Dutch Fork Elementary
Academy of Environmental Sciences - Week of March 5th -
DFES Beliefs
- We believe all people deserve to feel safe, valued, and loved.
- We believe all children are naturally curious about the world around them.
- We believe learning is a social process.
- We believe inquiry fosters an environment of noticing and questioning.
- We believe in learning from multiple perspectives.
- We believe in learning from authentic primary and secondary sources.
- We believe in encouraging learners to be risk takers.
- We believe reflection should lead to change and growth.
- We believe learning should lead to social action.
- We believe our actions should be aligned with our beliefs.
DFES 2017-2018 Goals
- Excellent customer service.
- Effective use of small group instruction.
- Building teacher capacity with environmental sciences content.
Shout Outs
- Many thanks to those who contributed to us hosting last Monday's board meeting. Huge thumbs up to to our custodial staff as they were down to members Monday but still had our building looking great. Shout out to Mr. Gantt for filling in during my absence and A. Newman for coordinating behind the scenes efforts.
- Coach Guerkink and and Coach Russell for another successful Jump Rope for Heart campaign. Social action and educating families about heart health.
- N. Jefferson, the fifth grade team, and 5th grade student program participants. Wednesday's celebration and reflection with the Richlex Panel was both informal and inspirational.
- Congrats to Mary Creech and her husband for the birth of their son Banks on Thursday.
- A. Gehm, Mrs. D, and their ichthyologists for sharing their learning during Friday's learning celebration. The taught the audience about the 5 stage of trout and shared how they have been using the language and tools of this discipline.
Rosenwald School History that you might not have known!
The following can be found in a Richlex Annual that is on loan to us from Mr. Washington (Richlex grad and panel member from last Wednesday's celebration):
The South Carolina Constitution of 1895 created two systems of public schools, one for white and another for black students. Article XI, Section 7 stated "Separate schools shall be provided for the children of the white and colored races, and no child of either race shall ever be permitted to attend a school provided for children of the other race."
In 1896, the General Assembly passed a general school bill to implement the provision of the new constitution where the funds of each school district be "distributed and expended by the Board of Trustees, for the best interests of the school district, according to the judgment of the Board of Trustees." This system prevented blacks from serving on the board, even in counties where blacks were in the majority, which gave the boards total control of funding for both white and black schools.
In 1902, The General Education Board began, under the direction of John D. Rockefeller, to aid American schools and colleges without distinction of race, sex, or creed and to act as a "holding board for funds to be used in the cause of education." This board assisted schools through the country but Rockefeller as particularly interested in schools in the South.
In 1914, the General Education Board subsidized state agents for black schools to serve as representatives for blacks who had no voice or means of lobbying for their race. These agents influenced policies, helped to centralize the administration of schools, stimulated local consolidation efforts, improved curriculum, erected new buildings, and fought for increased county expenditures for black education. The Board also provided funds for buildings and equipment.
In 1917, the Julius Rosenwald Fund was established to help build black schools in the South. There were three requirements for securing aid from the Rosenwald Fund which were a simple deed of two acres of land to the trustees of the district, submission to and approval of the plan by the proper authority, and a completely finished, painted, and furnished house.
In 1918, a Rosenwald School was built on two acres of land given by St. Peter Baptist Church which is adjacent to the school. Funds were provided by the Rosenwald Fund, stat, county, and area black communities. This school was a two room wooden building to be used to educate black children from area black communities.
Julius Rosenwald, who was a merchant and a Chicago philanthropist, felt like Booker T. Washington that the salvation of the Negro lay in education. His contributions to the work of the advancement of the Negro were a doubtless outstanding feature of his philanthropy. Mr. Rosenwald contributed almost 4 million dollars of his wealth for the build of about 4500 schoolhouses for Negro public schools in the South. In 1928, the state established an annual Rosenwald Day for black schools to honor Rosenwald who made possible the changing of the standards of schoolhouse structures among black citizenship.
In 1953, Rosenwald SChool was given the name Richlex and additions were made to accommodate the five area black community schools that were consolidated in Richland and Lexington Counties. These communities were Pleasant Spring, Irmo, Chapin, Piney Grove, and Harbison.
During the spring of 1953, Mr. Robert Lee Floyd was elected to serve as principal of Richlex. Mr. Floyd was the former vice principal, basketball coach, and classroom teacher at John Ford High School in Calhoun County Board of Education,
Richlex was originally built for 140 students. Additions were made in 1957, 1960, 1962, and 1967 such as library and classrooms. Richlex provided both elementary and high school programs for some 530 black students from 1953 to 1968.
In 1968, Richlex was closed because of desegregation and renamed Irmo Junior High School serving grades seven through nine for both black and white students. Students that attended Richlex were assigned to different schools in the Chapin, Irmo, and Columbia area school districts.
In 1971, the school was changed to an elementary school and given the name Dutch Fork Elementary.
Units of Study Reminder
Thanks to those teams that have shared your grade levels units of study to Sally. For those that haven't we need you to do so by the end of the day tomorrow. Heidi and Sally will meet Tuesday to create a system to organize and easily access all units of study.
Teacher Survey Tuesday
2nd Cup of Coffee
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2018, 07:30 AM
Media Center
Early Release Day
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2018, 07:30 AM
DFES
Scott out of office Wednesday
Math Curricular Conversations with D. Alston
Thursday, Mar 8, 2018, 08:15 AM
DFES Conference Room
3rd-5th Grade Learning Celebration led by K. Hill's Class
Friday, Mar 9, 2018, 01:45 PM
Mini Theater
PBIS Set Evaluation
As you all are aware Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) is one of our district. In an effort to assess the effectiveness of district and school implementation SET Evaluations are conducted each spring.
The elementary lead for PBIS will visit DFES to review our school's PBIS data, look for evidence of our PBIS expectations prominently visible throughout our building, and randomly interviews faculty/staff members as well as students.
Following the SET visit we will receive data on how well we scored on this evaluation. Mr. Gantt will share that data with everyone once it is available.
Mr. Gantt discuss this during our staff luncheon Wednesday since we will have everyone together for a brief time and will answer an questions you may have about this process.
Please see the following questions that will potentially be posed on our SET Visit on March 27th from 8am - 10am.
Staff questions (Interview a minimum of 10 staff members)
- What are the school expectations?
- Have the expectations been taught to students this year?
- Have you given out any LEAF Bucks?
- What types of student problems do you or would you refer to the office?
- What is the procedure for dealing with a stranger with a gun?
- Is there a team in your school that addresses school-wide behavior support systems?
- Are you on the team?
Team member questions
- Does your team use discipline data to make decisions?
- Has your team taught/reviewed school-wide program with staff this year?
- Who is (are) the team leaders/facilitators?
Student questions
- What are the school expectations?
- Have you received a LEAF Bucks this week?
School expectations also need to be posted in those common areas.
We develop students who care about the world we live in and express critical thinking through natural curiosity and wonder.
Email: jscott@lexrich5.org
Website: www.lexrich5.org/dutchfork/cfm/
Location: 7900 Broad River Road, Irmo, SC, USA
Phone: 803-479-9544
Twitter: @dfes_principal