Principal Nelson's Blog

Winter Break

On behalf of the entire Daniell learning community, we wish you and your family happy holidays! Don't forget, school will be closed tomorrow, Friday, December 23, 2011. Students will return to school on Tuesday, January 10, 2012.

Parent FYI

As I have promised you in the past, I will always be open and upfront with you about what is occurring at Daniell Middle School. I want to take this opportunity to inform you of a recent incident involving the possession of drugs by a Daniell student. This incident is an unfortunate reminder to us all that drugs are still a prevalent factor in our society and in our schools. Please be sure to visit with your children about the serious consequences and effects that drug use has on individuals. Not only does drug use impact one’s health and mind, but also drug use has serious disciplinary and/or legal consequences. We all want and expect our schools to be a safe and drug free environment for our kids. Daniell Middle School will not settle for anything less.

With this in mind, we will continue to be diligent in ensuring our children’s safety and well-being. Due to the trust we have earned with our community, there was a comfort level that allowed us to be informed of a potential problem. As a result, school officials were able to resolve the matter quickly. The manner in which this incident was handled reflects the collaborative relationship within our school community.

As always, thank you for your continued trust and support.

Week of December 19, 2011

Click here for your refrigerator version of this week's school calendar.

Download This Week at Daniell 12-19-11 Parent Edition

This week our students will be taking the make-ups for the checkpoints they have been taking in math and English language arts. The purpose of the checkpoints is to give teachers information as to what students may still need extra help with and help them better design lessons as we move into the second semester with new content.

Don't forget this will be a short week. School will be closed this Friday due to a furlough day for all county employees. Therefore, Thursday, December 22 will be the last day of school. Students will not return to school until January 10, 2012. Also, keep in mind school will be closed Monday, January 16, 2012 for MLK day.

Here are the important events for the week of December 19, 2011.

Monday
2:00 PTSA Grants Committee Meeting
2:00 CheckPoints Make-Up Testing

Tuesday
12:00 PTSA Lunch N' Learn
2:25 Daniell Spelling Bee
6:00-7:00 PTSA Concession
6:00 8th Grade Writing Assessment Meeting for 8th Grade Parents
7:00 Chorus Winter Concert in Theater

Wednesday
PTSA Duty Free Lunch for Teachers
9:30 PTSA Grant Committee Meeting
4:15 Science Olympiad Meeting
5:00 Chorus Field Trip to Town Center

Thursday
Hat Day for Helping Hands
Last Day to Collect Lost and Found before Items Are Given to Charity
End of Nine Weeks Grading Period
12:00 Principal's Advisory Board Meeting
12:40 7th Grade Locker Clean-Out

Friday
School Closed until January 10, 2012

Did you know?
The Jayne Jones Duncan Media Center opens each morning at 8:15 for students to research for their classes or to use the computer assisted tutorials such as USA TestPrep and Skills Tutor. These same programs can also be accessed at your home through Daniell's website.

Week of December 12, 2011

For your refrigerator calendar, please click here.

Download This Week at Daniell 12-12-11 Parent Edition

We had a busy weekend at Daniell. Friday night chorus and orchestra performed at Home for the Holidays at Piedmont Church. Then Saturday, our jazz band performed at Home for the Holidays and our Lego Robotics team went to Georgia Tech for competition. Meanwhile, Saturday morning other Daniell students were performing at Bells Ferry Elementary where they had Breakfast with Santa. I enjoyed seeing many of our parents at these events. We had some nice conversations and some good times watching the kids perform.

Here are the important events for this week at Daniel.

Monday

• 4:30 Sorella Club Meeting
• 5:30 PTSA Nominating Committee Meeting in Media Center

Tuesday

• 5:00-9:00 PTSA Barnes and Noble Book Fair

Wednesday

• Math Checkpoints
• 4:15-5:20 Science Olympiad Meeting

Thursday

• Math Checkpoints
• 8:10 FCA Meeting in Cafeteria
• 9:45 7^th Grade SLAM Performing Arts Assembly
• 1:15 6^th Grade SLAM Performing Arts Assembly
• 3:30 8^th Grade SLAM Performing Arts Assembly


PTSA Barnes and Noble Book Fair

The PTSA Barnes and Noble Book Fair on Barrett Parkway is Tuesday night, December 13, 2011.  It will start at 5 pm and end at 9 pm.

Several clubs and groups from Daniell will be performing. Free gift wrapping will be available. The PTSA will use a percentage of the sales for die cuts for teacher usage.

The homeroom with the most students attending will get a cupcake party and the teacher will a $20.00 gift card.

Did you know?

In January of 2012, Daniell Middle School will begin a construction project that is worth over four million dollars. From January until May, construction will focus on our new kitchen. Once school is out lots of activity will begin - 250 parking spots, bus canopy areas, renovated and enlarged cafeteria, ceiling tile and water suppression updates, and much more. For complete coverage of our activity, you can visit our website and click on the SPLOST link.

Week of December 5, 2011

For a printable version of this week's calendar for your refrigerator, please click here:

Download This Week at Daniell 12-05-11 Parent Edition

We had a great week last week at Daniell. Friday students received their progress reports and had student advisement. Our student leaders of the Principal's Advisory Board(PAB)went into all the classrooms to talk about grades, homework, and high school. We also had student members of Sprayberry High School's leadership program come visit with all our 8th grade advisement classes.

Please make sure you visit with your child about their academic progress and their goals for the remainder of the school year. Your student should have given your their progress report which they received Friday. You can always see your student's grades if you have registered for PINNACLE. Also, don't forget you can get information for the week by going to my blog which is on the school's website. In my blog there is a link for you to be able to download and print the weekly calendar for your refrigerator.

Here are the important events you should be aware for the week of December 5, 2011.

Monday
6:00 Pre-Concert PTSA Dinner
6:30 PTSA General Meeting
7:00 Orchestra Winter Concert in Theater

Tuesday
7:45 School Council Meeting
8:00 Student Forum Meeting
6:00 PTSA Pre-Concert Dinner
7:00 7th Grade Band Winter Concert in Gym
Spirit Night at Monster Golf

Wednesday
Students Take Language Arts CheckPoints
Cheeseburger Bobby's Spirit Night
4:15 Science Olympiad Meeting

Thursday
Students Take Language Arts CheckPoints
6:00 PTSA Pre-Concert Dinner
7:00 8th Grade Band Winter Concert in Gym

Friday
5:00 Orchestra Performance for Home for the Holidays at Piedmont
7:00 Chorus Performance for Home for the Holidays at Piedmont

Saturday
3:45 Jazz Band Performance for Home for the Holidays at Piedmont

Did you know?
Daniell Middle School students have increased their math scores on the ITBS for three years running. In addition, on the ITBS Daniell Middle School students continue to out-perform the majority of the students in the nation on their critical thinking skills in all four content areas.