Exhibition

Below are some pictures from Thursday's Aerospace events. During the school day, partners helped evaluate students proposals for a loan. In the evening our students were able to demonstrate their work to our parents and partners. Thanks to all who attended and helped.

Dr. Boyd

Food Drive ends 12/15

The food drive organized by Mrs. Tash's Service Club ends December 15. Students have been collecting food goods over the last 2 weeks, and competing with other advisories to collect the most items. The winning advisory will be provided breakfast by Dr. Boyd on the morning of December 17.

9th grade exhibition

Please join us for our 9th grade Exhibition Night for the Aerospace Unit. Student teams have been researching and building model rockets, and 

preparing to submit a loan application to help them start a business that will sell their rockets.  T

he Exhibition event is a great way to experience firsthand the type of projects our students are engaged in at the Dayton Regional STEM School. We hope you can join us.

Date:  Thursday, December 16, 2010

Time:  6:00‐7:30p.m.

Location: Dayton Regional STEM School, 3775 Pentagon Boulevard, Beavercreek, OH

Promoting DRSS to Prospective students and parents

We have many upcoming information sessions and school visits for prospective students and their families. These sessions will include DRSS staff, students, and parents sharing information about the school and answering questions.  

Student ambassadors will be meeting with Mrs. Fisher, Mrs. McFarlin, and Dr. Boyd after school on Tuesday, December 7 at 3:30 to start organizing these sessions. Parents interested in helping with these information sessions and other activities to promote DRSS should attend a meeting on December 7 at 5:30. Parents that can not attend the meeting on the 7th, but still wish to help with promoting DRSS, should contact Mrs. Fisher, Mrs. McFarlin, or Dr. Boyd at 937-431-1837.


Evening Information Sessions

• December 14 at 6:00 pm
•  January 6 at 6:00 pm
•  February 15 at 6:00 pm  
• March 24 at 6:00 pm
• April 19 at 6:00 pm
• May 18 at 6:00 pm

 School Visits

•  January 11 at 9:00 am
•  January 27 at 1:00 pm
•  February 1 at 1:00 pm
• February 10 at 9:00 am
• March 2 at 9:00 am
• March 10 at 1:00 pm
• March 29 at 9:00 am
• April 28 at 9:00 am
• May 11 at 1:00 pm

PLAN "E" Days

DRSS Parents:


Unlike other public schools, DRSS does not get three calamity days from the State of Ohio.  Each day we would cancel school, we would be required to make up.  To avoid canceling school and making up days later in June, students will still attend classes when there is inclement weather, but will do so electronically using their home Internet access, Elluminate sessions, and Moodle. (NOTE: If a student does not have access to the Internet outside of school, parents must contact DRSS as soon as possible).

Elluminate is a program that allows students and teachers to connect and have class in a virtual setting.  In November, ninth and tenth grade students were 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 were encouraged to try these links before December 1. If a student has trouble accessing a session, please notify the school ASAP.

Eighth grade students will not have to login to an Elluminate session. However, they must check teachers moodle sites throughout the day to see what assignments they need to work on during a Plan E day. Attendance for these classes will be take by students completing the work assigned on Plan E days.

If on-site classes must be cancelled, the school will notify students and parents via announcements on local television and radio stations, as well as 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 (channel 7 may NOT include this on the TV listings). This will be identified as PLAN E on the TV and Radio stations.  

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

Period 1:  8:15

Period 2:  9:15

Period 3:  10:15

Period 4:  12:15

Period 5:  1:15

Period 6:  2:15

Attendance will be taken during each period. Students that do not attend will be considered absent. 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 inclement weather or Plan E days, please contact the DRSS office.

Dr. Boyd

3C+D Presentations

Please join us as our 10th Grade Students give their Final Presentations for the Integrated Unit looking at the proposed 3C+D Rail System for Ohio. Student teams have been researching the impact the rail system would have on the Dayton region and will share their findings and perspectives (see below for some pictures of our students doing some research at the potential Riverside stop). The Exhibition event is a great way to experience firsthand the type of projects our students are engaged in at the Dayton Regional STEM School. We hope you can join us.

Date:  Thursday, December 2, 2010

Time:  6:00‐8:00p.m.

Location: Dayton Regional STEM School, 3775 Pentagon Boulevard, Beavercreek, OH

11/29 Parents meeting

Below is a link to the notes from Monday's parents meeting.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B29hCVV9xmV5ZGEwZDI2YWItMTI5ZS00MTkwLWI3YWYtZWU0OTQ1YzhmNWMx&hl=en&authkey=CMeKm7IG

Dr. Boyd

DRSS Spirit Apparel

If you are interested in ordering some DRSS Apparel for the Holidays, remember to turn in your order form by Friday, December 3. Students can turn in the order form and payment to the office this week. In addition, Mrs. Brandon will be at school prior to the parent meeting Monday (11/29 from 5:00-5:30) and the Exhibition night on Thursday (12/2 from 5:00-6:00) if you want to turn in the form and payment directly to her.

All orders will arrive prior to the Holiday Break, and can be picked up at DRSS from 3:00-5:00 on December 17. Below is a link to the form in case you haven't received it yet. If you have any questions, please contact Lynita Brandon at 937-689-9443.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B29hCVV9xmV5MmRjMzY2YTQtNjIzMy00Y2NlLWE2ZDQtOGMwZTYzZGY2YmI0&hl=en&authkey=COSO9eQL

Dr. Boyd

Parents meetings

DRSS Parents:

Just a reminder that our next parents meeting is on November 29, from 5:30-6:30.

Also, as we prepare for accepting new students to DRSS for the fall of 2011, we would like to involve parents in helping to promote DRSS to prospective students and parents.  We will have a meeting on December 7 at 5:30 at the school for any parents who would be willing to help us in this area. Please consider helping in this area as we continue to grow our school.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Dr. Boyd

Permanent Facility

Progress continues to be made in finding a permanent home for the Dayton Regional STEM School. We are currently pursuing an existing facility off of Woodman Drive, South of 35 and adjacent to the Miami Valley Research Park. This existing facility contains about 120,000 square feet, more than enough to accommodate our growth to a 600 student school. The facility also has a lot of flexibility inside to design a school the way we want, and will cost the school less than half as much as building a brand new facility. This location is about 5 miles from Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Wright State University. With Research Park so close, there are also new resources that may available for partnering, job shadowing, internships, etc.  

There are still many details still to be worked out. The process for acquiring the facility and renovating it is developing and has many complexities and unknowns, but things are looking more promising. I will try to keep you updated, and hope to make a more official announcement within the next two months.

Dr. Boyd

Clubs

Friday, November 12, was the first day for our "in-school" clubs.  We have 14 different clubs that students could choose from this quarter, and the options include a diverse set of offerings such as Chess Club, Student Government, Yearbook, Art Club, Movie Review Club, and Service Club.  These clubs meet once a week on Fridays (instead of advisory) and will run through at least the end of the second quarter.

Dr. Boyd

Aviation Trip Continued

We’ve spent all of Saturday touring different parts of Seattle:  Pike Place Market, the University of Washington, the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field, and the Seattle Center and Space Needle.  Most of the day was rainy, which is typical Fall Seattle weather.  Fortunately on Friday, many of us were able to get outside to enjoy some sunshine and views of Mount Rainier. 

Below are some pictures from our touring Seattle.  There will be more details to come from our students when we arrive back in Dayton.  In fact, they are working on their reflections at a local Starbucks while we wait for our 11 PM (that's 2AM Ohio time) flight home.

Aviation Day 1 Pics

Below are some pictures from our first day at Aviation HS.  

The Robotics team gave a presentation and a demonstration for our students. 

Students participating in Science Olympiad discussed their projects.

Some of our students participated fully in the Culture Club's Halloween event.

Aviation High School

Greetings from Seattle!  Eight of our students and five of our staff are participating in an exchange with Aviation High School just south of Seattle, Washington.  Despite a cancelled flight, and a long day on Thursday (arrived at the Dayton Aiport at 4:00AM), we arrived at AHS around lunch time on Thursday.  Our students had an opportunity to share some information about DRSS, and also heard information about AHS from their students.  Each of our students are staying with host families, and shadowing the host student during the school day today. 

Anna Marie Bowsher sat down with me to share a few thoughts about her trip so far.

What has stood out to you so far in our visit to Aviation High School?

Many of the students here have a lot more to do after school.  Students are involved in sports and other activities – some at their home school and some at AHS.  So, they are up a lot later than what I am used to trying to get all of their homework done. 

AHS invited us to attend a few after school events this week.  On Thursday, we attended the  Culture Club’s Holloween event.  Later on Thursday, the Associated Student Body (ASB) hosted a potluck event for us that included food, games, and karaoke (look for the upcoming release of a video of Rickey Fultz singing on youtube).  On Friday, we are attending a Spaghetti Dinner that is a fundraiser for AHS’s robotics team.

Why has your host student chosen to attend Aviation HS?

Emily chose Aviation High School because she wants to be a pilot.  Her classes here all connect to the theme of Aviation in some way, which she likes.   This school is also smaller than the other high school she would attend.  At AHS there are 400 students instead of the 1800 students at the other school.

Emily makes a 45 minute trip (each way) to Aviation High School each day.  This includes getting up at 5:45, for her mom drop her off to catch a train.  She then gets a ride with a senior that drives from the train stop to the school. 

What are some similarities and differences you notice between DRSS and Aviation HS?

The school atmosphere is similar.  There aren’t any clicks really, but students still hang out with a smaller group of friends.  One thing that is different is that freshman and sophomores are in classes a lot of times with juniors and seniors, where most of our classes at DRSS are with students at the same grade level. 

For more information about Aviation High School, their website is http://www.aviationhs.org/

Posted by Dr. Boyd and Anna Marie Bowsher

Music

We have some interest in starting a music group or ensemble as an after school club at the Dayton Regional STEM School.  There are a couple of WSU graduate students that will be leading up this initiative.  There will be a fee involved, but we will know more about the cost once we know how many students will be participating.  A sign up sheet will be available at the front desk.  Parents should direct their child to sign up there by November 5.

Dr. Boyd

Parents meeting

Below is the link to the notes from the parents meeting tonight.  I apologize for not capturing everything here in the notes.  Last month I had a parent that took notes for me, but the link below is my attempt to capture the discussion after the fact.  :)

Dr. Boyd

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1xPMbnHuqsfqMpYTW2BvnIBrMhC5_fafI85dLq9uzFbk&hl=en&authkey=CKed6pgC

Guide to Online Math Resources

Below is a link from the American Mathematical Society that has a guide for online resources for high school students.

http://www.ams.org/programs/students/high-school/high-school

Dr. Boyd

Fundraiser, dinner out, DRSS gathering,...

Below is some information about the next fundraiser (as well as a social gathering) being organized by our parents group.  Hope many of you can join us on October 21...be sure to mention DRSS.

Dr. Boyd

Picnic

Thanks to all who were able to attend the picnic on Sunday.  We had over 200 people attend!  Thanks especially to Ellen Montgomery-Robinson for taking the lead on this event.  Below are some pictures from the day - thanks to Mr. Brewster for the photos.

Dr. Boyd

Internet Safety Assembly

DRSS Parents:


On October 8, from 11:00-12:00, the Ohio Attorney General's Office will be leading an assembly for our students on Cyber Bullying and Internet Safety.  With our students use of the netbooks and Internet both at school and at home, I believe there will be some important messages for students.  If any parents would like to attend this session, please RSVP to Molly Johnson or Stephanie Russell.   

Dr. Boyd

School Patrol, Channel 2

School Patrol and Dan Edwards from WDTN, Channel 2, was at DRSS today.  They are doing a story that highlights some of the technology that our students use and their experiences at DRSS.  We believe the story will be aired tonight between 5:00 and 6:30PM, and again tomorrow between 5:00 and 7:00AM.

Dr. Boyd

Career Assessments at DRSS

DRSS students will be taking two career exploration assessments on Monday, September 20. We will be utilizing Kuder Navigator, an Ohio career planning system that helps middle school and high school students learn about themselves, build an education plan, and explore and prepare for various options after high school. Results from these assessments will be stored within the database for your child's use throughout high school and beyond. Data collected helps us to direct the students as they choose job shadowing sites and when they eventually choose a college major and future career. We will administer the assessments every year so that the students can reevaluate their interests, skills, and values on an annual basis. Sometime this week, we encourage you to ask your student about the results of these assessments. They will be able to login to the database from any computer so that you can review the results together. Please contact Robin Fisher if you have any questions about the career exploration assessments or Kuder Navigator.

After School Group

DRSS Parents:

Our School Counselor, Mrs. Fisher, will be offering an after school small-group opportunity for students who are currently going through a family change (divorce, etc). This will be open to any DRSS student. The group will meet on Mondays after school from 3:30- 4:30 beginning on September 20th. The session will run for 8 weeks. Please contact Robin Fisher (robin.fisher@daytonstemschool.org) if you are interested in having your child be a part of this group or if you have any questions.  Recommendations for other group topics are also welcome.

Activity Day - Thursdays

DRSS Parents:

Mrs. Tash and other staff at DRSS have planned for Thursdays to be Activity Day after school (3:30-4:30) at DRSS.  They have planned a variety of activities to rotate each week for students to participate in after school.  Below is a link to the flyer about Activity Day (every Thursday, 3:30-4:30):

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1lUn2v12KeiCpUqkklVjnPSX42AdGVK3wG_cGWJ88CSA&hl=en&authkey=CMHFunM

And here is also a link to the permission slip for your child to participate:
https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1ECU9vQVUrBe35625_8VZSooEZi0nNINNHn7X00A4FS4&hl=en&authkey=COaXwuoM

We hope many students can join us.

Dr. Boyd

Parent meeting

DRSS Parents:

Below is a link to the notes from tonight's parents meeting.

Dr. Boyd

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1YrGj1VfE7R3rHMFc9p8KWgxIaTZEGrresvANAg9lLeQ&hl=en&authkey=CPqE0OYB

National Aviation Hall of Fame Event

The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) has invited our students to attend the upcoming Air Force Lecture on Wednesday, September 29 featuring Lt. Col. (Ret.) Dick Rutan, an enshrinee of the NAHF. His talk is entitled, “Recalling the MISTY Years.” The lecture will be held in Carney Auditorium at the National Museum of the United States Air Force beginning at 7:30pm; doors open at 6:30pm. Part of the Air Force Lecture Series, the lecture is free and open to the public.

Go to the links below to find out more about Dick Rutan.  He enjoys working with young people, he has volunteered his time at Kidventure at EAA Airventure at Oshkosh, and he has spoken to a number of teacher groups. A photo of Dick Rutan’s Berkut airplane is also attached.

http://www.nationalaviation.org/rutan-richard/

Printable Fact Sheet 

For more information, please call (937) 255-1743.

Save the Date

DRSS Parents:

We sent out an email a few weeks ago asking for help planning a DRSS picnic.  Just a quick reminder to save the date for Sunday, October 3, from 3:00-6:00.  More details will be forthcoming as the group of parents nails down the details.

Dr. Boyd

Dragons Game

Below are some pictures from the DRSS outing to the Dragons Game. Thanks to Mrs. Brandon for organizing the event, and to all who came out to the game.

Dr. Boyd

DRSS Parents Meetings

It was great to see so many of our parents at Open House on Monday evening!  Thanks to those of you that could make it and for taking time to meet your child's teachers.  

Below are dates for 2010-11 Parents meetings.  DRSS Parent meetings are open to all parents of DRSS students.  These meetings serve two purposes:  (1) To provide another avenue of communication between the school and families, and (2) to provide opportunities for parents to support activities at DRSS.  The meetings will take place on the following days from 5:30-6:30.  These are set earlier in the evening in an attempt to be more accessible for parents to come to DRSS after work, instead of making a trip home and back then to the school. 

Look forward to seeing many of you for our first meeting on September 13. 

Monday, September 13, 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Monday, November 29, 2010

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Monday, May 23, 2011

Dr. Boyd

First week of school

DRSS Parents,

The school year is underway.  It's great to see all of our new and returning students.  Students have received forms that need to be returned by Friday (Computer account, Handbook, Acceptable Use) to their advisor.  I'm also meeting with the whole student body to go over some of their questions from Orientation, and address any new ones that have come up, and to highlight some parts of the handbook.

We also have two events next week.  Our open house is on Monday evening, August 30, from 6:00-7:30.  Please come anytime during that 90 minutes to meet your child's teachers and other families at DRSS.  On Wednesday, September 1, we are organizing a group from DRSS to attend a Dragons game.  For tickets, please return this form (http://www.daytonstemschool.org/uploads/Dragons%20ticket%20order.pdf) and payment by Friday (August 27) to secure your tickets for the game.  All tickets ordered this way are in the same section of the lawn, earn you a hat and value meal at McDonalds, and a small part of the price goes back to the parents group at DRSS.  This should be a great night to meet other DRSS families outside of school.  Hope you can join us for both events next week.

Dr. Boyd

First day of school

Parents:

Monday, August 23rd, is our first day of school!  We are excited to begin our second year at DRSS, and are making final preparations for Monday.  Students can arrive at school as early as 7:30, and stay as late as 5:00.  If you are dropping off or picking up your child, be sure to use the aisle closest to the building to drop him/her off, then continue past the building and turn left and exit out to Hibiscus Way.  School buses will be using a different aisle, so please be sure to follow this traffic pattern to make a safe environment outside the building.  We will have signs and staff out front to help guide you as well.  

On Monday, August 30 from 6:00-7:30, we will have Open House for all students and parents.  We don't have a set program, but more of a true "open" time for parents to meet each of their child's teachers and other staff at DRSS.  We hope you can join us.

We also have an outing planned on September 1 to the Dayton Dragons game.  A flyer was emailed last week about this event, and this is open to all students and their families.  We hope you can join us for this fun social event and a chance to spend time with other DRSS families.

Dr. Boyd

Try-Math-A-Lon

One of our parents forwarded information about an upcoming Try-Math-A-Lon being hosted by the University of Dayton.  It will be held in Kettering Labs, Room 233 on Saturday, August 28.  Below is a link to a document with more information.

http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AW9hCVV9xmV5ZGR0NGhiNDJfN2Yyc3g1amR2&hl=en&authkey=CO_T-akM


Dr. Boyd

Summer Orientation, Day 2

Below are some pictures from our second day of orientation, which took place on WSU's campus.  The weather outside was hot, and then wet at times, but it was a great day.  The 2010-11 school year is off to a good start!  Looking forward to seeing our students back at DRSS on August 23.

Dr. Boyd