Team Kathmandu: Week 36

Mon. May 25: NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day

Thurs. June 11: Field Trip to Air & Space Museum (see Science section below for more info.)

Mon. June 15: Cameron Run Water Park 6th Grade Field Trip

Tues. June 16: NO SCHOOL, Election Day

Thurs. June 18: NEW LAST DAY OF SCHOOL*

*Change due to missed snow/weather days

Our end of the year trip, as an entire 6th grade class from Deal, is to Cameron Run waterpark in Virginia. Please see the letter and permission slip sent home on Tuesday. All permission slips and money are due on Friday, May 29. to Ms. Trenkle. Students should return the permission slip and money to Ms. Trenkle—it is collected daily in class. Any parent/guardian with concerns, please reach out to Ms. Trenkle at amy.trenkle@k12.dc.gov

We will have Team Kathmandu’s End of Year Celebration on Friday, June 12 during periods 4 and 5. We will spend the time signing t-shirts and having popsicles outside. Students are asked to bring in a white t-shirt to sign, but we know we will need to have some on hand for children who might forget or not have a white t-shirt. Please consider contributing to our EOY activity by sending us t-shirts, fabric markers, or popsicles to celebrate our year together! Each child will bring home their own t-shirt on that Friday. T-shirts should NOT be worn to school that day (we do not want anyone actively signing while on a person). To help out, please visit this Amazon link!

Congratulations Team Kathmandu on their amazing International Museum! Way to share about the history and culture of Nepal. Students showed so much research and highlighted it with their presentation styles! Thank you to all the parents/guardians who supported our students at home and by visiting our class museum!

Next week we will start our final unit on Oceania and Antarctica, and conclude our year with an interdisciplinary project with science on natural disasters in the region. Students will complete their final political, physical, and thematic mapping next week and their quiz will be on Monday, June 1. CEA #28 will be due on Friday, May 29.

Thank you for the awesome postcards—both virtual and via snail mail! We are continuing to read them and post them on our map! So fun and impressive! Thank you for sharing the project with your family and friends and bringing the world to us!

Pictures that are on our Kathmandu Can Do Attitude board can also be found here.

Amy Trenkle

amy.trenkle@k12.dc.gov

Classroom Wishlist

This week 6th grade students worked on representing and comparing proportional relationships with graphs and equations while 7th graders worked on calculating missing angles and angle relationships to create equations and solve real world problems and finding volume and the surface area of 3-dimensional shapes.

This week students will review concepts in preparation for End of the Year iReady Assessment.

Summer Math Acceleration Camp (SMAC):

As you may know, Deal offers an in-person math acceleration program each year for students who are currently taking Math 6 or Math 7. Students who demonstrate mastery of standards on the Middle of Year (MOY) i-Ready and the End of Year i-Ready (EOY) i-Ready by earning the required score will be invited to participate in SMAC 2026. EOY TESTING IS MAY 26-28

We will also offer a summer online asynchronous opportunity for students who will not be available for SMAC. To be invited to participate in the online asynchronous acceleration program students must earn the required score on the MOY i-Ready assessment and share the reason why they are not available for SMAC.

• SMAC Boost | June 22 - 25; 9:00 - 12:00 noon (must attend all dates)

• SMAC Dates | June 29 - July 23; 9:00 - 12:00 noon (must attend all dates)

• Asynchronous Math Acceleration Program (Zearn) | June 22 - July 23

Please direct all questions to DealSummerMath@k12.dc.gov.
Attached is Deal’s Math Acceleration Policy

Thank you for your support

-Mr. Brown marcus.brown@k12.dc.gov

This will be updated weekly:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dlKT87dltchVgOxxhaxD9eaRYbNpu2isofxLnvk3opA/edit?usp=sharing

Hello scientists!

What a great way to wrap up our Earth’s Changing Climate unit! This past week, we discussed our individual carbon footprints as well as the concept of Albedo, which refers to how much sunlight a surface can reflect instead of absorbing it and turning into heat. Higher albedo = more sunlight reflected, and more sunlight reflected = cooler temperatures!

Next week, we will be embarking on our interdisciplinary project unit with Geography. This is a great project that helps students connect concepts from Geography and Science, as well as data from Math and reading and writing skills from ELA.

Roots

Our roots summative will take place on Tuesday, May 26th and Wednesday, May 27th (for 1st period) due to EOY i-Ready testing. Students have been given a study guide, and there is a Blooket link posted to canvas to help them review.

Many students have been struggling more than usual on Roots Quizzes, and many of those who are having difficulty have reported that they are not studying at home. Please ensure that your student is thoroughly reviewing the roots at home with the organizer on Canvas and with the Blooket!

Field trip: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

We are so excited to be heading to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for our field trip on Thursday June 11, 2026! Permission slips have been sent out in class, and also you can find it here in English, and in Spanish.

Please ensure that your students bring

• A string backpack or tote bag
• A bagged lunch
• Sunscreen
• Water bottle
• A pencil
• Kids Ride Free card if they have it

• Comfy walking shoes (this is not the day for their most breakable flip flops)
• Appropriate attire (it’s still too far out to forecast the weather, but the museum is air conditioned)

Students are NOT ALLOWED to bring:

• Money

• Their phone or watches

• A giant backpack

Please return the signed permission slip by Friday, May 29th. Thank you!

Shanishka.Johnson@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Johnson's list SY25-26

Book time to meet with me

It was great to see many of you stop by on Friday. I joked with them that I should invite parents everyday to keep them on their toes in these final weeks ;)

This week, students completed their last ELA summative of the year! This was the infographic poster focused on our changing oceans. Students did excellent work (see below). Thank you to all those who were able to contribute the necessary art supplies to make this happen. It was great to have students working so carefully to create these creative posters and have a nice long break from screens!

Next week, we need to wrap up some loose ends from this unit. This includes a classroom "gallery walk" for students to learn from one another's posters and discuss what we learned. Students will also begin presenting their Term 4 Book projects. These are not due until the 5th of June, but students are welcome to submit & present early.

Katy Byrns

katy.byrns2@k12.dc.gov

This week we began reviewing unit rates and equivalent ratios in preparation for our next unit on the constant of proportionality. We also practiced with iReady in preparation for next week’s End-of-Year diagnostic exam.

By Monday May 25th students should have passed 37 iReady lessons. Students should be working on the “My Path” option to best prepare for the EOY exam. Please reach out to me if there is any issue with students completing the iReady lessons at home; students always have the opportunity to work on iReady during their recess. Pear assignments are opened on Mondays and Wednesdays and due Wednesday and Friday. I am able to print out paper copies of Pear assignments. Please encourage students to request a paper copy if they need. Please check Pear to see students’ missing assignments.

brandon.shufelt@k12.dc.gov

Congrats to our Battle of the Books candidates! We now have our 3 teams set for the district competition on May 29th. Informal prep sessions will still be held on Mondays and Wednesdays after school until the final event.

We are entering the end of the year and last day to check out materials will be June 1st. On June 2nd, there will be overdue notifications sent home to families requesting items be returned before the end of the year. Please be sure to return these items for our students next year and reach out if items have been lost or damaged.

Stephen Reichlen

Library Media Specialist

Deal MS – DC Public Schools

stephen.reichlen@k12.dc.gov

Re-enrollment for SY 26-27 begins on Friday. ALL families must complete the re-enrollment process. Information about the DCPS re-enrollment process is available HERE. Additional enrollment information is available on the Deal website.

https://app.smore.com/n/uxjamz

https://app.smore.com/n/ftm73

Simeon Bien-Aime, MS, CAS

School Psychologist | Alice Deal Middle School

Simeon.Bien-Aime@k12.dc.gov

I did not learn how to do this until my son was in 8th grade, and man I wish I had figured out this trick sooner. You can change your settings on Aspen to send you an email whenever a grade is input for your child below a certain threshold. My husband and I use this function because we don't regularly check Aspen, but we do check email! So every now and then, we can ask our son what happened with a particular assignment or what his plan is for making up missed work. See attached document.

-Ms. Byrns

Beginning this year, families are required to submit excuse notes for students in Aspen GO—the mobile-friendly version of Aspen Parent Portal. The previously existing online system we used has been disabled.

Instructions on how to submit an excuse note are available below.

Submitting an Excuse Note in Aspen GO (Parent Portal).pdf - 443.2 KB (pdf)

Envío de una nota justificativa en Aspen GO (Portal para padres).pdf - 543.4 KB (pdf)

Soumettre une note d'excuse dans Aspen GO (portail parents).pdf - 489.0 KB (pdf)

በ‘Aspen GO’ (የወላጅ ፖርታልParent Portal) ላይ፣ ፈቃድ-ማግኛ ማስታወሻ (Excuse Note)ን ማስገባት.pdf - 504.7 KB (pdf)

在 Aspen GO（家长门户）中提交请假条.pdf - 507.6 KB (pdf)

Nộp Giấy Xin Phép Nghỉ học Trên Aspen GO (Cổng Thông Tin Phụ Huynh).pdf - 315.5 KB (pdf)

Additional information on how to use the Parent Portal can be found at dcps.dc.gov/page/parent-portal.

Congratulations to the IB Learner Profile Students of the Month, exemplifying KNOWLEDGEABLE: Oliver Green-Simms and Aloysius Kerr! In the IB Learner Profile, a knowledgeable student actively explores concepts, ideas, and issues with local and global significance, developing a broad and balanced understanding across various disciplines. They strive for in-depth knowledge and understanding, going beyond surface-level learning to make connections between different areas of study.

April students of the month, Olivia and Joaquim, are open minded! The IB Learner Profile states that open-minded students “critically appreciate (their) own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others. (They) seek and evaluate a range of points of view and are willing to grow from the experience.”

Congratulations to our IB Learner Profile Students of the Month, exemplifying THINKER: Natasha & Dane. Thinkers use critical and creative thinking skills to analyze and take responsible action on complex problems. They exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions.

Chloe & Gregory

As reflective students, they thoughtfully consider the world and their own ideas and experience. They work to understand their strengths and weaknesses in order to support their learning and personal development.

Congratulations to our December IB Learner Profile Students of the Month for Principled: Andrew and True. The IB Learner Profile states that a person who is principled is someone who respects the dignity and feelings of others, is honest and accountable, and accepts both responsibility for their decisions and the consequences that accompany them.

Congratulations to our IB Learner Profile Students of the Month, exemplifying CARING: Diosmar and Max. Students who are caring show empathy, compassion, and respect towards the needs and feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and the world around them. From helping a friend, to picking up garbage after lunch, if you care, it will show!

Congratulations to our IB Learner Profile Students of the Month: Inquirers Amelia and Julian. The IB Learner Profile aims to develop students who are inquirers. Students who are inquirers nurture their curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. They know how to learn independently and with others. Inquirers learn with enthusiasm and sustain their love of learning throughout life.

Congratulations to our IB Learner Profile Students of the Month. This month Team Kathmandu teachers are highlighting the RISK TAKER learner profile: Matlida and Jairo. Risk takers approach uncertainty with forethought and determination; they work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies. They are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change.