From the desk of Cherie Swader
October 1, 2007

What a wonderful time we had on Saturday at the Fall Festival. We hope that everyone enjoyed themselves. The weather was picture perfect and the crowd was huge. I want to thank everyone who had a part in making this the most successful Fall Festival that we have had at DES. Faculty, staff, parents, local civic organizations, businesses, and anyone else who contributed time, money, energy, or other resources to the event. We couldn't have done it without you. A very special thank goes out to the Fall Festival Committee, chaired by Leonda Smith and Tarre Ginn - the committee members included - Cindy Moore, Melody Hawkins, Karen Bankson, L'Tanya Langley, Thlisa Ambrose, Janet Brooks, Cristy Ely, Tammie Wood, Kelly Bradford, Deborah Minor, Sharon Turner, Suzanne Smith, Martha Plumlee and Brenda Millican. Thanks again to everyone who participated in anyway. We are already looking forward to next year's event, which we know will be even bigger.

On the academic front - we are quickly approaching the end of the 1st nine weeks of school. How quickly it has gone. Students in grades 1-5 will be taking the 1st nine weeks benchmark post-test. This test is based on the Georgia Performance Standards in math, reading/language arts and science. A pre-test was given at the beginning of the nine weeks, and the results were used by teachers to develop their classroom instruction. We are excited to see the results and are confident that the data will help us as we continue to plan instruction based on the needs of the students. On the Thursday of this week the students will take a pre-test over the 2nd nine weeks benchmark objectives. As with the 1st nine weeks, teachers will use these results to plan classroom instruction for the 2nd nine weeks. You can access the grade level benchmarks by going to the county website and clicking on "departments" - "curriculum" - "benchmarks" - "subject" - "grade level". If you have problems with that, just contact your child's teacher or one of the counselors.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 25th - we will be having an early release day (1:00) for the students, and a Parent/Teacher Conference afternoon from 1:00-7:00. You will be receiving a form from your child's teacher that will allow you to sign up for a time to meet with the teacher. The teacher will be discussing your child's progress, as well as providing you with the 1st nine weeks report card, CRCT scores from last spring, and you will also be asked to sign a "Compact" - which is an agreement between the school, parent, and student concerning academic expectations and responsibilities. This is a very important conference and we encourage each of you to schedule a time on that afternoon that you can meet with your child's teacher. Of course this is not the only time that you can meet - if you have questions or concerns at anytime during the year, please contact your child's teacher or one of our counselors - Mrs.Catherine Wright or Mrs. Tinena Bice to schedule a conference. Buses will run early on October 25th - and you will need to pick up your child by 1:00 on that day.

October 16th, the Parent Involvement Team and Coordinator, Brenda Wheeler, are planning a "Math Night." This will be in place of the October PTO meeting. It will begin at 6:00, and each grade level will have a math game table. The students and parents will be sharing in the activities. This is a great time for you to see what your child is doing in math and also have the opportunity to learn some of the new math terms and procedures and concepts. As many of you have discovered, there have been a lot of changes in the way that math is taught, so this will be a time for you to share with your child, and to learn also. Bring your favorite covered dish food, or stop by the deli and pick up something to bring. Come and enjoy a fun time, while learning with your child.

The Book Fair which began on Saturday at the Fall Festival will continue through this week. We are still in need of volunteers to help with the Book Fair. If you have an hour or more and would like to help children pick out books to buy, and collect money for the books, please contact Sonya Snay or Charlotte Lane - our media personnel.

I HAVE SOME VERY SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT THE NUMBER OF TARDIES AND AFTERNOON STUDENT CHECKOUTS THAT WE ARE HAVING. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS TO BE HERE THE ENTIRE DAY: 8:00-2:50 - I REALIZE THAT SOMETIMES APPOINTMENTS MUST BE MADE DURING SCHOOL HOURS, BUT WE ARE HAVING AN UNUSUAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS COMING TO SCHOOL LATE/AND OR CHECKING OUT EARLY. PLEASE TRY TO MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO HAVE YOUR CHILDREN TO SCHOOL ON TIME AND TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY STAY THE ENTIRE DAY. WE APPRECIATE YOUR COOPERATION IN THIS MATTER.

FALL BREAK BEGINS MONDAY, OCTOBER 8TH AND CONTINUES THROUGH OCTOBER 12TH. THERE IS A TEACHER INSERVICE/PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAY SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 15TH. STUDENTS WILL NOT RETURN TO SCHOOL UNTIL TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16TH. WE HOPE THAT EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL AND SAFE FALL BREAK.

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