DHS Weekly Update
Thursday, January 19, 2023
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Dear Decatur High School Community,
We have reached the end of the first semester, and it is a good time to sit with your student and review their progress. Please see the message below regarding how to access your student’s grades. Our Instructional Leadership Team met yesterday to discuss how to best serve students that have experienced academic challenges in the first semester. The leaders will be with the teaching staff in department meetings on Monday afternoon to begin to refine a remediation plan for students. In the upcoming weeks, look to hear from teachers with ways to support students as we begin the second semester of the school year.
Our cafeteria and custodial staff continuously work diligently to ensure our school is ready for students and meals are promptly ready for breakfast and lunch. I want to shout out those two groups and tell them they are noticed and loved. Remind your students to tell those folks that are less acknowledged thank you for creating a positive learning environment. Please follow up with your student about how they followed through on this task.
Sincerely,
Duane Sprull
Interim Principal, DHS
1st Semester Progress Reports
DHS students have now completed the 1st semester (18 weeks) of the 2022-2023 school year. Please review your student’s grades using the information contained in this letter. Student grades and report cards are available through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and Student Portal, which can be accessed via the web or one of the apps. Please log into the parent portal to see grades in each course for both formative and summative assessments. If you need login assistance, see the support steps here. You will not have a PDF report card for the 18-week progress report - that will be made available at the end of term two.
To Find Grades:
Log-in to Infinite Campus via the portal.
Select "Grades" on the left navigation bar.
Select "Grade Book Updates" will show the current status in each course
***You may see some assignments listed without grades. Teachers have posted future assignments and may have not graded the assignment or the assignment has not been assigned to students quite yet***
You should be able to login and see new grades posted (either formative or summative).
Click here and scroll down: https://sites.google.com/csdecatur.net/csd-grading-for-parents/find-grades-report-cards to view a screen shot and video for help. You can also view detailed information about grading practices.
Star Scores
DHS's second administration of the STAR test happened in December. Math and Reading scores have been uploaded to Infinite Campus under assessments. In addition, students were given more detailed paper copies in Math and ELA classes this week; please ask your student about them.
Kevin Champion
Assistant Principal, DHS
This Saturday! DHS Band Mattress Fundraiser
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi & Nic Stone Author Event
2022-2023 Georgia's Student, Parent & Staff Surveys
The 2022-2023 Georgia Parent Survey is now open. Survey participation is voluntary, but we strongly encourage participation in the surveys to provide schools with critically important data to help guide prevention and intervention strategies. This also impacts your school's CCRPI score. It is recommended that your school has at least a 75% participation rate. The survey will remain open through Friday, January 27, 2023.
Georgia Parent Survey
https://gshs.gadoe.org/parents
Tripod Survey
Dear Parents,
We will administer the Tripod Survey right after Winter Break. The Tripod student surveys gather data from students about themselves, their classrooms, and their schools. Classroom-level measures offer insight into teaching effectiveness, peer dynamics, student engagement, and the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) culture. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. You can review the Tripod Survey questions and the Tripod DEI questions at the links provided. All student survey data is anonymous and self-reported. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) gives you the right to opt your child out of participating in the survey. The survey will be given to all students. If you do NOT wish for your child to participate in the Tripod Survey, please complete this google form by February 3rd to opt out.
DHS Fencers End Georgia League 2022-2023 Regular Season and Qualify Fencers for League Championships
Decatur High School Fencing ended the 2022-2023 Georgia High School Fencing League (GHSFL) regular season at Pinecrest Academy this past weekend, qualifying two fencers for the GHSFL Individual Championships.
Fencers Ryan Scharf and Aidan Oldham finished 2nd and 15th respectively, both qualifying for the championship event by placing in the top 16 at least once during the six regular season contests. This marks the first top 15 finish for Aidan and the 4th for Ryan this season. The GHSFL Individual Championships will take place on February 24th.
Other top finishers for Decatur out of a field of 73 fencers included Evan King (23), Rory King (28), Candler Mayo (31), and Connor Prather (34).
DHS will also compete in the GHSFL team championships in March.
Congratulations to all our DHSFC fencers on a great first GHSFL season!
Interested in fencing? Club membership will re-open in March 2023. Please reach out to the club sponsor, Ms. Garletts-Hancock, for more information.
Lunar New Year Festival - Middle/High School Volunteers Needed
The Decatur Lunar New Year Festival is Saturday, January 28th. See flyer for more details.
Would you like to volunteer at the Lunar New Year Festival? Click the link below for more information about the festival in general and check out the official Decatur LNY website:
https://decaturlny.com/
1) Sign-up sheet for Lunar New Year volunteers:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0948aea92ea0ffc07-2023#/
2) Once you pick your slot, be sure to register for your (FREE!) volunteer tickets on the Freshtix page. All volunteers will also get an official DLNY t-shirt.
https://www.freshtix.com/events/decaturlny
Hit BUY TICKETS, then scroll down to the bottom.
Yearbooks Are Running Out!
Junior and Senior Dues/Prom 2023
ATTENTION JUNIORS AND SENIORS!!!
It's time to take flight around the world. Prom 2023 will be at the Delta Flight Museum on May 20th.
In order to receive a boarding ticket you will need to make sure that you purchase Package A Dues before March 31st at 4:00pm.
You can view the cost of Package A Dues here: https://www.csdecatur.net/Page/1425. Please be sure to choose junior or senior class.
YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND PROM IF PACKAGE A DUES ARE NOT PAID IN FULL ON OR BEFORE MARCH 31ST BY 4:00PM. NO EXCEPTIONS!
You can view the cost of Package A Dues here: https://www.csdecatur.net/Page/1425. Please be sure to choose junior or senior class.
All dues are located in Infinite Campus for online payments. If you would like to pay by check, money order or cash:
Juniors see Ms. Jones in Room 2128
Seniors see Ms. Wells in Room 1516
CSD Athletics News and Updates
ATTENTION: All Spring Sport Athletes!
All students interested in participating in a Spring sport must have an updated medical profile in our DragonFly system. Please visit the link HERE for instructions on how to create or update your profile. Do not wait until tryouts begin to start this process! Contact your coach with any questions.
DHS Tennis Tryout Information
The Decatur High School tennis tryouts will be on January 17th and 19th for boys and January 18th and 20th for girls from 4 pm to 6 pm at Glenlake Tennis Center. The tryouts are for 8th grade through 12th grade students. Please make sure that you have your tennis racquet and shoes, a water bottle, and are dressed for the weather.
Contact Coach Messer (dmesser@csdecatur.net) with any questions.
Next PTSA Meeting
Join us at our meeting on February 21st at 6:30pm. Check the school calendar for meeting details.
Next SLT Meeting
Join us at our next meeting on February 21st at 4:30pm. Check the school calendar for meeting details.
State & Federal Programs “Ask an Expert” Event
You are cordially invited to “Ask the Expert,” a virtual event being held February 2, 2023 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. for K-5 Title I, ESOL, Special Education, and General Education parents and families.
Ms. Gereen Francis, Behavior Interventionist, will give an overview of her role and upcoming CSD behavior support initiatives. Over the past two years, students, parents, and caregivers have had to adjust to changes in our world. At times, these changes are reflected in behavior. Ms. Francis will offer suggestions to pre-submitted behavior questions to help support your child at school and at home. To learn more about the speaker or to RSVP, please click the link here.
Please submit your questions here.
For questions or additional information, please contact Cheryl Grant at cgrant@csdecatur.net or Brittany Stewart at bstewart@csdecatur.net.
Community Celebration of Black Joy
On Friday, February 3, 2023, from 6:00 to 8:30 PM, the GPB and Decatur High School Library program partnership, ASALH, and AAHGS will host a “Community Celebration of Black Joy” at DHS. Events will include a panel discussion centered around clips from the series “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine'', spoken word performances, a student-curated gallery walk, a genealogy exhibit, and more facilitated by the DHS Black Student Union.
Click here to register for this event.
From Special Education
The Special Education Parent Survey is a survey that helps the state to determine parents’ perception of the success of parent engagement relating to 10 specific areas of special education and the IEP process and is used as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities. Georgia’s parent survey is available to all families of students with IEPs.
* Families that have more than one student with an IEP, please complete an individual survey for each student.
For more information about the survey click here! Thank you in advance for your participation!
Our friends at Brave & Kind Books are hosting an exciting author visit with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone for their new book “How to Be a (Young) Antiracist” on Sunday, January 29th from 3-4pm at the DHS auditorium. You can go to the events page of their website www.braveandkindbooks.com for ticket and book purchase information.
Mead Road Mardi Gras Parade is coming up soon on Saturday, February 4th starting at 1pm at F.AVE. Every CSD school is invited to march in the parade that has raised more than $30K for music and theatre grants! Community krewes can sign up at www.meadrdmardigras.org. As a reminder, this is a “walk or roll only” parade, no motorized vehicles allowed (we’re keeping it old school!) Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Registration for the 21st Annual Tour deCatur is NOW OPEN at www.tourdecatur.com. Decatur’s favorite 5K and one-mile fun run is scheduled for Saturday March 11th. All adult participants who register on or before February 18th will receive a race t-shirt. Youth participants for both the Fun Run and the 5K will receive a participation medal. As DEF’s biggest fundraiser, your participation helps fund everything we do to help our students learn and thrive. Thank you to our Presenting Sponsor Mathnasium of Decatur who will be there at the race with math games and giveaways!
There's still time to register for Run With the Dogs, a Decatur tradition now in its 19th year.
Join us on Saturday, January 28, 2023, for this fun annual event of the Decatur Bulldog Boosters that supports student athletes at Decatur High School and Beacon Hill Middle School. The race starts and finishes at Beacon Hill Middle School, and the 5K race is an official qualifying event for the Peachtree Road Race! Register ASAP to make sure you receive the coveted long-sleeved race T-shirt featuring Tuck the Pug.
For more information and to register for the race, click here.
