Reflections and Realities of an Elementary School Principal
District Goal #2 is:
To obtain a satisfying and productive classroom and school learning environment
Friday, first graders took a trip to visit Princeville Heritage Museum. Next week, they will begin learning about Schools Long Ago and Today. Students were able to visit a one room school house, where they sat in real desks and practiced writing their numbers on chalk boards. They also experienced many items that have changed, such as the iron, type writer, and calculator.
District Goal #2 is:
To obtain a satisfying and productive classroom and school learning environment
Today, the Dunlap High School marching band took a moment to visit Dunlap Grade to share some of their DHS Homecoming songs. The marching band marched through the parking lot and performed 3 songs to entertain our students at DGS. We are thankful for their time and talents. You can see them perform today during the parade and again tonight at the football game at 7pm. Go Eagles!
For social studies, fourth graders had the opportunity to apply directions on a map to a real world application. Having been refreshing their map skills over the past two weeks, Mr. Eckert brought each fourth grade class outside to review the cardinal and intermediate directions. By making visual connections to their surroundings, students were able to familiarize themselves with direction and navigation of a place that is familiar to each of them.
Goal 4 of the District Strategic Plan reads
”To Ensure a Satisfying and Productive Partnership with Families and the Community.”
Dunlap School District Administration serves breakfast at the Dunlap Days breakfast.
If you came to Dunlap Days’ pancake breakfast, you saw some familiar faces cooking up pancakes and serving sausage. Dunlap School administrators served up pancakes at the annual event. Many Dunlap families came to the event to be served by principals and the superintendent. Thank you to the Dunlap Days Committee and Village of Dunlap for inviting us to be part of your event!
Goal 4 of the District Strategic Plan reads
”To Ensure a Satisfying and Productive Partnership with Families and the Community.”
2nd graders at DGS are learning to be effective communicators and technologically capable creators while using their classroom wiki! A wiki, similar to a website, is interactive and will allow students to ask questions, comment, and answer questions. Students can edit pages and add information to share with other second graders. The second grade wiki is a great way for students to apply what they are learning in all subject areas. Since its accessible anywhere there is an Internet connection, it’s also a way to provide for a positive home-school connection! Today, the second grade team collaborated to share ground rules, expectations, and a tutorial about using wikis. They are excited to receive their usernames and will no doubt be posting away on this 3-day weekend!
Submitted by: Stefanie Pitzer and Kelsie Zarko, 2nd Grade Team
District Goal #2 is:
To obtain a satisfying and productive classroom and school learning environment
On Friday, August 31, 3L was “in the dark.” The power? No, blindfolds were the culprit. Students were blindfolded and assigned a partner to guide them to a pre-determined location. Students were led to the playground, switched partners, and made their way back to the classroom. The giggles, smiles and pleas to play again showed that students enjoyed their time participating in the activity, but the discussion afterward showed that they gained some insight into working together as well. The class discussed how important it is to listen to one another and communicate clearly. Students also realized that they were afraid at first, but had to trust the person who was guiding them. “I had to trust my partner,” one girl stated, “so I didn’t hit walls.”
Just the first lesson of many for third graders, that we’re all in this together.
Submitted by: Third Grade Teacher, Natalie Lanser
District Goal #2 is:
To obtain a satisfying and productive classroom and school learning environment
4th grade is currently learning about the Scientific Method and the steps that go with along with it. Today, they got the chance to use the steps of the Scientific Method by identifying solid and liquid properties, using the substance called “ooblek,” most famously known from the Dr. Suess book, Bartholomew and the Ooblek. Each student in 4E and 4M got the chance to experiment with the ooblek and see how holding the ooblek creates a solid and releasing it makes a liquid. Needless to say, it was an adventurous afternoon in 4th grade!
~Submitted by: 4th Grade Teacher, Teresa Marquis
Goal 4 of the District Strategic Plan reads
”To Ensure a Satisfying and Productive Partnership with Families and the Community.”
Dunlap Grade opened its doors to the families of our students at the annual Back to School Night. The evening started with a Parent University session regarding implementation of “Math in Focus.” Parents were the learners as District Teacher on Strategic Assignment, Becky Hansen, spoke to more than half of our families regarding the Math in Focus curriculum changes at DGS.
Following the Parent University session, parents were able to visit the classrooms of their children to learn about the 21st century learning that will take place. More than 90% of our students had a parent attend! Thank you for your support!
Back to School Night also featured samples from the kitchen staff, conference sign-ups, information from the Parent’s Club and opportunities to register with Cub Scouts and Girls Scouts. We were so happy to see the friendly faces of our families at tonight’s event!
DGS is off to a great start of the 2012-2013 School Year!
District Strategic Goal #1 is:
To continuously improve student growth and achievement.
At Dunlap Grade School, we work diligently to ensure students develop the following 21st century skills.
As a mode to accomplish this task, we employ the strategy of creating Classroom Learning Communities. Classroom Learning Communities is a strategy that
The first week of school, each classroom at DGS created grounds rules and a classroom mission statement. Students were actively engaged in this process to promote accountability and ownership. These two components of the classroom learning community set the expectation for the year and lay the foundation for the learning ahead.
At DGS, we “promote active engagement of all members to ensure that students have the skills to succeed in the 21 st century.”
Goal 4 of the District Strategic Plan reads ”To Ensure a Satisfying and Productive Partnership with Families and the Community.”
Dunlap Grade School staff members will be utilizing the typical casual Fridays as an opportunity to partner with the community and raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Each Friday during the school year, staff will have the option of donating funds to earn the privilege of dressing casual. Wearing jeans on Fridays will take on a new meaning this year as we celebrate our retirees. At the conclusion of the school year, the funds raised will be donated to St. Jude in the names of Kindergarten Teacher, Mrs. Kurth and 5th Grade Teacher, Mr. Wenskus. Money raised goes directly to assist St. Jude in fulfilling their mission.
The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay. Dunlap Grade School is eager to seize the opportunity to Dress Casual for St. Jude!