DRAGON DIGEST
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 16 / FEBRUARY 23, 2018
PRINCIPAL'S LETTER
Dear DeSana Parents,
With the horrific and senseless tragedy that took place at Stoneman Douglas High School last week, many, if not most, of you, I’m sure, cannot help but think about the safety of your own young Dragon as you send him/her off to us each morning. Several of you have reached out to us, inquiring about what we have done and will continue to do to keep our students and staff safe each and every day. We do not mind these inquiries at all. And I don’t blame you for asking. After all, you are sending us your most precious thing in the world daily and you want them to be in a safe place. This is not something that I, nor the rest of my administrative team or staff, take lightly. In fact, safety here at DeSana is and always will be our #1 Priority each and every day. We know that if our students do not feel safe here, the learning will not take place.
Forsyth County Schools and DeSana Middle School have many practices and procedures in place to help safeguard your young Dragon every minute of every day to, from and on campus. Detailed safety plans for all kinds of emergencies --- including lockdown situations --- have been carefully planned, written, shared with staff, put in place, and practiced frequently with our staff and students throughout this year. In fact, our last lockdown drill took place on January 31, 2018. We will continue to practice all drills in an organized manner, and as if they were the real thing, throughout the school year. In regards to practicing our lockdown drill, we have shown our teachers and staff a video about the correct procedures to follow in this scenario so that they can go over these procedures with students, as well. And in the near future, we will be showing all of our students this same video. You may access this video via the FCS website at https://vimeo.com/112519042. I encourage you to view the video together with your son or daughter and also discuss what they need to do in such a situation.
Our school system has an excellent partnership with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. Our School Resource Officer (SRO), Deputy Lavin, is one of 28 deputies in the county’s schools, and is assigned to DeSana, and on our campus daily, checking on things, talking to students, and getting to know them. For now, the FC Sheriff’s Office has committed to an increased law enforcement presence at our schools in the county, in addition to the SROs on our campuses.
DeSana has security cameras throughout the school and lockdown buttons that are connected directly to 911 dispatch. We also have a control access point for entering and exiting our school building. All visitors must come to this single front door and be buzzed in by one of our secretaries who has a wide view of the entire person and the surrounding area. Check-in procedures that are strictly adhered to are in place, and in order for a parent to check-out a child, he/she must enter our front office to do so and present a driver’s license. Visitor scanning technology is in place in our front office for any person visiting our school outside of the front office area. Outside doors are checked throughout the school day to make sure they are always locked and no one has left a door propped open.
Some of DeSana's daily standard operating procedures are to have our head custodian check the entire facility and campus early each morning to look for any unusual objects. Phones are in every classroom. Diligent supervision of our students by our entire staff, from the moment they step foot on campus until they leave, is a daily practice. Administrators are out and about the school daily, and are in constant communication with each other, our SRO, and the front office through radios, as well as with the school district's Safety Office via special radios. Our school phones come equipped with sophisticated technology that allows for tracing phone calls in the event of a bomb threat or other threatening phone calls.
All Forsyth County school buses are equipped with two-way radios so that they can be in constant communication with the transportation department and the school. They are also equipped with GPS so that bus locations may be tracked at all times. In addition, our FCS Code of Conduct Dress Code prohibits students from wearing over-sized, over-length or baggy clothing items so that weapons and other contraband are less likely to be hidden on students. The FCS Dress Code is enforced at DeSana.
Parents, one of the biggest things you can do to help us keep our young Dragons safe at DeSana is to have a frank talk with your child(ren) about the importance of them communicating with us here if they see, hear, read (anywhere . . . including on social media), or suspect something that concerns them about their safety at DeSana. They should immediately share their concerns with a teacher, counselor, administrator, or Deputy Lavin. We take all reports of such concerns seriously and investigate them thoroughly, doing what we need to do in order to insure the safety of everyone at DeSana. There is also our school system’s Campus Crime Stoppers hotline at 770-205-4625, where students may make an anonymous report. Campus Crime Stoppers posters are displayed throughout our school and have the phone number to call or text.
Please also emphasize to your young Dragon that joking around about shooting people, blowing up things, harming others at school, the mall, the movie theater, or anywhere else may get them in serious trouble . . . more trouble than they could ever imagine. People are going to take such statements seriously.
We have talked with our students since the very first weeks of school about safety being a top priority at DeSana, and letting them know that it is also their responsibility to help keep our school safe by reporting any safety concerns that they have. And we will continue the mantra of if you see/hear/read/suspect something, you need to say something. We will continue to need your help with this parents, as middle schoolers many times see only the social implications of reporting something about another student. Rest assured any information of this nature that is shared with an administrator, counselor or teacher is held in strictest confidence. Please let your child know that it is your expectation that he/she take personal responsibility in reporting anything he/she sees/hears/reads that could jeopardize the safety of any or all of our students and staff.
While I am not a parent myself, I think I do understand, and most definitely share your concern about the safety of your young Dragon here at DeSana. It is something that is always on my mind. I encourage you, parents, that any time you have concerns about the safety or well-being of your child, you will not hesitate to call or email me, or Mr. Feuerbach or Ms. Epperson, our two Assistant Principals, to discuss these concerns. We want Desana to be a place where all students, staff and parents feel safe and comfortable. But we need everyone's help to keep it that way throughout the rest of this school year. Thanking you in advance for your help and support when it comes to the safety of our young Dragons!
Sincerely,
Terri A North
Principal
DESANA DAY OF GOOD DEEDS
THE LATEST D3 DAY NEWS!
FOOD DRIVE: The D3 Day food drive has begun! We are collecting MAC and CHEESE. The last day for Mac and Cheese collection is February 28th. The Dragon Time class with the most collected will win a donut party and the teacher will also win a prize (winners will be determined based on a percentage calculated by items and number of students in the class). The March Collection will be Peanut Butter and Jelly.
D3 Day T-shirts! T-shirt forms have been sent out via Dragon Time. If you have not seen the form, ask your students or click here for another one. We are asking for a $5 donation per shirt to cover the cost of the shirt (thereby allowing us to use contributed money on charitable projects). You will also have an opportunity on the form to be a $50 family donor and get your family name on the t-shirt! T-shirts are mandatory for each student and volunteer. They are important for safety reasons on D3 Day.
Sponsorship: If you own a business or know someone who owns a business we would love to talk to you about sponsorship of D3 Day! The donation is tax deductible and your business will be a part of something big and important...planting the seeds of altruism in our young Dragons! Contact dawn@bourgs.com if you are interested in looking at our Sponsorship Packet.
ACADEMICS
2018-2019 ADVANCED STUDIES FOR RISING 7TH AND 8TH GRADERS
DeSana's Administration will be hosting Rising 7th/8th Grade Advanced Studies Information Sessions on the following dates/times:
2/28, Wednesday 6:30 – 7:30 PM
3/5, Monday 6:30 – 7:30 PM
3/8, Thursday 6:30 – 7:30 PM
3/12, Monday 6:30 – 7:30 PM
3/15, Thursday 6:30 – 7:30 PM
3/17, Saturday 9:00 – 10:00 AM
3/22, Thursday 6:30 – 7:30 PM
3/24, Saturday 9:00 – 10:00 AM
3/26, Monday 6:30 – 7:30 PM
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 the parents and the students. We will discuss the reasons why your child may consider taking an advanced course(s), 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 Friday, 3/9. The PowerPoint, Readiness Forms, and Registration Forms will be on our DeSana website after 2/28/18. An important date to remember is Friday, 3/30. Registration forms will be taken up to 6:00 PM on 3/30. 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!
EARLY RELEASE DAY / CONFERENCE DAY ON FRIDAY, MARCH 9
Parents, please mark your calendar now for an Early Release Day on Friday, March 9th, when our middle schoolers will be released at 1:30 PM. Please start making plans now for where your young Dragon will spend his/her afternoon after dismissal on this Friday. There will be no after school activities on this day as our teachers will be involved in parent conferences. Teachers will be communicating with parents with whom they would like to discuss their student’s progress during this second semester, and inviting them to come in for a conference on the afternoon of March 9th. Likewise, if you have a concern about how your child is progressing, please contact your young Dragon’s teacher(s) to schedule a conference. We will be happy to set one up.
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD RESULTS
The DeSana Science Olympiad Teams finished in 11th place for Team 1 and further down for Team 2. Nonetheless, we are very proud of our kids. Last year we only placed in 2 events and this year we placed in 6 events. In addition, we placed in the top 10 for quite a few other events. The most important thing is that we have a bunch of very motivated kids who want to continue to rise to the top with the right resources and student leadership. It has been very nice to see how fast the kids grew in just one year. Thank you for your support! Below are the results for the Science Olympiad regional competition on Saturday, February 10th. There were 26 teams participating.
Dynamic Planet – 4th place – Kunal and Akshat (7th grade)
Ecology – 2nd place – Shrey and Ameya (8th grade)
Fast Facts – 3rd place – Ameya and Mehul (8th grade)
Herpetology – 3rd place – Om (6th grade)
Rocks and Minerals – 3rd place – Shreyashi and Sarvani (8th grade)
Write It, Do It – 4th place – Ameya and Srimanth (8th grade)
CONGRATULATIONS ORATORICAL WINNERS!
Shirin D. and Gavin S. will represent DeSana Middle School at the county semi-finals that will take place on March 1st at 6PM. The competition will be held at the Bennett Education Center at Northside Hospital Forsyth. We wish them the best of luck as they present their incredible speeches!
TRANSITION INFORMATION FOR 8TH GRADE STUDENTS AND PARENTS
Important Dates To Remember:
Alliance Academy for Innovation – Parent/Student Information Night is Feb. 27th from 6:30 – 8:00 PM at Lakeside Middle School
Denmark High School – The last Online Q&A Registration Question/Answer Session is Feb. 27th from 6:30 – 7:30 PM
For all students, no matter which high school you will be attending:
· The registration portal closes Wednesday, February 28th, at 4 PM. We encourage parents and students to log in to the portal together. This is where students will sign up for their elective course(s) preferences. The instructions for doing this were given to students by each high school. This is where students will sign up for their elective course(s) preferences. If you have not yet signed up for your 9th grade electives,please be mindful of the closing date for the portal!
Another important item to pay attention to while in the Registraton Portal is to see what courses core academic teachers here at DeSana recommended for your child for next year. If your child and/or you do not agree with a teacher’s recommendation, you will need to follow each individual high school's waiver process. The process for waivers and the waiver itself are located on the website for the school your child will attend. Waivers will be accepted by each high school from March 5th through March 12th.
·
Thanks to all who participated in the climate survey for DeSana Middle School. Your participation is greatly appreciated.
DRAGON ACADEMY FOR THE 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR
Dragon Academy is an opportunity we offer students on a couple of Fridays per month, 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 will happen 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 will 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 will have about two hours to complete their work, once they complete all that they came to accomplish, students will be able to call their parent to come pick them up. Snacks and drinks will be sold for a very reasonable cost so students may focus on their work, not on their gurgling stomachs! Any necessary school supplies will be 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 9 (Early Release Day so it will be 1:30 – 4:00), 16 & 30
· April 27
· May 4 & 18
PARENT SESSIONS FOR SPANISH SPEAKING FAMILIES
DeSana Middle School is very excited to host parent sessions for our Spanish-speaking families to help parents have a better understanding of the school system, our school, and their role in their student’s academic life! We will start the parent sessions on Tuesday, February 6 and have one session every Tuesday until April 17, when parents will participate in a graduation ceremony from the program. Parents will learn about topics like structure and function of the school and school district, parent teacher partnership, the road to college, strengthening communication skills and moderating and participating in productive meetings. The sessions are from 6 pm to 7 pm in the DeSana Media Center and all sessions will be given in Spanish. Refreshments and snacks will be provided during the sessions. We will also provide childcare to families with young children so parents can attend the sessions while the kids are monitored by our staff in a separate room. Flyers will be sent home this week to families. We are looking forward to presenting these sessions to our parents!
DeSana Middle School está muy entusiasmada con las sesiones de padres para que nuestras familias hispanohablantes ayuden a los padres a comprender mejor el sistema escolar, nuestra escuela y su papel en la vida académica de sus estudiantes! Comenzaremos las sesiones de padres el martes, 6 de febrero y tendremos una sesión todos los martes hasta el 17 de abril. Al final los padres participen en una ceremonia de graduación del programa. Los padres aprenderán sobre temas como la estructura y función del distrito escolar y la escuela, la Asociación de padres y maestros, como preparar para la Universidad, el fortalecimiento de las habilidades de comunicación y la moderación y participación en conferencias académicas. Las sesiones son de 6 a 7 en la tarde en la biblioteca de DeSana Middle School y todas las sesiones se darán en español. Durante las sesiones van a ver bebidas y aperitivos. También va a ver cuidado infantil a las familias con niños pequeños para que los padres puedan asistir a las sesiones mientras los niños está monitoreados por nuestro personal en una habitación separada. Información serán enviados a casa esta semana a las familias. ¡No podemos esperar para presentar estas sesiones a nuestros padres!
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN (AOL) TIME
Has your child learned everything in their life the first time it was presented to them? Does your child really like to come in for early morning help sessions? Does your child really like to stay after school for help sessions? If the answer to any of these questions is “no” then Additional Opportunity to Learn (AOL) time will be great for your child. AOL is a 50-minute block of time that will happen first thing in the morning on Thursdays, and on some Wednesdays (9:00 – 9:50) beginning this second semester on Thursday, January 25th. During this block of time, students have the opportunity to receive re-teaching from their teachers should they need it. If your child is struggling in a class or if they have received a low summative score, please encourage him/her to take advantage of AOL time! Ask your young Dragon each Wednesday evening/Thursday morning where he/she is going for AOL time on Thursday. Then ask him/her Thursday evening what teacher they went to that day for extra help. Below are the dates for AOL time during this second semester. Thanking you in advance for your help in making sure our young Dragons take advantage of this learning opportunity during AOL time!
Thursday, March 1
Wednesday, March 7
Thursday, March 8
Thursday, March 15
Thursday, March 22
Wednesday, March 28
Thursday, March 29
Thursday, April 12
Thursday, April 19
Thursday, April 26
Wednesday, May 2
Thursday, May 3
Thursday, May 10
Wednesday, May 16
Thursday, May 17
ATHLETICS
HOOPS FOR HEARTS
On February 15th, the whole school participated in the 2nd annual Hoops for Heart 3 on 3 basketball tournament. During connections time, teams donated $5 to play and other students donated $1 to watch and cheer on their peers. Through the generous donations of the students, the school was able to raise a little over $550 to donate towards the American Heart Association. Thank you to all of the students for their help in making this day a success!
THE ARTS
CHORUS NEWS
We had a blast participating in All-State Chorus last weekend in Athens, GA! Students had the opportunity to work with well-known conductors and pianists, rehearse for three days, and present a concert at the end of the event. We couldn’t be prouder of Shirin, Mohit, Arya, and Elizabeth for passing two rounds of auditions and representing DeSana at All-State Chorus!
Our next performance will be Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE), which will take place at Dawson County High School on March 21. Just like students take the Georgia Milestones for certain subject areas, Chorus also is evaluated for meeting state standards through LGPE. Permission slips will go home in the next few days since this is a field trip. Please note that full participation is important since we rehearse as an ensemble! We hope you’ll consider joining us as a parent chaperone!
ART EXHIBIT
A huge congratulations to the following students who have artwork displayed at the Northside Forsyth Hospital Women’s Center Gallery. The show runs through February 28th.
6th Grade
Natalie V.
Aleena N.
Oliver C.
Quinn J.
Jocelyn L.
Santiago B.
Lorena G.
Akemi S.
Amy F.
7th Grade
Jacob A.
Pelumi L.
Andrew H.
Brenda Q.
Stella M.
Diego G.
Isabel R.
Druvitha L.
Treya H.
Kirkland M.
8th Grade
Ava L.
Zoe S.
Adhira C.
Kelsey L.
Sarvani V.
Shreya S.
Kayla A.
Sophia K.
Bianca D.
Amanda G.
Carinne T.
Elena L.
Eduardo G.
Jake W.
Marlen G.
Gabrielle R.
Deonna B.
Yesenia C.
Students in all grade levels worked to create positive and uplifting artwork to send to the students atStoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. This artwork, along with art from across the country, will be displayed in the hallways of the school to greet the SDHS students with love, encouragement, and support as they return to school February 27th.
BAND NEWS
This is a busy time of year for our band program. Both of our advanced bands are preparing for our annual LGPE (Large Group Performance Evaluation) to be held at Lambert High School. Our Concert Band will perform on March 20th at 9:30am while our Symphonic Band will be performing on March 21st at 4:00pm. We are hoping that we have tons of parents in attendance at both performances to show their support for our kids. This is the most important event in our year because we are evaluated by 4 judges on our performance and given ratings of SUPERIOR (A), EXCELLENT (B), GOOD (C), FAIR (D) and POOR (F). Last year as a new school, our band received Straight Superior Ratings from all the judges! We are all excited to be performing at this year’s LGPE and hope you can be a part of this event.
We also have 86 entries this year in our Solo and Ensemble Festival in April. This has more than doubled our entries from last year. Good luck to the students performing. An update will be following with the students' names and ratings from their evaluation. As always, thank you for your continued support!
ACTIVITIES
6TH GRADE FIELD TRIP
Field Trip Permission Forms went home with all 6th grade students last week. Students can return to their science teacher their signed permission form, along with $30 cash or check written out to DeSana Middle School. The Field Trip to the Tellus Museum will be Monday, May 14.
LIFE SKILLS CLASS
NFHS DECA is offering a Life Skills 101 series of classes for our local students. This is a great opportunity for our kids to learn real life information not taught in the classroom.
A series of 5 classes taught by local community professionals to help teens as they grow into adult life situations.
We have classes on Insurance, Banking, Legal Advice, Auto Maintenance and Self Defense
Saturday, March 3, 2018
9:30am - 2:00pm
North Forsyth High School
Cost $35 (Includes Lunch)
Click HERE for more details! You may pay online by clicking HERE.
WANT TO OWN A 2017-2018 DESANA YEARBOOK?
Don’t miss out on the best memory book created by the BEST yearbook staff.
Go to: balfour.com and click: shop your school. Students may also bring cash or check to Mrs. West on the 7th grade hall.
The price is $35 and will go up after March 31, 2018. On-line sales will END March 31st.
AGENDAS ON SALE
One of the top New Year’s resolutions is to be more organized. Has your student lost his or her agenda? Or maybe it would just be nice to begin with a nice new agenda for 2018? Your student can purchase a new agenda for just $5 in the front office. Checks should be payable to DeSana Middle School.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
ATTENTION THEATER LOVERS!
Are you a Wicked or Wizard of Oz fan? The Forsyth County Public Library is looking for students to help out with their Wicked/Wizard of Oz family event by providing artwork, music, or performances related to Wicked or The Wizard of Oz. The event will be held March 1st at Forsyth Central High School. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, please see Ms. MacMillan in the media center as soon as possible for details and to get signed up!
DRAGON CAFE NEWS
Our cafeteria serves a healthy and nutritious breakfast and lunch every day. We offer a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to enjoy with our delicious entrées. Please check out our menus on the FCS school website under the food and nutrition section.
We are educating our Young Dragon customers on the importance of good nutrition and the role it plays in our health. Each month we promote a Harvest of the Month and a Strong4Life topic. Spinach and Eat more Veggies were our focus this month. We also spotlighted a Healthy Heart.
Thank you to our Young Dragon customers who are enjoying our healthy meals! We are here to serve you!
DESANA'S NEXT LOCAL SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING
The next meeting of DeSana’s Local School Council (LSC) is scheduled for Friday, March 2nd at 7:30 AM in the front office conference room.
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.