Alice Deal Weekly Bulletin

March 30, 2009

"Think globally. Listen compassionately. Act inclusively."

Thought for the Week
"For a community to be whole and healthy, it must be based on people's love and concern for each other."

-- Millard Fuller

STAY INFORMED!

Bell Schedule
Monday - Bell I Tuesday- Bell I Wednesday - Bell II (Bell II activity) Thursday - Bell I (Community Renewal Meetings) Friday - Bell I

Upcoming Activities!

Monday
School resumes!

Thursday

Team Community Renewal Meetings (throughout the day)

Department Chairpersons Meeting; 3:30 in the Conference Room

Mandatory Competition Choir Rehearsal; 3:30 - 4:30

Friday

Record-keeping day,
12:15 dismissal
Periods: 1, 3, 7, 4, 5

Feeder Schools Counselor Meeting; 1:30 in room N101

April 9
Awards Assembly #2
Report Cards Issued

April 10 - 13
No School

April 14
School Resumes

April 15

Faculty Meeting,3:20 pm

April 16
Emancipation Day Holiday

April 18
Enrollment fair, 9-12pm

April 20-24
DC CAS Testing (students are reminded to bring their calculators and #2 pencils!)

April 23

Competition Choir Rehearsal; 3:30 - 4:30
PTA meeting elections, 7pm

April 30

Competition Choir Rehearsal; 3:30 - 4:30
Mary Cheh hosts a discussion about Education issues for Ward 3 in the Deal cafeteria, 6:30pm

May 6, 7, & 8
Deal Book Fair

May 7

Competition Choir Rehearsal; 3:30 - 4:30

May 8
Braveheart to Gettysburg

May 15
Parent Teacher Conference, No school for students

May 21
Faculty Meeting, 3:20pm

May 25
Memorial Day Holiday

May 26

Reception at Smithsonian Museum of American Art for Team Braveheart art/writing stories books

May 28 & 29
Deal production of "Once Upon a Mattress"

May 29
Final Student Awards Assembly

May 30
Annual Bikes for the World Collection, 10-1pm

June 3
8th grade class trip

June 5
8th grade dance, 7-10pm

June 11
8th grade promotion, 9:15am
7th grade trip to King's Dominion

June 15
Last day of school for students

June 17
Last day of school for teachers

Community Renewal Meetings

Each team will meet in the cafeteria on Thursday, April 2nd (Team Olympian 7th graders will meet during 3rd period on Friday) to review the values, beliefs, assumptions, and norms of Alice Deal Middle School. These meetings will be lead by the team teachers and supported by members of the administration.

Odyssey

Period 1

Braveheart &
United Nations

Aztecs

Living together is an art.

-William Pickens

Community Resource

(*This does not mean endorsement by Deal*)

Cardinal Basketball Academy 2009 Boy's and Girl's Basketball Camp at Catholic University
The 2009 Cardinal Academy Basketball Camp is a great opportunity for kids ages 7-15 to enhance their basketball skills and have a fun time in the process. Through a week of teaching basketball fundamentals and competition, we hope that each young player leaves camp as a better basketball player. A small counselor to camper ratio ensures that all players receive individual attention during the week. We want all campers to walk away from camp having had a positive experience with the game of basketball. Please visit www.cuacardinals.com or contact Steve Howes at 202-319-6046 or Matt Donohue at 202-319-4951 for dates and registration information.

Message from Principal Kim
Welcome back to a fresh and clean Deal! I hope you had a refreshing and rejuvenating Spring break! It was a busy week at Deal as the custodial team and construction team shifted classrooms for one final time this school year. Starting today, students and teachers will be using new spaces, such as our new gallery connecting the cafeteria and the gym! DCPS and Heery Construction have done a fantastic job! Deal has so much more natural light than ever before and I firmly believe that natural light lifts spirits and inspires learning. Teachers, please be even more visible in the hallways today and for the next few days as students and teachers find their way around the new hallway and classroom configurations. Also, MANY THANKS to the teachers who chaperoned the trips to Costa Rica and France during Spring Break. Ms. Wang, Ms. Hovancsek, Ms. Phillip, Ms. Brooks, and Mr. Ngwa, under the strong leadership of Mr. Santiago and Mr. Mbayu did a fantastic job guiding our students through a linguistic and cultural journey! The email updates and pictures were great, and we all look forward now to the stories. Students and parents in the 7th grade should begin to prepare now for the trip next year. It is a wonderful way to cap the world language experience at Deal. Next year, the students will travel to Spain and France and the trip will cost about $2,200. Please see Ms. Kelley and Mr. Mbayu if you are interested. We have only 12 days remaining before the DC CAS! Work hard and stay focused! Principal Kim

March Students of the Month

Students at Deal continue to inspire us with their caring character and achievements. Congratulations and a heartfelt thank you to these students for their spirit of cooperation and pursuit of academic excellence. Let's continue to inspire each other with mindful and respectful choices.

Team Boys Girls

Aztecs Diego Ramos-Meyer Chandler Baxter

Green Scholars Scot Beumel Dysis Scarlett

Olympians

7th Preston Haythe Brianna McAdoo

8th Andy Bloom Georgia Rochon

Brave Heart Will Church Izzy Jensen

Odyssey Eric Scarlett Makeda Burton

United Nations Mohamed Ahmed Anya Smith

OPEN HOUSE/ENROLLMENT FAIR- coming soon!

All current and future parents and students are invited to attend our Open House/Enrollment Fair on Saturday, April 18th!

Bring your questions about our curriculum and co-curricular activities, take a tour of our newly modernized building, and meet faculty and staff.

To register your child, you will need to:
· complete the Annual Student Enrollment Form
· show Proof of residency in DC and within the attendance zone
· have a signed Immunization and Oral Health Forms
· complete the Home Language Survey
· complete the Family Application for Breakfast, Lunch, and After-School Snacks

Prizes will be available for the first 100 students to register!!!

Safe yourself a trip to the school during the summer and get it done now! We need the support of every parent to complete this so that we can be better prepared with schedules for next school year! Thanks for your support and please spread the news!

Weekly News

New Boys and Girls Restroom Locations

Thanks to our latest move, there are now boys and girls restrooms on each floor. All of the boys restrooms are located on the west side of the building and all of the girls restrooms are located on the east side of the building. Please make sure you use the correct bathroom!

Annual DC Statewide Mathematics, Science and Technology Fair
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and its Army and NIH partners were proud to sponsor the 63rd Annual DC Statewide Mathematics, Science and Technology Fair. Deal students received many honors. The list has not been published on the website but we would like to share the information that we have about our Deal winners.

Grand Prize for Junior Division - Alex Morales-Sanz
3rd Place Winner for Junior Division - William Church
Alex Morales-Sanz-1st Place -Physics
Nathan Davis-2nd Place-Microbiology
Jenna Wade-3rd Place-Biochemistry
Adriahana Foster-Honorable Mention- Environmental Science
Katie Borrazzo - 3rd Place - Chemistry
Ruthie Lewis - 1st Place - Animal Science
Evan Katz - 1st Place - Health and Medicine
Sasha Pfeiffer - 3rd Place - Earth and Planetary Science
Sarah Ulstrup - Honorable Mention - Physics
Desmond O'Brien - 3rd Place - Environmental Science
William Church - 1st Place - Engineering
Alex Morales-Sanz - 1st Place - Physics and Astronomy
Alex Cooper - 3rd Place - Behavioral Science
Liam Kerwin-Participant-Engineering
Chandler Baxter-Participant- Environmental Science/Management
Eli Ferster- Participant Team
Jamie Finucane-Participant Team
Vincent Femia-Participant Team

Deal students also won special merit awards from:

the Geological Society of Washington;
the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics;
the Washington Statistical Society;
the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research;
the Naval Scientist Organization;
Association for Women in Science;
Air Force Scientist and Engineers;
and author Joy Hakim.

Congratulations to the Cast of Deal's Musical!
Once Upon a Mattress cast members are:
Queen Aggravain - Abigail Melick
King Sextimus - Gabe Kohrman
Prince Dauntless - David Peck
Princess Winnifred - Kelly Sherman
Lady Larkin - Zoe Haynes
Sir Harry - Billy Schuldiner
Jester - Luke Trinity
Minstrel - Jaquan Mussignton
Wizard - Jeremy Zeitler
Nightingale -AnneMarie Torreson
Sir Harold- Nathaniel Remez
Princess #12 - Tyler Jackson
Lady Rowena - Anna Martone
Lady Merrill - Camara Hudson
Lady Lucille - Atena Sherry
Lady Mabelle - Sarah Ulstrup
Sir Studley- Josh Bramble
Sir Luce - Aidan Parisi
Sir Harold - Nathaniel Remez
1st Knight - Liam Kerwin
2nd Knight - Alante Maybin
3rd Knight - David Feller
4th Knight - Hugo Schroeder
5th Knight - Liam Fischer
Emily- Sumika Davidson
Lady - Gabrielle Hansford
Lady-in-Waiting #1 - Jamie Lowey
Lady -in-Waiting #2 - Anna Allard
Lacy -in- Waiting #3 - Emily Koffsky
Lady -in -Waiting #4 - Isabel Albee
Lady-in - Waiting #5 - Maddy Conover
Pantomime Characters......
Princess - Sumika Davidson
Prince - Malik Yates
Queen- Alex Karlsson
Court - Christina Harn
          Khyla Link     Abby Israel
          Max Lewis Des O'Brien
          Ruthi Tabaku

Dance Troupe:
          Brianna McAdoo          Sumika Davidson
          Helen Keshishian         Tyler Jackson
          Xenia Karlsson            Anna Martone
          Fenice Thompson        Sarah Ulstrup

Lords and Ladies of the Court:
          Isabella Albamonte       Brian Angel
          Nell Bayllss                 Jacob Brescia - Weiler
          Stephen Brame           Blair Brown
          Mackinley Byrd            Rosie Cohen
          Eileen Connor            Alex Cooper
          Nathan Davis              Dayna Downs
          Lanyyah Elam            Domonique Evans
          Sabrian Ford              Zoe Frumin
          Eliza Hamburger          Nora Hand
          Erika Hinkle              Laura Horvath
          Alexandra Jancova      Amara Kutos
          Emma Lalley               Rebeca Klein
          Diana Lara                 Sam Longmarch
          Kyra Maxwell              Clare McLaughlin
          Sarah McCreary         Caleb Merriam
          Mwazomela Mbewe      Emma Murdock
          Nicholas Nwanze         Amber Nuby
          Ross Pendergast          Corina Paolisso
          Tasiana Paolisso         Yoselin Penas
          Anna Pompen             Janet Riegel
          Maren Roberts            Paige Rumelt
          Dysis Scarlett            Astrid Spalding
          Hannah Taub            Madeline Taub
          Natasha Timmons       Courtney Vaughan
          Silvi Weiser

Musical Cast Meeting
There will be a mandatory meeting for ONCE UPON A MATTRESS cast members on Tuesday after school in the Cafeteria from 3:30 - 4:00, followed by a read-through of the show. The read-through is optional for Lords and Ladies of the Court, but other cast members should plan on staying until 5 pm for the read through.

Teachers, Help Shape the NEW Educator Evaluation System
The Chancellor's Office is in the process of developing new evaluation systems for teachers, librarians, counselors, service providers, and other school-based positions, and WE NEED INPUT. Over the next month we will be holding a series of working sessions. All DCPS employees are invited to attend a series of working sessions.

All sessions will be held at:
Logan Annex
215 G Street, N.E.
FREE Parking!

Contact Kate Wheeler, Office of the Chancellor, at kate.wheeler@dc.gov or
(202) 442-5442 if you have any questions or concerns.

Lost and FOUND Textbooks
Destiny Bandy - Science
Safara Bemah - English
Tynell Brooks - Science
Deandre Cash - English, Science
Dennis Centeno - English
Imani Crawford - English
Shawn Curry - French
Ariel Garay-Flores - English, Science
Vanessa Flores - French
Delta Ford - Science
Kevin Goode - Science (Interactions)
Joseph Green - English
Elishua Greenwood - English
D'Mani Harrison - Spanish
Le Angela Harrison - Spanish
Terry Hedgepeth - Science
Ruben Hernandez - Science
Karen Herrera - History, Math
Nhat Hoang - English, Chinese
Michael Kusnet - Science (Interactions)
Khyle Link - Science
Ciara Mackey - Math
Sherridan Mitchell - English, Science
Tyree Montgomery - Math
Dhae Sha Muyers - History
Felipe Munoz-Larious - English
Kelli Myrick - Spanish, English
Emma Noel - Spanish, History
Amarachi Nwosu - Spanish
Jose Reyes - Science
Jalyn Robinson - Science
Zuri Seldon-Jordan - Spanish
Henry Sorto - English
Karen Velasquez - Spanish
Peter Vo, French
Maya-Michelle Woldehawariat - Science
Cordell Wright - History, Science, Math

Please take better care of your books - they are critical resources for our learning community!

Before & After School Activities This Week ...

Monday AM

Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 7 - 8:30 am

Monday PM

Debate Team, 3:20 - 4:30 pm
Rugby, 3:30 - 5 pm
Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Student Council officer meeting, 3:20 - 4 pm
Tutoring with Ms. Mason, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, RM 211
LAYC tutoring 3:30 - 5:30 pm
MathCounts, 3:25 - 4:45 pm, RM 105
Tutoring with Ms. Brown & Ms. Bruce, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Yoga with Ms. Kelley, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Success Academy, 3:30 - 4:30, RM N101
Green Scholars DC CAS Prep, 3:30 - 4:15 pm, RM 109
Track Practice, 3:30 - 5:00 pm

Tuesday AM

Concert Choir, 7:45 am
Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 7-8:30 am

Tuesday PM

Student Government meeting, 3:20 pm, RM 207
Human Rights Club meeting, 3:15 pm
Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Drumline, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
International Cooking Club, 3:15 - 4:30 pm
Art Club, 3:20 - 4:20 pm, Ms. Washington's classroom
LAYC tutoring 3:30 pm
Chinese Club, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Team Olympians Study Hall with Ms. Kinzer, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Once Upon a Mattress cast meeting (3:30 - 4:00) and read through (4:00 - 5:00), Cafeteria

Wednesday AM

Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 7 - 8:30 am
Concert, Choir, 7:45 am

Wednesday PM

LAYC tutoring, 3:30 - 5:30 pm
Show Choir, 3:30 pm - 4:15 pm
Mathcounts, 3:25 - 4:45 pm, RM 105
CAPS, Counseling Session, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Spanish Club, 3:20, RM G-5
Track practice, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Ms. Mason's Running Club, 3:30 - 4:30, RM 211

Thursday AM

Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 7 - 8:30 am
Cleveland Band, 7:45 am
Concert Choir, 7:45 am

Thursday PM

Rugby, 3:30 - 5 pm
Ms. Simpson-Wayne's Video Exercise Class, 3:30 -4:30 pm
Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
LAYC tutoring, 3:30 - 5:30 pm
Jazz Combo, 3:30 pm - 4:15 pm
Team Aztec - A Quiet Place, 3:30 - 4:15 pm, Cafeteria
Green Scholars DCCAS after school tutoring , 3:30 - 4:15 pm, RM 303
Team Olympians Study Hall with Ms. Kinzer, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Success Academy, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, RM N101
A Quiet Place, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Competition Choir 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Green Scholars DC CAS Prep 3:30 - 4:15 pm, RM 303
Track Practice 3:30 - 5:00 pm

Friday AM

Rock Choir, 8 am

Friday PM

Field Games with Mr. Brecher
Tutoring with Ms. Brown & Ms. Bruce, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Knitting with Ms. Wells, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

As always, students should only be at school with parent permission!

2009 DC CAS Testing Schedule

First Week of Testing
Day	Test	Grades
Tuesday, April 21	Reading Session 1 & 2	7 & 8
Wednesday, April 22	Reading Session 3 & 4	7 & 8
Thursday, April 23	Math Session 1 & 2	7 & 8
Friday, April 24	Math Session 3 & 4	7 & 8

	Second Week of Testing
Day	Test	Grades
Monday, April 27	Science & Composition	7 & 8
Tuesday, April 28	Make -up tests for Reading & Math	7 & 8
Wednesday, April 29	Make-Up-Science & Composition	7 & 8
Thursday, April 30	Make -up for any subject
Friday, May 1

Food for Thought...

"Learning Walks" Help Transform a Rhode Island Middle School

In this Journal of Staff Development article, education writer Julia Steiny describes how Kickemuit Middle School in Rhode Island used "learning walks" to catalyze major improvements in teaching and learning. Trained by consultants from the University of Pittsburgh's Institute for Learning in 2002, the school's principal, Mike Carbone, began leading small teams of adults on tours of all classrooms in the school and giving feedback to the whole staff.

When Carbone heard about learning walks, he had already been principal for 12 years and was extremely frustrated that other improvement efforts he'd tried hadn't borne fruit. Teachers still closed their classroom doors and did their own thing, and Carbone knew that was a big part of the school's flatlining student achievement.

When he introduced the idea of learning walks, teachers were resistant. They suspected that the visits were stealth evaluations to gather information to discipline or dismiss teachers. Finally teachers joined the learning walks, and naysayers became converts overnight. On one math-focused walk, team members saw that the sixth-grade curriculum duplicated what was being taught in fifth grade and students were bored. The team's letter to the staff recommended that sixth-grade teachers meet and work on their curriculum. Carbone reorganized the schedule so grade-level teams could meet more easily. On another walk, team members asked students "How do you know when you're doing good work?" and students replied, "I don't know, I never get any papers back." Another team saw that one seventh-grade social studies teacher was studying Egypt while another was teaching the Civil War. "We had no curriculum mapping," says Carbone, "no sequence. It stood out."

Some learning walk participants had personal epiphanies. One teacher who had been opposed to the use of rubrics (they gave away the game to students, she said) saw rubrics being used effectively in a colleague's classroom and changed her position. She asked for copies of the rubric and immediately began developing and using her own. This was one of a number of situations were learning walks produced teacher-to-teacher professional development.

Learning-walk questions were increasingly tailored to the school's concerns, for example, "Do math classes have clear expectations of students?" or "How are the writing rubrics improving the kids' persuasive writing?" There was a set protocol, with Carbone telling the school when a learning walk was going to take place, and teachers and students clear that they should carry on as usual. Students were told to answer visitors' questions honestly, even if the answer was "I don't know." Team members jotted notes and conferred in the hallways after classroom visits, and then debriefed at the end of the walk, comparing impressions and composing a letter to the whole staff that began with positive impressions and then made specific recommendations.

Not all teachers fell in love with learning walks. In the next few years, several teachers transferred out, and Carbone estimates that 10 percent of teachers are still not on board. But learning walks are firmly embedded in the school's professional culture, and when the three-year contract with the University of Pittsburgh ended, the walks continued. Subsequently the school joined other Rhode Island schools in a variation of learning walks - laboratory classrooms or "learning sits" - in which some teachers (not necessarily superstars) engaged in professional development and then opened their classrooms to more intense half-day observations by teams of colleagues. As with learning walks, the debriefs have been extremely helpful to those observing and those being observed. Seeing is believing. Teachers make comments like, "I would never let my kids think-and-talk, or pair-and-share, and now I see it works." The school's teachers are now specific and sophisticated about the professional development they demand.

Carbone is enthusiastic about the impact of learning walks, crediting them with moving the school off the state's "insufficient progress" list in one year and vaulting it to high-performing status, including a state commendation, by 2008. He believes that learning walks provide far better professional development than workshops and courses. "You can see practice, good and bad, right in front of you," he says. "It's much easier to learn by watching people using a strategy than reading about it in a class and trying to figure out how to apply it."

"Learning Walks Build Hearty Appetites for Professional Development" by Julia Steiny in Journal of Staff Development, Spring 2009 (Vol. 30, #2, p. 31-36), no e-link available; Carbone can be reached at carbonem@bw.k12.ri.us.