Hello Parkwood Families,

This is your principal Ms. Fearrington with your weekly message.  I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend and here are some reminders and important information for the next week.

Schedule Reminders:

All DPS students on the traditional calendar will have a teacher workday on Monday, February 20^th.  There will be no school for students that day.  Please refer to the district school calendar provided and linked here for important dates.

Progress Reports:

Progress Reports will be available to all parents through parent portal on February 21^st.  Please make sure you have access to your parent portal.  If you are having trouble accessing your parent portal or need to create one, please reach out to Ms. Joanne Brosh, our data manager at joanne_brosh@dpsnc.net or Ms. Jacqueline Boone, our school secretary at jacqueline_campbell@dpsnc.net.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

Please make sure you reach out to your child’s teacher this month to schedule a parent/teacher conference.  All conferences are to be completed from February 1^st through February 28^th. 

Evening to Shine:

Join us for An Evening to Shine on Tuesday, February 21, at 7:00 p.m. at the Durham Performing Arts Center. This is a CAN'T miss event featuring the amazing talents of our Durham Public Schools students as they showcase all aspects of the arts, from behind-the-scenes to center stage. More than 500 DPS students from schools across the district are prepared and ready for this big night.  Hosted by Pierce Freelon, An Evening to Shine brings vocal, dance, and visual arts expressions together, highlighting excellence in the arts. In addition to providing students with a platform to perform, An Evening to Shine also serves as a fundraiser for the Durham Public Schools Foundation College Scholarship Promise Fund.    

It’s not too late to support our students and this unique event! Tickets are $12.50 and can be purchased at www.shinedps.com. Spanish and ASL interpretation will be available at the event.

Annual African American Read-In:

On Tuesday, February 28^th, we will be hosting our Annual African American Read-In.  The read-in will begin at 8:30am and will last until 10:30am.  Established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month, we will focus on reading books written by African American Authors and/or about African American people, events and historical contributions.  We are asking our community to come read to our students and bring one of your favorite books that fits the criteria and is age appropriate to read to our students.  If you are able to attend, please RSVP to the Evite and sign-up on the form provided here.  We are very excited to be able to host this event again this year and we look forward to having you celebrate Black History Month with our wonderful Parkwood Staff and Students! 

March Title 1 Night:

Parkwood will host our 3^rd Title 1 event on March 9^th.  This event will be class/student led and we will celebrate Women’s History Month.  The event will begin at 5:15pm to 6:45pm.  We will serve dinner at 5:15pm in the cafeteria and the event will begin at 6pm.  We hope you will be able to join us for this special event and get to see all of the hard work our students are doing to celebrate all of the wonderful women that have contributed to our history.  We will share more details next week and thank you in advance for your support.

Attendance and Tardies:

I want to remind all parents that all students are to arrive by 7:45am when the instructional bell rings.  If your student arrives after that time, you will need to come into the front office to sign your student in.  You will no longer be able to drop your student at the front without coming into the school building to sign in.  We have encountered a significant number of students that are tardy and we thank you in advance for your support with this new process moving forward.

COVID Protocols and Information:

It is important that as we see an increase in the amount of COVID-19 cases and flu that we remain vigilant with symptoms that can be COVID-19 or Flu related.  If your child has a fever and is showing signs or symptoms that are COVID-19/Flu related it is important to keep your child at home to ensure they receive rest and are symptom free without medication for 24 hours before returning to school.  If your child has symptoms, please get your child tested to ensure they are not positive for COVID-19 or the flu.  You will need to provide proof of a positive COVID-19 test by taking a picture or providing the doctor’s note to your child’s teacher.  If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher.

Updated Elementary Visitation Guidelines:

We have updated our protocols for elementary school visitation during instructional hours.  The Parkwood Visitation Plan is linked here for you to read.  It is important to note that we have added additional information to the section regarding instructional time.  It is not recommended that parents volunteer in their student’s classroom during instructional time.  However, a parent can support and/or assist with making copies, laminating, eating lunch with their student or volunteering in another area of the school at any time.  If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher, Ms. Fearrington or Ms. Carswell.  Thank you all for supporting all of our teachers, staff and students at Parkwood, we truly appreciate your commitment and dedication to a joyous school learning environment.

There are many ways to stay connected to our community.  Please follow Parkwood Elementary on our Facebook page and website.  Please join the Parkwood PTA!  If you have any questions please visit https://www.durhamparkwoodpta.com/ and/or reach out to Hope Alfaro, our PTA president at durhamparkwoodpta@gmail.com.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions or need assistance!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and as always Parkwood Panthers…Show PRIDE!

Warmly,

Kimberly Fearrington, Principal