The Virtual Pirate Ship
The Spring 2020 Weekly Newsletter for Drake High School
Highlighted for this week, APRIL 27, 2020, on the SHIP:
- A message from SOAR!!
- SLC update
- Parking Permits for 20-21
- School Lunch Program for ALL
- Senior Scoop!
#USvsHATE- A Message from Drake's Leadership Team SOAR
Just like everyone else, SOAR has been adapting to distance learning, and we're ready to share what we've been working on. Every week, we will share some food for thought and ways to help our community feel safe. First topic? Racism and COVID-19.
Not only do we see and hear accounts of the horrific ways the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is being accosted, but now that we're all online so much more during shelter-in-place, we're also exposed to more harm caused by racist posts and videos. The racism related to COVID-19 continues against our AAPI brothers and sisters, as well as anyone who looks Asian, regardless of their racial make-up.
Please help us share this resource from Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) or this resource from the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council (A3PCON), which "have launched this reporting center to allow community members to report incidents of hate they have experienced." Reminiscent of the work done by the Southern Poverty Law Center to report the prevalence of what POCs (People of Color) deal with on a regular basis, these two groups also help disseminate information to the AAPI community. Please pass it far and wide through your networks.
Thank you for your support. Stay safe as you keep sheltering in place! #USvsHate
Your DHS SOAR Team
(Students Organized for Anti-Racism)
Drake's Small Learning Communities Reimagined for Fall
While much of the fall is a bit up in the air, Drake's reorganization around the newly structured Small Learning Communities continues forward. All 9th and 10th grade students will be reconfigured into seven SLC teams with three teachers and 100 students in each SLC. Students will be enrolled in English, social studies and science inside of their SLC and math, PE, world language and any electives or support classes schedules outside of the SLCs. For the most part, students in an SLC in the 9th grade will stay with their current student groups into their new SLC with new teachers. Incoming 9th graders will be randomly placed into a Small Learning Community to join 45 10th graders to build their new community.
One of our implementation agreements with the staff was to "hire" an SLC Coordinator to help align the seven teacher teams, coordinate curriculum, provide arts and drama instruction, align instructional design, promote culture building in each SLC, and work to document the work and share resources across the teams. Fortunately, when teachers were asked to apply, our ROCK arts teacher, Jasper Thelin jumped at the chance. Jasper brings both a strong understanding of how to create SLC culture and a breadth of student leadership resources that will allow for a strong, united student focused approach to the new SLCs. This spring, we are working to build the curriculum for all three subjects in a more aligned and equitable manner. We are also putting effort into the culture building we will want to focus on next fall. The teacher teams are meeting to build the curriculum alignment and Jasper is already hard at work identifying elements of SLC culture we want to ensure we capture as we launch!
We are excited to welcome our freshmen class of 2024, regardless of how school might open in the fall. We also know that by providing the structure of SLCs for student support AND the aligned curriculum and instruction, however we open it will work better for our students.
Drake's ComAcad Academy has room!!
If you are a 10th grader and interested in film, media design, and the humanities, the Communications Academy has room for the 2020-21 school year. If you would like to join, please email your counselor today!
Drake Drama Continues to Fill the Airwaves!
Make sure you tune into KWMR from 9-10 am Thursdays to catch our amazing Drama program on air! Our Drama instructor and coach, Peter Parish, is igniting the students to create true art on the airwaves. Don't miss it!
Peer Resource Offering Support- Reminder
2020-2021 Parking Permit Information
Please read the below information thoroughly before filling out the online application form.
Permit applications are due by August 18. The application can be found here. Along with the application, you will need to email a copy of your current, valid driver’s license to Mark Machado at mmachado@tamdistrict.org for your application to be complete. Available permits will be awarded at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Students receiving permits will be notified just prior to the start of school via email. Any applications submitted after the deadline or without a valid driver license will be put on a waiting list. Students on the waiting list will be awarded permits if they become available. ________________________________________________________________________
Permit Selection Process:
· Priority based on distance from school (Grade level is not a factor).
· Priority given to carpools (3 students or more). Failure to regularly meet carpool responsibility may result in loss of privileges. Carpool drivers will specify the names of students occupying their carpool.
Parking Violations:
•Students must park in their designated spot and may NOT park in any other spot. If there is an issue or a question regarding your spot, see Mark Machado in the main office.
•Violating these rules may result in the following consequences: a warning, permit revoked for one week, permit revoked for a month, and permit revoked for rest of school year. Improperly parked vehicles maybe cited and/or towed by Central Marin Police Department.
Your permit is your responsibility! If it is lost, stolen, falls off, etc., you will be charged $5.00 to replace it.
School LUNCH Program Available for ALL
TUHSD is still offering free food services for any student in the district who needs access to meals during school closure, regardless of a student’s eligibility for “Free and Reduced Lunch.” Week long meals can be picked up at Redwood High School every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday between 11am-12:30pm. Anyone who is unable to make it to Redwood can contact Nate Severin (nseverin@tamdistrict.org) to arrange for delivery to Drake and/or delivery to home. If there are any parents who are interested in volunteering to help with food deliveries please contact Nate Severin.
The Senior Scoop- Updates for Class of 2020
We are planning on having three Senior Events at the end of this school year to celebrate our Seniors. Please know that we are also considering organizing an event later in summer if possible. However, we want to have events planned for June to celebrate this wonderful class of 2020! We are still in the DRAFT stage but coming together on our ideas. Here is what we are looking at so far:
1. Senior Celebration: This will be a virtual event celebrating our seniors. Our thinking will be to combine Senior Awards with a bit of Last Chapter. Again, this is some first draft thinking and we will have more specifics on this soon!
2. Senior Pick-Up: We need to both collect textbooks from our Seniors AND handout yearbooks, caps and gowns and awards. We are planning this for early June. More information soon!
3. Graduation: We have a parent committee and ASB working on an event on June 12, 2020. There are some awesome ideas out there. We need to finalize the plan and then we will let you all know. SENIORS, if you are interested in speaking at this event, please email Liz Seabury!!
Sir Francis Drake High School
Email: lseabury@tamdistrict.org
Website: tamdistrict.org/drake
Location: 1327 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, San Anselmo, CA, USA
Phone: 415-453-8770
Twitter: @drakehighschool