Shoutout
- Congrats to Mrs. Hartigan on the birth of her son – William Patrick Hartigan!
- To Mrs. Hecht who returned from leave with the twins this week!
- To Ameer Nuridin for always having a positive attitude in GeoTech and always showing up and showing out!
- To Calliope DeChant for asking the MOST and best questions in APHG!
- To Jordyn Dixon for being a leader and responsible student in APHG!
- To Imari Ricks for making Mr. Bennett and Kitchen laugh with her honesty!
- To Najm Muhammad for always being a diligent worker!
- To Mrs. Cain for all of her work and dedication with the Sunshine Committee!
- To Mrs. Stokes for being collaborative and making a stronger connection between math and science!
- To Brandon Abram, Myah Crowell, Alex Girault, Owen Grega, Chanel Harris, Sayj Harris, Zach Harris, Taylor Hill, Lilian Martin, Dailyn Minter, Toren Mosley, Caitlyn Smith, Aleks Sweeny, Love Thompson, Drew Williams, Quinn Worley, and Jason Lin for being selected as one of 13 teams in the nation to receive a $10,000 InvenTeam Grant from the Lemelson-MIT Program!
- They will address injustices in policing through the invention of an integrated system aimed at collecting and protecting motion, video, and audio data of civilian and police interactions during traffic stops.
- Follow their journey this school year @dcsinventeam on Twitter and Instagram. Click here to learn more
- To all of the Senior Academy staff for being flexible and making adjustments as many faced power outages and impacts of tropical storm Zeta!
E-Learning Notices
Parents thank you for patience and flexibility as we closed out this past week. Throughout the city families and businesses experienced power outage as well as some damage. I am hopeful that everyone is safe and has restored power. As we continue in our E-learning environment, please feel free to reach out to teachers, counselors, and/or administration if your student needs support with participating in the Virtual Learning environment. ~ K. Myers
Virtual Schedule
As a Drew community, our strength is in embracing the collective good and this decision for extending instructional time is indeed for the collective good. We look forward to our families joining us in ensuring that ALL of our students thrive, as we seek to mitigate the learning losses unfortunately facing so many students and communities.
Therefore, effective October 26, the Senior Academy schedule will be as follows:
| Time | Mon/Thurs. (A Day) ; Tues/Fri. (B Day) |
| 8:30 – 9:40 | 1st Period |
| 9:50 – 11:00 | 2nd Period |
| 11:05 – 11:35 | Lunch |
| 11:40 – 12:50 | Break and/or Small Groups (for select students) |
| 1:00 – 2:10 | 3rd Period |
| 2:20 – 3:30 | 4th Period |
In order to further prepare for virtual instruction, we will hold a *contactless drive-through pick-up of 2nd quarter instructional materials starting Wednesday, November 4th. (*updated due to inclement weather forecast)
- Wednesdays will incorporate a half day instructional schedule. This will be an alternating A/B Wednesday.
| Time | Wed. Alternating (A Day) (B Day) |
| 8:30-9:00 | 1st Period |
| 9:05-9:35 | 2nd Period |
| 9:35-9:50 | Break |
| 9:55-10:25 | 3rd Period |
| 10:30-11:00 | 4th Period |
| 11:05-11:45 | Clubs/Advisory |
| 11:45-12:15 | Lunch |
| 1:00 – 4:00 | The following are available to students: – Office Hours w/Teachers – 1:1 [if the selected by a Teacher] – Study Skills [Required for select students] |
Important Attendance Update
Zoom Best Practices
The safety and well being of our students and staff is a top priority. As we navigate the virtual learning space, we are finding more ways to make sure students have access to quality instruction with little to no interruption.
In order to ensure the security of our class sessions and meetings, teachers will implement the Zoom Best Practices below.
- Waiting Room implemented for all meetings
- Students who are not on teacher’s rosters will not be admitted into the session.
- Students’ display names should be first and last names
- Participants will not be permitted to rename themselves
- All classes/meetings will be recorded
- Record active speaker with shared screen
- settings → recordings
- Students need to be authenticated users to join classes and meetings
- Steps for logging into Drew SSO can be found in this article
Student Guidelines
- Students follow their regular schedule
- 9th-11th Grades
- Monday/Thursday (A Day) Tuesday/Friday (B Day)
- 12th Grade
- All seniors
- 1st period will follow the A/B day rotation above
- 2nd-4th period MWF classes will occur on Mon, Wed., Fri.
- Tuesday and Thursday Schedule
- Early College Students v
- Attend Early College courses 2nd – 4th periods
- Non-Early College students
- Follow Drew schedule 2nd – 4th periods
- Early College Students v
- All seniors
Google Classroom Training for Families
- The links below will show you various settings and information for navigating Google Classroom
For more details on virtual instruction please click the link below:
- In this document you will find FAQs and Answers on the structure of virtual learning and resources to assist you and the student while in a e-learning environment
Guardian Announcements from Drew
A message from the Director of Culture & Equity
Greetings Drew Families,
Although I have had the pleasure of meeting many of you, I would like to host a virtual roundtable for all Drew families. During this time I would like to share more about my work to support staff, students and families as we seek to achieve equity and dismantle racism. I wish to also make space for your questions and cultivate space for community discussion. I hope that you will join me on November 4th 6:00-7:00PM EST.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://drewcharterschool.zoom.us/j/93065564839?pwd=UDVadUE2d0VheFBYS1lkYUlaZ0JYUT09
Meeting ID: 930 6556 4839
Passcode: 366781
Save the DATE!
Updates from Teachers!
Teachers at each grade level have compiled a few general notes for you in regards to updates related to their classes.
The link holds the updates for each grade level and it is organized by grade level, 9th-12th. General Grade Level Class Updates
Please feel free to reach out to your grade level counselor should you have general questions about your student and/or need to connect for support.
- Rob Richardson (9th & 11th, rob.richardson@drewcharterschool.org)
- Tara Davis (10th & 12th, tara.davis@drewcharterschool.org)
If you missed the information from the last Principal’s Coffee please see the slideshow below:
Typically, high school is the time when young Eagles are maturing and are prepared to fly on their own. Encourage this independent practice. They will still need the watchful eye to guide them in their development and learning. Please do so during breaks and refrain from interrupting live instruction for the benefit of the students and teachers. The slideshow will include some additional ways you can support your learner in the virtual environment.
- – Slideshow Presentation Here
The meeting will be on
WEDNESDAY [11/18]
Uniform Needs
Senior Academy Virtual Learning Guide
This year Drew will use the virtual instructional model to begin the 2020-21 school year during the first quarter of school. It will also serve as the instructional model should school need to close for extended periods of time once the school reopens for face-to-face instruction.
To review the outline of the student schedule while virtually learning click here.
Google Classroom Training for Families
Video: Parent Orientation Presentation- click here
Slides from Video- Parent Orientation to Google Classroom Presentation- click here
Announcements from
ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The Parent C.A.F.E. is hosted by APS
its designed for Guardians of students with disabilities
General Activity Updates
The Media Services Eagle’s Nest
hOSTED ON Smore, Click the Link above
Intent to Play [In Relation to All Sports]
| I recognize that this is a difficult time for parents and students. The level of uncertainty is troubling and at times can feel overwhelming. I encourage you to contact our counselors if you or your student need support. You can also receive support via a free, confidential Crisis Text Line, with trained Crisis Counselors, by texting SHARE to 741741. (This is a national resource that is available 24/7). |
Drew Opportunity Fund: First Initiative
Last school year, Drew Charter launched its inaugural annual fund campaign, the Drew Opportunity Fund, in honor of our retiring Head of School Don Doran. Under Mr. Doran’s leadership Drew students had myriad opportunities to innovate, achieve, travel and compete, all of which help to close the opportunity gap and make Drew an exemplary learning community.
The 2019-2020 Drew Opportunity Fund was a success! Thanks to the generosity of our school community we were able to raise over $41,000. Over half of the funds were collected since March and were designated to help families weather this challenging time. Now that school is back in session, funds will be used for a variety of evolving needs such as childcare, and mental health services. Donations are tax-deductible and donors will be listed on the Drew website. Please continue to support the Opportunity Fund–we are making a difference. Make a secure, online donation here.
Calendar
Monday
11/02
| 8:30-9:40 | 1st Period |
| 9:50-11:00 | 2nd Period |
| 11:05-11:35 | Break/Lunch |
| 11:40-12:50 | Break and/or small groups [for selected students] |
| 1:00-2:10 | 3rd Period |
| 2:20-3:30 | 4th Period |
| 3pm – 6pm | Nutrition pick up Parents can secure meals that were ordered ahead of time The confirmation email from your order will be needed at the time of pickup – Location: Lower campus [Drew Elementary Campus] |
Tuesday
11/03
| Time | Wednesday | No School |
PD Day/ Election Day  | |
| 10:00-12pm & 4:00 – 6:00 | Q2 DISTRIBUTION (SEE FLYER ABOVE) |
| 6:00pm | Community Discussion [Hosted by the Director of Culture and Equity] Zoom Link |
Wednesday
11/04
| Time | Wednesday Schedule |
| 8:30-9:00 | 1st Period |
| 9:05-9:35 | 2nd Period |
| 9:35-9:50 | Break |
| 9:55-10:25 | 3rd Period |
| 10:30-11:00 | 4th Period |
| 11:05-11:45 | ADVISORY |
| 11:45-12:15 | LUNCH |
| 1:00-4:00 | The following are available to students: – Office Hours w/Teachers – 1:1 [if the selected by a Teacher] – Study Skills [Required for select students] |
days
hours minutes seconds
until
Principal’s Coffee
12pm- Monthly Principal’s Coffee
Zoom Link here
Thursday
11/05
| 8:30-9:40 | 1st Period |
| 9:50-11:00 | 2nd Period |
| 11:05-11:35 | Break/Lunch |
| 11:40-12:50 | Break and/or small groups [for selected students] |
| 1:00-2:10 | 3rd Period |
| 2:20-3:30 | 4th Period |
| 3pm | Maker Space Office Hours The zoom links can be found here–> bit.ly/DrewMAKE |
Friday
11/06
| 8:30-9:40 | 1st Period |
| 9:50-11:00 | 2nd Period |
| 11:05-11:35 | Break/Lunch |
| 11:40-12:50 | Break and/or small groups [for selected students] |
| 1:00-2:10 | 3rd Period |
| 2:20-3:30 | 4th Period |
11/07| Saturday
- N/A
- Please note access to the school building will NOT be available. Security have been advised to not allow access to outsiders until further notice [inclusive of staff].
11/08| Sunday
- N/A
- Please note access to the school building will NOT be available. Security have been advised to not allow access to outsiders until further notice [inclusive of staff].
Upcoming Events:
- Week of 11/09-11/15
- 11/23-27 Holiday Week
- 11/30- 12/04
- **QUARANTINE WEEK – ALL CAMPUSES WILL BE VIRTUAL**
Check this out
The Decatur Maker Space is building desks for students – nothing fancy (see photo) but very functional. Here is a link to the article. https://decaturmakers.org/building-free-desks-youth/
- They will be making two kinds, a folding desk and a non-folding desk. If you know of a student who needs a desk to learn from home, please pass this link along.
- Complete the application link for one here –> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_qTEVn_DYByEN_UkVf10ffymS5p2yJtjlzI09VcKDlmGFaw/viewform
THIS IS NOT SPONSORED BY DREW AND WE DON’T HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PROCESS.
Household Resources
See the information below regarding the importance of communities achieving a “complete count” in the 2020 Census!
Wifi and Internet Resources
Please see the Xfinity flyer above and information to internet access at a deep discount with Comcast–> CLICK HERE .
PTA UPDATES
The PTA Needs YOU!
This year, more than ever, Drew teachers and families need our support!
What do the PTA dues and fundraising efforts pay for (especially during the 2020-21 school year)?
● Teacher Appreciation Gifts
● Donations to The Opportunity Fund – which supports Drew families
● Teacher and Classroom Grants – for projects enhancing student learning
Some past examples include:
Leveled library with cart to be shared across a single grade level
Class set of guitars
iPads/Chromebooks for use within a specific classroom
Beekeeping materials and bees
Drones for a robotics club
Materials and choreography for a choral performance
This support for our students, teachers and families would not be possible without your membership!
Join or renew today! www.drewcharterschoolpta.com
Other Concerns
Uniform Concerns!
Portal for Paying for Nutrition/Lunch Fees
Portal for Paying for Drew Events, Dues, Field Trips, etc..
Update for Students:
Senior Academy Blog 