The Spot- Dalmatian Newsletter

DMES Families -

This is one of my favorite times of the school year! The excitement of the upcoming holidays fills our classrooms and hallways, brought to life by both children and adults.

Despite the chilly carline, my heart is warmed by the energy and joy that surrounds us!

Some reminders about our holiday schedule:

Friday, December 20: PJ Day/11:30 AM dismissal

Monday, December 23- Tuesday, January 6: Winter Holiday/NO SCHOOL

Monday, January 6: Staff Development Day/NO SCHOOL for students

Tuesday, January 7: Students return!

As we enter into this holiday season, I wish you and your family happiness and love. Please stay safe during the break. We look forward to seeing you again in 2025!

Carla Cato, Principal

Hello, DMES Families!!

The DMES PTO wishes you and yours a wonderful holiday. Looking for a gift? We've got magnets for $5. We continue to look for volunteers to support some of the year's remaining events. If you would be willing to volunteer, please email me at (dmespto21@gmail.com) or contact Mrs. Cato (Cbcato@spart7.org). The events are...

• 1/17/25: Ice Cream Day (1 Volunteer needed)🍨
• 2/6/25: Hero's Dance (4 volunteers needed)💃
• 2/7/25: Ice Cream Day (1 Volunteer needed)🍨
• 3/7/25: Ice Cream Day (1 Volunteer needed)🍨
• 3/13/25: Family Skate Night at Skaterz🛼
• 4/11/25:Ice Cream Day (1 Volunteer needed)🍨
• 5/2/25: Ice Cream Day (1 volunteer needed)🍨
• 5/7/25: Papa John’s Fundraiser🍕
• 5/8/25: Papa John’s Fundraiser🍕
• Field Day (2 volunteers needed per day)⚽

With Dalmatian Pride🐾,

Brandy Simpson, PTO President

Our DMES Spelling Bee is always exciting! Congratulations to the 18 children representing their classes. A special shout-out goes to our winner, Rudra Patel, and two runner-ups, Ken'nyah Holmes and Londyn Smith.

What a magical day at DMES! Our third graders lit up the stage with their incredible holiday program. From singing joyful carols to heartfelt solos, they truly captured the spirit of the season.

DMES Families,

Thank you all so much for your overwhelming support of our Fall book fair! We had an incredible turn out and lots of smiling faces. As a result of your support, we will be able to buy new books, supplies, and learning materials for our library. Stay tuned for the next fair coming in the Spring.

Reading challenge:

Families, we have a Candyland themed reading challenge for Winter break. Students attending the library have seen the Candyland form and have heard about the challenge. I will review with them during the week of 12/16 and would greatly appreciate your support in promoting this to your students.

The kids are encouraged to read as much as they can in order to strengthen their comprehension and fluency skills. In order to attend the Candyland Celebration, students must read a minimum of 200 minutes during the break. This equals about 20 minutes per day for 10 days. There will be a game party, special prizes for the top 3 readers, and candy, of course! Please be sure to add your signature for approval of the minutes read.

I look forward to seeing students excited about reading and I am even more excited to reward their participation. Thank you in advance for encouraging our kids to love reading!

Happy reading,

Mrs. Sanford

Phones OFF/Learning ON: New D7 Cell Phone Policy Effective January 2025

The South Carolina General Assembly has required all school districts to implement policies that prohibit students from accessing personal electronic communication devices during the school day. District 7’s new policy is effective as of January 2025. All student personal electronic devices must be powered off and stored out of sight from the tardy bell until dismissal. This includes all personal devices used to access the Internet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or cellular telephone signals (cell phones, wearable technology such as Smartwatches, Airpods, headphones, etc.). The full District 7 Board Policy “Possession/Use of Electronic Communication Devices in School” is available here: http://spartanburg7.org/CellPhonePolicy.

Thank you for partnering with D7 to help our students understand and follow this policy. Working together, we will achieve our best with “Phones OFF/Learning ON”!

December/January breakfast and lunch menus can be found at this link:

https://spartanburg7.nutrislice.com/menu/drayton-mills-elementary

Chartwells Newsletter https://www.spartanburg7.org/o/spartanburg7/page/food-services

• Monday, Dec. 9-13: Winter iReady testing window opens/ Hour of Code Week

• Thursday, December 12: Performance from SHS Corporation in the lobby for 5th grade at 9:00am.
• Monday, Dec. 16: SIC Meeting at 3:00pm
• Wednesday, Dec. 18: Chapman Cultural Center Muse Machine: Orisirisi African Folklore will perform for 2nd and 3rd grades 8:30am/Kona Ice Fundraiser
• Wednesday, Dec. 18: DMES Chorus Winter Concert @ St. Christopher’s Church
• Friday, Dec. 20: Half Day Release at 11:30am/ PJ Day/End of 1st Semester/ Winter Reading Challenge begins- https://www.canva.com/design/DAGYPWRtZY8/r_eck3Whme5ENPfbq4Q1vA/edit?utm_content=DAGYPWRtZY8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

• Monday, Dec. 23-Jan. 3: Winter Break
• Monday, Jan. 6: No school for students/ Staff Development Day/ School Board Appreciation Week
• Tuesday, Jan. 7: Students return/ Girls on the Run Sign up/PTO Board meeting @ 6pm.
• Wednesday, Jan. 8: Report Cards go home/ Winter Reading Challenge forms due to LRC.
• Thursday, Jan 9: Measures n’ Muffins/ SRO Appreciation Day
• Friday, Jan. 10: PTO Ice Pop Day
• Monday, Jan. 13: SIC meeting @ 3pm.
• Tuesday, Jan. 14: Ukelele Club resumes
• Wednesday, Jan. 15: Chorus resumes
• Monday, Jan. 20: MLK Holiday- No school.

Stay connected to the Dalmatian Nation!

Email: cbcato@spart7.org
Website: dmes.spartanburg7.org
Location: 1500 Skylyn Drive, Spartanburg, SC, USA
Phone: (864) 586-7979
Facebook: facebook.com/DraytonMillsElementary

Follow Drayton Mills Elementary School on our live feed app, too!

DMES is proud to be a Title I School!

Title I schools receive federal funds that assist them in providing high quality reading and math instruction with the goal of improving student achievement. You can see a copy of our school's Title I plan by visiting our front office, and you can learn more about Title I at DMES by visiting the Title I section of our website: https://www.spartanburg7.org/domain/4293. Also on that site, you can see our school's Title I Parent Involvement Policy, Parent's Right to Know, and our Title I Newsletter.