Team Paramaribo

Attendance and Absences

Families may submit student absence excused notes by:

Submitting information electronically via AspenGO (preferred method)
Submitting a hard copy excuse note to the Attendance Counselor
Emailing DealAttendance@k12.dc.gov

We can once again accept absences excuses via email, as this is the only way to electronically attach documents. Please note information received via email may be processed more slowly than excuses submitted via AspenGo.

Save The Dates!

December 8th: Quarter 2 Midpoint, any unsubmitted late work after this point will not be accepted
December 6th: Deal Holiday Market/Student Entrepreneur Fair (information below)
December 12th: Three Religions Fieldtrip (more information to come in later newsletters)
December 20th - January 4th: Winter Break, no school
January 24th: International Night

Deal Holiday Marker + Student Entrepreneur Fair

Are you ready to shine? Show off your creativity, talent, and entrepreneurial spirit at the Deal Holiday Outdoor Market – Student Entrepreneur Fair on Saturday, December 6, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Alice Deal Middle School.

If you’re a student entrepreneur selling your creations — or if you’d like to share a performance (such as singing, playing an instrument, or another talent) — we’d love for you to participate! Please note that both the market and any performances will take place outdoors, and all Deal students are welcome to apply.

To apply, please click on the student application form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uQiUxnjtI-w1jRVLefDxSypw1QmBejNDbGVRd8OIFQ8/preview

Questions? Please contact lead Virginia Arrisueno, at virginiaarrisueno@gmail.com

International Night

SAVE THE DATE!

International Night-Saturday January 24, 2026

6pm – 8pm

Students and families from all grades are welcome and encouraged to join us for International Night!

This time-honored event brings together the Alice Deal community as we celebrate the many cultures and nations represented among our student body. The event includes "Taste of the Nation" tables where families share sample size offerings of foods from around the world. Wear your dancing shoes - we will have a DJ! And of course, Deal merch will be on sale.

Join us for this festive night of celebration! Buy your tickets here: https://e.givesmart.com/events/KIw/

****International Night is our number one fundraiser for important scholarship dollars for the upcoming 8th grade foreign language trips!

Advisory Mid Point - All WS Assignments Due

The Term 2 Midpoint Cutoff for grades is Monday, December 8th. If your student is missing any assignments, please encourage them to complete them and/or turn them in by Friday, December 5th to meet this deadline with time to spare. We will not accept any late work from the first half of the quarter that was turned in after 3:30 on December 8th.

If your student has turned in an assignment before December 8th and it is still listed as a WS, please allow time for us to update our gradebooks as there are over 100 students and we are only human.

Classroom Supplies Wishlists

We are so incredibly thankful to everyone who has sent in supplies so far - you are all truly appreciated!

If you would like to donate to your student's classrooms, here are the Amazon wishlist links:

Ms. Wesselhoft's Wishlist

Mx. Gomez's Wishlist

Mr/x. Winston and Ms. Clark's Wishlist

Ms. Patsalos' Wishlist

Ms. Sagan's Wishlist

Ms. Sun's Wishlist

Any donations can be sent to the school with this format:

ADCA c/o Teacher Name

3815 Fort Dr NW

Washington, DC 20016

English and Language Arts with Mr. Winston

I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and enjoyable break this week! As a reminder, the final deadline for scholars to complete Unit 2 Skills Assessment 2 is Wednesday, December 3rd at 5:00 PM. Please encourage your scholar to attend after school tutorial with me on Tuesday and Wednesday from 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm to complete this, along with any other assignments marked WS.

As an administrative note, I’ve rescheduled the Unit 2 Vocabulary Quiz to this upcoming Tuesday, December 2nd. For your reference, I’ve pasted the unit’s vocabulary words and their definitions below:

Accomplish (verb): to reach or carry out with success
Advantage (noun): a better chance or position
Attain (verb): to get or reach
Commitment (noun): a pledge to do something
Competitive (adjective): having a strong desire to win or do better than other people
Dedication (noun): showing devotion or a lot of hard work
Despite (preposition): without being changed by; even though
Effective (adjective): able to produce a result that you want
Inspire (verb): to encourage or cause something to happen
Rehearse (verb): to practice for a show, play, or other performance

As always, please encourage your scholar to read for at least 20 minutes each night. All students should have a book they are independently reading outside of class.

Math with Mx. Gomez

6th Grade Accelerated Math

Next week, Math 6 students will finish up their RCTs and complete a summative assessment on percent. Next, we’ll begin Unit 4 of Accelerated Math 6, starting with identifying algebraic expressions and moving into combining like terms—focusing on whole numbers only (no rational numbers yet).

7th Grade Math

Next week, Math 7 students will explore circles by working with circumference, understanding how it relates to area, and applying these concepts to solve problems involving circles.

Please encourage your child to stay on top of their assignments and reach out if they need support.

📎 Follow Along at Home

Families and students can explore the curriculum, preview lessons, and access resources using the link below:
🔗IM Accelerated Math Curriculum

🔗IM Grade 7 Math Curriculum

Technology Issue with Report Cards

During the Report Cards posting window, there was a Wi-Fi issue in the basement that delayed the posting of some grades. The school is aware of this and are working on a solution, but if you notice a difference between the Aspen grade for your student for the first quarter and the letter grade on their report card, please tell your student to BRING IN THEIR PAPER REPORT CARD and check in with me so I can catalogue the extent of the error. We are currently estimating between 10-15 students may be affected, so please compare the grade your child received on their paper report card with the digital copy - the digital copy is the corrected and updated one, and we need to ensure that the paper ones are updated accordingly.

World Geography and Cultures with Ms. Wesselhoft

I hope you have an amazing and restful Thanksgiving break. When students return, we will begin our Three Religions content. Students will learn about the three major monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—through a cultural and historical lens. Our goal is to help students understand how these belief systems have shaped regions, traditions, and global interactions.

This unit focuses on academic knowledge, not worship or faith practice. Students will compare origin stories, key beliefs, geographic spread, and cultural impact, while building a respectful understanding of diverse worldviews. This will help students strengthen their critical thinking, empathy, and global awareness.

Further, if your student has not yet returned their Three Religions field trip permission slip, please have them do so ASAP (be sure to fill in ALL sections)! If they are not planning to attend, I need an email informing me of that so I can be accountable for the whereabouts of your students.

Here is the new wishlist link if you would like to donate to the Geography classroom.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/O9VNS5ZC4A1S?ref_=wl_share

Earth and Space Science with Ms. Sagan

Hello scientists!

This week was short and sweet - students completed their Amplify End of Unit assessments and wrapped things up with a video about how scientists learned about the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. After we come back from the break, we will blast off from Earth to start our Space Systems and Cycles unit! December 8th is the term midpoint, so students must turn in all late or missing work by Friday, December 5th in order for it be graded.

Roots!

Roots Quiz 2.4 is scheduled for Friday, December 5th. Please encourage your child to review their roots in preparation.

meter = to measure (think kilometer, thermometer)
*div = to separate (think division, divergent)
*graph = write, draw (think geography, paragraph)
*helio = sun (Greek) (think heliocentric, helium)
terre = land (think territory, terraform, terrain)

Keepers: inter, peri, multi, equi, geo, vacu, cent, kilo, octo

Please encourage your student to review these root words as well as the keepers for the quiz.

Notes from MLL Support

Last week students continued with their student application online, iReady and teacher-led stations with their HMH books. Next week we will review speaking data for the second round of ACCESS practice and start the second round of writing practice along with HMH practices.

Ms. Sun’s Amazon Wishlist

World Languages Newsletter

Read the weekly Deal World Languages newsletter to find out more about the happenings in Chinese, French and Spanish classes, including units of study and upcoming assignments and assessments.

https://app.smore.com/u/emily.bullock5

Library Corner

Mr. Reichlen has created a new web collection of school and public library links to support the novel lists for independent reading texts from the CommonLit 360 ELA curriculum. Here students can find access points to all of the catalog records for recommended texts that support each of this year's unit themes organized by grade level and unit. Students can checkout and place items on hold. The collection will be updated throughout the school year to provide access to recommended titles as units change. See the link below for more information:

https://bit.ly/ADMSLibraryLibGuide_ELA_Resources

Learn about the great things happening this month at Deal's library. Check out great books and media, read about events at Deal and around the city, and

stay connected with Deal's Library:

Https://secure.smore.com/n/z01ut