Team Kathmandu: Week 23

Fri., Feb. 13: No School, Professional Development Day

Mon., Feb. 16: No School, Presidents' Day

Thur., Mar. 12: REGULAR SCHOOL DAY* (No Student Led Conferences)

Fri., Mar. 13: No School

Thurs., June 18: NEW LAST DAY OF SCHOOL*

*Changes due to missed snow/weather days

In order to speed up the morning entrance process and ensure your child's belongings are not confiscated, please make sure they are not bringing any of the items on the attached list. (Glass containers, aerosol deodorants & perfumes are a no go!)

I am so proud of Team Kathmandu this week in their Mini UN Simulation on Access to Education! The kids did a fantastic job of preparing themselves, delivering their speeches, and then communicating through moderated and unmoderated debate their country’s priorities and wishes! They did a FANTASTIC job! We rounded out our Unit 4 studies with a PBS Documentary, “On the Way to School” both Wednesday and Thursday. (See pics of our delegates in action!)

On Tuesday we will start our new unit on East Asia. Next week we will map our unit, introduce new vocab, and read thematic maps. The East Asia map quiz will be on Monday, February 23. Links for students to study will uploaded by Wednesday, February 18 to Canvas. CEA #16 will be due on Friday 2/20.

Last note! We have been learning about Nepal from two people who are living in Nepal. Mr. Will is a teacher about 125 miles from Kathmandu and Ms. Kiran lives in Kathmandu. They have been sending us pictures and videos and helping us to know all about life and culture in Nepal!

CEAs continue to be due at the end of each week. A shout out to the students who have been coming to Wednesday recess CEA club to work together to get their CEA complete! I am so impressed by their focus, collaboration, and efforts! Way to go—I hope you continue to come! As a reminder, any student on Team Kathmandu is welcome to join!

On Thursday we had our last Tea Time! It has been very fun seeing the enthusiasm for tea, treats, and spending time with each other! Thank you to all who participated, sent goodies, and brought enthusiasm and a great attitude!

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!

Be sure to check out our GeoNewsletter, written by our own GeoScribes! Follow along and see the class through your students’ eyes! https://secure.smore.com/n/nbc3t

On Orientation Day students shared a song they would like to add to our class playlist. This Spotify playlist can be found here.

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 in Accelerated 6th Grade Math

This week students continued to work on analyzing the order of rational numbers. This week students will continued to work on analyzing the order of rational numbers and graphing coordinates. Please encourage your child should take advantage of iRecess (a quiet space to work and get help during recess MWF), our Virtual Classroom (www.framevr.io/brownmath after school help available upon request), and our Parking Lot (an in class means to submit requests, reminders, and questions) which are amongst various resources available to students outside of their normal class periods (and Advisory) to help towards success. Students should see me about any makeup opportunities. and those Students more than 4 lessons behind on iReady assignments are REQUIRED to report to iRecess to complete multiple lessons weekly. Students and Resources available from Illustrative Mathematics to assist families with the curriculum we are following can be found at https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS/index.html.

This week in 7th Grade

This week students worked on solving two step equations with rational number coefficients. This week students will work on solving two step equation word problems.

Please encourage your child should take advantage of iRecess (a quiet space to work and get help during recess MWF), our Virtual Classroom (www.framevr.io/brownmath after school help available upon request), and our Parking Lot (an in class means to submit requests, reminders, and questions) which are amongst various resources available to students outside of their normal class periods (and Advisory) to help towards success. Students should see me about any makeup opportunities and those students more than 4 lessons behind on iReady assignments are REQUIRED to report to iRecess (Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays) to complete multiple lessons weekly. Students and Resources available from Illustrative Mathematics to assist families with the curriculum we are following can be found at https://im.kendallhunt.com/MS/index.html.

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.

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

Hello scientists!

Happy Valentine’s Day, Ramadan Mubarak, happy Lunar New year, and happy President’s Day!

This week we wrapped up our Earth’s Place in the Universe unit with an orbit simulation and a reading on orbital velocity. To complement this unit, we will welcome a guest speaker from NASA who is an expert in orbital dynamics and asteroid mission design.

Next week we will begin with a review day, and then students will complete their Earth’s Place in our Universe summative assessment on Wednesday, 2/18. Students have a study guide in their green folder to help them prepare. Also, below is a link they can use to practice with an online quiz. Students can access these resources on a phone, computer, or tablet. Please encourage your students to spend some time reviewing this weekend!

After the summative, we will transition to the start of our Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit.

Next Friday, 2/20, we will have our Roots 3.4 quiz on the following words:

• co/con/com = with, together (think: convergent, congregate)
• secu/sequ = to follow (think: sequence, consecutive)
• *dyn = power, energy (think: dynamic, dynamite)
• *mis = wrong (think: mistake, misspell)
• *re/retro = back, again (think: retrofit, retreat)
• Keepers: bio, hydro, gram, astro, luna, grav, milli, centi, deci

Earth's Place Blooket - Account Needed

shanishka.johnson@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Johnson's list SY25-26

Book time to meet with me

Happy Friday,

This short week was a little tricky with so many of us coming down with winter viruses and stomach bugs. I hope everyone is healthy for the long weekend. If your student was out, and fell behind on the week's assignments, here's the plan:

• Incomplete Unit Skills Assessment (WS in Aspen)- Come make up during Tuesday lunch recess
• Unit Skills test corrections (F in Aspen) -Wednesday during lunch recess
• Censorship Reading & Responses on Common Lit- finish at home this weekend (due by Tuesday am)

Next week, we will read chapters 11-13 of The Giver and learn more about the ties between the book and what we learned about the various types of censorship. We will also learn more about the origins of the community depicted in The Giver.

Finally, next week students will learn more about the options for the Unit 3 Book Project.

Katy Byrns

katy.byrns2@k12.dc.gov

Politics & Prose Wishlist

This week, we learned about and continued to practice with GEMDAS (order of operations). We introduced our Integer unit and began our discussion on positive vs. negative numbers and using number lines to compare numbers with inequalities. Next week we will continue to practice order of operations and number lines. We will also begin practicing graphing inequalities on number lines and introduce the concept of the coordinate plane.

By Tuesday February 17th students should be at 23 lessons passed. 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. Please check Pear to see students’ missing assignments.

Please note that I’ve also uploaded a document for all the notes for our first unit to the class Canvas page and I will continue to periodically upload future notes as we progress.

brandon.shufelt@k12.dc.gov

Read the library newsletter for February! Check out great opportunities for reading challenges, using DCPL databases, Black History Month resources, and more at the link below:

https://app.smore.com/n/x3k0a

Thanks,

Stephen Reichlen

Library Media Specialist

Deal MS – DC Public Schools

stephen.reichlen@k12.dc.gov

Is your child looking to meet some new friends? Or maybe they just want to join an afterschool activity. You can find the current list of Deal Clubs in the document below.

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 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.