Shout-outs:

• To Jajuan Harris who was selected to the All-Region 5A basketball team
• To Kim Walker who will be joining the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra on February 19-21 to tour Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennessee and perform at Vanderbilt University as principal harpist
• Please congratulate the following students, they will represent Drew at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair (GSEF) in Athens on April 1, 2016.  Drew will send 7 out of 26 projects from APS (27%) to the State Fair (67% of projects in the middle school division and 15% in the high school division).
  • Trinity Mosley (9^th Grade in Earth and Environmental Science): Waterless World: Saving the Future by Flushing Rain Down the Drain
  • Asia Foster (9^th Grade in Biomedical and Health Sciences): Can You Feel It? Using Mirrors to Create Phantom Sensations
  • Courtney Stanback (9^th Grade in Behavioral and Social Science): Sense the Sense
• To Zora Ponder Jones, who has been chose by C5/KSU’s Confucius Institute to attend a study abroad session in China this summer
• To Ms. Kaney for securing a $54,000 transportation grant from the Georgia Student Finance Authority to fund the buses for our Early College Program next year
• To Ms. Akinyela, who will be taking over teaching the World History sections starting this week
• To Coaches Tracy, Erik, O’Neill and Davis for great varsity and junior varsity girls and boys basketball seasons with significant improvement from last year including the boys who made it to the second round of the region playoffs
• To Ms. Deiters, Ms. Allen and Ms. Simmons for their continued creativity and hard work around our Grade Level Town Hall meetings which will be re-branded as Community Forums and transition to being student-led moving forward
• To Ms. Kaney, Ms. Young, Ms. Herman, Ms. Knight and Ms. Tuttle for coordinating the Early College Compass administration at Perimeter for our juniors last week
• To Ms. Henderson and Mr. Parker for coordinating the most recent A View from Drew program last Wednesday
• To Mr. Harris for continuing to work on the gifted eligibility process (notifications from this year’s testing should be coming out soon)
• To Ms. Davis and the ninth grade team for working on the ninth grade transition plan
• To Ms. Woods for working on the next Beta Club induction and particularly for pushing the club president, Taylor Bell, to take leadership in the planning
• To Ms. Tambra Harris for planning multiple Black History Month events including several dance performances at other schools

Calendar:

• Wednesday, February 17^th
  • B-Day
  • Flex Time –
    • GADOE Student Health Survey Administration/Extended-Learning
    • Chorus Rehearsal (chorus students go to first lunch)
  • 5:30 – Boys Baseball vs. Maynard Jackson [Away]
• Thursday, February 18^th
  • A-Day
  • Flex Time – Clubs
• Friday, February 19^th
  • B-Day
  • Flex Time – Trust Card Free Friday
  • 12:55-1:55 – 3^rd Period
  • 2:00-2:55 – 4^th Period
  • 2:30 – Early Dismissal for SA Dance students
  • 3:00-4:00 – Pep Rally [Gym]
  • 7:00 – Black History Month Concert: Africa Free Like Me! [Center for the Arts]

Upcoming Events  

• Saturday, February 20^th
  • 9:00-12:00 – AP World History Tutorial (flyer)
  • 5:30 – Baseball vs. Decatur [Away]
• Monday, February 22^nd – Ninth Grade Community Forum
• Tuesday, February 23^rd, 9:30-11:00 – Milestone Assessment Administration Simulation
• February 24^th –
  • Principal’s Coffee: Early College Program Update and Student-Led Conference Debrief [Please note that this meeting is a deviation from our schedule of the third Wednesday of each month, due to the fact that I will be at a conference.]
  • Tenth Grade Community Forum
• February 26^th –
  • PTA Dress Down Day Fundraiser
  • SGA Powderpuff Football Game [Gym]
• Saturday, February 27^th, 9:00-12:00 – AP World History Tutorial (flyer)
• Wednesday, March 2^nd, 5:00 – Junior Financial Aid Night
• Wednesday, March 9^th, 6:00 – Advanced Placement Parent Night
• Thursday, March 10^th – B-Day Midterm Exams
• Friday, March 11^th
  • A-Day Midterm Exams
  • PTA Dress Down Fundraiser
  • End of Quarter 3
• Saturday, March 12^th – Drew Charter Senior Academy Counseling Team presents Parent University (flyer)
• March 14-18^th – College and Career Week
• Thursday, March 24^th – Quarter 3 PBL Showcase
• June 6-10 and 13-17 – Rising Ninth Grade Summer Bridge Program

Announcements:

• Accreditation – “The ASSIST External Review Report for Charles R. Drew Charter School in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America has received final approval by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission.”  As a result of the announcement above, Drew is officially accredited by AdvancED.  Up until this point we had to indicate that we had been recommended for accreditation, but now it is official!
• Morehouse College Summit Saturday, March 5^th – Flyer available here.  Register here.
• 7th Annual Teen Summit, produced by the Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV) – “Today’s media offers countless interpretations of sexuality, dating and relationships. It’s no wonder, then, that it can be challenging for teens and families to understand what a healthy, respectful and mutually empowering relationship really looks like.  The 7th Annual Teen Summit, produced by the Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV), will help young people and their parents find and use their voices—learning what the mixed signals of the dating game really mean, setting boundaries, and developing the foundations on which healthy relationships are built. PADV’s 2016 Teen Summit will be an interactive experience including prizes, giveaways and sensational performances. It also provides two workshop tracks, one for teens and one for adults. Adults will learn how to identify the warning signs of unhealthy teen relationships and how to effectively address them. ADMISSION IS FREE BUT SPACE IS LIMITED. VISIT WWW.PADV.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER TODAY!”  (Flyer)
• Summer Programs – Below are some resources for summer programs:
  • PTA Summer Expo flyer
  • https://www.morehouse.edu/centers/mri/pdf/Enrichment-Program-AAYouth.pdf
  • This has working links and is divided up by grade level. http://giftedatlanta.com/summer-programs/
  • Summer Opportunities (from Breakthrough Atlanta)
• Reminder: Hiring for the 2016-2017 School Year – We are about to undertake the hiring process for the 2016-2017.  Below is a tentative list of positions that we will be filling.  If you are aware of strong candidates for these positions, please have them send their resumes to peter.mcknight@drewcharterschool.org and jobs@drewcharterschool.org.
  • Director of Data Analysis and Research
  • Project-Based Learning Coach
  • Counselor
  • Math teacher
  • ELA teacher
  • Science teacher
  • Social Studies teacher
  • Special Education teacher
  • Spanish teacher
  • Band Director
  • Part-time Theater Teacher
  • Part-time Dance Teacher
• Reminder: Lab Atlanta – “Imagine Atlanta as your classroom — a classroom without walls. Welcome to Lab Atlanta, an honors-level semester school for high school sophomores, sponsored by The Lovett School, based at the Midtown campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD Atlanta), and in partnership with the Public Design Workshop at Georgia Tech.”
  • Lab Atlanta prizes deep intellectual and experiential engagement. Our challenging, dynamic curriculum invites and empowers our 10th grade students to:
    • treat their city as a learning laboratory
    • hone their skills as scholars
    • understand the world systemically
    • develop innovation skills and practice a designer’s mindset
    • collaborate on building sustainable solutions for a vibrant urban future

• Opening January 2017
• More information here
• Reminder: After-School Tutorial in Math and Science (including ACT/SAT) – Mr. Domingo Uceda, one of our AmeriCorps members from Georgia Tech is offering after-school tutorial in math and science.  Details are available on this flyer.
• Reminder: Sophomore and Junior Dues –
  • Sophomore and Freshman dues are $30, which will help supplement funding from the PTA for events like Midnight Madness, Homecoming, College and Career Week and the SGA Day of Play.  A flyer about the dues is available here.
  • A schedule of payment for Junior dues is now available and outlined in the flyer available here.

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
  • E-mail Address to Reset Echo Passwords – tech.support@drewcharterschool.org
• Drew Senior Academy College and Career Website – www.DrewCCR.com
• Naviance – http://connection.naviance.com/charlesdcs

• Link to Sign up for Constant Contact Emails

• Remind (text message and email alerts) Enrollment Instructions:
  • Ninth Grade
  • Tenth Grade
  • Eleventh Grade
• 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].
• Hands-on-Atlanta Volunteer Opportunity Calendar
• Eagle Nation Athletic Booster Club – http://www.dreweaglenation.org/
  • Great information about our athletic teams, including their schedules and records.
• Band Booster Club – http://drewbandboosters.org/