HEROES are coming!
We are unbelievably excited to be starting our pilot mentoring program we call our Heroes Program! These mentors will be college work-study students from Liberty University and University of Lynchburg who will be payed to mentor 20-hours per week. These Heroes have been through a rigorous interview process and background check. They receive ongoing training in three areas (character development/mentoring, career/college preparedness, and multicultural/diversity awareness). The mentors can help us in many ways, but their main focus is to build relationships with the students and help them make good choices. They will eat lunch with the students, and maybe join them for gym/elective classes.
We will embed the Heroes in every English class to start out - as we get more, they will be expanded to other subjects. The Heroes will interact with all students but they will each have a group of students (who are struggling academically and behaviorally) on their caseload. They will help these students achieve the goals that they set in their success plans. Currently, the Heroes and staff can only create success plans for 20 Dunbar students, but we hope to have success plans for all our students by next school year! If you are interested in your student working with a Hero and creating a success plan click here to get on our waiting list.
Spirit week was last week (10/1-5)...and it was AWESOME!
- Monday- College Day
- Tuesday-Superhero day (no mask)
- Wednesday-Rapper, Rocker, Country...dress as your favorite hip hop, rock, or country artist! (School dress code applied)
- Thursday-Purple and Gold Day
- Sports/Sweats Day-Represent your favorite sports team and/or be super comfy in your sweats!
FALL BREAK for students is Wednesday 10/10-Friday 10/12. Our regular school week resumes on 10/15.
REPORT CARDS!
Expect first quarter report cards to come home on Friday, October 19, 2018.
Rachel's Challenge *** Update***
The presenters for Rachel's Challenge had to reschedule the presentation for October 18th at 9:30 because of the uncertainty with Hurricane Florence. Please read the information below and let me (Dr. Brown) know if you have any questions or concerns. I believe this will be a powerful presentation that really opens the eyes of our students regarding the impact their actions and words have on others.
Everyday in America 160,000 kids skip school because they are afraid of being bullied. Rachel's Challenge is a movement that is helping to positively transform the culture within those schools and communities. When students are inspired to make their school a positive environment full of acceptance and encouragement, they find one that is free from bullying.
Rachel’s Challenge is coming to LCS on Thursday, 10/18. The organization will do a presentation for E.C. Glass and ALL three middle schools. All middle schools will travel together to the ECG auditorium at 9:30 to hear the presentation. We plan on taking every student in the school. If you feel that you do not want your child to hear this message, contact Principal Dr. Brown at 434-515-5310 before Friday, October 12, 2018, to opt your student out. Please watch the video below to get a feel for what this is all about.
Hello Parent/Guardians,
Greetings from the Guidance Department!! Mr. Hamlett here. Guidance teamed up with our school resource officer, Officer Takacs, to do a presentation on online safety. The presentation lasted for 50 minutes and covered online predators, social media, gaming tags, cyber bullying, etc. All presentations were done during the students' gym periods.
If there are additional topics you think would be good for us to cover, please call or email us at takacsgm@lcsedu.net and/or hamlettle@lcsedu.net
Also, October is bullying prevention month. We have several activities planned. We will be working with students after the Rachel's Challenge presentation to make sure the impact of the presentation is sustained past Thursday. We are placing anti-bullying posters all around the school and on our digital hall monitors, and participating in a National Unity Day against bullying. Our National Unity Day will be held Wednesday October 24th. We are asking that our students and faculty wear orange. Orange is the universal color for standing together for kindness, unity, and anti-bullying! In addition to the posters, we will also have an anti-bullying pledge signing activity; and, there will be a banner where students can write positive messages to the student body. We are really looking forward to this event and are extremely excited to have everyone participate.
FREE FOOD! We are partnering with Food for Thought to provide free food to students who may need food to eat over the weekend. Every Friday a free food bag will be discretely placed in the students' book bag in their locker so they can take it home without other students knowing. If you would like for your student to receive free food, simply have them get a form from the school counseling department and return it ASAP. We want to feed as many students as possible.
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 2nd PTO meeting of the year will be on 10/8/2018 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.
Fundraiser- Start saving your change! We have a "Penny War" starting towards the end of this month. We will send more information later this month.
Want to get involved in PTO for 2018-19? We still have some positions open. 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.
CLUBS AT DMS
21st Century After School Program!
We are still accepting applications for our 21st Centry After-School program. We have numerous opportunities listed below! Contact our program director Stephanie Andrews if you are interested in signing your child up for any 21st century programs! andrewssc@lcsedu.net
Dunbar Overtime, our academic/enrichment program which focuses on Math and English and offers enrichment opportunities (Art, Cooking, Herpetology, Fitness) began on September 10. We meet Mondays through Thursdays, from 3:05-5:30pm.
Aqua Poets, our partnership with the YMCA Downtown, offers swimming lessons as well as nutrition and fitness classes. This program takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 3:05-5:30pm, and began September 25, 2018.
Kids in College, our partnership with Randolph College focuses on literacy. College of Education students mentor and tutor our DMS students to improve their reading skills through a variety of engaging activities and projects. Dinner in the Randolph College cafeteria will be served 1-2 times a month! This program takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 3:05-5:30pm, and began September 18.
Digital Photography- This class gives students an introduction to digital photography. Students will learn the ins and outs of how to use a digital camera, edit photos, and take aerial drone photos! This class will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays...start date is TBA.
Transportation is provided for all participating students, and all of these programs are 100% free. Students can participate in Dunbar Overtime and also participate in Aqua Poets, and Kids in College on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Keep an eye out for emails with more information and updates!
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)
Who: Open to all students at DMS... Where: Communications Room... When: Every Wednesday morning @ 7:30
21 CCLC Art Enrichment Students finished two paintings this week! A color wheel painting including the quote "Let your ART out all over the place" and a Starfish painting using glass marbles as bubbles on the seaweed! These kids stay back after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays as part of the Dunbar Overtime program.
Featured Students:
- Brandy Ditto
- Jamal Jones
- Dasani Jones
- Ty-Ryia Cardwell
- Cordell Payne
- Jonas Leeson
- Annisa Jones
Below***Super focused semester 8th grade Art students, Jasun Garland (Peanut M&Ms), Shakira Merritt (Starburst), Corey Johnson (Hot Tamales) and Chase Jackson (Hershey's Gold) work on their Andy Warhol inspired Pop Art Candy Wrapper Paintings. They really are enjoying almost an entire hour to sit and paint!
This class had to bring in a candy wrapper, select an interesting composition, draw their wrapper realistically using a few grid lines for proportions, then mix the proper paints to match their candy. When they are finished, these will be on display in the DMS Cafeteria.
- PTO Meeting 10/8 6:00 PM DMS Library
- Fall Break-10/10-12 No School
- Make-Up Picture Day!!! 10/15
- Rachel's Challenge Presentation at E.C.Glass. 10/18 9:30 AM
- Cross Country City Championship @ Human Kind 10/24 5:00 PM
- Halloween Dance-10/26 3:10-4:45
- 7th & 8th Grade Band, 8th grade Orchestra, Show Choir Spooktacular Concert 7:00 PM Location TBA
- Always check the DMS website calendar for a complete list of DMS events
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 during the second quarter in the DMS auditorium.
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 respect. Students are supposed to say yes sir/ma'am or no sir/ma'am when asked a yes or no question starting today.
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 Pumpkin Thanksgiving Background" • digitalskillet1 - "Super hero little boy." • xixinxing - "Cheerleading pom-poms" • clsdesign - "Fall Break written in white chalk on a black chalkboard decorated with autumn fall leaves isolated on white" • iQoncept - "Report Card A+ Plus Top Grade Rating Review Evaluation Score" • mindscanner - "Signpost "Counseling"" • the UMF - "Social Media v1" • ACP prod - "group of young photographer student on photography shooting workshop course indoor in a photo studio" • nata_zhekova - "artists brushes and oil paints on wooden palette"