Principal Nelson's Blog

Week of October 31, 2011

Each year the federal government randomly selects schools to be a part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP is used to determine how well students are performing across the United States and is used to help determine how well are country is performing compared to other countries. Only thirteen year olds take this assessment. This year our school was selected to be a testing site for thirteen year olds. On Wednesday from 10:00-1:00 some of our students will be participating in this national assessment which will be used to help determine how well students across the United States are doing.

Here are the important events that you should be aware for the week of October 31, 2011.

Monday
Students receive the PTSA's No Place for Hate Resolutions in Homerooms
Keybuilder's Membership Drive Begins

Tuesday
8:10 Keybuilders Meeting
6:30 PTSA Board Meeting in Media Center

Wednesday
10:00 NAEP Testing for 13 Year Olds at Daniell
4:15 Science Olympiad Meeting

Thursday
PTSA Honor Roll Celebration

Friday
PTSA Chick-fil-A Day

Did you know?
Each president of a student club or organization and two at-large representatives of each grade level sit on the Principal’s Advisory Board at Daniell. The Principal’s Advisory Board gives input to the principal about issues or ideas that students would like to see accomplished in their school. Each year the Principal’s Advisory Board selects different projects to help improve their campus and help motivate more students to do better academically.

Currently each student organization is working at designing their school club or organization’s logo. Each club and organization will paint their logo on a corner in one of the halls of the school. Not only will the logos be able to be used to provide directions to people, but also they will be visual reminders to students of the opportunities which they have to get involved. Research shows that the more students are involved in their school that they will have better attendance and better grades.

Please click here for a printable version of this week's schedule.

Download This Week at Daniell 10-31-11 Parent Edition

 

Week of October 24, 2011

This week begins the second week of the second quarter grading period and is Parent/Teacher Conference Week. Don't forget student dismissal is at 2:15 all week. So, all our students will be out of school early this week. Report cards for the first nine weeks grading period will be given to parents and guardians at their scheduled conference.

Monday

• Parent/Teacher Conference Week
• 2:15 Student Dismissal
• Relay for Life Bake Sale
• Teach One – Lead One Leadership Program Begins


Tuesday

• Parent/Teacher Conference Week
• 2:15 Student Dismissal
• Mrs. Hirsch Honored at Teacher of the Year Celebration


Wednesday

• Parent/Teacher Conference Week
• 2:15 Student Dismissal


Thursday

• Parent/Teacher Conference Week
• 2:15 Student Dismissal
• 7:45 School Council Public Relations Sub-Committee Meeting
• 7:00 PTSA Board Meeting


Friday

• Parent/Teacher Conference Week
• 2:15 Student Dismissal
• Chick-fil-A Day
• ECCC PTSA Reflection Deadline
• Relay for Life Pink Out Day


Did You Know?

Approximately one third of the students who attend Daniell Middle School are served in accelerated content/gIfted classes. In addition, over 50% of the staff at Daniell are already certified to teach gifted classes.

*************************

For a printable version of this week's schedule for parents, please click here.

Download This Week at Daniell 10-24-11 Parent Edition

Week of October 17, 2011

Don't forget next week is Parent/Teacher Conference Week. If you have not set up your conference appointment time yet, please call the school so we can make sure to get one arranged for you. Teachers have already sent home conference information. But, just in case your child didn't get the information to you don't worry. Just email your child's teacher or call the school and we can take care of it for you. Thanks for always making sure Daniell students have 100% parent participation! We look forward to seeing you during the week of October 24th! Report cards from the 1st nine weeks grading period will be distributed to parents during this time.Don't forget, this week students begin a brand new grading period as we start the 2nd nine weeks of school.

Here are the important events for the week of October 17, 2011.

Monday

• Last Day of Regular Testing for 7^th Grade ITBS
• 4:30 Sorella Meeting


Tuesday

• 7th Grade ITBS Make-Ups
• 8:00 Student Forum Meeting
• 12:00 PTSA Lunch N’Learn in SAR #1
• 6:30 Foundation Informational Meeting
• 7:00 7^th and 8^th Grade Orchestra Concert
• 8:00 PTSA Grants/Appropriations Meeting


Wednesday

• Hearing and Vision Make-Ups in Theater
• Sticker Sales during Lunch for Helping Hands Fundraiser
• 4:15 PTSA Junior Board Meeting in Media Center


Thursday

• Club Pictures and Fall Picture Re-Takes in Theater
• Sticker Sales during Lunch for Helping Hands Fundraiser
• 8:10 FCA Meeting in Cafeteria
• Stevie B’s Pizza Night


Friday

• Chick-fil-A Day
• Hat Day for Helping Hands
• 12:00 Principal’s Student Advisory Board Meeting in Principal’s Conference Room


Saturday

• Selected 7^th and 8^th Grade Orchestra All-State Auditions at Kell High School

Did you know?
Daniell Middle School offers two computer assisted tutorial programs to help your student in the areas he/she may need extra help. Skills Tutor and USA TestPrep are available on our school website so that your student can use these programs at their convenience from home, at school, or anywhere they have access to the internet. The media center is open at 8:15 Monday through Friday for students to access these programs or be able to check out library books. For more information about these programs or opportunities the media center provides for children, please contact Mrs. Mitchell, 6^th Grade Administrator who oversees these programs, or Mrs. Harris, Media Specialist who operates our library.

For a downloadable version of this weeks activities, please click here.

Download Next Week at Daniell 10-17-11 Parent Edition

7th Grade Daniell Family Information

Dear 7^th Grade Daniell Family,

I am writing this letter to inform you of sad news that impacted some of our current 7^th grade students today. This week one of our former students passed away. This student had attended Daniell as a 6^th grader last year and, subsequently, had classes with many of our current 7^th grade students who are with us this year. As a result of those friendships and the emotions involving the loss of a friend and former classmate, today’s portion of the ITBS testing was postponed. Clearly, we could not have many of our students take the test and expect them to do well when they are dealing with the loss of one of their former classmates.

I wanted to make sure you were aware of this matter and that I personally spoke to all our 7^th grade students about the loss of their friend who had moved out of our district last year. Our counselors were available to our students all day in the Student Activities Room to help our 7^th graders process this situation and handle any grief. In addition, our PTSA also set up a room for the teachers who taught the former student who passed away so that they could visit with one another as they processed this loss.

This evening please visit with your student to ensure they are handling the loss of one of their former classmates as well as they can. ITBS testing will resume Monday for our 7^th graders.

Week of October 10, 2011

This week our 7^th graders take the ITBS. If you are the parent of a 7^th grader, please make sure to wish them well and encourage them to take the test seriously. This test is used to determine how well your child is doing compared to other 7^th graders throughout the United States. It is also one of the components used to help teachers determine accelerated content needs and areas to work on for the CRCT. In addition, the test is a component that magnet schools use for program acceptance. I have spoken to our 7^th graders about the test and how it impacts them, but would love your help in reinforcing to them as to why they should take it seriously.

Here are the important events you should be aware for the week of October 10, 2011.

Monday

• 7^th Grade ITBS Begins

Tuesday

• 7^th Grade ITBS Continues
• 7:45 School Council
• 6:00-8:00 Book Fair Late Night
• 6:30 Sprayberry Advanced Learning Night
• 7:00 Chorus Fall Concert in Theater

Wednesday

• 7^th Grade ITBS Continues

Thursday

• 7^th Grade ITBS Continues

Friday

• Chick-fil-A Day
• 7^th Grade ITBS Continues
• End of 1^st Nine Week Grading Period
• 10:00-3:30 8^th Grade Technology Class Field Trip

Saturday

• 7^th and 8^th Grade Chorus All-State Auditions at Woodland High
• Selected 7^th and 8^th Grade Orchestra Solo and Ensemble Performance Evaluations

Here are other important upcoming dates for you to be aware.

October 18 – 7^th and 8^th Grade Orchestra Concert

October 19 –Hearing and Vision Make-Up

October 20 – Fall Picture Retakes

October 24-28 – Parent/Teacher/Student Conference Week/Student Early Dismissal

October 28 – PTSA Reflection deadline

November 3 – PTSA Honor Roll Celebration

November 7 – PTSA Night

November 8 – Student Holiday/Staff Work Day

November 14-18 – PTSA Gobble Grams Sale and Keybuilders Canned Food Drive

November 16 – End of 2^nd 4 ½ Nine Weeks

November 17 –Buddy Pictures

November 21-25 – Thanksgiving Break

Did you know?

Daniell Middle School is preparing for SPLOST III construction. Our school will be getting 250 parking spots, new ceiling tiles, an enlarged and updated cafeteria, and awnings at the bus loading and unloading areas. To view the latest information about the SPLOST projects slated for Daniell Middle School or any other Cobb County School District site, please visit this link: www.ccsdsplostprojects.org

Technology Class Field Trip

Technology students in Mrs. O’Neill’s class will be attending the Georgia STEM Festival on Friday, October 14^th.  There will be many exhibitors and hands-on activities.  Your child will not want to miss the great opportunity to attend the first festival presented by the Georgia Department of Education.  If your child is in Mrs. O'Neill's technology class, please make sure to return your permission slip with $11 for transportation to the festival as soon as possible.

Week of October 3, 2011

This is a big week for our 7th graders as they begin taking the CogAT and the ITBS. In the CCSD, our students take these assessments in the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th grades. The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) measures students’ learned reasoning abilities in the three areas most linked to academic success in school: Verbal, Quantitative and Nonverbal. While CogAT is well-suited to help educators make important student placement decisions, such as selecting students for Gifted and Talented programs, it also can be used to expand the educational opportunities of all students.

The ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) provides educators information that can drive classroom remediation and allows parents, students, and teachers to see how each child and our school is doing when compared to other students at the same grade level across the United States. Seventh Graders will begin taking the CogAT Wednesday and then the ITBS on Monday, October 10^th.

 

Here are the important events for the week of October 3, 2011 which you should be aware.

THE SCHEDULE

National Fire Prevention Week

Public Safety Appreciation Week

Monday

• PTSA Reflections Deadline for Student Entries
• 6:30 PTSA Executive Board Meeting in Media Center

Tuesday

• 6:30 PTSA Hospitality Meeting in SAR

Wednesday

• Cheeseburger Bobby’s Spirit Night
• 7^th Grade CogAT Begins

Thursday

• 7^th Grade CogAT
• 1:00 PTSA Volunteers Bag Good Luck Cookies for 7^th Grade ITBS

Friday

• PTSA Chick-fil-A Day
• PTSA Volunteers Pass Out 7^th Grade Good Luck Cookies for ITBS
• 7^th Grade Cogat

Did You Know?

Daniell Middle School students have consistently outperformed the majority of students in the nation who have taken the ITBS. A score at the 50^th percentile means that a student did better than 50% of the students who took the same test. But, it also means that the other 50% of the students did better on the test than they did. Last year our school’s overall score came in at the 59^th percentile. This means Daniell students did better than 59% of the students across the United States who took the same test. Our goal is to be at the 65^th percentile. So, we still have some work to do. But, last year alone we improved by five percentile points.