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District Strategic Goal #5 is:

To Ensure a Satisfying and Productive Partnership with Families and the Community.

As I opened my email this morning, I was delighted to have a message waiting for me from Ms. Elizabeth Gray. As a photographer, she had been on the Rock Island Trail photographing the wild flowers that the Dunlap Grade Students have planted over the years. As she photographed, a gentleman approached her and told her that the flowers were a result of the students at Dunlap Grade School. The flowers that now bloom along the trail provide beauty to those that use the trail as well as habitat for wildlife that inhabits the region. It is wonderful to know that individuals continue to appreciate the hard work and dedication by the students that planted the flowers. She shared with me some of her images.

Goal 4- Partnership With Families and Community; “Right at School” Enrichment Program to be Implemented This School Year!

The Dunlap School District recently surveyed elementary parents to determine if there would be interest in bringing Right At School, an after school enrichment provider, to our schools this Fall. The response was overwhelming and we are pleased to announce that Right At School will be offering enrichment classes and extended day opportunities right in our school every day that school is in session until 6:00 PM.

Registration is now open at RIGHT AT SCHOOL’s Website.

District Strategic Goal #5 is:

To Ensure a Satisfying and Productive Partnership with Families and the Community.

To maintain an effective means of communication and provide information to our families and community, we have recently launched our new website. The website will provide families links to important websites, the ability to download necessary documents for registration, fundraisers, supplies, and much more, and provide up to date events and information.

The website will continue to receive updates throughout the summer. One major update will occur when staff are confirmed and teacher webpages, biographies, and pictures are uploaded to the teacher page. Additionally, albums of pictures from Dunlap Grade School events will be uploaded on an ongoing basis through the school year.

We are excited for this launch and invite you to visit the new page at:

 Dunlap Grade School’s New Website 

Enjoy!

District Strategic Goal #5 is:

To Ensure a Satisfying and Productive Partnership with Families and the Community.

I was able to see this partnership being celebrated this week. As the new DGS principal, I have walked into DGS twice in the past week to see Mr. Etnyre on the roof of the building. The first time I saw him on the roof was for the first grade egg drop. Yesterday when I arrived, water balloons were being launched, super soakers were being sprayed, and kids were screaming with delight. Wondering if this was something in store for me in the future, I decided to investigate. As I investigated the cause of their elation, I learned that it was in celebration of the fundraising the students completed for Easter Seals. The students at DGS raised $1,257.82 for the children at Easter Seals. See the story here at CINEWS and the Peoria Journal Star

 

Way to Go DGS!

District Strategic Goal #2 is:

To Obtain a Satisfying and Productive Classroom and School Learning Environment

In an effort to fulfill that goal, all students at Dunlap Grade participated in Jr. Olympics. A day of activity and enjoyment led to learning opportunities in the areas of sportsmanship, perseverance, and kindness as students participated in many different activities. Grades 3-5 participated in early May and our K-2 students had their day last week.

Congratulations to all participating students. Thank you to Mr. Combs, the classroom teaching staff, and families that made the day possible!

 

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

-Henry Adams

It is Teacher Appreciation Week at Dunlap Grade School and across that nation. It is a time for us to thank the staff that puts in countless hours to ensure the growth and development of our students. As an elementary school, Dunlap Grade is home to students in grades K-5, but the influence of our teachers transcends much further. Thank you for all you do!

“One hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” 

Forest Witcraft

DGS Volunteers were treated to a breakfast reception this morning. Students and staff prepared and served our volunteers in an effort to thank them for their countless hours of service and dedication to our school.

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers that make teaching and learning at Dunlap Grade School amazing We appreciate all your hard work.

 “If you want to touch the past, touch a rock.  If you want to touch the present, touch a flower.  If you want to touch the future, touch a life.”  ~Author Unknown

Volunteer Reception 2012 Video and Photos

On April 29, 2011, the second graders at Dunlap Grade School celebrated National Poetry Month with an all day Poetry Café.  Parents and grandparents were invited to join in on the fun by participating in poetry activities with the kids.  The day began with doughnuts and continued with some of the following poetry activities:

Newspaper Poetry: This is where students cut out words/headlines out of newspapers and rearranged them until a poem emerged.

Tanka Poetry: This is a type of Japanese poetry but instead of counting syllables it counts words on the line in this pattern: 2,3,2,3,3.  We wrote these poems about what it would it would feel like to be a kite.  We then decorated kites with our poems written on it and took them outside to see if they would fly.

Performance Poetry: Students (and visitors if they wanted to) were placed into groups and chose a poem to perform for the class.  The groups practiced fluency and created actions to go with their poems.

Concrete Poetry: This type of poem is where the meaning is suggested by the arrangement of words.  Students created a picture using words instead of lines. 

Magnetic Poetry:  The day ended with making our own magnetic poetry by finding words in magazines and attaching them to magnets!

We even had some of our visitors share poems they had written.  The Poetry Café really helped students’ practice authentic writing, develop a purpose for writing and share their writing with a real audience.  It also reinforced our literacy series genre study of poetry.  It was great to see so many families participate and help empower our students to excel in a global society. 

~Stefanie Pitzer and Stacy Lingenfelter~

Updated drafts of the DGS School Improvement Plan and Balanced Scorecard have been posted to the DGS web page.  The students and staff have identified two areas for improvement.

Goal #1:  DGS will improve written language skills to 80% of students meeting or exceeding the national benchmark by spring 2011, as measured by the AIMSweb Correct Writing Sequence assessment.

We have made significant progress towards our writing goal.  We began the year with 65% of our students meeting or exceeding this goal on the fall benchmarks.  Results on the winter benchmarks increased to 71%.  We remain confident that with continued focus and targeted support for students, we will reach our goal of 80% by the end of the year. Great job everyone!

Goal #2: DGS will develop a satisfying school learning environment by implementing a school-wide behavior management plan to decrease disruptive behavior, as measured by a reduced number of reported incidences.

We are just starting our work on the conduct goal.  An assembly was held this week to set the expectations for hallway and bathroom behavior.  The rules for the hallways are (walk, no talking, and keep hands and feet to self).  The rules for the bathrooms are (get in and get out, quiet voices, respect school property, and no playing).  The staff will be using a ticket system to address these behaviors during the school day. After collecting baseline data, the Building Leadership Team will set a goal to reduce the number of tickets being issued.      

Thanks,

Mr. Etnyre