904-827-2410
VP: 904-201-3910
Transportation
PH: 800-992-8747
Gregg Hall (Girls Dorm)
PH: 904-827-2628
VP: 904-201-4506
McLane Hall (Boys Dorm)
PH: 904-827-2624
VP: 904-201-4562
Parent Services
PH: 904-827-2212
VP: 904-201-4527
Campus Police
PH: 904-827-2315
Email: newtonk@fsdbk12.org
Website: www.fsdbk12.org/deaf-middle-school
Location: 207 San Marco Avenue, St. Augustine, FL, USA