Shout-outs:

• To the 14 seniors who have been selected at Posse Scholar semifinalists (so far)
• To Mr. Parker for going above & beyond in his photography class
• To Ms. Simmons for organizing doughnuts for the juniors last week
• To the 12th grade team for organizing the ice cream social and cap and gown sizing last Friday
• To Ms. Desprez for working with students struggling in math
• To Ms. Tuttle, the ELA and Math teachers for coordinating the MAP administration last week
• To Mr. Myers for continuing to help finalize club assignments
• To Mr. Richardson and the Ninth Grade Team for a great Ninth Grade Parent Night last Wednesday
• To Ms. Keys for the continued high turnout for her morning tutorial
• To Ms. Akinyela for her work with organizing daily student announcements
• To Ms. Simmons and the 11th Grade Team for running the Junior Community Forum last Tuesday

Calendar:

• Monday, September 5^th
  • Labor Day/ No School
• Tuesday, September 6th
  • B-Day
  • Flex Time – Extended Learning
  • 3:30 – Early Dismissal for the softball team
  • 5:00 – Softball vs. St. Francis [Away]
• Wednesday, September 7^th
  • A-Day
  • Yearbook Pictures: Students must have their blazer to take pictures
  • Flex Time – Advisory
  • 4:30 – Cross Country Meet [Grant Park]
  • 5:30 – Softball vs. Clarkston [Home – Southside Park]
  • 5:30-6:30 – Junior Parent Night [Theater]
• Thursday, September 8^th
  • B-Day
  • Flex Time – Extended Learning
  • 5:00 – Softball vs. Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy [Away]
  • 5:30 – Volleyball vs. St. Francis/Holy Innocents [Home]
  • 6:00 – JV Volleyball vs. Holy Innocents [Away]
• Friday, September 9^th
  • A-Day
  • Flex Time –
    • Senior Community Forum [Theater]
    • Free Friday

Upcoming Events  

• Monday, September 12^th
  • 5:30 – JA/SA Parent/Guardian BlackBoard Training [Theater]
  • 5:30 – Softball vs. McNair [Home – Southside Park]
• Tuesday, September 13^th
  • 5:00-9:00 pm – Drew Night at the Atlanta Dream [Philips Arena]
    • Drew seniors will be recognized on court and almost 100 dancers will perform at halftime, Drew athletes will serve as greeters at Philips Arena, and our school community will fill the stands to make sure everyone knows that Drew is in the building.  The Atlanta Dream has created a “buy one, get one free” promotional code for us, so ticket prices are very reasonable; get your family and friends and come cheer on the Atlanta Dream and Drew Charter School!
    • To purchase tickets** (BOGO), click this link:  bit.ly/DrewDream
      • Use promo code DREWCHARTER to activate the BOGO offer.  If you want to sit near the Drew student section, get tickets in sections 116-119.
    • If you have any questions, please contact Lindsey Luczynski or Ronitia Hodges at 404-687-0001.
  • 6:00 – Volleyball vs. Wesleyan/Atlanta International School [Wesleyan]
• Wednesday, September 14^th
  • 4:30 – Cross Country Meet [Grant Park]
  • 5:30 – Sophomore Parent Night [Cafeteria]
• Thursday, September 15^th
  • 5:30 – Softball vs. Holy Innocents [Home – Southside Park]
  • 5:30 – Volleyball vs. Washington [Home]
• Friday, September 16^th
  • All Day – Senior Pictures
  • Flex Time (1:30-2:20) – National Honor Society Induction
• September 19-25 – PGA Tour Championship [East Lake Golf Club]
• September 20-22 – Ninth Grade College Trips [Tuskegee and Auburn Universities]
• Tuesday, September 20th
  • All Day – GSU SingFest [Selected students]
  • Flex Time – Ninth Grade Community Forum
• Thursday, September 22nd, Flex Time – Tenth Grade Community Forum
• Tuesday, September 27th, Flex Time – Eleventh Grade Community Forum
• Friday, September 30th –  End of Quarter 1
• Saturday, October 1st, 12:00-4:00 – PTA Fall Festival
• Thursday, October 13^th, 4:00-6:00 pm – Quarter 1 PBL Showcase

Announcements:

1. BlackBoard – New Tech Network, our technical assistance provider for Project-Based Learning (PBL) has discontinued support of the Echo learning management system.  As a result, we have switched to BlackBoard, a very popular and robust system used by many colleges.  Teachers have been working in BlackBoard for approximately three weeks.  We anticipate that students will get access to their accounts this week.  We will hold a training for parents and guardians on Monday September 12^th at 5:30 in the Theater.
2. Dues – Below is information for student dues.  These funds help pay for programs like Midnight Madness, Prom and Senior Week that we cannot pay for out of school funds.
   • Freshman
     1. $30
     2. Due (cash or money order) September 16^th to Ms. Deiters in room A202
     3. There is a $5 late fee after September 16^th
     4. Includes: Freshman T-Shirt, SGA Day of Play, Midnight Madness and other ninth grade activities
   • Sophomore
     1. $35
     2. Flyer
   • Junior
     1. $200
     2. Dues Payment Schedule
     3. Frequently Asked Questions
   • Senior
     1. $225
     2. Include cap and gowns, diploma cover, Visions of the Future (including awards and decorations), senior breakfast, senior picnic, senior lunch jam, senior Sunday bar, senior t-shirt, class picture, and other activities.
3. Clubs and Organizations –  In response to feedback from students and parents we have made some changes to how we are approaching clubs this year.  We will still hold clubs during Flex Time on Mondays, but we have expanded several clubs to also meet after school.  Those clubs and their sponsors are listed below.  As a result, students can choose which club to meet with on Mondays, but can also join as many after-school clubs as their schedule permits.
   • Academic Decathlon – Ms. LaTrice Woods latrice.woods@drewcharterschool.org
   • Beta Club (only after-school) –  Ms. Barbara Manwell barbara.manwell@drewcharterschool.org
   • Debate Team – Ms. Leslie Schaffer leslie.schaffer@drewcharterschool.org
   • Drama Club – Mr. Antavious Baker antavious.baker@drewcharterschool.org
   • Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) – Ms. Risa Murray risa.murray@drewcharterschool.org
   • National Honor Society (NHS – only after school) – Ms. Ashley Young Ashley.Young@drewcharterschool.org
   • National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) – Ms. Beth White beth.white@drewcharterschool.org
   • Student Government Association (SGA) – Ms. Tameka Allen tameka.allen@drewcharterschool.org
4. PTA Membership – Please take a moment to join the Drew PTA.  Dues are $10 and they work tirelessly to provide a wide variety of programming to support our students and staff. You can join online via this link.
5. Legacy Class Parent Shirts – Mrs. Kim Brannan-Sykes has started taking orders for legacy parent shirts for parents of senior students.  The shirts are $15 and $5 from each shirt will be donated to the class of 2017.  If you are interested, please email her at kimkbrannan@aol.com.

Links:

1. Charles R. Drew Charter School
   • Website – www.drewcharterschool.org
   • Facebook
   • Twitter
   • Link to Sign up for Constant Contact Emails
2. Remind Communications – Remind accounts have been set up to distribute information via text message for each grade level.  Parents, guardians and students can sign up for these reminders using the directions linked below:
   • Class of 2020
   • Class of 2019
   • Class of 2018
   • Class of 2017
3. Drew Senior Academy College and Career Readiness
   • Website – www.DrewCCR.com
   • Instagram
   • Twitter
   • Naviance – Senior Academy college and career readiness platform.
   • MyGivingPoint – http://www.mygivingpoint.org/ – All 10-12^th Grade students should have accounts to this site in order to log community service hours.  Please direct questions about community services to your student’s grade-level counselor.
   • Hands-on-Atlanta Volunteer Opportunity Calendar
4. Drew PTA – http://www.drewcharterschoolpta.com
5. Eagle Nation Athletic Booster Club – http://www.dreweaglenation.org/
   • Great information about our athletic teams, including their schedules and records.
6. Band Booster Club – http://drewbandboosters.org/