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December 2015
Volume 2
Wise Old Owl
Dixon Educational Learning Academy
Honor Roll & Citizenship
Great Acts are Made Up of Small Deeds
“Nothing is the world is worth having or
worth doing unless it means effort, pain,
difficulty… I have never in my life envied a
human being who led an easy life. I have
envied a great many people who led difficult
lives and led them well.” - Theodore Roosevelt
It is our mission to empower students and
parents to collaboratively help improve
students’ academic achievement.
We strive to create positive, inspiring, and
safe environments that foster sharing, learning,
and growth. We make every effort to create
educational experiences that ensure success for
every student. Most importantly, we respect
each child’s uniqueness.
We envision students employing life-long
skills and goals to become good decision
making adults and productive citizens, as they
grow facing obstacles in our competitive world.
To show how much we appreciate the effort
our Honor Roll students have made during the
first term of the school year, these students will
attend an all expenses paid field trip to Sky
Zone.
If your child received an Academic GPA of
3.0 or higher, they have received or will receive
a permission slip for this celebration event.
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December 2015
Winter 2015
Behavior & Attendance & Cell
Phones
Parents we need your help!
Dixon Educational Learning
Academy opens its doors at
7:15am to serve breakfast in
the cafeteria for our student
population. Our busses drop
off students between 7am and
7:15am. There is a 15-minute
window where students must
keep their hands to themselves
until the doors of the school
are open. Unfortunately, this
is not happening!
Bowling
Dixon Educational Learning
Academy’s Annual Bowling
Outing was a huge success!
Thunderbowl Lanes is the
largest bowling alley in
America!
All of our students ate well,
had tons of laughs, and played
their fair share of frames in
their lanes.
Mrs. Tillman has been
working with students for
weeks in preparation for this
field trip.
I didn’t see anyone bowl a
300, but I did see skilled
bowlers taking the game
seriously.
We need parents who are
able to wait with their children
to wait outside and remind
students about their behavior.
If you see students
misbehaving while waiting for
the doors to open, we need
you to come in a report it to
the office. Once an incident is
reported, we will provide
discipline as required through
our philosophy of Restorative
Practices & the Student Code
of Conduct.
Tardiness and absences are
an issue! For the first half of
the 2nd Quarter we have 120
students that have more than 6
unexcused absences.
Detroit Public Schools &
Dixon Educational Learning
Academy pay close attention
to the attendance of its
students. Our approach to
student attendance is referred
to as the “3-6-9 Approach.”
•
Upon three (3)
unexcused absences, a
phone call will be
made to the
homeroom and to the
student’s home.
•
Upon the occurrence
of a sixth
(6th) unexcused
absence in the school
year, the student shall
be referred to an
Attendance Agent for
intervention strategies.
•
Any DPS student
having more than nine
(9) unexcused
absences per school
year will face a
Truancy referral to the
Attendance
Department.
•
The case will then be
processed and
forwarded to
the Wayne County
Prosecutor’s Office.
•
Three (3) instances of
tardiness, of more than
15 minutes after the
start of class, is the
equivalent of one
unexcused absence.
If your child’s attendance
falls within these parameters
you can expect to receive a
phone call or home visit from
our attendance agent in the
near future.
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December 2015
Winter 2015
Poetry Slam Success
Authentic Engagement with Imagery & Imagination in the English Language
I must say that I was greatly impressed with
the work that all the participants accepted as
they prepared for the Dixon Academy Poetry
Slam. It is encouraging to see our students
publish and present their personal writings. It
takes courage to stand before an audience and
remember your lines. But everyone did it, and
did it well!
It is one of our highest aspirations to teach
our students how to take, “The Road Not
Taken.” In the words of Robert Frost,
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
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December 2015
Winter 2015
English Grades 3 - 8
F
28%
D
18%
A
10%
B
17%
C
27%
A
F Reading Grades 3 - 5
8%
11%
B
D
28%
24%
C
29%
F Math Grades 3 - 8 A
19%
6%
B
18%
D
24%
C
33%
Dixon Educational
Learning Academy makes
all decisions based on data.
As we review our data we
are taking a close look at
student achievement in our
core content areas and
determining how we can
raise student achievement
by increasing the level of
rigor and expectation.
As the first teacher, we
know that you understand
the importance of reading
and math skills. As you
work with your children,
please remember to ask
questions that require
higher levels of thought
and reasoning.
These types of questions
require the following
verbs:
Design; Connect; Prove;
Create; Differentiate;
Construct; Assess;
Critique; Summarize;
Interpret; Organize;
Estimate; Develop a
Logical Argument;
Modify; Separate &
Graph.
Using these words when
questioning your children
will help them to extend
their thinking, be more
strategic, and apply skills
and concepts more
frequently.
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December 2015
Last Name Beard Hice Jewell Judge Knight Owens Wilborn Williams Wordlaw Caldwell Fleming Hall First Name Dre'on Jacob M Naima Malachi Messiah Kamari De'Angelo Jacari Mykell Angel Larry Kayla Arianna J Khyra Renee Salena Calena Margie Jackson Boss Ruff Che'Lynn Washington Kane't Alexander Bionca Hall Nalaya Sheri Maybins Aliciyia Takaira Stokes Heavyn Monique Thomas Chris Aleobua Raginald Alexander Brionna Lashell Chambers Semaj Cheatham Kamryn Gould Theeshon Theophus Harris Jay'Amoir E Johnson Joshua Jones-­‐El Drakyla D Lawrence Simone Macclinton Zachary Robinson Bre'onna Sturgis Kaitlynn Ashley Walton Troy Hobson Billy D Jones Skyler Michele Winter 2015
Last Name Washington Botello Butler Fuqua Harper Hawkins Johnson Lyons Mason Mcgee Parker Powell Ramos Savage Whitley First Name Deseray Deshawn Tay'onna Iv'ion Le'ney Christina Damarco D'angelo Deatrinna Angel Renee Kamryn Kiona Theodore Zaria Shamaz Ashaunti Faith Yiazman Yameka Shurell Laura Joann 5