DHS February 2025

• Friday, February 14th - Virtual Day
• Monday-Tuesday, February 17th & 18th - Student Mid-Winter Holiday
• Monday, February 17th - Presidents' Day
• Tuesday, February 18th - Teacher Work Day
• Thursday, February 20th - DHS Literacy Night with World Languages (6pm-7pm)
• Friday, February 21st - Registration Deadline for March 8th SAT Test
• Tuesday, February 25th - Deadline for Changes, Regular Cancellation, and Late Registration for March 8th SAT Test
• Friday, February 28th - Registration Deadline for April 5th ACT Test

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. The first National Black History week took place the second week of February in 1926. February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and lectures.

Washington’s Birthday was the first federal holiday to honor an individual's birth date. In 1885, Congress designated February 22 as a holiday for all federal workers. Nearly a century later, in 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Law changed the date to the third Monday in February. The position of the holiday between the birthdays of Washington and Abraham Lincoln gave rise to the popular name of Presidents Day. National Archives.

On January 17th our ELA, ESS, and ELL teachers participated in a district training geared towards an in depth learning of the new Georgia's 9-12 English Language Arts Standards. This training provided an overview of key structural components of Georgia's 9-12 English Language Arts Standards, which will be implemented in school year 2025-2026. A consistent and coherent framework is essential for teachers, students, families, and other stakeholders to successfully transition from the Georgia Standards of Excellence and access the new standards.

Way to go DHS Teachers!

“We have lots to learn and will work hard to make the new standards accessible to our students. My hope is that the students will enjoy new ways to interact with texts and that they will grow as life-long learners.” Becky Jewell

"This first training provided me with more awareness of what is changing with the standards and the layout. Specially, teachers got to see the overall vertical alignment, and how the standards breakdown. Our future training will move into more implementation.” Marc Hefner

"I feel like the training was very beneficial for all of us! It was well organized, and we appreciate the materials that were provided. Having the grade band standards, grade level standards, practices, and resources for quick reference in prepared binders was convenient and will also be a resource we utilize often in the near future as we begin to implement this work. The training was structured in a way that encouraged us to learn to navigate these materials and become familiar and comfortable with them. We also appreciate that the presenters were providing the most recent information from the Georgia Department of Education, some of which was released the week of our training. It's evident that our literacy leaders are working hard to ensure that teachers are prepared by organizing the training session in a way that optimized our time together and by staying on top of the latest news to keep us informed. New standards are always a bit intimidating, but this first training session eased many concerns and established that support is in place to guide the process.” Denise Thompson