Announcing… Strawberries & Salad Greens Day!

School lunches across the Cluster will feature fresh, local strawberries and salad greens on Wednesday, May 23rd!  We will also have a “Where Food Comes From” educational table in the cafeterias at Peabody and Watkins during the event to get students excited about eating farm-fresh food.  It will have plants, pictures, stickers, maps, seeds and more.

Join your child for lunch at school on May 23^rd so you can taste the farm-fresh berries & greens together!  If you can’t join your child on the 23rd, at least make sure he or she participates in school lunch that day.  Find more information about the event and how your family can celebrate at home at www.strawberries-salad.blogspot.com.

 

Did you know that you could provide direct input

into the Cluster’s budget and policies?

Serve on the LSAT!  The LSAT stands for the Local School Advisory Team. Every school in DC has one and so does the Cluster. The LSAT is a group of teachers, parents, non-instructional staff and community members who advise the principal on important, school-focused and Cluster-wide matters—such as curriculum and budget decisions, present a unified voice to DCPS, and much more—to ensure ALL Cluster scholars achieve academically.

It’s a very important job.  At the monthly meetings, Principal Clemens looks to the LSAT parent reps to help prioritize competing needs, serve as a sounding board, provide the perspective of parents, and shape the mission and vision of the Cluster school.

We need two parents from each Cluster campus—Peabody Early Childhood Center, Watkins ES and Stuart-Hobson MS.  Since we are moving to staggered two-year terms, for this year’s election one campus parent rep will serve a one-year term while the other campus parent rep will serve a two-year term.  If you are interested in helping guide the Cluster School’s policies and budget,  please email  CHCS_LSAT@hotmail.com, call Mrs. Brock at Stuart-Hobson (202-671-6010) or drop off in the PTA mailbox (located in the main office of each campus) your name and campus for nomination by Thursday, May 17.

The PTA—of which ALL Cluster parents are members just by being a Cluster parent—will hold an election for these parent LSAT representatives on Thursday, May 31 at Watkins during the CHCS Summer Reading Kickoff event.    Be sure to attend and meet the nominees, hear why they want to serve on the LSAT and cast your vote.

If you want to know more about LSAT, please call or e-mail LSAT Chairs Mark Engman (202-547-2740, mgengman@gmail.com) or Shanika Hope (202-525-1636, shanika_hope@hotmail.com). 

LSAT primary responsibilities as defined by DCPS:

• advising the principal on priorities and goals;
• working with the principal on developing the local Comprehensive School Plan, including the supporting budget;
• reviewing data in order to be informed about school needs and trends;
• monitoring and assessing the implementation of the local Comprehensive School Plan;
• using assessment results to develop specific strategies for research-based school improvement;
• alignment of strategic and specific goals and objectives of DCPS.

In the course of carrying out these responsibilities, all directed at improving student achievement, Local School Advisory Teams shall discuss and advise the principal on matters such as:

• allocation of school resources;
• organization of the school;
• curriculum options, including special or supplementary course offerings and specialized research-based instructional strategies;
• budget decisions;
• priorities and considerations for staffing patterns and the selection of personnel;
• monitoring overall student progress;
• school culture, and
• family engagement.

You can read the full DCPS LSAT Guidelines here: http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Budget+and+Finance/FY12+Fiscal+Report+Card/LSAT+Guidelines

Do you want to work with other motivated parents and teachers to help make the Capitol Hill Cluster a school…

·      With a positive and enriching environment for all of our scholars,
·      Where all scholars achieve at their highest potential, and
·      Where parents and scholars are part of an inclusive school community?

Please Join the PTA!

The PTA is holding Executive Board elections for the 2012/2013 school year.  We are seeking a diverse mix of parents to fill a variety of functions on the Board.  About 30% of current Executive Board members will be running to serve a second year on the PTA Board to provide stability and continuity to the organization.

If you are interested in participating in the PTA Executive Board during the 2012/2013 school year, or you would like to nominate someone else for a position, please contact Frankie Thompson, the PTA Membership Chairperson, at frankiecloud at gmail dot com or 202-834-3738, or submit your nomination in writing to the PTA mailbox at your school campus.

Read the description of each position in the Duties of PTA Officers and Boardmembers word document>>

Submit all nominations by Friday, May 11.  Please provide your name, email and/or phone number, and position in which you’re most interested.

The Nominating Committee will follow up with all potential candidates to confirm interest by Friday, May 25.

Elections for both PTA and LSAT will be held on Thursday, May 31 at Watkins Elementary School at our Summer Reading Kick-Off and Spaghetti Dinner. Come for the Dinner…Stay for the Voting!!!

The PTA Executive Board includes the following elected positions:
·      President
·      Vice President
·      Fundraising Co-Chair
·      Communication Co-Chair
·      Treasurer Co-Chair
·      Secretary
·      Volunteer Coordinator
·      Meeting Coordinator
·      Membership Chair
·      Parent and Teacher Representatives from each campus

Read the description of each position in the Duties of PTA Officers and Boardmembers word document>>

The PTA will also be recruiting for the following non-elected positions:

·      Capitol Hill Classic Co-Chair
·      Auction Co-Chair

Elections for the CHCS LSAT will be held the same day.  Click here for LSAT elections information.

Check out the pictures below!

Michael Recycle and Litterbug Doug! aka Ms. Bloom and Ms. Jones

Peabody kids to the rescue! On Earth Day at Peabody

Hello Cluster family,

Just a few thoughts I would like to share with everyone as we go into our last two months of school.  School is not over because testing has been completed. We will still have one more PIA exam for grades 3-5 that will allow teachers to look at the performance of our students and assess their overall effectiveness in the classroom. Please, continue to get your scholars to school on time and encourage them to do their best despite the wonderful weather and their desire for summer to start.

The modernization of Stuart-Hobson is finally going to begin this week on May 7^th.  The Gymnasium will be demolished and the new, state of the art, regulation middle school gym will be in place by the middle of next October.  This is exciting.  Mr. Booker, our Athletic Director, and his staff of coaches are already planning for a dedication Ceremony in the fall.  If you are interested in helping to plan this event please contact him and join in the fun.

The end of the year for SH will be hectic as the renovation will start on June 15^th, less than 24 hours after the last day of school.  This will make for a challenging last week with the need to be packed up and out by the close of business on the 14^th.  Though this will be challenging, we need to keep in mind that a hectic week is far better than our original alternative of moving out of the building for 12 -24 months. Please be patient with us, as we will need to make various concessions throughout the next 18 months. This is just the beginning, however the end product will be worth the wait, I assure you.   We will be working to keep the inconveniences to a minimum.   This summer the first floor will be renovated, as will all the bathrooms in the entire building.  The first floor will include a new entrance, a new administrative area, Welcome Center, Parent Resource Center, Nurses suite, as well as a renovation of the all five 8^th grade classrooms.   The renovation will be completed by the middle of August and ready for our start of school.   We will keep you posted this summer as the construction progresses.

Peabody will also be receiving a facelift this summer to accommodate the four new classrooms we will be opening after the loss of SWS.  The staff at Peabody has worked hard to prepare for the summer building changes.  It will be nice to have new floor space with classrooms painted, space for a PE room and newly created space for the lunchroom and nurses suite.  Again, as we have more information we will pass it along.

This week we will have a Chew and Chat at Stuart-Hobson on Wednesday at 9:00 am.  The Friday Chew and Chat scheduled at Watkins has been moved to next week, on Friday the 11^th at 9:00 am in the Watkins Library due to a Cluster VII meeting that requires all our Admin team attendance.  Peabody’s Chew and Chat will remain as planned next Monday the 7^th at 8:45 in the library.

Looking ahead, please put on your calendar a Reading Night/PTA meeting on May 31^st at Watkins in the evening.   The research around “Summer Slip” caused when students do not read over the summer is quite alarming. We need to ensure that everyone is prepared to enjoy a few good books over the summer. In this vein, the librarians, Cluster wide, are planning an exciting evening of reading activities, summer reading lists, and a summer reading challenge to rival our “Reading is out of this World” challenge this past winter.  We’ll send more information as we approach the 31^st.

Sincerely,

Principal Clemens

Remember:  Education is not a Spectator Sport!

IMPORTANT DATES

May 2 (Wed) – Coffee Chat With Ms. Clemens, 8:45 am, Stuart-Hobson
May 4 (Fri) – Coffee Chat With Ms. Clemens, 8:45 am, Watkins
May 7 (Mon) – Coffee Chat With Ms. Clemens, 8:45 am, Peabody
May 8 (Tue) – Peabody Tour Morning, Q&A For Prospective Parents, 9 am, Peabody First Floor
May 12 (Sat) – Peabody Gardens Spring Work Day, 9 am – 1 pm
May 20 (Sun) – Capitol Hill Classic:  sign up now!
May 21 (Mon) – DCPS Parent Conference Day, no school for students
May 28 (Mon) – Memorial Day, no school

The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education has selected 22 Mission Patches for flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in Aquarius, the experiments payload for SSEP Mission 1 to ISS. Across the 12 communities participating in Mission 1 to ISS, there were 2,299 patch designs submitted by 4,936 students.

A total of 1,088 pre-K through 8 students of the Capitol Hill Cluster Schools participated in the flight patch contest. Each student worked on a patch design, resulting in 1,088 submitted patches. Students at the Peabody Early Childhood Center, Watkins Elementary and Stuart-Hobson Middle School worked on their patch designs in their grade level classes and submitted their completed patches to their art teachers.

Lily Heese, a 4th grade student at Watkins Elementary, and Adam Roman, a kindergarten student at Peabody Early Childhood, designed the patches that will represent the Capitol Hill Cluster Schools. Their patch designs are at left..

Congratulations to Lily and Adam and to all the students who submitted a design – well done Cluster Scholars!

In case you missed Spring Fling, CHCS PTA raised valuable funds with a huge yard sale on the steps of Stuart-Hobson. Meanwhile, a fun time was had by all on the grounds of Stuart. Thanks to all who joined in to volunteer, or participate in the fun.

Hoop Ed kept the kids busy with organized games on the Stuart Hobson field.

Inspire BBQ (650 H St. NE) dishes out free food.

Mobile Market was on the scene with cooking demonstrations and fresh fruits and veggies.

Students gather around composting bins in the classroom.

Worm composting has arrived at Peabody!  Thanks to a grant from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation, Peabody Librarian Sue Bloom has launched the “Worms Eat Our Lunch” project with the help of some knowledgeable staff and parent vermicomposters.

The 240 early childhood students enrolled in the Peabody and School Within School programs at the first campus of the Capitol Hill Cluster School have been busy feeding their classroom worm bins and learning about how the worms “recycle” their food scraps into compost for the school gardens.

As the bins were being assembled and the worms placed inside, each class had a chance to observe and touch the worms up close. The students worked with partners and had a clump of compost and dirt with several worms hiding inside.  They used their fingers and popsicle sticks to find their worms and separate them from the dirt.

Their squeals of joy when they found the worms and touched them (in some cases for the first time), was music to the teachers’ ears!  Based on a discussion about the worms’ bodies, they tried to identify which end was the head and which was the tail, and tried to find the unique band around each worm’s body that indicates where the reproductive organs are.  The kids love visiting their worms and are just tickled to have such a fun and engaging learning opportunity!

Peabody Expansion FAQ

What grades will Peabody have for School Year (SY) 2012-2013?  Where will these classes be located?

Peabody will have 3 PK3 (aka preschool) classes, 4 PK4 and 5 Kindergarten classes.  All PK3s will be on the first floor in classrooms with bathrooms.  One PK4 will be on the first floor as well.  On the second floor, there will be 3 PK4s and 1 Kindergarten class.  The third floor will house 4 Kindergarten classes.  The 4^th floor will continue to be in use as the Library and Art Studio.

How many spaces does Peabody have at each grade level?

The PK3 classes have 15 students with a teacher and an assistant.  For SY 12/13, we will be admitting 45 new three year-olds through the lottery process.  The PK4 classes have 20 students, also with a teacher and an assistant.  Of the 80 spots, 30 will be taken by returning students from PK3 and 50 spots will be filled through the lottery process.  At the Kindergarten level, we will have a total of 110 spots, with classes of 22 students.  We have 60 returning PK4 students and will fill the remaining 50 spaces through the enrollment and lottery process.

How will new students and families be welcomed to Peabody and the Capitol Hill Cluster family?  How can current families help?

As always, we will be holding an orientation for new families in May and a community potluck in September in addition to the first week of school conferences and Back to School Night.  As families come to Peabody to complete the enrollment process this spring, they will be given information on joining the PTA and Peabody listservs.  Each of the current classes will be regrouped for the next school year, so that each PK4 and Kindergarten class will be comprised of returning and new students.  Peabody’s commitment to Responsive Classroom philosophy will help each of these classes form their own community in the fall.

We would like to have a welcome committee made up of current Peabody families to serve as a point of contact for the new families.  If you have a child in PK3 or PK4 and would be available over the summer to be in touch with new families and to help organize the community potluck, please contact Melissa Smith (Melissa.smith2@dc.gov).

How is the Peabody staff preparing for the expansion?

Peabody has a strong building-level leadership team.  The team has already begun working on issues surrounding the expansion, including forming a personnel committee and fielding resumes, communicating facilities needs to DCPS and planning orientations for new and returning families.

As a part of the expansion process, the building-level leadership team and Principal Clemens have decided that PK4 and Kindergarten teachers will not participate in a looping cycle this year.  The Kindergarten teachers have devoted a significant amount of work to building a curriculum around the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and will continue this process next year.  The PK3 and PK4 teachers have perfected their team planning process and will be prepared to incorporate new staff members into their strong teams next year.  The Peabody staff plans to study different looping structures during the next year, with the possibility of adding loops again in SY 2013/2014.

What changes in personnel will occur as a result of Peabody’s expansion?

The current Peabody classroom teachers and assistants will be returning next year, as will our special subject teachers:  librarian Sue Bloom, Art teacher Katie Cushman and PE teacher Asa Davis.  Our wonderful administrative assistant, Ms. Turner, will be returning as well.   When we receive our budget from DCPS, we will be able to plan for additional personnel, including classroom teachers, assistants, special subject teachers and support staff. Our personnel committee has begun constructing interview questions and reviewing resumes to find great candidates for the new positions at Peabody.

What changes in facilities will occur as a result of Peabody’s expansion?

Our building is the home to our students and staff for up to 11 hours each day and we want to make sure that everyone is comfortable, with access to what they need.  We are planning some changes to facilities and routines.  The PK3 students will eat lunch in the classrooms and the PK4 students will eat in the main and middle cafeterias.  We have requested structural changes to the current nurse’s office so that it can be used as an additional cafeteria during the Kindergarten lunch period.  That space will also be used for PE during the morning and afternoon.

The building-level Leadership Team is making a list of furniture and equipment that will be needed for the PE space and the four new classrooms.  Principal Clemens is in regular contact with the appropriate people at DCPS to ensure that the building will be ready in August.

How do I obtain a spot for my child at Peabody and what is the enrollment process? 

The PK and out-of-boundary lottery process has begun and ends on February 27.  New and returning families should come to the Peabody office to complete the enrollment process by May 1.

Please refer to the following chart for more information.

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On Friday, February 10, DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced the relocation of the School-Within-School at Peabody to the Logan Annex beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.

SWS has shared space with Peabody for many years and nurtured hundreds of Cluster children at the beginning of their educational experience. We will miss working with their staff and interacting with SWS students every day. However, we are very happy for SWS as they embark on a new and exciting chapter for their school.

The Cluster looks forward to expanding Peabody’s successful and well-respected program throughout our entire building, and the opportunity it provides for both Peabody and SWS to create more high quality early childhood learning opportunities.

Planning is already underway to ensure a smooth transition, from gearing up to staff our new classes with excellent teachers and assistants to managing the behind-the-scenes work involved in expanding our school by one third.

Please see the FAQ below from the Chancellor’s office for additional information about the plans for next year and what our current and future families can expect during the transition period.

Thank you for your support of our students and our school.

Dawn Clemens

Principal, Capitol Hill Cluster School

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For more information, please see:

Peabody Expansion Changes Letter 2-20-12 (PDF). Text also appears below.

DCPS SWS Letter 2-10-12 PDF

DCPS SWS FAQ 2-10-12 PDF

——————————————————————————————————————————

Expansion Update 2/20/2012

Dear Peabody and SWS Parents:

As you know, Peabody will be expanding next year with many exciting changes around the building.  We are writing to update you on this expansion and address many of the questions you may have about the changes at Peabody.

Peabody will continue to provide our scholars with an excellent educational experience as well as introducing our families to all the Capitol Hill Cluster School has to offer.  Our current teaching staff is hard at work addressing new staffing needs, facilities issues and the instructional needs for the next school year.

One of the changes that will occur is in our looping structure.  As you know, Peabody’s PreK-4 students in the past have largely “looped” with the same classmates and teachers as they move up to Kindergarten. “Looping” has proven to have many beneficial attributes: mainly a consistency in the learning experience, an enhanced familiarity for parents, teachers, and students alike, and the opportunity for our teachers to grow their knowledge base and skill set along with their students.

The transition by DCPS to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as well as the expansion of the Peabody program have led us to re-examine the most effective way to meet our students’ needs. We have concluded that maintaining the current teaching teams in their grade levels and regrouping our current PreK-4 students for their Kindergarten year is in the best interest of our current students and the future of Peabody.

Classroom teachers will coordinate to construct class lists for next year, working to ensure continuity for our scholars as well as maintaining the diversity among classrooms, a hallmark of the Peabody experience.

Peabody’s current Kindergarten and Pre-K teams have committed significant time and resources to developing curricula that conform to Common Core State Standards as they apply to our scholars in each grade.  Each grade team believes that next year’s students would be best served by teachers that have fully developed the grade-appropriate curricula, while at the same time, complete their work on building a solid template of expertise that could be better shared with and adopted by all Peabody teachers.

As we add four new classes, Peabody will be hiring a number of new teachers and assistants.  The teacher leadership team is looking forward to identifying the right personnel to support Peabody’s expansion.  Our new colleagues, and most importantly their students, will be best served coming into an educational environment strengthened by the incumbent experience and foundation laid by the current grade-level teams.

We plan to study “looping” structures again in the future, considering developmentally-appropriate practices, the needs of our students, and the strengths of our teachers.  We will be considering in the next year whether a PreK-3 “loop” to PreK-4 or a PreK-4 “loop” to Kindergarten as it currently is practiced will serve our scholars best.

There will be physical changes to Peabody as well.  We will be adding one new PreK-3 and one new PreK-4 class as well as two Kindergartens classes.  We will be making changes to the ground floor to accommodate the additional students for lunch and to allow for our excellent Physical Education program to have a designated space.  More information on the facilities and staffing can be found in the attached FAQ.

As we prepare for these changes, we are asking for the help of our energetic parent community.  We would like to form a “Welcome Wagon” committee of parents who can be available over the summer to answer questions and organize park “meet-ups” for incoming families.  We are also looking for Peabody families who are interested in participating more actively with the PTA as our student body grows.  If you are interested in helping with either of these items please contact Melissa Smith, Peabody teacher at Melissa.smith2@dc.gov.

Please feel free to contact Principal Dawn Clemens at dawn.clemens@dc.gov if you have any further questions or concerns regarding the upcoming expansion.

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Frequently Asked Questions SWS Move to Logan Annex

1. What will be the SWS school boundary for SY12-13 and until a permanent location has been
identified?

SWS will not change its boundary for the 2012-13 school year, the school will continue to share a boundary with Peabody. SWS will remain with the same boundary until a permanent location has been identified.

2. Will SWS remain in the Capitol Hill Cluster for SY12-13?

No. SWS will become a stand-alone school, starting next school year. This means that SWS will be staffed as a school and benefit from the comprehensive school staffing model, including having its own principal. For this year’s lottery (Jan – Feb 2012), SWS, Peabody, Watkins, and Stuart-Hobson families will all receive sibling preference across all campuses. This preference will not carry over to next year’s lottery (Jan – Feb 2013).

3. What will be the school’s feeder pattern?

SWS will add a grade every year, starting with 1st grade next school year. The destination middle school will be determined once a permanent location is identified. We know now that it will not be Stuart-Hobson. There is no room at Stuart-Hobson to support an additional feeder school. The remaining options are Eliot-Hine MS and Jefferson MS. Both Jefferson and Eliot-Hine feed to Eastern HS.

4. What grades will be offered in the Logan Annex?

SWS will add first grade in SY12-13 and 2nd grade in SY13-14. An expansion to PS (3 year old) cannot be supported in the Annex, but we hope will be part of the expansion when SWS moves to a permanent location.

5. Can SWS families transfer to Peabody next year, if they do not want to move?

Currently, there is a school level policy that does not allow students in either Peabody or SWS to switch programs. Due to the move, SWS families will be given the opportunity to transfer to Peabody, without going through the lottery, for next school year. Peabody families who have children in both SWS and Peabody will also have the opportunity to switch to SWS, in an effort to limit the burden on families who must travel to two locations. This exception will only be made for next school year. Families interested
in doing this must inform their school leader as soon as possible.

6. When will the long-term site decision be made?

DCPS will engage the SWS community in this decision. We anticipate the community engagement process to begin in Spring 2013. A decision will be made no later than the opening of the lottery in January 2014.

7. Will SWS be located in the main Logan building?

No, Capitol Hill Montessori is located in the main building. The SWS program will be located in the Annex. There may be opportunities to use some space in the main building in year 2 (SY13-14) for auxiliary purposes, but we expect all classrooms will be in the Annex.

8. If there are enough Capitol Riverfront and SWS families to re-open Van Ness, why not do it now?

Some of you have presented compelling data that indicate there are enough students, between SWS and the Capitol Riverfront families, to support the opening of Van Ness now or next year. While we don’t doubt the commitment from SWS and the Capitol Riverfront community to fully enroll any classes at Van Ness, we believe that the DCPS inventory will change and the decision of where SWS should be permanently location should not be limited to the buildings we have available right now. Van Ness will
continue to be a long-term option we consider.

9. What are the next steps?

DCPS is committed to ensuring that the transition for families and staff goes as smoothly as possible, both for SWS and Peabody. Over the next several weeks we will work with schools on the following:

• Move logistics – packing, timeline, classroom set-up, inventory items that move/stay
• Space needs – identify space modifications and needs for Annex and Peabody
• Program development – With SWS expanding to first grade, it is important that the school leadership and staff are able to work on curriculum development and programming.

10. Who is the point of contact for transition/move questions?

All questions and concerns should first be taken to your principal. Claudia Lujan will be the central office point of contact for the move. She can be reached at claudia.lujan@dc.gov. She will be working closely with principals and instructional superintendents during the transition.