Book Fair!
Dear Parents and Families,
Reading is the most important skill you can teach a child! Our Scholastic Book Fair is a reading event that provides the books kids want to read. It’s a wonderful selection of engaging and affordable books for every reading level. Reading for pleasure inside and outside of school has real and long-lasting benefits. It unlocks the power of information and imagination and helps children discover who they are. Please make plans to come to our Book Fair and be involved in shaping your child’s reading habits.
Book Fair Date: NOW through NOV. 16 (Students will visit with their English classes.)
- Shopping Hours: 7:30 AM-3:30PM
- Special Event: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13th, FAMILY NIGHT (open 7:30 AM-7:00 PM)
- Your Book Fair Online: If you can’t attend the Book Fair, be sure to visit the Book Fair Online at: http://www.scholastic.com/bf/paullaurencedunbarmidsch
- Our online Book Fair is available from November 8th through November 22nd.
- Shoppers get an expanded selection of books to choose from, every purchase benefits our school, and all orders ship for FREE to DMS!
- **Also, visit iTunes to get a free Scholastic book fair app to help with book selections.
- We look forward to seeing you at the fair, and remember, all purchases benefit our school and students.
~All checks should be made to Dunbar Middle School ~Credit card and cash are accepted ~ We cannot accept any bills higher than a twenty ($20.00)
~One-for-Books campaign will accept spare change to help purchase books for those who cannot afford books.
See you at the Book Fair!
Mrs. Carrie Dodge-Library Media Specialist
I want to congratulate our Dunbar theatre on a phenomenal performance of "James and the Giant Peach Jr." The cast and crew overcame a ton of adversity and changes, while maintaining a "can-do" attitude and a positive mindset. This is a very special group of students who keep raising the bar. I can't wait to see their One Acts! Great job POETS!
Basketball Tryouts
- Monday 11/12- Girls
- Tuesday 11/13-Girls
- Wednesday 11/14- Boys
- Thursday 11/15 Boys
- All students must have a sports physical to tryout.
Interim REPORTS!
Expect second quarter interim reports to come home on Wednesday, November 14, 2018.
Post from the PTO
Would you like to stay informed with all the PTO happenings? Click the box below so the PTO can send you updates and news!
Everyone is automatically a member of our Parent Teacher Organization and there are no dues to be paid. We hope you will spend some time getting to know your school and that you will consider assisting the PTO in our efforts with your time and participation. We had a very successful year last year supporting many new initiatives at the school and hope to continue the same this year. Please be on the lookout for all the ways YOU can get involved!
The 3rd PTO meeting of the year will be on 11/12/2018 at 6:00 p.m. in the DMS Library.
PTO Future Meeting Schedule: We will meet the 2nd Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the library; we try to keep meetings to about one hour; students and siblings are welcome to attend.
We still have some positions open, and will be looking for volunteers for several initiatives, including a color run this spring. PTO is always looking for people who want to be involved, and has a number of openings on the board. There are a number of ways to become involved as much (or little) as you'd like. Contact PTO President Jessie Thompson for more info at jmthompson5@gmail.com.
Stay in touch on social media: Did you know that Dunbar has an official Facebook page? Search for “Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School for Innovation” to find the official one (look for the purple school seal and about 700 likes)! Then be sure to “like and follow” the page so you stay in the know! Like Dunbar Theatre? Check out the “Dunbar Theatre Connection” Facebook page and do the same. These are two active and current Facebook pages being used at Dunbar. And, for the first year ever, we have an Instagram account. Click here to join. You can also find us on Instagram @paullaurencedunbarpoets
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to the Lynchburg City Schools newsletter to get updates about what is going on around the school division. Click here or log on to www.lcsedu.net/community and click on the Community Email Newsletters link.
WDMS NEWS
Parents: WDMS News is BACK! The $1,500 part we needed to get the show up and running is here, and we will begin broadcasting the news daily on November 12th. After the directors have finished training, we will hold anchor auditions and then have crew sign-ups as well. All students are eligible to be anchors and crew members. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Loos or Mr. Moore.
Clubs Corner
Ms. Shaw's 21st CCLC Dunbar Overtime Art Enrichment kids, and 8th Grade Accelerated Art students created a festive display for the band concert on October 30th.
Dunbar Overtime kids got to carve pumpkins and also season and roast the pumpkin seeds! They also made festive Mason jar candles as well.
The pumpkins were displayed along side cardboard replicas of local, Lynchburg area, houses that had a "story" that went along with the property. From the Rocking Cradle House (Attoria Hairston) to the legends of Sweet Briar College (Emily Staton), each house had a spooky, local, story to tell!
Featured Students:
Dunbar Overtime Art Enrichment:
- Brandy Ditto
- Alaya Andrews
- Oliver Rodriguez-Perez
- Jakala Shelton
- Shaniah Toliver
- Chris Lee
- Cordell Payne
- Calyce Morgan
- Barbra Jenkins
- Z'kayla Napier
- Janya Miller
8th Grade Art Accelerated
- Emily Staton
- Turner Thompson
- Leland Landes
- Shelby Kent
- Josh Schindler
- Attoria Hairston
- Nicholas Seilhan
Herpetology
Our Football and Cheerleading team played a phenomenal winning season and finished with a record of 5-1. They almost won their last game in double overtime, which hold have been their third straight undefeated season. We are incredibly proud of our young men and women!
Volleyball
We are so proud of our Lady Poets! This year was a building year as most of our seasoned players moved to high school ball. Our girls rose to the challenge with grit and tenacity and still pulled off a winning season with 10 wins and 7 losses. More impressive, however, is the character of our team. Our girls are exemplary students and peer role models. We are fortunate as coaches to work with such fine players.Next season tryouts will take place in May, usually the last two full weeks. If you know any rising 5th graders who may be interested, please let them know. Ladies stay fit and in shape by joining the winter volleyball recreational league in Lynchburg and listen out for random open gyms that will be scheduled by Coach Giffin and Coach Dorman in the Dunbar gym.
Tennis
Our Girls' Tennis team did it again! These ladies are great every year! They finished an amazing season with a record of 2-2 and are City Champions once again! Excellent job ladies!
Music
Our music department hosted an amazing Spooktacular concert in October. They also want to thank all the parents and volunteers who helped with the dance and apple bagging!
- Nation Education Week! THIS WEEK 11/12-16
- Basketball Tryouts 11/12&13 girls 11/14&15 boys
- Wrestling starts Monday 11/12
- PTO Meeting 11/12 6:00 PM DMS Library
- Interim reports go home 11/14
- Thanksgiving Break- 11/21, 11.22, 11/23: No School
- Touching Bases 11/27 Gym 3:30-6:00 PM
- Always check the DMS website calendar for a complete list of DMS events
Touching Bases: Parent-Teacher Conferences
Our Touching Bases parent-teacher conferences will be Tuesday, 11/27, from 3:30-6:00PM in the gym. All of our teachers will be in the gym for your convenience. These conferences are designed to be a "quick, touching base" to see how your student is doing. If you need a longer conference with a teacher, you can schedule it at that time.
INNOVATION SPACE
After a failed start last year...we are currently working on setting up an Innovation Space in the lower library of Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School. This space will provide an environment where students can conduct experiments, design, and create under teacher supervision. We need your help to make this a success for all our students. We are asking parents to contribute some of the consumable resources we will be using in our Innovation Space. As you clean out your closet/pantry, please think about donating any of the items listed in the link below.
The Golden Poet Award
As you know, our mission at DunBAR is to "Raise the BAR." An initiative we started last year that will hopefully help our kids doing just that is called the "Golden Poet Award". Students can earn the Golden Poet status once per nine weeks by achieving three out of the four following standards: two hours of community service (must complete a community service form in the main office. See Ms. Bell for a form.), no discipline referrals or behavior issues, no unexcused absences, or be a recipient of a positive referral. Students who achieve the Golden Poet status will be recognized on the morning announcements and placed in a quarterly drawing for prizes. This is just another way for us to show our kids that doing the right thing and going the extra mile does pay off.
We will host a special awards ceremony to recognize Golden Poets and present each with a Golden Poet T-shirt on 12/11 at 6:00 p.m. in the DMS auditorium. Our superintendent Dr. Edwards will be our keynote speaker! Invitations for students who have earned this honor will go home the first week in December.
SINCE IT IS EDUCATION WEEK...PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO GIVE OUR TEACHERS SOME LOVE! IT MEANS A LOT TO THEM!
Encourage our teachers- We know our teachers and staff members work very hard and need a pat on the back every now and then. If you would like to recognize a staff member for going above and beyond, you can. Click here to submit a positive referral using our Google Form, or email me with your nominations browndr@lcsedu.net (Our teachers appreciate this more than you know!)
The Principal's Challenge
I will begin issuing a weekly challenge for all our students to complete each week. These challenges are simple and quick acts of kindness and respect toward peers and staff. Students will NOT receive any reward or special acknowledgement for completing these challenges. It's just our way of giving them the opportunity to "Raise the BAR!" Please help us out with this by asking your child what the challenge for the week is and how they are completing it. This week's challenge is about voice levels. Voice levels really do matter, not just in school, but in life. If you are too loud at the wrong place you can be looked at as disrespectful and disruptive. You could lose opportunities because you never know who is watching you. Always represent your family, school, and yourself with pride and respect. Stay at a level 2 (conversation voice) in the hallways and cafeteria all week.
Before students came back to school this year, my entire staff and I sat down and had a serious conversation about the values that we wanted to commit to exhibiting consistently for our parents, students, and each other. I am sharing the values that we all agreed upon, along with our mission, vision, and goals so that you can hold us accountable. We want to be about action here at Dunbar, not lip-service! We are determined to raise the BAR!
- Professional
- Respectful
- Responsible
- Collaborative
- Positive
- Helpful
- Inspiring
Vision- To be a National School Model for Innovation and Student Success for ALL.
Mission- To raise the BAR: Through innovation and inspiration, high expectations for ALL, and strong relationships.
Goals- National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, and a Model PLC School
Theme for the Year: Family
Credits:
Created with images by gsk2013 - "Autumn Thanksgiving Background" • Alextype - "Stack of books at the bookshop" • Atomazul - "Basketball on Hardwood 1" • iQoncept - "Report Card A+ Plus Top Grade Rating Review Evaluation Score" • the UMF - "Social Media v1" • IvicaNS - "recording show in TV studio" • chuugo - "助けを求めるイメージ" • luzitanija - "waving colorful flag of germany." • nata_zhekova - "artists brushes and oil paints on wooden palette" • Africa Studio - "Stationary and smartphone on wooden table. Text PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE on chalkboard background. School concept."