From the desk of Cherie Swader
January 14, 2008

Dear DES Family and Friends,

We have several activities going on at Dade Elementary School that I would like to call to your attention.

Tuesday, Jan. 15th - Students will be receiving report cards for the 2nd nine weeks of this school year. Please talk with your child about his or her report card. Be positive and supportive and if you have concerns please schedule a meeting with your child's teacher. Help your child set goals that are reasonable and realistic, but that are also challenging. Our counselors, Tinena Bice and Catherine Wright would be more than happy to meet with parents to discuss positive student objectives. This is also a reminder that the Georgia Performance Standards and grade level benchmarks can be accessed through the Dade County School System website.

Tuesday, Jan. 15th - 6:00pm in the DES cafeteria - PARENT WRITING WORKSHOP - Amber Joy Morrison, Beverly Spears, and Cathy Shepard will be working with parents on strategies and ideas to help children with writing skills. This is going to be a great and informative parent workshop, please make arrangements to attend. Sandwiches, chips, and drinks will be provided - please bring your favorite dessert to share.

The Jump Rope for Heart activity that is sponsored by our physical education staff, Rhonda Bradford, Brenda Millican, Tarre Ginn, and Becky Smith will take place January 28th-February 1st. Your child will be bringing home information concerning this annual event, which is dedicated to Mr. Steve Ruff, a former DES principal who died from heart disease. Please support your child in his or her effort to participate in this very important activity.

KIDS COUNT - is a student support club that was organized by Janet Kramer-Mai (a DES parent and member of our DES School Council) and is sponsored by Erlanger Hospital. This is a support group for students who have been directly affected by cancer (through the hospitalization, treatment, and or loss of a parent). The students who meet weekly with Ms. Kramer-Mai and the DES counselors, Tinena Bice and Catherine Wright have launched a community project to support other children who are in need of hats, mittens, and scarves for the winter months ahead. I would like to commend these students and sponsors for their focus on the needs of other children and would like to challenge the entire Dade County community to support this project by dropping off new hats, scarves, and mittens at Dade Elementary School. This is another example of how we can work together "hand in hand."

Monday, January 21st - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

Math Fact of the week - 4 x 7 = 28

I would once again like to thank Fairway Outdoor Advertising and Leslie Tate (one of our supportive parents) for the donation of the billboard on Highway 11 recognizing Dade Elementary School and our vision - "Hand In Hand-We Learn Together." We appreciate the recognition and invite each of you to join us as we achieve this goal.

Have a great week and we look forward to seeing you at DES.

We look forward to seeing you at DES.

Cherie Swader
Principal
Dade Elementary School
"Hand In Hand - We Learn Together"