Subject: Food Delivery and Item Drop-off Policy

Dear Senior Academy Families,

Due to COVID safety restrictions, families cannot drop off any items to students during the school day. Items include but are not limited to: food, drink, uniforms, electronics, money, etc.

Additionally, students are also not permitted to order food to be delivered to the school at any time. Any student order that is intercepted by staff will be disposed of immediately and students/parents will not be reimbursed. Students that are caught in the process of accepting food from a vehicle will be directed to dispose of it.

Free breakfast, lunch, and filtered water is available to all students. Teachers will also make accommodations for missing materials depending on the circumstance.

Lastly, students are not permitted to walk out to a car or accept anything from a person outside of the school building during the school day for any reason. Students found doing this will face disciplinary action regardless of the item accepted.

Thank you for your understanding and for working with us to ensure that our students receive a wonderful education in a safe environment.

Please email me if you have any questions – Tameka.allen@drewcharterschool.org

Thank you,
Dr. Allen | Senior Academy Dean of Students

Announcements for 20-21 SY BELOW:

Drew Changes 2020 – 2021 Calendar & School Start Date

Dear Drew Families:

We hope that you are safe and well.  As we continue planning our reopening for the upcoming school year, we wanted to notify you of changes to Drew’s school calendar.  Yesterday, Drew’s Board of Directors approved a revised 2020-2021 school calendar, including pushing back the first day of school. The first day of school for students has been changed to August 3, 2020.  (The original start date was July 27, 2020.) The amended calendar also includes updates to school breaks and holidays. 

Please click here to view the amended 2020-2021 student calendar, and note that the amended calendar dates will be reflected on Drew’s website soon.

Drew Charter School is continuing to evaluate the following three possible 2020-2021 reopening models, which were previously communicated to families:

·       Face-to-Face Model

·       Hybrid Model (combination of Face-to-Face and Virtual)

·       Virtual/e-Learning Model

While the school has not reached a decision regarding which of the three reopening models it will implement, delaying the first day of school provides administrators and staff with essential time to adequately plan for restarting under any of the proposed scenarios, particularly in terms of safety and wellness, operations, instruction, facilities and other critical reopening components.  We continue to carefully evaluate the latest federal, state and local reopening guidance and are considering extenuating factors in making our decision. 

As our decision has the potential to tremendously impact our families and staff, we hope to provide as much advance notice as possible of the specific reopening model Drew will implement.  Please stay tuned for additional updates.  

We look forward to embarking on a new year of learning with your student on August 3, 2020!  

For the Love of Drew,

Peter McKnight

Head of School

• Announcement from Creative Keystrokes
  • ORDER YOUR CLASS RING/ LETTER JACKET BY NOV 1 HOLIDAY DELIVERY
  • CREATIVE KEYSTROKES WILL BE TAKING CLASS RING AND LETTERMAN JACKET ORDERS OCT 30 SENIOR FORUM.  ALSO PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE NOV 1.
  • CLASS RINGS AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE OR INQUIRE WITH MS. EMILY OR LIVINGSTON FOR CATALOGS.
  • DEPOSIT: $125
  • RING PROMOTION CALL CREATIVE KEYSTROKES FOR MORE INFO.
  • VISIT WEBSITE –>WWW.CREATIVEKEYSTROKES.NETCALL 770.469.4543 FOR QUESTIONS OR SCHEDULE APPT FOR DIRECT ORDERS AT OFFICE.

• Atlanta Parent Summit, Saturday, Oct. 26^th
  • A non-profit, focused on education policy at the state level & local level are working on a strategic plan. 
  • The non-profit, GeorgiaCAN, have organized a discussion to gather the input from parents at Drew.
  • The strategic plan will set the tone for policy decisions for the next five years.
• To ensure the school is included in the plan. Atlanta Thrive and GeorgiaCAN are co-hosting a parent summit with a few school board representatives.
  • During the summit, parents will have the opportunity to speak with school board members directly to offer your thoughts and suggestions. 

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Atlanta Parent Summit 
Saturday, October 26th, 2019
11:30 am to 1:30 pm 
Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center
110 Hilliard St SE, Atlanta, GA 30312

Lunch, transportation, and childcare will be provided

If they can’t attend we’re still looking for their feedback, they can complete this survey that will be shared with the school board. 

• An Important Note on Equity from Drew’s Board Chair and Head of School
  • Dear Drew Families,
  • Please click here for an important note from Drew’s Board Chair and Head of School.

05/08/19

Important Upcoming Notices

1. Lottery – The announcement for Drew’s Enrollment Lottery will take place at 6:00 pm in the Theater. Please note your presence is not mandatory.
   • The lottery will take place in the theater at JA/SA at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 9. Applicants DO NOT need to attend to be seated or receive their results.
   • Applicants will receive an email on May 8th with their lottery identification number. If they didn’t provide an email address on their application they can pick up their number in person on May 9th according to this schedule.
   • After results have been verified by our certified public accounting firm, results will be emailed, sent via USPS and posted on our website no later than May 17, 2019.
     • Additional lottery information can be found at http://www.drewcharterschool.org/enrollment.
     • Please contact the Enrollment Team at 404-450-0567 or admissions@drewcharterschool.org with questions.
2. Senior Accounts- Please note all pending charges for seniors must be settled out by the close of the semester.
   • See the appropriate contacts for the following concerns:
   • Books – See Ms. Ricks
   • Technology – See Mr. Gaines
   • Cafeteria charges– See flyer below to pay balances, additional concerns can be addressed by calling 404-802-2540.

04/23/19

#1- RE-ENROLLMENT UPDATE

• Lottery application window for new students closes April 30, 2019
  • If your student has a sibling who is interested in attending Drew, the final deadline to submit a lottery application for the 2019-2020 school year is April 30, 2019. The online application is available here and all qualifying applications will be included in the lottery on May 9^th. Note that the lottery is for potential new students only. Additional lottery information can be found at www.drewcharterschool.org/enrollment.
  • Please contact the Enrollment Team at 404-450-0567 or admissions@drewcharterschool.org with questions.

#2- Senior Academy Major Events

• Major Events on 04/26 include End-Of-Course Testing for Seniors, Half Day Parent Conferences and Prom.
  • SENIORS SHOULD ARRIVE TO SCHOOL BY 8:00AM in order for testing to begin on schedule.
  • When Drew holds Parent Conferences students are advised to wear Blazers.
    • This Friday, there will be a Half-Day for Parent Conferences and students are expected to wear Blazers on 04/26.

• Please Note the following
  
  • Prom logistics-
  • Students must be present for the day in order to attend Prom. Therefore Prom tickets will be distributed at 11:15 which is also dismissal for the day.

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04/16/19

Drew Charter School Launches Drew Opportunity Fund

Honoring Don Doran’s Legacy of Leadership

As you are aware, Don Doran, Head of School, will retire at the end of the school year.  Under his leadership, Drew has made remarkable strides – our student population has more than doubled in size; we’ve completed our cradle-to-college pipeline, and graduated two (about to be three!) senior classes; and have become the #1 high school (out of 18), #2 middle school (out of 26) , and #6 elementary school (out of 59) in Atlanta Public Schools, based on 2018 CCRPI scores.

During Mr. Doran’s tenure as Head of School, Drew students have had myriad opportunities to innovate, achieve, travel and compete, all of which help to close the opportunity gap and make Drew…well, Drew!

To honor his legacy, the school is launching the Drew Opportunity Fund, an annual giving campaign designed to enable Drew Charter to respond to immediate needs, unexpected opportunities, and fresh ideas.  Whether it be bolstering student experiences, providing innovative professional development to staff or enhancing a learning space, the Opportunity Fund will be a powerful vehicle to keep Drew an exemplary education community.

To kick-off the inaugural campaign, we invite you to show your support for Mr. Doran and his accomplished legacy here at Drew by making a donation in his honor.  In appreciation, you will be listed as a donor on Drew’s website, as well as in the 2018-2019 Annual Report.

You can make a secure, tax-deductible gift here or by visiting www.drewcharterschool.org.  Every gift – at any amount– makes a difference and is appreciated. 

Join us in honoring Mr. Doran’s legacy of leadership to Drew Charter School!

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04/15/19

Surveys for Head of School Candidates Town Hall Meetings

As a follow up to the Town Hall Meetings last week to meet the three finalist candidates for the Head of School position, we are sharing the survey links for each candidate that were posted at the end of each meeting.  (These survey links are being resent to address technical issues that some stakeholders had with the original survey links.)  Please complete the below survey link for each candidate’s Town Hall that you were able to attend. 

• The links will be accessible until 10am on Wednesday, April 17^th. 
  • Survey for Jack Creeden
  • Survey for Charles Wright
  • Survey for Peter McKnight