SENIOR ACADEMY’S OPEN HOUSE

Welcome to the 22-23 school year!

We are tremendously excited to meet you and talk about the possibilities in the Senior Academy. 

Open House will be this Thursday, July, 21st at 1:00 pm. We hope that you enjoy seeing and meeting old and new friends, teachers, and staff!

Please see the Open House outline provided below.

1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.	Meet and Greet Teachers
1:30p.m. –2:00 p.m.	Parent Portal, Remind, Sign Up, Etc.
1:00-1:301:30-2:00	FlyHigher w/ Dean of Students: Stop by the 4th floor Media Center to meet Dr. Allen to  hear a brief presentation and ask questions concerning upcoming events and school/academy policies
2:30-3:00 p.m.	Meet your Advisor: Find the Flex period room number on your schedule and report to this room at 2:30 pm to learn more about advisory.

• Your schedule will be provided ahead of time. 
•  You have the opportunity to follow your schedule and meet and greet your teachers. Please keep in mind that some teachers are new and are still getting rooms set up and ready for the school year.
• FlyHigher w/ Dr. Allen! Will be offered in two rotating sessions, offered every 30 minutes from 1:00 to 1:30 in the 4th floor Media Center. This is an opportunity to receive information on updated behavior policies.
• The last 30 minutes of open house are specifically dedicated towards meeting your student’s advisor. See how you can help support your student’s advisory class throughout the school year.
• How to read your schedule: 
  • Senior Academy classes are generally on the “A” side of the building, which is the left side of the building if you are facing it from the front. Visually, the “A” side of the building is has blue floors, furniture, and lockers.
  • The first number of the room indicates which floor the room is on.
    • The first floor is the floor you enter from the front of the building. 

We look forward to meeting you and making a positive difference in the lives of the children we serve.

Kendrick L. Myers

Senior Academy Principal

Good afternoon,

It is finally time for us to celebrate the Class of 2022 with this year’s graduation ceremony! We wanted to send a final update to this year’s ceremony. Due to the recent updates in weather for this upcoming Saturday, we will host our graduation ceremony inside the gymnasium. This slight change will allow us to move forward with planning a beautiful ceremony without the disruption of inclement weather. Please see the updated image below. 

As mentioned before, families will still receive 8 tickets per student and each student will have 2 parking passes. Only cars with official parking passes will be admitted into our Yates campus and EA campus parking lots. These parking lots will be filled on a first come first serve basis. EA campus parking lot will have a shuttle available for those that need/choose to ride. The drop off location to accommodate elderly or handicap guests will be at the front door of the Yates campus. All overflow parking will be at Greater Piney Grove – shuttle will be continuously running for transportation to campus. Please see this slide deck from our parent meeting (with updated parking map). 

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We value all our students and families and look forward to celebrating together. Our priority remains to keep the Drew community safe as we plan events and close out this school year.  We look forward to the remaining events that will be indicative of the Drew experience and the contributions your student has brought to the Senior Academy.

K. Myers

Senior Academy Principal

Charles R. Drew Charter School

02/14/22-02/20/22: No School (Winter Break)

02/21- Students Return to School for In-Person Learning

I’d like to take a moment to remind the community to participate in available COVID testing on campus or offsite prior to returning to in-person learning next week.

– ACTION REQUIRED –

Opt-In for Drew’s New Weekly Surveillance Testing Program

Dear Drew Families:

Effective the week of 2/21/2022, Viral Solutions will become Drew’s new vendor for weekly COVID-19 surveillance testing.  Similar to Atlanta Public Schools’ testing program, all students and staff who opt-in will be tested twice per week at no cost.  This new testing partnership is made possible through the Georgia Department of Public Health via a grant from the CDC that has been made available to every school in Georgia. 

While there is no cost for testing and no insurance information is needed, you are required to complete a new opt-in form before your student can be tested.  To ensure your student can be tested the week we return from Winter Break, please complete the opt-in form no later than February 20th.  You can opt-in via the links below.  (Please note: there are separate links of participation for each campus.)  A separate opt-in consent form must be completed for each student.

To provide opt-in consent for Elementary Academy students, click below: COVID-19 Testing for Elementary Academy

Please complete opt-in for one campus only, PER CHILD.

To provide opt-in consent for Junior or Senior Academy students, click below: COVID-19 Testing for Junior/Senior Academy

Thank you for your patience as we have been working to resolve testing issues and continue to do our best to keep staff and students safe.  Please remember to complete the opt-in form by Sunday, February 20th, as you must complete the opt-in consent form for each of your students before they can participate in the new testing program. 

Enjoy your Winter Break!

Use the following link if you obtain COVID test results from outside of Drew. Submit results here: External COVID Test Link

Dear Drew Parents/Guardians,

As you may be aware, Atlanta Public Schools announced that APS will be virtual for students and staff the week of January 3rd – January 7th.  In keeping with APS as a district charter school, Drew will also be all-virtual for the coming week.  Students will return to school on Tuesday, January 4th, through virtual learning and will remain virtual for the duration of the week. Please see the virtual schedule for SA students listed below:

1st Period	8:30-9:40
2nd Period	9:50-11:00
Lunch	11:05-11:35
Break or Small Groups	11:40-12:40
3rd Period	12:50-2:00
4th Period	2:10-3:20

Students in the Senior Academy should have access to their own devices. If your student left their device at school prior to break or if they are in need of a device for virtual learning, please complete this survey in order to receive a device. We will only be able to provide devices for families that complete the above survey. Device pick up will be at designated times on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

As a convenience to families, Drew will still offer drive through COVID-19 testing on campus today, January 2nd, between 10am and 4pm, as originally planned.  Student/Family COVID-19 testing for Monday, January 3rd, has been cancelled.

In alignment with APS current plans, we plan to return to in-person learning on January 10^th.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

K. Myers

Senior Academy Principal

TOWN HALL Monday , MAY 24th AT 12:00 p.m.   Join us on Monday for our last Town Hall of the school year. We’ll discuss plans for the 2021-22 school year. The event will be recorded and distributed to families. You can find the Zoom link in your email or you can come to this site and click the weblink below. https://drewcharterschool.zoom.us/j/95499375025?pwd=Qy9Ic01mcnk0ZUFLM1QvbmF0dkwvdz09

DEADLINE FOR INPUT IS MONDAY [03/29 @12PM]

Please take a few minutes to fill out this Google Form with your graduation preferences:

• 1 graduation ceremony at 6pm with 2 guest tickets per student
• 2 graduation ceremonies (split cohorts at 10am and 6pm) with 5 guest tickets per student

Google Form Link: https://forms.gle/Z93Fsw829cgBnC4g8

**This letter was sent via Remind on 3/24.**

Are you a student or Parent for Class of 2021 [12th Grade]??? To join REMIND see instructions below:

• Subscribe to remind [Flyer Instructions]

• Join by texting @dcs2021sa to the number 81010
• Join by clicking the link: remind.com/join/dcs2021sa

– POSTPONED –

Instructional Materials Distributions RESCHEDULED for Next Week

Click below for details and the new schedule:
https://www.drewcharterschool.org/fs/comms-manager/view/0b826cf7-4c62-4991-8b3c-f4d4d9a2cddd

Dear Drew Community, This afternoon, Drew’s Senior Academy held a virtual Rising 9th Grade Parent meeting on our Zoom platform. Unfortunately, during this meeting there were several racial outbursts, including use of the “N” word, from unidentified participants, which disrupted the meeting and required us to abruptly end it. Drew is working with our technology team to determine the identities of the perpetrators in the meeting.   We are sharing this information with you as it impacts our entire Drew community. Drew administrators and staff are totally devastated by what occurred during this meeting.   This is the third time in two weeks that I have had to write to you about racism and its impact on our immediate community and the larger world.  As I have said before, Drew Charter School will not tolerate racism of any kind, and we will continue to weed it out as it presents itself.  As infuriating and disheartening as this is, nothing will shake our unwavering commitment to and affirmation of Drew’s black students, staff, and families.   Sincerely, Peter McKnight Drew Head of School

STAND WITH US, KNEEL WITH US – Friday, June 5th, at 5:30PM

June 3, 2020

Good evening Drew Community,

It has come to my attention that a Senior Academy student posted an offensive, inappropriate and discriminatory post on social media. First, I want to say that I am deeply saddened and disappointed. I appreciate every student and parent that has brought awareness to this issue and as such, we have already begun the follow-up with the family. I want to reassure this community that we have high expectations for our parents, staff, and our students. There should be a clear understanding that this is not a community that will stand by and condone discrimination, racism, systematic oppression, and/or institutional racism. It is our responsibility to hold every member of our community accountable and respond immediately and appropriately.

I express this in all transparency but want to be clear that due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) the school cannot  share with anyone the details, specifics, consequences of an incident with anyone other than the offending party in any situation. 

While some of these incidents may be met with restorative practices, education, and corrective requirements or policies, it is important to understand that certain actions will not be tolerated. Drew administrators and staff will take all appropriate steps to eradicate actions that threaten the safety and security of the people in our community.

Please reach out to me with any concerns or further questions. 

K. Myers