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Students
from Central High School were among the honored
guests of the White House on February 8th at “In Performance at
the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement.” Congratulations
to: Jackie Lynn Betof, Ada Wu, Satchel Fadullon, Jade Ulfelman, Jordan
Konell, Tashara Jones, Ashley Vines, Christian Diaz, Vasomnoleak Ly, Olivia
Ngo, Neil T. Phillips, and Lucas Koerner.
WORKSHOPS at 440
North Broad Street
Financial
Literacy: This workshop is designed to teach you about investing in what’s
most important and how to use your money wisely. Feb. 16th, 12:00
pm-1:00 pm.
Energy
Conservation: Provides information on how to create a more energy efficient
home. Home energy efficiency kits
available during workshop. Feb 18th,
1:00 pm-2:00 pm.
.Did you know?
The Art Sanctuary and
Philadelphia Daily News has partnered together to sponsor our First Annual Haikudelphia
Poetry Contest for high school students in the Delaware Valley (except
NJ). The contest is open to students grades 9 through 12. The deadline for
submission is Friday, March 19,
2010 5:00PM. Poetry can be submitted online or by mail. For more information, check out the link http://www.philly.com/philly/contests/
****
The Campaign for
Working Families (CWF) is providing FREE tax preparation for income eligible
families. Call 3-1-1 or visit
www.phillyfreetaxes.org/services/freetaxprep.asp
******
Celebrate Black History Month
February 8
18 year old San
Jose native Debi Thomas becomes the first
African American to win the Women's Senior Singles US Figure
Skating Championship (1986)
February 9
Black dialect
poet Paul Laurence Dunbar dies. (1906)
February 10
Ron Brown is
elected the first African American Chairperson for the
Democratic Party. (1989)
February 11
ANC Leader and Human
Rights Activist,
Nelson Mandela, is released from a South
African prison after 27
years of confinement. (1990)
February 12
NAACP Founded (1909)
Positive Quote of the Week
We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we
must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct
their power toward good ends.
Mary McLeod
Bethune
Computer Thrift Store:
Non-Profit Technology Resources, 1524 Brandywine St. Open Monday –Friday 10 am
to 6 pm. Computer Systems, Laptops, Accessories, Computer Repair. For more
information, contact 215-564-6686 or email:
www.ntronline.org
This newsletter is available at www.phillyparents.org/newsletter
Office of Parent, Family, Community Engagement, and
Faith-based Partnerships
*
Karren Dunkley, Deputy Chief
Quibila A. Divine, Director of Parent and Family
Engagement
Patricia Gamarra, Coordinator
Yves Marie Desir, Office Assistant
215-400-4180
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Announcements
“A Conversation with the Rev. Jesse Jackson” The School District of Philadelphia hosts this
opportunity for our parents and community to enjoy an insightful dialogue between
Rev. Jesse Jackson and Dr. Arlene Ackerman. Our moderator is radio
commentator, E. Stevens Collins of Radio One.
Topics include: Parent Engagement, Anti-Truancy, Government Impact on
Schools, and Faith-based School Partnerships. Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 at the
Merriam Theatre; 250 S. Broad St. Tickets
are FREE on a first come-first served basis. Call 215-400-7272 for tickets.
Limit 4 per family.
The School District
of Philadelphia invites the
community to The Superintendent’s Community Meeting Thursday, February 18th,
at William Dick Elementary School,
2498 W. Diamond St. Dinner & Community Fair at 5:00 PM. Meeting starts at
6:30 PM. The Superintendent’s Community Meeting and Resource Fair is an
opportunity for families and communities members to receive important
information from school district offices and community service providers. Topics
include: update on Imagine 2014, the School District’s
five year strategic plan. To RSVP call Diana Nobel or Ed Grice
at 215-400-7272
The School District of Philadelphia’s Office of Parent, Family,
Community Engagement & Faith-Based Partnerships & the Office of
Teaching and Learning cordially invite you to attend the Lunar New Year
Celebration on Friday, February 19, 2010, from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm at The
School District of Philadelphia Education Center (in the Atrium); 440 N.
Broad St. For more information, call
215-400-7272.
Celebrate African American Achievement: Black History Showcase, a celebration of African American
achievement and history, will take place February 13th and 14th, 11am to 7pm,
at the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 12th and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. The event,
which is free and open to the public, features exhibits that have never
been shown in any museums. The Black History Showcase also includes a theater
area featuring award winning documentary films and lectures given by internationally
acclaimed African American history educators, and a Black History Marketplace
where attendees can purchase historical items like posters, stamps,
figurines, Obama campaign memorabilia and more. For more information, click www.blackhistoryshowcase.org
Opportunities
The School
District of Philadelphia’s
Community Meetings to discuss Renaissance Schools: Please check our website for rescheduled meeting
dates and ways to get involved http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/offices/r/renaissance-schools
Sixers’ Go Green Initiative: If you have a child in the Central or Central East
region that is in the 5th or 6th grade, he/she may be
eligible to participate in planting trees at the Zoo with representatives
from the 76ers basketball team. This
is an incentive based program for students who are currently low performing,
truant, and/or have disruptive behavior.
Contact Quibila A. Divine at 215-400-4180 for more information.
PEAK – Parent Empowerment for Advocacy through
Knowledge
– a program of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania,
is offering a free weekly educational workshop for parents and caregivers who
want to learn how to become their child’s best advocate. Participants will learn about the mental
health, drug and alcohol, special education, juvenile justice, and children
and youth systems, and learn what they need to know to effectively advocate
for their children. The free workshops are held every Thursday from 4-6 pm
through March 11th at the Lincoln High School Library, 3201 Ryan Avenue in Philadelphia. Help with
transportation (tokens) is available and light refreshments will be served.
For more information, email: Dwayne
Dykes at ddykes@mhasp.org or call
267-507-3867. For Spanish speakers, call Becky Español at 267-507-3868.
FAFSA Fast and
Free with the Campaign for Working Families! If you make $50,000 a
year or less, and your child is thinking about applying to college for next
year, you can come to one of CWF’s free tax sites! An IRS-certified
volunteer will file your taxes and then take just a few extra minutes to help
you complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Anyone
even thinking of applying to college should fill out a FAFSA! Check out
CWF’s website at http://www.phillyfreetaxes.org/services/findtaxsite.asp
to find a free tax site near you! FAFSA will be available at our Center City,
Career Link NW, Temple
University, Impact
Services, Ebenezer, and Northeast sites. Or call Sean Monahan at
215-851-1745.
The
Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity is seeking applicants for its annual Hiliary H. Holloway, Esquire
Scholarship Award program. The scholarship program is designed to aid
promising minority male students in public high schools of Philadelphia who are planning to go to
college following their graduation. The amount of the scholarship award is $
2,000. A total of four $ 2,000 scholarships will be awarded in 2010. Students
who meet these criteria should contact their principal or guidance counselor
about this scholarship opportunity immediately. An application can also be
downloaded at www.phillykappas.org
Build-A-Bear
seeks Huggable Heroes nominees: Nominations of
a young leader between the ages of eight and 18 who is making a difference in
his or her community or around the world. From now through February 26th,
the company is accepting entries for its seventh annual Huggable Heroes® program, which recognizes everyday young people who go to
extraordinary lengths to make life better for others. Ten Huggable Heroes
from the United States and
Canada will be selected
and each will be awarded with a $7,500 educational scholarship and $2,500 in
the form of a donation to the nonprofit of his/her choice, as well as a
celebration trip to St. Louis
in July. Entry forms are available at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores or online
at: www.buildabear.com/huggableheroes
Resources
Gov. Rendell’s Education Budget and PA’s Race to
the Top Application: Information is available at
www.pde.state.pa
President Obama’s Education Budget and other information can
be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/index.html
Sample PSSA Booklets are available for parents
to review. The purpose of reviewing these sample questions is for parents and
students to get a sense of the type and format of questions that appear on
the test. These questions will NOT be
on the 2010 PSSA. To view the Sample PSSA Booklet please go to: http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/offices/p/publicengagement/parents-are-equal-partners-prep2
School Annual Reports: As a commitment to
improving education for our children, the School District of Philadelphia’s
Office of Accountability has developed School Annual Reports. The purpose is
to create consistent performance measures for our schools that are publicly transparent.
In addition to reporting on schools, the performance of regional and central
administrative offices will also be measured. The Parent Guide to the School
Annual Reports provides a brief overview of what each performance category
and target includes. Please visit: www.philasd.org/
or contact the Office of Accountability at 215-400-4250.
The
School District of Philadelphia’s
Office of Early Childhood Education is offering: The Parent-Child
Home Program that promotes learning and language development through
the use of books and toys. High quality
toys & books are provided. For
more information, call 215-400-4270 or email
parentchildhome@phila.k12.pa.us
The
Office of Parent and Family Engagement wants at least one parent from each school to volunteer to receive
training on Title I related topics and then, share the information with other
parents. Call 215-400-6268 to get more information about the PREP
(Parents 'R' Equal Partners) Program.
The
District’s Parent University offers free classes and workshops at various
locations in the city. The only requirement is that you have a child
attending school within the District. Contact 215-400-4180 or www.philasd.org/parentuniversity to register.
Information
about your child's school's 2008-2009 PSSA (PA System of School Assessment) scores to
determine if the school has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) are available
at http://paayp.emetric.net/
Contact the school or the Office of Parent and Family Engagement for
assistance in understanding this information.
Thanks to Jay Cohen for his assistance
with our Parent Newsletters!
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