SPECIAL COFFEE & CONVERSATION & PTA MEETING
When: Friday, December 9, 2016
Time: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM. This is usually the date for Coffee and Conversation, and we will still have coffee and conversation... about Budget.
Where: DGS Middle School Cottage
What: Special DGS PTA Budget Meeting... To present the proposed 2016-2017, to inform the general membership of how funds are spent, to allow opportunity for discussion, and to VOTE and APPROVE the budget.
DGS WINTER GALA NEXT WEEK
When: December 14th (ECE, 1st, 3rd, 7/8 Advanced Band, After School Guitar)
December 15th (Kinder, 2nd, 4th, Dragon Singers)
Where: DGS Cafe @ 6:00 PM (All students should arrive no later than 5:45 PM, show begins at 6)
Attire: Concert clothes; please, no sweat pants
What: Next week is our DGS Winter Gala. All students who are in ECE-4th grade will perform on one of the designated days. Please double check the information below to find out when your student is performing. All students should arrive at DGS on their concert day at 5:45pm to take a seat with their classmates in the audience. Concert attire is nice dress clothes. Please keep in mind that the concert will last approximately 1 hour, and all students are asked to watch the other grades perform. If you have questions, please email Ms. Harkins at [email protected]
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR WINTER GALA
Our annual Winter Gala is approaching. It will be on December 14th and 15th. We need volunteers to help set up December 14th and clean up both evenings. We are also looking for donated bake sale items and volunteers to sell the baked goods, popcorn and DGS Gear. Please click here to sign up and thanks for your help in advance.
HOMEWORK SURVEY
The Big House, DGS's version of Collaborative School Committee, is studying homework as system at DGS. We would like to collect insight from family members. This Survey Monkey has a few questions we would love to analyze if you have a few moments to share your insight. If you have multiple students, you can choose to think of one student when answering the survey or do the survey more than once. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.
DGS CALENDAR
Some parents inquired about the days DGS does not have school. On most of these days, teachers are at school engaging in professional development and analyzing student work. At DGS, our calendar can sometimes differ from the district. There is one instance of this for the remainder of the school year. DPS does not have school on February 3rd and DGS does while on February 17th, DPS does have school while DGS does not.
DGS 2ND GRADE NEEDS YOU
Until Winter Break, the 2nd graders will be studying the cultures of Iraq, Mexico, Russia, Iran, Ireland, and Algonquin (Native American) through both non-fiction research and fairy tales/fables/folk tales. If your family is from any of these cultures and would like to share a part of your culture with the 2nd graders, please email Miss G at [email protected]. Thanks!
FRIDAY ENRICHMENT
A new trimester starts Friday, December 9th. Click here to view classes. Parents/guardians are STRONGLY encouraged to use the following google form to register: Please note: If you have not finalized your payment for the first trimester, please contact Mr. Harvey at [email protected]
DISCOVERY CAMP REGISTRATION
Discovery Camp Registration for December 22nd; December 27th - 28th; January 3rd - 6th. Click here for more information. You do NOT have to be a current Discovery Link family to participate. New families would have to register with Catherine Lenihan at[email protected]. Also, if anyone is interested in having their child join Discovery Link, the after-school program is currently taking new students who are 5+ years of age. Please email Mr. Harvey if you have any questions.
DGS BACKPACK PROGRAM NEEDS YOUR HELP
Each Friday Sandy picks up, sets up and delivers fresh food to DGS families in need. She needs our help to keep this wonderful program up and running throughout this school year! Every Friday we need volunteers to help transport the fresh food, set it up in the science room, pack bags for families and deliver bags to some families that do not have transportation. Please see volunteer slots by clicking here and for further details on dates, time frames and locations for the first semester of the 2016-2017 school year. Please note: When DGS Students do not have school on a Friday, there will be no fresh food deliveries. Thank you for your support!
SPROUT CITY FARMS
We're wrapping up another great season at the DGS Community Farm! Thanks so much to all of you who came out to an event, workshop, or volunteer day; shopped at the farm stand; participated in the CSA share program; and encouraged your kids to eat a farm-fresh lunch in the cafeteria and go learn and play outside :)
Leaf Drive: We are still taking leaves for mulching the farm field, so bring 'em if you've got 'em! You can "leaf" bags inside the farm gate and we'll take them from there. Thanks!
In our 6th season, we grew about 8,000 pounds of food, which supported food access programs like Farm to Cafeteria, the low-cost Farm Stand, Ms. Sandy's Backpack Program and Fresh Food Center, and sponsored shares in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.
Farm to Cafeteria: Each week this fall, students in 4th grade helped harvest produce and deliver it to the school kitchen. We supplied the kitchen with 20-30 pounds of veggies every week for both the all-you-can-eat salad bar and hot lunch, and in fact we are still bringing them food (squash, potatoes, and onions keep a long time)!
Backpack Program and Fresh Food Center: We are also still donating food to these programs for DGS families on Fridays. So far we have given out about 500 pounds of the harvest. We had some recipe cards developed for things like carrots and onions, and next year hope to have a wider variety of recipes to share.
Farm Stand: Every Wednesday after school, from August through the end of October, rotating teams of 6th graders helped run the Farm Stand near the school parking lot. We keep prices low (up to half of what you'd pay for fresh, local, organic food elsewhere), and double the value of purchases made with SNAP/EBT so that shopping is equal access for all. In 2016 we distributed about 1,000 pounds of food grown right here through the farm stand. We also buy organic eggs and fruit from other Colorado farms to re-sell so you can skip the produce section at the grocery store!
CSA: Shareholders in the CSA program support the farm financially (and emotionally!) and in return they receive an equally divided portion of each week's harvest from late June to late October (18 weeks). In 2016, each member's share was about 150 pounds of farm-fresh veggies over the course of the season, plus pick-your-own herbs and flowers each week. In 2017, we'll have 50 shares available. Signup on our website will begin shortly--stay tuned!
We offer:
full shares ($425)
work shares (volunteer on the farm a total of 40 hours in exchange for a half-price share)
SNAP/EBT shares (pay weekly with your EBT card, receive a share for less than half the price) sponsored shares (offered free of charge to qualifying families).
fruit shares ($150)
egg shares ($100)
and we are looking into bread shares and coffee shares for next year!
Farm to Classroom: We love working with students on the farm! Whether it's an activity tied to a classroom curriculum unit or a service learning project, we find engaging students with food and nature to be incredibly rewarding for us and for them :) This year we had over 60 class visits from spring to fall, with most grade levels coming out at least twice, but many saw us on a weekly basis. And then there were the kiddos who even liked to come over at recess--we dubbed them the Dandelion Patrol! Our Friday after school Enrichment program is also coming to an end--we run it for the first session each fall--which mixes "junior farmer" activities and games with making healthy snacks fresh from the field using our bicycle-powered blender (always super popular). We're excited to work with Ms. Miller in the Art Room to install some more student-created art out on the farm, including sculptures and murals coming in the spring!
Thanks again to the entire Dragon community for another great year on the farm, and we look forward to connecting with everyone again when the snow melts in the spring!
(For more info on Sprout City Farms, our 3 farms across the city, and all of our programs, please visit our website www.sproutcityfarms.org, Facebook Page www.facebook.com/sproutcityfarms, and Instagram www.instagram.com/sproutcityfarms!)
When: Friday, December 9, 2016
Time: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM. This is usually the date for Coffee and Conversation, and we will still have coffee and conversation... about Budget.
Where: DGS Middle School Cottage
What: Special DGS PTA Budget Meeting... To present the proposed 2016-2017, to inform the general membership of how funds are spent, to allow opportunity for discussion, and to VOTE and APPROVE the budget.
DGS WINTER GALA NEXT WEEK
When: December 14th (ECE, 1st, 3rd, 7/8 Advanced Band, After School Guitar)
December 15th (Kinder, 2nd, 4th, Dragon Singers)
Where: DGS Cafe @ 6:00 PM (All students should arrive no later than 5:45 PM, show begins at 6)
Attire: Concert clothes; please, no sweat pants
What: Next week is our DGS Winter Gala. All students who are in ECE-4th grade will perform on one of the designated days. Please double check the information below to find out when your student is performing. All students should arrive at DGS on their concert day at 5:45pm to take a seat with their classmates in the audience. Concert attire is nice dress clothes. Please keep in mind that the concert will last approximately 1 hour, and all students are asked to watch the other grades perform. If you have questions, please email Ms. Harkins at [email protected]
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR WINTER GALA
Our annual Winter Gala is approaching. It will be on December 14th and 15th. We need volunteers to help set up December 14th and clean up both evenings. We are also looking for donated bake sale items and volunteers to sell the baked goods, popcorn and DGS Gear. Please click here to sign up and thanks for your help in advance.
HOMEWORK SURVEY
The Big House, DGS's version of Collaborative School Committee, is studying homework as system at DGS. We would like to collect insight from family members. This Survey Monkey has a few questions we would love to analyze if you have a few moments to share your insight. If you have multiple students, you can choose to think of one student when answering the survey or do the survey more than once. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.
DGS CALENDAR
Some parents inquired about the days DGS does not have school. On most of these days, teachers are at school engaging in professional development and analyzing student work. At DGS, our calendar can sometimes differ from the district. There is one instance of this for the remainder of the school year. DPS does not have school on February 3rd and DGS does while on February 17th, DPS does have school while DGS does not.
DGS 2ND GRADE NEEDS YOU
Until Winter Break, the 2nd graders will be studying the cultures of Iraq, Mexico, Russia, Iran, Ireland, and Algonquin (Native American) through both non-fiction research and fairy tales/fables/folk tales. If your family is from any of these cultures and would like to share a part of your culture with the 2nd graders, please email Miss G at [email protected]. Thanks!
FRIDAY ENRICHMENT
A new trimester starts Friday, December 9th. Click here to view classes. Parents/guardians are STRONGLY encouraged to use the following google form to register: Please note: If you have not finalized your payment for the first trimester, please contact Mr. Harvey at [email protected]
DISCOVERY CAMP REGISTRATION
Discovery Camp Registration for December 22nd; December 27th - 28th; January 3rd - 6th. Click here for more information. You do NOT have to be a current Discovery Link family to participate. New families would have to register with Catherine Lenihan at[email protected]. Also, if anyone is interested in having their child join Discovery Link, the after-school program is currently taking new students who are 5+ years of age. Please email Mr. Harvey if you have any questions.
DGS BACKPACK PROGRAM NEEDS YOUR HELP
Each Friday Sandy picks up, sets up and delivers fresh food to DGS families in need. She needs our help to keep this wonderful program up and running throughout this school year! Every Friday we need volunteers to help transport the fresh food, set it up in the science room, pack bags for families and deliver bags to some families that do not have transportation. Please see volunteer slots by clicking here and for further details on dates, time frames and locations for the first semester of the 2016-2017 school year. Please note: When DGS Students do not have school on a Friday, there will be no fresh food deliveries. Thank you for your support!
SPROUT CITY FARMS
We're wrapping up another great season at the DGS Community Farm! Thanks so much to all of you who came out to an event, workshop, or volunteer day; shopped at the farm stand; participated in the CSA share program; and encouraged your kids to eat a farm-fresh lunch in the cafeteria and go learn and play outside :)
Leaf Drive: We are still taking leaves for mulching the farm field, so bring 'em if you've got 'em! You can "leaf" bags inside the farm gate and we'll take them from there. Thanks!
In our 6th season, we grew about 8,000 pounds of food, which supported food access programs like Farm to Cafeteria, the low-cost Farm Stand, Ms. Sandy's Backpack Program and Fresh Food Center, and sponsored shares in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.
Farm to Cafeteria: Each week this fall, students in 4th grade helped harvest produce and deliver it to the school kitchen. We supplied the kitchen with 20-30 pounds of veggies every week for both the all-you-can-eat salad bar and hot lunch, and in fact we are still bringing them food (squash, potatoes, and onions keep a long time)!
Backpack Program and Fresh Food Center: We are also still donating food to these programs for DGS families on Fridays. So far we have given out about 500 pounds of the harvest. We had some recipe cards developed for things like carrots and onions, and next year hope to have a wider variety of recipes to share.
Farm Stand: Every Wednesday after school, from August through the end of October, rotating teams of 6th graders helped run the Farm Stand near the school parking lot. We keep prices low (up to half of what you'd pay for fresh, local, organic food elsewhere), and double the value of purchases made with SNAP/EBT so that shopping is equal access for all. In 2016 we distributed about 1,000 pounds of food grown right here through the farm stand. We also buy organic eggs and fruit from other Colorado farms to re-sell so you can skip the produce section at the grocery store!
CSA: Shareholders in the CSA program support the farm financially (and emotionally!) and in return they receive an equally divided portion of each week's harvest from late June to late October (18 weeks). In 2016, each member's share was about 150 pounds of farm-fresh veggies over the course of the season, plus pick-your-own herbs and flowers each week. In 2017, we'll have 50 shares available. Signup on our website will begin shortly--stay tuned!
We offer:
full shares ($425)
work shares (volunteer on the farm a total of 40 hours in exchange for a half-price share)
SNAP/EBT shares (pay weekly with your EBT card, receive a share for less than half the price) sponsored shares (offered free of charge to qualifying families).
fruit shares ($150)
egg shares ($100)
and we are looking into bread shares and coffee shares for next year!
Farm to Classroom: We love working with students on the farm! Whether it's an activity tied to a classroom curriculum unit or a service learning project, we find engaging students with food and nature to be incredibly rewarding for us and for them :) This year we had over 60 class visits from spring to fall, with most grade levels coming out at least twice, but many saw us on a weekly basis. And then there were the kiddos who even liked to come over at recess--we dubbed them the Dandelion Patrol! Our Friday after school Enrichment program is also coming to an end--we run it for the first session each fall--which mixes "junior farmer" activities and games with making healthy snacks fresh from the field using our bicycle-powered blender (always super popular). We're excited to work with Ms. Miller in the Art Room to install some more student-created art out on the farm, including sculptures and murals coming in the spring!
Thanks again to the entire Dragon community for another great year on the farm, and we look forward to connecting with everyone again when the snow melts in the spring!
(For more info on Sprout City Farms, our 3 farms across the city, and all of our programs, please visit our website www.sproutcityfarms.org, Facebook Page www.facebook.com/sproutcityfarms, and Instagram www.instagram.com/sproutcityfarms!)