Shout Outs!

• To Mr. Shaun Harris, who joins us as our new 10th Grade World Literature Teacher [see note below]!
• To Alvin Winston, class of 2017, who was selected as a Top 20 Under 20 for 2017 Georgia Youth Leadership Awards! The awards program will be on February 11th at the College Football Hall of Fame.
• To Christopher McCrary, class of 2019, who was selected by Atlanta INtown Magazine as one of their 20 Under 20 for his community service!
• To Tara Ranzy for her work on our Community Engagement Plan, including:
  • Conducting student surveys for all grade levels
  • Conducting ninth and tenth grade town halls last week and staff, eleventh and twelfth grade town halls this week
• To Ms. Woods for coaching the Academic Decathlon team at their competition this past week!
• To Ms. Keys for offering and putting up posters to advertise for her morning tutorial!
• To the College and Career Readiness Team for setting up Harvard interviews on Friday and to Dr. Nisha Botchwey, a Drew parent and Harvard alumna, for helping the students prepare!
• To the Ninth Grade Team for their idea for a grade-level interdisciplinary project on the theme of “Girls Rising!”
• To Ms. Jackson for all of her hard work as 12th Grade Team Lead and Senior Sponsor for the fall semester and to Ms. Manwell for stepping up to serve in these roles for the spring semester!

Calendar:

• Monday, January 16th – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Tuesday, January 17th – A Day
  • Flex Time: Advisory
    • Juniors-ACT Prep
  • 4:30 – SA Principal’s Coffee: College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) [Eva Davis Board Room]
  • “HOW TO PAY FOR COLLEGE” WORKSHOP SERIES [Maynard Jackson – See note in previous post]
•  Wednesday, January 18th – B Day
  • 8:30-12:00 – Aquarium Field Trip [AP Art Students]
  • Flex Time: Extended Learning
    • Juniors-ACT Prep
  • 4:00 – International Skills Diploma Seal Interest Meeting [Room A213 – See note below]
• Thursday, January 19th – A Day
  • Flex Time: Extended Learning
    • Juniors-ACT Prep
  • 6:00 – PTA General Body Meeting [SA Center for the Arts]
• Friday, January 20th – B Day
  • 11:45-12:30 – Junior Community Forum
  • Flex Time –
    • Juniors-ACT Prep
    • Seniors-Community Forum
    • All other grades-Free Friday

Upcoming Events:

• Wednesday, 1/25, 4:00-6:00 – SA PBL Showcase [Selected students]
• Saturday, 1/28 – Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl
• Friday, 2/3 –
  • Mock ACT for juniors (8:00-12:00)
  • Half-Day for Parent Conferences [Sign-up link forthcoming]
• Saturday, 2/4, 11:00 – PTA Summer Camp Expo [SA Cafeteria]
• Feb. 6-10th – National School Counseling Week
• Tuesday, 2/7 – Board of Directors Meeting
• Thursday, 2/16 – Orchestra Large Group Performance Evaluation
• February 17-21st – Winter Break [No School]
• Saturday, May 20th, 4:00 pm – Graduation Ceremony [Drew Charter School Gymnasium]
• June 6-17th – Summer BRIDGE Program for rising ninth grade students [Georgia Tech]

Announcements:

• 10th Grade ELA Teacher Change – Ms. Cristy Wynn, our 10th grade ELA teacher, recently accepted a position outside the organization.  Luckily we have been able to hire a certified, experienced and highly recommended teacher to replace her, Mr. Shaun Harris.  The full parent letter explaining the transition is available here.
• Parent Committee Members – Parents/guardians, we need your help with several of our committees listed below.  If you are interested in working with a team of staff members on any of these initiatives, please complete the survey link here.  Committees will generally meet every third Monday at 4:15 pm.
  • Awards Ceremonies
  • Prom
  • School Culture, Spirit and Discipline
  • Staff Culture/Sunshine
• International Skills Diploma Seal – Drew Senior Academy has applied to the Department of Education to award the new “International Skills Diploma Seal” at graduation.  To be eligible for the seal, seniors must meet the following requirements:
  • 3 years of the same foreign language
  • 4 International Focus courses (see link below)
  • 4 extracurricular activities with a global themes or global contexts (exchange programs, international and/or language clubs, international travel, etc)
  • 20 hours of global/cross cultural community service
  • Completion of a capstone presentation

  Parents who believe their child meets these requirements should email Jay McCullough for more information at jay.mccullough@drewcharterschool.org.  All seniors who are eligible to receive the seal will need to attend an informational meeting Wednesday, January 18 at 4:00 pm in Mr. McCullough’s room.  They will be given detailed information about the requirements for the capstone presentation at that time. More information available here.

• Drew’s New Project-Based Learning (PBL) Website – Interested in learning more about PBL at Drew?  Check out our PBL website, created by our Director of PBL, Donya Kemp.  The site is available in the Links section of this blog.
• Princeton University Summer Journalism Program – The Princeton University Summer Journalism Program is an all-expenses-paid journalism and college preparation program at Princeton University for high school juniors from low-income backgrounds. In this program, students learn reporting skills from celebrated journalists, report and write their own newspaper, and are paired with a counselor who oversees their college admissions process. SJP alumni have gone on to jobs and internships at The New York Times, The New Yorker, NPR, and many other news outlets. The application process for the 2017 summer is now open. The application can be found at www.princeton.edu/sjp and is due at 11:59pm EST on Friday, February 24, 2017. For questions or additional clarity, please contact: Caroline Lippman, Princeton University ’19, carolineSJP2016@gmail.com
• Youth Tree Team – “Youth Tree Team is Trees Atlanta’s seven-week summer job program for currently enrolled high school students who are interested in serving their community through environmental work. You will learn how to properly restore and maintain an urban ecosystem and build valuable skills like professionalism, environmental responsibility, financial management, and team building.”  Apply here.
• CEO of My Life – DO YOU HAVE A STUDENT WHO IS LOOKING TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR COLLEGE ADMISSIONS? IS NOT BEING CHALLENGED IN SCHOOL? NEEDS TO FIND THEIR PATH AND BEGIN THINKING ABOUT THEIR FUTURE? OR LACKS SELF CONFIDENCE AND NEEDS TO UNLOCK THEIR POTENTIAL? EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDING SOON!
  CLICK HERE TO ENROLL TODAY
  SPACES ARE FILLING UP FAST!
  
• Reminder: Summer Enrichment Opportunities – Ms. Kaney and her team have created a spreadsheet of summer opportunities that is housed on the www.DrewCCR.com website in the Important Links section.  In addition, there will be the PTA Summer Camp Expo on Saturday, Feb. 4th.
• Reminder: MyPaymentsPlus – We are excited to announce a new way to pay for student dues, yearbooks, field trips and other expenses.  MyPaymentsPlus allows parents/guardians to pay for these obligations online via credit card.  More information about the program and how to register are available in this flyer.
• Reminder: Yearbook – The Charles R. Drew Charter School  2017 Yearbook is now available for sale!! This year’s book is a Signature Series Hardcover bound, PreK-12 (Drew’s FIRST graduating senior class), full color, 140 pages and is available for delivery 5/8/2017. Order yours TODAY for the lowest price possible!!  Sales will work as follows:
  • ONLINE through 11/25/16 $28.00 EARLY BIRD SPECIAL PRICE!!Purchase now with the link below.
  • http://link.entourageyearbooks.com/view_account.asp?l=F1940BDA-4103-4DFE-9899-5802744E3719
    • ONLINE 11/26/16 through 02/26/17 $30.00
    • ONLINE 02/27/17 through 04/10/17 $35.00
    • After 04/10/17 In person at either campus, $35 cash or credit.