DPA FAMILIES,

“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.”

It is our first full week back, and we need to focus on going 1-0 each day as we blaze the trail to success. It is crucial that your scholar is on time, in full DPA Uniform each and everyday this week. With only a few weeks until the close of Q2 we have a lot of work to do and that starts with your scholar being present at school!

New Updates

1. Calendar Notifications

2. High School Parent Meeting

3. Athletic Schedule

4. Mental Health Parent Cafe Dinner

5. Mental Health Resources

Action Items

• SY24-25 Re-Enrollment Survey

Recurring Updates

1. Welcome Packets

2. Middle School Python Time

3. School Hours

4. Uniforms

5. Key Contacts

6. 504 Plans

7. High School Athletics

8. Middle School Athletics

9. School Lunch Menu

10. CAASS One Card & Access411

11. Mental Health Resources

12. Open Seat Counseling

13. Best Kids

Calendar Notifications

Week of January 8th 2023

Monday – 1/8 – Full Day

Tuesday – 1/9 – Full Day

Wednesday – 1/10 – Half Day (1pm Dismissal)

Thursday – 11/30 – Full Day

Friday – 12/1 – Full Day

Week of January 15th 2023

Monday – 1/15 – Full Day

Tuesday – 1/16 – Full Day

Wednesday – 1/17 – Half Day (1pm Dismissal)

Thursday – 11/18 – Full Day

Friday – 1/19 – Full Day

Key Dates

Quarter 2

Q2: November 6 – January 25

Q3: January 29 – April 4

Q4: April 8 – June 12

Spring Break

April 15- 19

Last Day

June 14th- Last Day of School & 8th Grade Promotion

High School Parent Meeting | 1/10/2024

Given the increase in violence that is currently taking place in our city and affecting DPA we must do something. We need your help. Our collective goal has to be to create a more hopeful independent youth in D.C.

1. What problems are we looking to solve?

2. What is working? What is not working?

3. What new ideas can disrupt the violence.

Please join us to discuss and solve problems together. DPA High School will host a Parent Meeting on Wednesday January 10th 2024 from 5pm – 6:30pm. The meeting will be held in our High School Cafeteria. All DPA families are encouraged to attend!

• TIME: 5:00pm – 6:30pm

• WHERE: DPA High School Cafeteria

• ADDRESS: 709 12th Street SE

Athletics

Mental Health Parent Cafe Dinner

DPA’s Mental Health Team is excited to present our 4th Parent Café! This is a space to connect with other DPA families, receive helpful resources, and meet with community partners such as Best Kids and The T.R.I.G.G.E.R Project. The topics for this month are “Resilience and Healthy Communication”

Who: All Middle and High School DPA Families, Staff Members, and Community Partners

What: An opportunity to network, fellowship, and receive SEL (social-emotional learning) resources

When: Tuesday, January 30th from 5-6:30 PM

Where: High School Campus- 709 12th St SE

Why: In order to strengthen our DPA community & continue building KLR

*Since we will be providing dinner at this event, we ask that you please RSVP here in order for us to have an accurate count.

All parents and guardians are welcome, and we encourage you to bring the entire family! Please reach out to our MS Social Worker, Ms. Mills, at kaitlin.mills@digitalpioneersacademy.org with any questions.

Mental Health Resources

As part of our commitment to provide our scholars and their families with increased mental health support resources, we have created & attached a mental health bulletin full of mental health resources at DPA and in the community- be sure to check it out!

Currently, we are offering groups led by our mental health team at both campuses for scholars. Current group offerings include:

• Mindfulness Group (High School)

• Grief Support Group (Middle School)

• Calm Minds (Middle School) – group for scholars who struggle with anxiety

• Guys Games Group (Middle School) – a group for male scholars to practice communication and teamwork

• Manifesting Me (Middle School) – an after school girls group focused on self-esteem and healthy relationships

To sign up your scholar for a group, reach out to Ms. Mills (Middle School) at kaitlin.mills@digitalpioneersacademy.org or Ms. Baron (High School) at jbaron@digitalpioneersacademy.org.

Additional resources can be found on THIS PAGE where families can find a network of mental health resources that are available to them and their scholars.

ACTION ITEMS

DPA SY24-25 Re-Enrollment Survey

We are already looking ahead to next year (2024-25) and are hoping you plan to re-enroll your scholar at DPA!  We know this is the time of year where families consider their school options for next year so we are hoping to understand what you are planning for your scholar and if we can be helpful at all.

While we hope to have 100% of our current students return to DPA for next year, in the first two weeks of the Lottery Opening, we already have 150 NEW families that have applied for their scholars to attend DPA next school year. We expect this to continually grow over the next few weeks.

We need to know if you plan to re-enroll your scholar(s) so that we can plan for how many new families are able to join our school community.  Please find the survey link below!!

SURVEY

Thanks in advance for completing this very brief survey!  All families that complete the survey by Friday: January 12th 2023 at 5:00 pm will be entered in a raffle to win a $250 gift card. A winner for High School and a winner for Middle School will be chosen on January 15th!

SURVEY

Recurring Updates

Welcome Packets

In order to provide families with all of the information you need for the upcoming school year,  we have created the below Welcome Packets! These packets include information on our attendance policy, school hours, athletic, transportation, uniforms, and much much more!

• Middle School Welcome Packet

• High School Welcome Packet

Middle School Python Time

We are thrilled to share with you the latest news about our scholars’ progress and development this school year. We are pleased to inform you that starting October 10th, 2023, DPA will be offering an After-School Program for DPA scholars, called Python Time.

Our After-school program is designed to provide a secure, productive, and free environment for scholars to participate in a range of enriching activities that promote academic and social-emotional growth. The program will run from 4:15 p.m. until 5:15 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Please note that scholars must have a signed permission slip and *dedicated transportation from the Middle School campus (908 Wahler Place SE) to participate. It’s also essential to remember that scholars must be picked up no later than 5:45 p.m.

* Due to limited capacity, we will fill slots on a first come basis*

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to our Python Time Program Coordinator – Rodney Brownell, rodney.brownell@digitalpioneersacademy.org

* In order to ensure all scholars have safe passage home, scholars will be required to be picked up from the campus grounds in order to be eligible for afterschool programming.

School Hours

• *Python time will begin at the end of Semester.

Uniforms

ALL DPA scholars are required to wear the DPA uniform while at school. Uniforms can be purchased at the main office of each campus.

Middle School (Grades 6 – 8)

Green Polos – $15

Grey Joggers – $15

Crew Neck Sweatshirts – $15

Skirts – $15

White Button Down – $15

High School (Grades 9 – 11)

Grey Polos – $15

Grey Joggers – $15

V Neck Sweater – $15

Crew Neck Sweaters – $15

Skirts – $15

Key Contact Information

General Enrollment – enroll@digitalpioneersacademy.org

Middle School Enrollment (6th | 7th | 8th Grade) – vonique.jones@digtalpioneersacademy.org

High School Enrollment (9th | 10th | 11th Grade) – slancaster@digitalpioneersacademy.org

Special Populations, including Special Education:

• Middle School: michelle.pianim@digitalpioneersacademy.org

• High School: erum.siddiqui@digitalpioneersacademy.org

Athletics – rob.harris@digitalpioneersacademy.org

504 Plans

Does your scholar have a 504 Plan from their previous school? If so, please email the necessary documentation at your earliest convenience to Ms. Baron, DPA’s School Social Worker & 504 Coordinator, at jbaron@digitalpioneersacademy.org for HS and michelle.pianim@digitalpioneersacademy.org for MS. If you have any questions or concerns, you may reach out to Ms. Baron.

School Breakfast & Lunch Menu

Full Meals Menu

CAASS One Cards

Digital Pioneers Academy utilizes CAASS OneCard, an ID Card identification system that requires scholars to use their student ID card to sign into school, sign out for early dismissal, and sign into each of their classes.

You can get real time notifications that will alert you when your child has arrived at school AND scanned into school and class!

You can follow the below instructions to create an account!

• Download the “CAASS notify app” from your app store.

• Register inside the application. (Note: the registration key is unique to each child. This information will be emailed out to you directly! You can also email mainoffice@digitalpioneersacademy.org for that information.

Mental Health Resources

As part of our commitment to provide our scholars and their families with increased mental health support resources – we have created THIS PAGE where families can find a network of mental health resources that are available to them and their scholars.

Open Seat Counseling

DPA has partnered with Open Seat to provide virtual wellness coaching sessions for our scholars during and/or after school. Please see here for more information. If you are interested, please complete the attached opt-in form. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to Ms. Baron at  jbaron@digitalpioneersacademy.org.

Best Kids