DRAGON DIGEST
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 14 / MARCH 8, 2019
DESANA DAY OF GOOD DEEDS
DONATIONS FOR T-SHIRTS
T-shirt orer forms were sent home with your students this past Monday, March 4. T-shirts are a mandatory part of D3 Day for safety reasons. We ask for a $5 donation per t-shirt to just cover our t-shirt costs. Our corporate donations are better spent on the organizations that we are trying to support. Each dollar donated toward t-shirts allows us to do more for our community. You will also have the opportunity on the t-shirt form to become a family sponsor. Family sponsor names will be written on the back of the D3 Day T-shirt and will help to cover the cost of any student that is unable to afford the t-shirt donation cost. We appreciate your quick return of the T-shirt forms on the due date of Friday, March 15. Thank you as always for your continued support of D3 Day!
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!
MARCH FOOD DRIVE: PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY
Dragons, thank you for participating in the February Mac and cheese food drive.
The winners are as follows:
6th: Fogg
7th: Dockter
8th Ortiz
The overall winner with 400% participation was Ms. Dockter's class so Ms. Dockter received the $20 car wash to Aqua Blue. The trophies and candy were delivered.
We collected 749 boxes of mac and cheese. March begins our peanut butter and jelly collection. So, start sending in PB and J!
ITEMS NEEDED
-Plastic grocery bags
· Magazines (particularly men's magazines) to send in the Treat the Troops boxes.
· 1 yard of new fleece for cat toys
· Old towels and blankets to donate to animal shelters
Boxes are in the atrium. Thanks for your help collecting these items we use for D3 Day projects!
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
TRANSITION NEWS FOR RISING 6TH GRADERS
With spring quickly approaching, we are starting to talk about transitioning 5th graders to become 6th grade young Dragons at DeSana Middle School next year! Here are the activities to look forward to, to make sure our incoming 6th grade students are acclimated next year at DMS. Early March, 5th and 6th grade teachers will meet to talk about how we do Advanced Studies at DeSana, and how 5th grade teachers can help to prepare 5th graders more for middle school these last three months of school. March 12th we will have a few selected students from Brandywine Elementary and Midway Elementary to be “Dragons for a Day.” These students will experience an academic class, enrichment/ lunch, and a Connections class, immersing them into a day in the life of a 6th grader! They will then report back to their 5th grade classes about the experience they had, and what to look forward to in middle school! Our DeSana 6th grade Ambassadors will be visiting each feeder elementary school during the first week of May to answer 5th graders' questions. The next week, current 5th graders will tour DeSana, to take a look around the school, and hear the Chorus and Band perform. During the month of May, we will have numerous advanced studies courses meetings to learn more about how to sign up for advanced studies courses at DeSana. You will want to attend one of these meetings to sign up for an advanced studies course next year at DeSana. We look forward to meeting our incoming 6th graders and their parents during the spring of this year! We cannot wait for you to become Dragons!
EXPERIENCE ONLINE TESTING FOR GEORGIA MILESTONES
The Georgia DOE has provided the Experience Online Testing site to let students see what testing online is like. The items on the demonstration tests are general and are organized into three grade bands: Grades 3 – 5, Grades 6 – 8, and High School in the content areas of English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. The items do not necessarily represent the specific grade-level content that students learn daily in their classrooms. The primary purpose is to let students experience, firsthand, the functionality of the online testing platform. The sample tests are not graded, so have fun!
The Test Practice is available online daily from 7 AM to 10 PM Eastern time and Google Chrome is the only supported browser for this practice test site.
We will be using this resource at school but you may feel your child(ren) would benefit from some additional practice beyond that.
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!
NINE WEEK PROGRESS REPORTS FOR THE 2ND SEMESTER COMING YOUR WAY!
With the nine week juncture of the second semester coming our way on March 15th, that means that Nine Week Progress Reports are not too far behind, with students bringing home their Progress Report 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)!
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 following dates/times:
Tuesday, March 12, 6:30-7:30PM
Thursday, March 14, 6:30-7:30PM
Monday, March 18, 6:30-7:30PM
Tuesday, March 19, 6:30-7:30PM*****
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.
If you are unable to attend any of these dates/times, administration will speak with students here at the school on Tuesday, 3/19 during the day. 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!
ORATORICAL COMPETITION RESULTS
On February 5th, DeSana Middle School held its annual Oratorical Competition. This year’s topic was, “Is There a Fine Line Between Optimism and Reality?” After working hard for months, our six finalists were Humza F., Kayla M., Gavin S., Sakthi S., Reagan S., and Thea V. They were part of just over 4,000 middle and high school students in Forsyth County who competed at their individual schools for the opportunity to move to the next level - - - the county competition. DeSana School winners were Gavin S., second place and Thea V., first place. With her first place finish Thea V. earned the opportunity ti participate in the county level competition.
Since then, Thea V. has continued practicing her speech by presenting to our staff on a professional learning day and also to many of her peers throughout the school. She has an amazing message to share! On February 28th, Thea V. competed in the county semi-finals competition with seven other middle and high school students. She was one of four that was selected to move forward to the finals competition on March 7th. Again, Thea V. competed with eight other middle and high school students. Thea “wowed” the judges with her amazing speech, and she was selected as an Alternate for the next level competition. Thea was the ONLY middle schooler - - - sixth grader - - - that received an award. We are sooo very proud of our young Dragon! Congratulations Thea!! You ROCK!!
HIGH SCHOOL TRANSITION INFORMATION
In early February, DeSana teachers completed recommendations for the three required core classes of English, Math, and Science. On February 27th at 8:00 AM, the parent/student portal on infinite campus opened for students to complete their 9th grade registration and closed on March 6th at 4:00 PM. During this time, students/parents should have signed up for a total of 7 courses and minimum of 3 alternates. Also during this time, you were also able to see what recommendations for core classes our DeSana teachers made regarding your child. If you are not in agreement with these recommendations, you may follow Denmark’s wavier process found in the Denmark Course Registration Packet. The on-line wavier opens Monday, March 11th at 8:00 AM and closes on Monday, March 18th at 4:00 PM. On March 26-28, students will be able to see their final course selections online.
Ms. Bell and Mrs. Moore met with every 8th grade student on February 6th, 7th and 8th during classroom guidance to help students develop their individual graduation plan. This will outline courses for registration based on pathways and their requirements for graduation. Our counselors are here to help your students in this process so, please do not hesitate to contact them, Ms. Bell at abell90@forsyth.k12.ga.us for last names A-L or Mrs. Moore at cmoore29@forsyth.k12.ga.us for last names M-Z.
ALLIANCE ACADEMY for INNOVATION TRANSITION INFORMATION
The above information for Denmark is the same type of registration process for Alliance. Below are important dates they have shared:
Parent Portal opens/closes – February 27th through March 6th
Waiver process opens/closes – March 11th through March 18th
Course verification – March 26th -March 28th
Avenger Day – July 24th
4TH NINE WEEK CONNECTIONS CLASSES & LITERACY CLASS (FOR 6TH/7TH GRADERS) BEGIN!
On Monday, March 18th all 6th, 7th and 8th grade students will begin their new 4th nine week Connections classes. Sixth and seventh grade students will also begin their new Literacy class for the last quarter of this year.
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TEST FOR NATIVE SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES
Does your child fluently speak another language? Are they currently a 7th or 8th grader at DeSana? Would they be interested in earning high school world language credit by taking a proficiency test rather than having to take the class?
If you answered “YES!” to these questions, then we would like to tell you more about an opportunity we are making available to our current 7th and 8th grade students at DeSana Middle School who are native speakers of languages other than English. Forsyth County Schools uses a proficiency test to assess a student’s mastery of reading, writing, listening and speaking capabilities in 12 different languages - Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Russian, and Spanish. Depending on how a student performs on the proficiency test, they could earn high school credit and move into higher level language courses to be challenged more appropriately.
Any student interested in signing up to take the proficiency test in their native language, should do so by March 1st by clicking here. The testing dates will most likely be March 12-13 in one of our computer labs at DeSana and testing should only take 2-3 hours. This is a test of students’ current language abilities and does not require studying ahead of time for the test.
If you have any questions, please contact Mike Sloop, Assistant Principal, at 770-667-2591 (ext. 491507).
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 15 & 29
· April 19 & 26
· May 3 & 10
FROM THE MEDIA CENTER: DID YOU KNOW? WE HAVE AUDIO BOOKS!
New to Audiobooks?
Audiobooks can be a WONDERFUL resource for building reading skills OR just for a change of pace!
Audiobooks can be used to:
· Introduce students to books above their reading level
· Model good interpretive reading
· Teach critical listening
· Highlight the humor in books
· Introduce new genres that students might not otherwise consider
· Introduce new vocabulary or difficult proper names or locales
· Sidestep unfamiliar dialects or accents, Old English, and old-fashioned literary styles
· Provide a read-aloud model
· Provide a bridge to important topics of discussion for parents and children who can listen together while commuting to sporting events, music lessons, or on vacations (source: ReadingRockets.org)
Our media center has a collection of audiobooks which are digital and therefore can be listened to immediately on a student's device. Students simply log in to Classlink, click on "Media Center Catalog" and scroll down to the "Audiobook" section and "see all." We have a blend of fiction and nonfiction, so check it out!
THE ARTS
FESTIVAL DISNEY CHORUS COMPETITION
- Superior Rating for our performance as a middle school treble choir
- Best in class out of all of the middle school treble choirs
- Bronze award for overall performance of all choirs who participated (middle school AND high school!!)
- Best vocal soloist – 8th grader, Grace E.
- Best student accompanist/pianist – 7th grader, Deeksha R.
Since any 7th or 8th grade chorus student could sign up to participate, we only had six rehearsals to rehearse our music as a brand new ensemble of combined grades. These students worked incredibly hard to put this program together and we are soooo very proud of them!
DOODLE FOR GOOGLE
The annual Doodle for Google 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? See Mrs. Petit for an entry form and more information. Entries are due to Mrs. Petit March 14th or you may enter on your own by March 18th.
BAND NEWS
Congratulations to our 7th grade student Kai Kai B.! He auditioned and made the 2019 Georgia Music Educators All State Band! The band is comprised of the best students from all areas of the state. Over 1,900 students tried out and only 200 were selected for two bands. Kai Kai made 4th chair in the state (as a 7th grade student) . . . which means he beat out tons of kids who have more experience.
This is our first all state band student in our short existence here at DeSana, but Kai Kai sets the example for an amazing young musician and others will follow. Kai Kai traveled to Athens this past weekend to perform with the best of the best in our state!
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 be Tuesday, May 14.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
The media center’s annual “March Madness of Books” is in full swing! Each day after lunch, students vote on a matchup of 2 books, until we have a winning book—the Book of the Year! The media center needs some volunteers to help hand out voting tickets and/or man the voting boxes. Both jobs require no skill other than enjoying the excitement of middle school students as they vote for books they love! Click here to sign up to volunteer! Thank you!
PARENT 411 - HELPFUL LINKS FOR YOU
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
IMPORTANT YEARBOOK INFORMATION
Did you miss the deadline for purchasing a 2018-2019 DeSana Yearbook? On-line and in-school sales will re-open on February 25, 2019 for a limited time. Please don’t wait to order as sales will close as soon as we reach our goal! Price is now: $50
Visit: balfour.com or send in cash or check to Mrs. West on the 7th grade hall
Questions? Email Mrs. West: mwest@forsyth.k12.ga.us
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.