C.C. Spaulding Elementary

“C. C. Spaulding Elementary School Welcome Letter from Principal HD”

August 03, 2022

Welcome to C. C. Spaulding Elementary School! It is a privilege and an honor to serve as your principal for the 2022 – 2023 school year. Our Assistant Principal, Mrs. Cotton and I, are looking forward to working with your scholar and your family. We are very proud to be a part of the rich heritage at C. C. Spaulding and the surrounding community. We value the uniqueness of each person that enters our doors! Our motto for this year is Year of the C. C. S. Eagle: Academics First! #WatchUSSOAR #Scholars4SURE

Please make sure your scholars are on time daily. Doors will open at 7:15 a.m. Breakfast is free and will be served from 7:15 – 7:40 a.m. Children should arrive no later than 7:30 a.m. if they would like to eat breakfast to ensure they have enough time to make it to class on time. The first bell will ring at 7:40 a.m. Instruction begins promptly at 7:45 a.m. with Morning Meetings/ELA. Transportation changes are due daily by 12:00 p.m. Dismissal is at 2:15 p.m.

I have had the opportunity to meet some of you already due to summer programming, community events, and visiting local churches. I look forward to getting to know every scholar, parent, and community member. I challenge our scholars to do their personal best in every academic setting by attending school daily, on time, completing all assignments, and demonstrating exceptional behavior. I join you as we challenge ourselves and our children to be scholars, daily.

We will celebrate our scholars in monthly and semesterly celebrations for academics, attendance, and positive behavior. We will set high expectations and work extremely hard this year focusing on the whole child. We will work on academics, positive behavior, social and emotional learning in a positive, safe atmosphere. Our staff will work to accelerate and enrich learning and mitigate the risks of COVID-19 in a safe manner. In addition, we will treat every child as if he or she is our own child in a caring, compassionate, and professional manner. 

Please see a teacher, school Principal, Assistant Principal, special education case manager, front office staff or others should you have questions. Teacher assignments should be available in Powerschool and given out at the Meet and Greet sessions on Tuesday, August 24^th. Please see the times below for our Meet and Greet on the 24^th and the Title One/Bring Your Family to School Open House Night on September 15^th.Additional information will be posted on our school website. We will communicate information in person, through Robocalls, social media, our school website, newsletters, post cards, our outdoor sign, and Class Dojo this school year.  We are excited to work with our scholars, families, community, and partners during the upcoming year. Scholars, staff, families and community members will have opportunities to provide input this year. Please stay tuned for additional information. 

Mrs. Cotton and I will work to provide a Facebook Live Session and Zoom to answer any questions you may have prior to the Meet and Greet on August 24^th. Information will be communicated regarding the date and time for the FB/Zoom session. Parents will be able to submit questions in advance for us to answer. In addition, a virtual tour will be conducted and uploaded to our website to assist with helping parents guide and prepare our scholars for the first day of school on August 29th. The FB Live will be recorded and uploaded in case people would like to view it later. We will address specific questions about where your scholars will go when they arrive, who will meet them, procedures for the bus, as well as entering and exiting campus. In addition, we will work with transportation for those who are eligible and plan to utilize transportation. The deadline is August 8^th to ensure you have transportation services in a timely manner. Remember there is no transportation provided for Pre-K. We are hoping to be able to add an Eagles News Show in the future. We encourage our parents, school community members, partners, and volunteers to remain active at Spaulding. We will utilize avenues for active participation and input through suggestion boxes, family events, Pastries for Pastors, Real Men Read Day, Title One Curriculum Nights, mentoring, tutoring, parent workshops, providing donations, volunteering, and other organizations. Please stay tuned for input regarding beginning either a PTO, PTA and or Community Round Table. 

I am excited to announce we will have a Multitiered System of Support (MTSS) and personnel to provide intervention for literacy and mathematics across all grade levels for academics, attendance, positive behavior, social, and emotional learning beginning with the second week of school. We will have a Bilingual Receptionist/Family and Parent Engagement Liaison, and instructional coaches to assist with teaching and learning. This includes literacy, social studies, math, science, and social and emotional learning.  Classroom teachers have intervention resources for literacy and math to accelerate learning and to provide interventions and progress monitoring, as needed, to close learning and opportunity gaps. Tiered support and or interventions will be provided in a combination of ways such as pushing into classrooms, flexible grouping, co-teaching, and help in the Learning Center during the day. We will broaden the learning of all children including children in our AIG program, English Language Learners, and children in special programs. We anticipate being fully staffed by the beginning of the school year. 

 Teachers and staff will incorporate Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) with our clearly defined SOAR expectations in all settings, our PBIS Eagle school store, and SEL support. Teachers will incorporate morning meetings to build classroom community and positive culture each morning at 7:45 a.m. 

We have many exciting opportunities available this year. Our scholars will continue to have opportunities for the arts through the North Carolina Arts in Action program. This program will integrate dance and music for children school wide. Our children will have full-time specials including dance, music, art, physical education and media/library. We are one to one digitally at C. C. Spaulding. That means every scholar has his or her own device to use at school. 

I am extremely excited to announce a new playground has been ordered for the upper grade levels and new playground flooring for younger children. Durham Public Schools has begun painting our exterior entrances, provided new lighting, and will continue with interior painting this year and a new auditorium next summer. Our custodial staff have been busy ensuring our building looks great for the beginning of the school year to create a more conducive learning environment. The support we have received and continue to receive has been simply amazing. Thank you all for your efforts. 

Our job at Spaulding is to prepare our scholars for 21st Century careers and opportunities that await them along with life skills and academics. We are incorporating structures to build leadership, organization, collaboration and inquiry skills.  These structures and activities will include organizations such as Safety Patrol, Student Council, Principal Advisory Council, Scholar Town Hall meetings, Step Team, and Yearbook Committee. We use PBIS, SEL, and Restorative Practices to promote a positive, safe, learning environment for all scholars and adults who visit Spaulding. Our faculty/certified staff and classified staff are working hard to best meet the needs of each child. We are working diligently this year to meet the diverse needs of all our children and to make sure each child receives what he or she needs daily. Mentors will be assigned to scholars to make sure every scholar is successful academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Through collaboration, communication and high expectations; we ensure our scholars go through a rigorous curriculum to prepare them for their courses. Mondays will be Dress for Success Days for scholars and staff.

I am looking forward to an outstanding year at C. C. Spaulding Elementary. I want to meet every one of you to ensure our children reach their personal, college, military, and career goals. It is never too early to start planning or creating a positive mindset. We plan to incorporate tutoring this school year. We want to work together to make sure every decision is for our children and based on data and best practices. Please let me know if there is anything, I can do for you. Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your principal and for your help in promoting our Eagle PRIDE! 

Our entire faculty and staff are here to serve our scholars and to make sure they have what they need daily. We love each and every one of our scholars! Please do not hesitate to let us know if you need anything this year. We will work collaboratively and successfully with you and each other this year. 

Rest assured we will do everything in our power to keep your children safe and make sure they receive what they need daily from the time they begin their journey to school, arrive at school, are greeted by school personnel at the doors, and are escorted to class safely and returned to you in a similar fashion. We look forward to our partnership with each one of you during the 2022-2023 school year!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Robin Hill-Davidson, Ed.S. (Principal HD)

Robin Hill-Davidson, Ed.S. (Principal Hill-Davidson)

Year of the C. C. S. Eagle: Academics First!

#WatchUSSOAR

#Scholars4SURE