Team Antananarivo

Families may submit student absence excused notes by:

• Submitting information electronically via AspenGO (preferred method)
• Submitting a hard copy excuse note to the Attendance Counselor
• Emailing DealAttendance@k12.dc.gov

We can once again accept absences excuses via email, as this is the only way to electronically attach documents. Please note information received via email may be processed more slowly than excuses submitted via AspenGo.

• September 1st and 2nd: i-Ready Testing in Math Classes
• September 7th: Labor Day, No School
• September 8th and 9th: MAP Growth Testing in ELA Classes
• September 8th and 9th: Parent Workshops at Deal, 6:30 pm
• September 16th: Back to School Night at Deal, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
• October 3rd: 6th Grade Barbecue at Deal
• October 14th: Team Antananarivo Field Trip to Sandy Springs Adventure Park

Thank you all for supporting your students in their middle school journey! If you would like to donate resources to a classroom, here are the teacher wishlist links:

Mx. Winston's/Ms. Clark's Wishlist

Mr. Ledix's Wishlist

Ms. Wesselhoft's Wishlist

Ms. Sagan's Wishlist

Ms. Sun's Wishlist

Ms. Patsalos's Wishlist

We’ve had a wonderful start to the year in English class as we’ve begun building the structure of our classroom community! Today, we transitioned into our first unit, “Characters Who Grow and Change,” by completing the unit introduction.

Next week, we will continue exploring the unit’s central ideas through our first two readings of the year: “Do People Really Change?” by Jessica McBirney and “Home” by Hena Khan. Students will also complete their first writing assignment, which will provide a baseline of their current skills and help us determine how best to support each scholar’s growth.

Please ensure that your scholar comes to class on Monday with the necessary supplies: a composition notebook, a 1-inch binder, five-tab dividers, a highlighter, and writing utensils. If your scholar needs assistance securing any of these items, please email me this weekend, and I’ll be happy to help. We will not need our course books (The Giver and Restart) until January, so families are welcome to hold off on purchasing them until then. Summer reading assignments are due Friday, September 5.

Lastly, please ensure that your scholar reads for at least 20 minutes each night. Consistent reading outside of class will help students build their stamina, strengthen their comprehension, expand their vocabulary, and grow into more confident, independent readers.

Next week, we will continue building our geography foundation!

On Monday, I will be absent. Students will have a substitute and are expected to work independently to finish coloring and labeling their continents and oceans maps. They will then complete a short reading and worksheet about the seven continents.

For the rest of the week, we will:

• Review the 7 continents and 5 oceans

• Review the IB Geography criteria and rubrics so students understand how their work will be assessed this year

• Practice understanding what strong work looks like in Geography

• End the week by learning about ASPEN and how we will use it throughout the school year

By the end of the week, students should feel more confident with the basic layout of our world and understand some of the important tools and expectations we will use in Geography this year.

We had a fantastic first week in math! Starting September 1st (Tuesday), students will begin the Beginning-of-Year iReady diagnostic on their school-issued devices. This important assessment helps us determine appropriate class placements to best support each learner. To help students do their best, please encourage them to get a good night’s sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and arrive at school on time.

Students will begin receiving math homework on Pear, accessible via Clever, this upcoming week. If your child needs help accessing Pear, they are welcome to visit me during recess for support.

We appreciate your patience as teachers carefully review the data to make thoughtful decisions. Math placements based on iReady will hopefully be available by Monday, September 14th.

Students did a great job getting to know one another through their Gab Lab activities this week and have been busy learning and practicing classroom procedures and expectations. As a culmination of this week's learning, students will complete a creative assignment due on Wednesday, September 2. They will create a comic strip that illustrates one of our classroom's expectations and procedures.

During the upcoming week, students will practice their scientific writing skills by completing a "Letter of the First Week of Class." As they reflect on their first week of school, they will draft, revise, and improve their writing using feedback and the IB rubric before submitting their final version.

Supplies: Please make sure you have all your science supplies ready by Monday, August 31.

For our class, students will need:

• A 1 inch 3 ring binder (this will permanently stay in the science classroom)

• 5 tab dividers for the binder

• A notebook with holes punched in it (will permanently stay in the science binder)

• Pencils

• 1 roll of paper towels

• 1 box of tissues

Optional:

• 1 bottle of hand sanitizer

• Disinfectant wipes

If you are unable to easily find and/or purchase these materials, let me know - we have a few extras from last year. If you want to donate extra paper towels, tissues, or hand sanitizer, they are always appreciated!

Throughout the school year, students will build their scientific vocabulary by learning Latin and Greek root words. Each week, students will study five new roots and take a weekly quiz. At the end of each six-week cycle, they will take a summative assessment covering the roots they have learned.

Studying roots will be homework EACH WEEK. Students will have a Roots organizer in their agenda, and we will also send the roots out in our weekly email.

This week's roots are:

• Uni = 1 (think unified, united, unicorn)
• Bi = 2 (think biannual, bisect, bilingual)
• Tri = 3 (think tricycle, triplet)
• Quadr = 4 (think quadrilateral, quadruplet)
• Penta = 5 (think pentagon, pentapedal)

Last week, we got to know each other and went over the school polies and routines. More importantly, students reviewed ACCESS data from earlier this year and set goals for the upcoming ACCESS test. Next week we will start practicing READ 180 stations and conduct DIBELS screening for student placement.

Ms. Patsalos is in her 10th year at Deal. Before becoming a teacher, she was a television news producer. She has a BA from Colgate University, an MS in Journalism from Columbia University and a MAT-ESOL from American University.

Ms. Sun is in her 7th year at Deal and in her 11th year of teaching. Ms. Sun has an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language and World Languages from the George Washington University and a BA in General Education from Shawnee State University. Before teaching at Deal MS, Ms. Sun taught in Columbus, Ohio and China.

Ms. Clark is in her 4th year at Deal and in her 12th year teaching. She has an MA in English Education, ELL Endorsement, and Reading Endorsement from University of Iowa. She will be working with MLL students in Mr/x. Winston’s classes.

Dr. Kouassi (koo ah see) or Dr. K. is excited to join the Deal community! She brings 23 years of experience working with students of all ages and loves helping multilingual learners grow and feel confident. She also spent nine years at the U.S. Department of State training American diplomats. She holds a law degree, an MS in Educational Leadership from Trinity Washington, and a doctorate from Delaware State University. She speaks English, French, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Baoulé, Dioula, Agni, and Ashanti.

- Ms. Clark, Ms. Patsalos, Dr. K, and Ms. Sun

Here is the link to our amazing World Languages Newsletter page. Feel free to follow them for the most up-to-date information!

Meet Deal's librarian Mr. Reichlen! Learn about the great things happening this month at Deal's library. Check out great books and media, read about events at Deal and around the city, and stay connected with Deal's Library:

https://app.smore.com/n/9unb1

“What should my student do if they want to try out for a sport?”

Information about sports tryouts can be found on the Deal website. If there is no information there currently, then it will be updated closer to when tryouts occur.

“What should by student do if they want to sign up for a club?

Posters about clubs are hung up around the school, and information is posted on the Deal website. If your student wants to create a new club, they should find a faculty sponsor. Clubs often change year by year - current information is usually posted by the 3rd or 4th week of school.

“What time should my student arrive at school?”

Your student should arrive to school by 8:20 at the latest. This is because every 6th grader has to share a single entry point, so the line can get very long. The first class bell rings at 8:45, and students need to be in their seats and ready to learn by that time.

“How does dismissal work?”

At 3:15, the final bell rings and the students are dismissed from classes. Unless your student requires specialized transportation, it is up to you and your student to plan their best way to get home safely.

“My child has to miss school; how do I get their absence excused?”

If your student isn’t in class, we are required to mark them absent. Your student’s teacher does not control whether that absence is excused or not. If your student needs to miss a class, please use the Aspen GO app or submit a paper doctor’s note to the attendance office.

“What should my student do if they are out sick? How do they catch up on work?”

Please have your student contact their teachers via Canvas to ask about missing assignments!

"What are all of these new websites that we have to use?”

• Aspen is a virtual gradebook that teachers use to track grades
• Canvas is a learning management system where teachers can upload files, links, and homework for students to access
• Clever is an app hosting service so DCPS students can log into a variety of apps (PEAR, i-Ready, Canvas, Aspen, NearPod, Amplify, etc) with a single sign on

None of these sites directly communicate with each other, so gradebooks do not automatically update to reflect assignments completed on other platforms.

"My student and I have a question for their teacher - how should we contact them?”

Your student is now a 6th grader, so they are expected to work on their communication skills. Please help them write a message to their teacher through Canvas to grow their email etiquette skills.

“If I have a direct question for my student’s teacher, what should I do?”

You can email your student’s teacher - please keep in mind that we have over 100 students each and need time to thoughtfully respond!

To be eligible for participation in the KRF program, each student must be:

• A resident of the District of Columbia, and
• Ages 5 through 21, and
• Enrolled in an elementary or secondary public, charter, private, or parochial school located within the District, or a youth in the care of the District.

Cards will be available in room C115, located on the center east side of the 1st floor of the main building. Students will receive a date according to their team to come to the office between 3:15-4:15pm during the first week of school.

• Almaty - Monday, August 24
• Chirilagua- Tuesday, August 25
• Nara - Wednesday, August 26
• Oslo - Thursday, August 27
• Antananarivo - Friday, August 28 (that's you!)

Returning Deal students already have cards that do not expire until September 30, 2026. They will receive cards before that date at room C115.

"I keep hearing about this newsletter that you just sent me. Do I have to actually read it?”

The team newsletter is a weekly newsletter with important information from your student’s teachers. It includes assignments, announcements, and other details that you and your student need to know. We use the emails listed on Aspen to create the mailing list. If you haven’t received it directly in your email inbox by the 2nd week of school, reach out to your student’s teachers and we will fix it.

"I am super busy and don't always have the time to read the newsletter. How should I help my student access the information?"

Students are told or given everything they need that is contained in the newsletter during classes via being told to write assignments in their school-provided agenda and also sometimes via letters home. If your student loves receiving emails, though, they can talk to us about having their personal email added to the newsletter mailing list so they can access it from there as well.

“What can I do to best support my student and their teachers?”

Check in with your student, enforce structures and consequences at home, and please teach them how to use deodorant properly!!

Each month our school community celebrates one of our IB Learner Traits. The team teachers discuss who to nominate and chooses two students from Team Antananarivo who have demonstrated this characteristic in all of our classes. Stay tuned as we continue to celebrate all year, and make sure to shout out our past learners!

Ms. Gathers, 6th Grade Assistant Principal: Stacey.Gathers@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Watson, 6th Grade Dean of Students: devin.watson@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Morris, 6th Grade Counselor: tysha.morris@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Wesselhoft, Geography: naeemah.wesselhoft@k12.dc.gov

Mx. Winston, ELA: alvin.winston@k12.dc.gov

Mr. Ledix, Math 6 and 7: ralph.ledix@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Sagan, Science: ellie.sagan@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Patsalos, Multi Language Learning Specialist: constance.patsalos@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Sun, Multi Language Learning Specialist: dijia.sun@k12.dc.gov

Ms. Clark, Multi Language Learning Specialist: katlyn.clark@k12.dc.gov

Dr. Kouassi, Multi Language Learning Specialist: sandrine.koassi@k12.dc.gov

☎️ 202-939-2010

🖥️ alicedealmiddleschool.org