Principal's Message March 4-8

Dear Peabody and Watkins community,

Thank you for supporting our students' efforts in learning about and celebrating Black excellence in STEAM. If you haven't yet, please see some highlights of the month on our Instagram page. We learned about and from prominent black scientists, engineers, activists, and heroes all month punctuated with family events this week at both our campuses. It was a month full of reverence for the past and celebration of our students' learning.

On Thursday next week, March 7th, our PTA will host our Second Annual Panther Party. This event is solely about community building. We'd love to have all of our Watkins families join us in the gym for some fun, science, and a pizza dinner, all courtesy of the PTA. We'll see you there!

Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled for March 14, which is not a school day. Teachers are sending out sign ups, so please keep a look out for emails and dojo posts. For most classes, there is not enough time in the day for all caregivers to meet with teachers. If you don't find an open time slot that works for you, please contact your child's teacher directly.

Please see below for more information about:

• March is National Social Workers' Month
  
• March 7 Panther Party at Watkins
• March 14 Parent-Teacher Conference Day
• March 22: Annual Cluster Auction Party!
• Recurring Reminders
  
• Peabody, Watkins, and Stuart Hobson Open Houses

Link to our cluster calendar!

Quick look ahead. Click above to see details:

Save the Date! March 14 is not a school day, but day for caregivers to confer with teachers about student progress. Teachers will send out sign ups on or before March 4th for conferences between 12noon and 7ppm. Conferences can be in person or virtual based on caregiver's choice.

The 4th grade will host Academic Parent-Teacher Team group meetings on March 13th at 6pm in person and March 14th at 12noon virtually. All other grades will hold traditional conferences. More details will come from your teachers soon.

March is National Social Work Month! DCPS' theme for the month,

"Empowering Social Workers: Inspiring Action, Leading Change!"

aligns with the theme set forth by the National Association of Social Workers. This is an acknowledgement of all that social workers do to support wellness and mental health across all facets of society. The skillsets and education of social workers make them uniquely qualified to help others and deserving of the utmost respect as professionals.

Our incredible social workers are often working behind the scenes to teach students coping and relationship skills or working with families to remove obstacles for their wellness. Our team is also out in front of our staff teaching us all how to better support the social-emotional needs of our students. Please take a moment to send our social workers a note of appreciation.

Peabody - bernadette.wittschen@k12.dc.gov

1st - 3rd Grade - lauren.kraemer@k12.dc.gov

4th - 5th Grade - denzelle.Carter-Crawley@k12.dc.gov

We are just one month away from the Annual Cluster Auction and Party! Have you purchased your tickets yet? If not, click this link to purchase a ticket and/or donate an item.

We are also accepting donations from families and friends! Below are some ideas-

• Hosting parties and want to sell tickets to a wonderful themed event
• Do you work at some place amazing and can auction off a tour or majestic swag?
• Do you have an astonishing skill or really cool hobby that you could auction off your skills or services?
• Do you own an Airbnb or vacation home and would be willing to auction off a weekend?

These are just a few ideas, we are open to them all! Click here to donate an item, service, and/or experience.

Let's get ready to Disco!!!

Peabody is implementing an Anti-Racism and Anti-Bias curriculum extension this school year. For more information, visit our website https://www.capitolhillclusterschool.org/equity-inclusion

Next week we will re-read: I Walk With Vanessa by Kerascoët

Some discussion questions you could have with your child at home are:

You find out early in the book that Vanessa and her family recently moved to this town/community and Vanessa is new at school. Talk with your child about whether there have ever been new students at their school and how they may have felt in those first few days or longer. You may also discuss whether they have ever been new at school or new to a group/club when the group or class was already formed. Talk with them about what they or others did to help the person feel included. Ask how they or that student may have felt being included in order to build empathy for that person’s experience and feelings.

Hello Families,

We look forward to welcoming new families to our schools. Please promote the below flyers broadly within your networks.

Make sure you are checking class dojo for sports updates from Athletic Director, Coach Drakeford. Please send sports questions her way on dojo or latavia.drakefod-allen@k12.dc.gov.

Back by popular demand, we are restarting the Watkins WatchDOGS (Dads [& Others] of Great Students) Volunteer program!!

What is WATCH D.O.G.S.?
WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads [& Others] Of Great Students) is a family and community engagement educational initiative.

What is the goal of a WATCH D.O.G.S. program?
To provide positive caregiver role models for the students, demonstrating by their presence that education is important.

Who are WatchDOGS and how does WATCH D.O.G.S. work?
WatchDOGS are fathers, mothers, grandparents, and uncles/aunts who volunteer for at least one day each year at an official WATCH D.O.G.S. school. WATCH D.O.G.S., a K-12 program, invites caregivers to volunteer at least one day at their child’s/student’s school for part or all of the day during the school year. Identification will be checked upon entrance.

Is this program only for Dads?

Absolutely not!! We welcome all caregivers to volunteer.

What do WatchDOGS do (while they are at school)?
During the day, WatchDOGS may read and work on flash cards with students, play at recess, eat lunch with students, patrol the school entrances and hallways, assist with traffic flow and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own students, but other students as well. Many school principals have reported that the mere presence of a WatchDOGS volunteer dramatically reduces reports of bullying. On the day of their participation, WatchDOGS participants are given a brief review of their involvement and they wear an official WATCH D.O.G.S. name tag identifying them as a WatchDOG.

What days can I volunteer and how do I sign up?

WatchDOGS participant days will be every Wednesday. Please sign up at least a week in advance so we can notify school administration and teachers of your visit using this link to the WatchDOGS sign-up list: https://signup.com/go/xxkWcuc

Peabody and Watkins teachers have some big plans and big wishes for your kids and their classrooms this year. Please consider fulling some of those wishes from their wish lists.

Hello parents and guardians! We're back again for another year of FoodPrints at Peabody and Watkins Elementary and we are looking for parents to volunteer in our classroom and garden!

We'll have a maximum number of four (4) slots available for parent volunteers for each class. We'll be adding more dates in the coming weeks so be sure to check back frequently if you don't see your child's class as yet. Please reach out if you have any questions to ms. Natasha natasha@ffm.org at Watkins and Ms. Aubryn aubryn@ffm.org at Peabody.

The sign up genius also has the schedule for classes.

Thanks again for your support of FoodPrints!

Peabody caregiver sign up

Watkins caregiver sign up

Email addresses are often entered into our systems with mistakes. If someone you know (partner, friend, neighbor) isn't getting school communication please have them email their names, their child's name, email addresses and phone numbers and any other information to either PeabodyESEnroll@k12.dc.gov or WatkinsESEnroll@k12.dc.gov. Our team will correct the errors asap.

If you somehow are unsubscribed from Blackboard, please email your appropriate school inbox above and Adia.Howard-Stroud@k12.dc.gov who will fix the issue on Blackboard.

Field Trips have resumed and we welcome parents to join as chaperones. Parents who would to volunteer/ chaperone on an ongoing basis, must complete the DCPS Clearance process beforehand. Upon receipt, clearance letters should be emailed to tanisha.montgomery@k12.dc.gov.

Exceptions

Exceptions may be granted to the DCPS Clearance process in the following situations:

1. You are volunteering for a one-time, on-campus event, like Career Day or Field Day. Please email the Clearance Team at dcps.clearance@k12.dc.gov to confirm whether you qualify for a clearance exception.
2. You are a potential volunteer with an active secret or top-secret federal security clearance. Individuals in this group should complete the Federal Security Clearance Verification letter in lieu of being fingerprinted with DCPS. The original signed verification form and a copy of a state issued photo ID to dcps.clearance@k12.dc.gov