As always, I have included four sections below – Shout Outs, Calendar, Announcements and Links.  Please do not forget to leave comments for future topics that you would like for me to include in the blog.

Shout-outs:

• To Mr. Koniecnzy, for organizing the parent conference sign-up process (please leave feedback in the comments to let us know how you feel like it went and how we might be able to improve)
• To Ms. Nguyen and Mr. Cruz, for their current project constructing population pyramids represented by the Atlanta skyline, a phenomenal example of integrating the standards between to Art and World Geography (plus students are learning how to use Excel)
• To Ms. Ferenczy, for her current project in which students are reaching out to historians to discuss erroneous narratives and working to disrupt them (they’ve gotten responses back from a Columbia professor and Billy Bryson’s daughter, among others)
• To Mr. Winchester, for his energy and enthusiasm that really capture students’ attention
• To Ms. Deiters, for the timing and organization of her class and for integrating the Membean online program for vocabulary
• To Mr. Canney and Mr. Baker, for giving their students the opportunity to provide them feedback on their first project, filming a commercial that incorporated the rhetorical triangle and principles of video editing
• To Ms. Henderson and Mr. Parker, for all of their hard work engaging the class of 2016 cohort of CREW Teens
• To Coach Andrews and the cheerleading team for competing in their first competition on Saturday
• To Ms. White, Mr. O’Neill, Ms. Nguyen, Mr. Coley and Ms. Bryant for their work with students to prepare for the Atlanta Beltline Parade on Saturday
• To Blake Turpeau, Jade Burney, Zeke Taylor, Jordan Grady, Jocelyn Gresham (pictured), Anastasia Brantley, Priosh Taylor and other students whose lanterns represented Drew in the parade

Calendar:

• Monday, September 14^th
  • B-Day
• Tuesday, September 15^th
  • A-Day
• Wednesday, September 16^th
  • B-Day
  • 8:15-9:15 – SA Principal’s Coffee: School Norms and Trust Cards [A301] – Please note that in my last blog post, I used the correct date, but wrong day of the week for this event.
  • 9:30 – Meet the Author Event [Center for the Arts]
  • Flex Time –
    • Extended Learning
    • 11:45-12:50 – Chorus Rehearsal
  • 5:30 – Cross Country Meet [Grant Park]
• Thursday, September 17^th
  • A-Day
  • Ninth Grade College Trip [Auburn University – Post, Cruz, Copeland Advisories]
  • 5:00 – Softball vs. Our Lady of Mercy [Home – Southside Park]
  • 5:30 – Varsity Volleyball vs. South Atlanta and Carver [South Atlanta]
• Friday, September 18^th
  • B-Day
  • Extended Learning – Trust Card Free Friday

• Upcoming Events  
• Monday, September 21^st, 11:30-12:50 – SA Book Buddies Training
• September 23-27 – PGA Tour Championship
• Wednesday, September 23^rd, 11:30-12:50 – SA Book Buddies visit to EA
• Thursday, September 24^th – Ninth Grade College Trip [University of Alabama – Desprez, Deiters, Winchester Advisories]
• Saturday, September 26^th, 4:00 pm – Hispanic Heritage Month School Community Celebration [Center for the Arts]
• Monday, September 28^th – College and Work Readiness Assessment Administration [Ninth grade students]
• October 1^st – A-Day Midterm Exams
• October 2^nd – B-Day Midterm Exams [End of Quarter 1]
• October 8-9^th – Fall Break
• October 12^th – Professional Learning Day [No classes]
• October 13-19^th – Columbian Exchange Student Program
• October 14^th – PSAT Administration [Grades 10 and 11]
• October 15^th
  • PSAT Administration [Grade 9]
  • 4:00-6:00 – Quarter 1 PBL Showcase
• Friday, October 16^th, 7:00 pm – Homecoming Coronation
• October 19-23^rd – Homecoming Week
• October 28-29^th – AdvancED Accreditation External Review Visit

Announcements:

1. Progress Reports – While grades are constantly being updated in Echo, we would also like to provide periodic hard-copy progress reports.  These will be available at the middle and end of each quarter.  Copies of these reports were available on Friday as part of our Parent Conference Day. They will also be provided to students during Advisory on Tuesday.
2. ACT/SAT –
   1. A flyer with the registration and testing dates for ACT is available at this link.  Ms. Knight, our College Advising Corps Member [olivia.knight@drewcharterschool.org], can help assist the students with registering for the ACT but they are also able to do that on their own at this link.  A flyer for ACT Prep for juniors was included in the Weekly Constant Contact email, but I have also linked it here.  Please reach out to Ms. Knight for information about how to sign-up and pay for the course.
   2. Information about the new SAT is available at https://sat.collegeboard.org/home.
3. Georgia Tech’s College of Computing Weekend Workshops Fall 2015 – Georgia Tech has just announced their Fall 2015 Weekend Workshops. Georgia Tech’s College of Computing is offering a series of workshops, beginning on September 19^th, highlighting the STEM activities listed below.  Check out a video of previous workshops and register here.
   1. Music with EarSketch- Students will learn to use the Python programming language in conjunction with Reaper, a digital audio workstation program similar to those used in recording studios, to create and remix music.
   2. Games with MaKey MaKey- Students will learn to be innovative by creating with technology and design, while they build their own video game using Scratch (free software from MIT found here: https://scratch.mit.edu/ ).
   3. Robotics with LEGO NXT- Students will create robotic animals with LEGO Mindstorms NXT kits. They will then program these artificial creatures with NXT-G language to move about and react to their environments.
   4. App Development with AppInventor-  Students will create a Photo booth Application that allows them to take pictures and then edit them with other graphics or drawings using AppInventor2 (free software from MIT found here: http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/).

1. Scholastic Book Fair – On Monday, September 14^th, the Scholastic Book Fair will start and continue through September 21st.  This year our Book Fair is located on the 3^rd floor in the Learning Commons.  Prizes are available daily for students and teachers may create Wish Lists for their classroom libraries.  Senior Academy students may come during Flex Time and lunch with their Trust Cards.
2. Reminder: Morning Punctuality – Classes begin for the Senior Academy at 8:00 am.  However, prior to getting to class, students need to pick up their laptops and often go to their lockers.  Daily attendance is taken based on the time students reach their first period class, not the time that they enter the front door.  As a result, please make every effort to drop your students off or send them out of the door with enough time to complete these tasks and get to class by 8:00 am.  Late arrivals result in lost instructional time and a significant inconvenience to staff who have to issue laptops to tardy students.
3. Reminder: Governor’s Honors Program – The Governor’s Honors Program (GHP) is a four-week instructional program, June–July at Valdosta State University, designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year.  Activities are designed to provide each participant with opportunities to acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to become independent, lifelong learners.  The Georgia Governor’s Honors Program is fully funded by the Georgia General Assembly, and operates at no cost to the student.  Students are nominated, interviewed, and selected in a specific instructional area in which their abilities, aptitudes and interests lie.  Students may be nominated in the following areas.  If your student is interested in participating, please reach out to their teacher in the area of their interest to discuss the nomination process.
   1. Academic: Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Social Studies, Communicative Arts, French, Spanish and Chinese.
   2. Technology:  Engineering & Technology, Executive Management, and Architectural Design
   3. Fine Arts: Dance, Music, Theatre (Performance), Theatre (Design), and Visual Arts

Links:

• Echo – https://echo.newtechnetwork.org/
  • Echo Access Request Form (Please submit these to Ms. Mills, the registrar, in the main office)
  • Echo Parent Guide

• Link to Sign up for Constant Contact Emails

• Remind (text message and email alerts) Enrollment Instructions:
  • Ninth Grade
  • Tenth Grade
  • Eleventh Grade
• E-mail Address to Reset Echo Passwords – tech.support@drewcharterschool.org
• MyGivingPoint – http://www.mygivingpoint.org/
  • All students should have accounts to this site in order to log community service hours.  Please direct questions about community services to Ms. Kaney [rachel.kaney@drewcharterschool.org].
• Eagle Nation Booster Club – http://www.dreweaglenation.org/
  • Great information about our athletic teams, including their schedules and records.

A Quote to Think About – “A great teacher is a great artist. Teaching might be the greatest of the arts [as] the medium is the human mind & spirit.” – John Steinbeck