MIDDLE SCHOOL

October 8, 2020

Dear DAA Middle School Families,

It is hard to believe that it is October! Our teachers and students seem to have hit their stride, and are going full steam ahead with their content. It is exciting to see kids engaged in lessons, whether at home or on campus. Kudos to our teachers who are getting really creative with projects and activities to try and make the learning process seamless.

As we are moving deeper into the semester, I would like to remind you of a couple ways to keep up with your child’s progress. For everyday activities, Google classroom is the most effective way to see if your child has upcoming or late assignments for any subject. You can set up automated reports to come to your email inbox as frequently as you like, depending on your needs. For “official” grades, please check PowerSchool, otherwise known as Unified Classroom. This will give you an idea of how your child is progressing with their formative and summative assessments that will eventually be on their semester report card. As always, your child’s teacher will be available to answer any specific questions you may have.

I hope you and your families continue to be healthy. Please let us know if we can support you in any way.

What's Happening at DAA

Perspective and depth drawings from a couple very talented DAA Grade 6 artists!

Grade 8 Students in Mr. Dasari’s science class are finding ways to show Newton’s First Law of Motion.

Mrs. Mallack’s home room is getting serious with their House Spirit!

It has come to our attention that some students are starting to feel overwhelmed with the amount of homework that they may be receiving. Very recently we went over this with our staff and agreed with the below guidelines for weekly homework.

We also follow best practice regarding homework (Marzano’s 10 minute rule) that outlines students shouldn’t be getting more than their grade level with a zero on it for homework per night. That means that grade 6 should have no more than 60 minutes a night, grade 7- 70 minutes a night and grade 8- 80 minutes a night.

If you feel that your child is receiving more homework than this or is having issues keeping up with expectations please reach out to the teacher directly. We are always happy to listen and help!

As you know, the elementary school started back at 100% recently. We have received many questions regarding if we are able to do the same. In the middle school, we have 608 students. As of now, we have 190 students that are fully remote. That means 418 students (about 68%) of students could be on campus. We do not have the physical space to accommodate that number of students safely while adhering to KHDA guidelines and best healthy practices. We understand the impact this has on the lives of our families. We will continue to monitor the situation, and will reach out for input from our families if it looks like a change can be made.

Our A/B Schedule

Sunday, October 11 will mark the beginning of Week 1. We will see the A group on campus. Below is a reminder of our A/B schedule.

Here's a is a reminder of our A/B schedule.

Sphero Competition!

There’s still time to sign up! Check out the leaderboard in the library and see if you can knock off the staff from the top spot!

If you are considering your child returning to the blended model in school please inform Dr. Reynolds or Mrs. Moffat Baxter via email, as well as our secretary Mrs. Hole (j.reynolds_daa@gemsedu.com, m.moffat1_daa@gemsedu.com, s.hole_daa@gemsedu.com)

Upcoming Dates

Professional Learning for Teachers (no school for students) Sunday October 18, Monday October 19
Maps testing will begin with Science on Tuesday October 20

I hope you all stay well,