Sunday, November 17, 2013

Diggs-Latham Honored With Kennedy Center Award - Week of Novemeber 18th




Diggs-Latham Elementary School and Reynolds High School are two of only 5 schools in North Carolina receiving a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts School of Excellence in Arts Education Award.  The Award recognizes schools that have done a superior job of incorporating Arts into a quality education for all students.

It really is time to take a minute to enjoy and celebrate this prestigious honor.  The credit is yours.  I am so very proud of what we have been able to accomplish in creating a learning environment rich in the arts that is integrated throughout the curriculum, school and community!  With limited resources, we have been able to keep the arts alive here at Diggs-Latham, thanks to an incredible faculty and staff, volunteers, community partners and of course talented students with a passion for the Arts! 

I feel we have been successful because of your collaborations with each other. You respect each other and offer resources as needed. I hear music in the classrooms and see kids dancing to math! Kids are learning fractions in dance, art, music, and PE. The Arts abound in every classroom. As an A+ school, that is what we are all about!

CONGRATULATIONS DIGGS-LATHAM ELEMENTARY MAGNET SCHOOL! You are the best!  We will be visited by the Education Editor and a photographer from the Winston-Salem Journal today around 10:00. They are doing a story on our school's accomplishment.


Congratulations as well to Jacqueline Pullen who passed her PRAXIS EXAM. We are so very proud of you.  She and Allison  (pre-k) both have a lot to be proud of as this is not an easy feat! Way to GO!!!!

Conferences Scheduled for the Next Few Weeks:

The next two weeks are dedicated to your completing conferences with your parents. Please note that it is a Best Practice to hold a conference with every student's parent/guardian.  However, if you have already met with that parent this year, and you feel you do not need to meet again now, then you will not need to.  You should try to meet with parents as often as needed but at least 3 times a year. I have sent you an important email with an attachment that gives you an abundance of tips concerning conferences. Whether it is your first conference or your one hundred and first, these guidelines should help.  Please make sure you document your conference, bullet important topics and strategies and possible solutions.  I wish you positive and successful conferences!

November 20th-Community Walk-In

WSFCS has a campaign running in which they invite the community to "Walk-In" our schools on November 20th anytime between 9:00-11:00.  Parents, grandparents, school board members, superintendents, neighbors, community partners and others are invited in to visit. We want the community to see the great work being done in our schools everyday.  November 18-22 is American Educator Week, and what a great way to thank an educator!  Visitors will need to stop in the office to sign in between 9 and 11. You'll be guided to a classroom by a staff member.  Visitors may visit several schools if they wish.  This campaign has been advertised. The school system has also created blank Thank you Cards that can be filled out by the visitor to thank a teacher or staff member for all they do.  I know you will be welcoming and encouraging.  Please talk to the students about this special day.


Home Moravian "Hoe Down"!

This Wednesday from 5:45 to 7:30, Home Moravian Church will host a fundraiser in our name to benefit our school. I cannot encourage you enough to bring your families out for some homemade food and great music. Mr. Powelson will be playing his "fiddle".  The cost is just a donation of whatever you want to give.  They will have homemade soup, breads, and delicious goodies.  This takes a lot of work and they are doing it for us. Please plan on coming and mingling with their members to thank them for all they do for us.  We really need to show our appreciation for what they do everyday for us as a school.

"It Takes A Village" Comes To A Close This Week

Our collaboration with UNCG has been very successful and this Wednesday it will come to a close with all students taking a field trip to Barnes and Noble. Each family will receive $75.00 worth of their choice of books. We have seen progress in the students and we are very proud of the UNCG students, as well as our students and parents. Thank you Nohora for assisting with translations and general help. Thank you to all staff members for being so collaborative in this effort.

MAKE-UP PICTURE DAY AND PROGRESS REPORTS ON THE 19TH.



 

 

6 comments:

  1. I hope we get lots and lots of visitors on Wednesday!

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  2. Hope to see everyone at the Home Moravian Church on Wednesday.

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  3. So many exciting things are going on in our school!

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  4. Wow! What the UNCG students are doing is fantastic! The books that the families choose at Barnes and Nobles on Wednesday are really going to come in handy! What a great program! I'm really going to try to be at the Hoe down on Wednesday! Sounds fun!

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  5. What a great arts team we have!! They are amazing with all they do with our students! Thanks for going above and beyond!

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  6. I'm glad to see that our school is doing so much that can be positively portrayed in the media. There is so much negativity surrounding our education system as a whole.It is good for us as teachers, students, parents, and the community to see that school can, and should still be all about great learning experiences for our kids. Congrats to DLES for showing our community that we're going to do right by our kids in every situation!

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