It feels good to write this as we near our half way mark of our first year at DRSS.  While we have had some small bumps along the way, we have had many successes at DRSS already.  A huge thanks goes out to all of our staff, students, parents, and partners for all of their hard work over the first half of the school year!

Last Thursday we hosted our first Exhibition event at DRSS. The event showcased our students' work in  their Aerospace unit over the previous three weeks.  I’ve included some photos of our students working on the unit and of the Exhibition event.  Thanks to all of you that were able to attend.

One other item to pass along is that we are canceling our Town Hall meeting that was scheduled for January 5, 2010.  We had a couple of discussion items for that night, but have not been able to pull things together in time for that evening.  We will either find a later date or include these items in our third quarter meeting.

I hope you find time enjoy this time of year with family and friends.

Dr. Boyd

Exhibition

Parents:

I just wanted to send a quick reminder about the Exhibition event on Thursday evening. The Exhibition for the Aerospace Unit runs from 6:30-8:00 (students need to be at school by 6:15). All of you are invited to attend, and we anticipate a good number of our partners will be attending as well. All guests are welcome to circulate around to students’ posters and hear more about what they learned and accomplished through their project. Also, thanks to those of you who volunteered to help with snacks and refreshments for the event.

Dr. Boyd

Aerospace

DRSS Parents,

As many of you know from the last parents meeting or from your own child, we are in the midst of a unit on Aerospace at DRSS.  While your child can communicate many of the details of the unit, I wanted to point out a few details of interest.

1. The culmination of the unit will consist of formal presentations to teachers and outside experts during the school day on December 17 and 18.  In addition, we will be hosting an Exhibition night on December 17 from 6:30-8:00.  All of you are invited to attend the Exhibition event. 
2. For much of the unit, students will be working and preparing their final presentations in groups.  Each group received a packet of information with all they need for the unit.  This packet is also on Mrs. Helton’s moodle site if students need access to additional copies of the documents. 
3. During the school days on December 15-18, we can use some help with extra supervision as students are working on their project and preparing for their presentation. The times we need help each day are from 9:30-11:00 and 1:00-2:30.  We also could use a couple of volunteers on the exhibition night to help with snacks and refreshments.  If you are interested in helping at any of these times, please email me (brian.boyd@daytonstemschool.org) and let me know the day and time you can help.

Hope you are staying warm and safe as the winter weather begins.

Dr. Boyd

Snow Days and Plan "E"

DRSS Parents:

With the potential for bad weather during the winter months, I wanted to communicate some details about our plans for days when the weather is bad.  Unlike other public schools, DRSS does not get three calamity days from the State.  Each day we would cancel school, we would be required to make up.  To avoid canceling school and having to make up days in June, students will still attend classes electronically using their home Internet access and Elluminate sessions.

Elluminate is a program that allows students and teachers to connect and have class in a virtual setting.  Students will be emailed the links that they need for logging into each of their classes.  Logging in with their netbook may take a few minutes, and students will need to perform an audio set up to make sure the microphone and speaker on their netbook are working.  Students can try the links at any time to check and see that they are able to get into the sessions.  Students are encouraged to try these links in the next two weeks prior to any snow day.  If you do not have Internet access, or have trouble accessing a session, please notify the school ASAP.

If on-site classes must be cancelled, the school will notify students and parents via announcements on local television and radio stations and the school website by 6:45AM.  Channels 2, 22, and 45 should carry the announcement on TV, and WHIO (Channel 7) and their radio stations will have it on their websites. This will be identified as PLAN E on the TV and Radio stations. 

If on-site classes are cancelled, students will attend school via the Internet and Elluminate according to the following schedule. 

Period 1:  8:15

Period 2:  9:30

Period 3:  10:45

Period 4:  12:45

Period 5:  2:00

In addition to the online meetings, students will work on the assignments, activities, projects, etc. that teachers have posted on their Moodle websites. 

We anticipate there will be times when the school district you reside in may be delayed or closed, but DRSS is open.  This could be an issue for those of you that depend on school district busing.  In the event that your district of residence is closed, and DRSS is open, students will not be required to attend DRSS that day – however, students will still be expected to make up any work that they miss on such days.  If you have questions about this, please contact Molly or me.

Please let me know if you have questions. 

Dr. Boyd

November Parent Meeting Notes and Volunteers

Parents,

The link below will take you to the agenda and notes from Monday's parent meeting.  I didn't do as well on the notes part as last month, but the second page includes those of you that have volunteered for the various activities we need help with.  For anyone else that is interested, please email Molly or I.  If you were not at the meeting and have questions about these opportunities, please email or call.

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AW9hCVV9xmV5ZGR0NGhiNDJfMmdzY3Fwcmdu&hl=en


Dr. Boyd