Last week I was thrilled to share with the staff that Hardy is one of two DCPS middle schools approved and chosen by Chancellor Henderson to pilot a gifted and talented program for the upcoming 2012-13 school year, using the Schoolwide Enrichment Model designed by Joseph Renzulli. Hardy will receive a full-time gifted and talented teacher to assist in the implementation of the program. Funding for the program will also include professional development for the SEM teacher, the Hardy staff and administration. At the end of January I will be visiting the Howard County Schools with Dr. Carey Wright and others as a first step to observe their SEM programs at several school sites as well as meeting with the curriculum staff.

“The Schoolwide Enrichment Model(SEM) is widely implemented as an enrichment program used with academically gifted and talented students and a magnet theme/enrichment appproach for all schoools intersted in high-end learning and developing the strengths and talents of all students. The major goal of the SEM is the application of gifted education pedagogy to total school improvement. The SEM provides enriched learning experiences and higher learning standards fora ll children through three goals; developing talents in all children, providing a broad range of advanced-level enrichment experiences for all sudents, and providing advanced follow-up opportunities for young people baed on their strengths and interests. The SEM focuses on enrichment for all students through high levels of engagement and the use of enjoyable and challenging learning experiences that are constructed around student interess, learning styles and preferred modes of expression. The research on the SEM suggests that the model is effective at serving high-ability students in a variety of educational settings and in schools serving diverse ethnic and socioeconomic populations.”

As I learn about the program and begin implementation for next year I will be sharing next steps and progress. Although I am new to Hardy this year, the faculty and staff have a rich history of integration across subject areas and so I believe the SEM will only enhance what instructionally has been occurring. Perfect timing I believe for Hardy to add another layer of instructional enrichment….thank you Chancellor Henderson and Dr. Wright!

DCPS will host a middle school fair Thursday, February 9, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Columbia Heights Education Campus, 3101 16th St. NW.

Read the PDF version of the DCPS flyer

DC Public middle schools, education campuses & DCPS community partners will showcase their academic programs & extracurricular activities for parents.

For more information visit the DCPS website. You can also call Nancy Iheanacho at (202) 719‐6595 or email her at nancy[dot]iheanacho[at]dc[dot]gov.

Happy New Year — The first semester is drawing to a close, and there are several upcoming dates to put on your calendars.

We had a wonderful winter concert last evening and a very supportive and enthusiastic audience. What a nice way to start the winter season. We will be hosting some musicians from the National Symphony this week for our music classes and are planning a few sing-alongs with the younger students. We hope during the break that you will take advantage of the museums, art galleries and performances with your children.

Fillmore teacher in the spotlight this week: Margaret “Maggie” Meenehan is Fillmore’s beloved dance teacher and a certified Arts Specialist K-12. She holds a BS in Movement Education from George Washington University. She has presented workshops and performances in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and locally at several Universities, Washington Project for the Arts, DC Space, Dance Place, Joy of Motion, Dance Arts, and Red Wiggler Farm. Ms Meenehan is a receipient of two Fulbright Scholarships to study the arts and cultures of Japan, Canada and Mexico, and has been awarded two DC Commission of the Arts & Humanities Grants in Education. She was also awarded a merit scholarship to Duke University to work with the American Dance Festival. We are extremely proud of Ms. Meenehan for her Rubenstein Award this year. The award recognized five outstanding highly effective educators in the District of Columbia Public Schools.

Katherine

“Stoddert Students Learn the Rules of the Road” — The Georgetown Patch gave us a great write-up.

(Our post has the class information and more background on the program, as provided by WABA.)

Many thanks to Dr. Cuthbert, Coach Wagner, and Glen Harrison at WABA for making this excellent program a reality.

To our valued DCPS community members,

We are excited to share the opportunity to help the students of Takoma Education Campus and Cardozo Senior High School move into their respective school buildings this December 28, 29 and 30.

These school communities have spent several months preparing for these important moves and need your help to finish the work.

For Takoma EC, we are fulfilling the promise made a year ago to restore a school building devastated by a fire. We are proud to report that the Takoma school building on Piney Branch Road has been completely repaired and is ready for students and staff to return.

For Cardozo HS, this move is the first step towards a complete modernization of their historic high school. Students will attend school at the Meyer building across the street from Cardozo until the modernization project is complete next school year.

We have two schools, two weeks and one purpose: to ensure that Cardozo and Takoma students have a successful school opening in January.

Takoma and Cardozo are an important part of the DCPS family, and we’d sincerely appreciate any time that you can spend working with us to prepare these buildings.

Here is how you can help:

All individuals, families and groups can sign up to volunteer here: School Opening Volunteer Registration. Choose the day, site and time block that you are able to volunteer. A member of the DCPS School Operations team will reach out to you directly with confirmation and directions for the day of volunteering.

Thank you for volunteering your time to support our educators and students. For questions, please contact Bryant Sewell at (202) 442-5438 or via email at Bryant.sewell@dc.gov.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Cobb
Coordinator, Volunteers and Donations

All Open Houses are held from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. on these dates.

Parents will have the opportunity to meet with Stoddert’s Principal, Dr. Marjorie Cuthbert, for an overview and a brief tour of the school.

If you are a parent and would like to volunteer to help with the art show and/or holiday party, we’d love your assistance.

It was good to see so many of you at our open houses this past week. You will have another opportunity to find out more about Fillmore and its programs at our upcoming “Back to School – Be an Artist Night” scheduled for Wedesneday, November 9 from 6:30 to 8. You will have a chance to meet your child’s Fillmore teachers and find out about their specific classes. The highlight of the evening will be the chance for you to take an arts class of your choosing. Explore your inner dancer in a contemporary Fusion dance combining jazz, hip-hop and Latin Styles, try your hand at the violin, see what our architecture class is all about or become a visual artist in the drawing, brush painting or digital arts classes. We look forward to seeing you there!