This Wednesday is Nando’s Night for Payne. From 4-8 p.m., the restaurant will donate 40 percent of purchases to the school. This is the Nando’s PERi-PERi location at 300 Tingey Street S.E. at The Yards. Please mention you are there for Payne Night when you order. This location has loads of outdoor seating.
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PTSA MEETING. The PTSA Annual meeting will be on Zoom at 6 p.m. June 8. We will be voting on PTSA bylaws that would enable the PTSA to postpone officer elections until the fall. Only PTSA members are eligible to vote, but all are welcome to attend.
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HOW SHOULD DCPS SPEND $191 MILLION?
D.C. Public Schools announced it will receive $191 million in the American Rescue Plan Act’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. This federal investment will support the full reopening of schools for in-person learning in the fall.
So, how should DCPS spend this money? For example, would you rather DCPS invest in COVID-19 health, academic interventions, school tech, social emotional learning, professional development or student attendance/engagement?
The next PTSA meeting is 6 p.m., Tuesday. Mr. Eskay will talk about the Payne Summer Academy. We’ll also have teachers available to field questions about the upcoming school year. And we’ll hear from Payne’s team of social workers and student government leaders.
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TEACHER APPRECIATION SPIRIT WEEK
A special Spirit Week will commence on Monday in conjunction with Teacher Appreciation Week, May 3-9. Here are the themes. See the attached flier for more info.
Monday: Dress Like a Teacher
Tuesday: Express Yourself: Wear a positive message
Wednesday: Show Your Love: Share your appreciation for the teachers in your life
Thursday: College Day
Thursday bonus: May 6 is the start of Nurses Week; thank Payne’s team of nurses
The PTSA will be holding the annual meeting in early June, and this will be an important one with a potential vote on bylaws changes that would enable us to postpone officer elections until the fall, when we can (fingers crossed) meet in person again.
To vote, you need to be on the PTSA’s membership roster 30 days before the annual meeting, so please sign up now. Paying dues is not necessary, but please go to this link and sign up. If you signed up in past school years, but not this one, please sign up again; it’s an annual requirement.
Want to know more about PTSA bylaws? Email Parliamentarian Michelle Chapman.
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EAST CITY BOOKSHOP FUNDRAISER
Payne’s Bookfair through East City Bookshop kicks off Monday and runs through Sunday. During this period, 20 percent of your purchase will benefit the school. Please remember to mention Payne’s fundraiser at checkout.
This week you can shop:
● In person at the store during regular business hours: Wednesday through Friday, 1-6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday noon-6 p.m.
● By phone: 202-290-1636, between 1-6 p.m. to speak with a bookseller
Loyal readers of the PTSA newsletter know we are part of a select group of schools participating in the Honored School program, which provides a platform to showcase and celebrate our outstanding teachers. If you haven’t submitted any kudos this year, now is the time … because you are almost out of time.
Go to www.HonoredSchools.org to send a positive message to a teacher and keep in mind the following:
● Every person who recognizes a teacher through HonoredSchools.org during Teacher Appreciation Week will be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. There will be one winner per school.
● Every time a teacher is recognized at HonoredSchools.org, they are entered to win the Honored Schools Life-Changing Teacher Award and $5,000, and the school will win a $250 gift certificate to First Book.
● May 7 is the final day Honored Schools will accept recognition stories for consideration for the award. A winner will be announced June 7.
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BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY
Payne is participating in Bike To School Day, 7:45 a.m.-8:15 a.m. Wednesday at Lincoln Park. Please wear a mask and school year and maintain social distance. The event is using the hashtag #GoodTroubleRide. Another highlight: You can sing along to a violinist’s rendition of “Old Town Ride.” I’m intrigued. Learn more at this link.
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NANDO’S FUNDRAISER IN MAY
The Nando’s PERi-PERi Yards location will be hosting a Payne Fundraiser 4-8 p.m. Wednesday, May 26. During this time, 40 percent of purchases from Payne supporters will benefit the school. The restaurant is at 300 Tingey Street S.E.
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FUNDS FOR TEACHERS
A reminder for teachers: Early this year, the PTSA approved classroom funds for each teacher. Many teachers have not taken advantage of the funds. If you are unsure, please check with a PTSA board member.
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SUCCESSFUL PAYNE MEETUP
A special thanks to all the Payne parents who coordinated and attended Saturday’s meet-up at RFK Field. It was a strong showing for our school community, and a lot of incoming Wildcats were excited to start the new year at Payne.
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IMPORTANT DATES
May 3-9: East City Bookshop Payne Fundraiser
May 26: 4-8 p.m., Nado’s Fundraiser at 300 Tingey St. S.E., The Yards
READOUT FROM 7th PAYNE ELEMENTARY LSAT MEETING (APRIL) AND NEXT STEPS
As a reminder, Principal Byrd challenged us to assist in two separate areas:
1. Build Payne’s community, in part by addressing the challenge of gentrification and with an eye to ensuring that all members feel included/supported.
2. Help Payne overcome its technology challenges.
OK, let’s get started. Below is a UPDATED list of the ideas and initiatives we discussed and possible next steps.
1. Challenge:Assist in Ensuring a Safe Reopening as the Payne Reopening Community Corps-https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/community-corps/. Mr. Eskay (Principal Byrd’s delegate for this meeting) described that Payne currently has 125 in-person students for Term 4. He also reported that only five families who wanted to transition to in-person learning did not have their needs met in the most recent round of calls from Payne. LSAT parents had questions on this because of anecdotal instances of numerous other parents who wanted to bring their kids back but had not been called. During subsequent emails, Mr. Eskay made clear that parents who previously said no to in person learning were recontacted for Term 4 but only in accordance with the number of available in-person spots.
Possible Next Steps: In addition to posting these readouts, the LSAT could help communicate the process for calling students back for in-person learning.
Action: Principal Byrd/Mr. Eskay–welcome your thoughts on how best to clear up potential misconceptions regarding the availability of in-person learning.
2. Challenge: Recruitment and Retention. LSAT members discussed with Mr. Eskay getting a list of parents who are matched with Payne in the lottery so that we could focus on informing them regarding Payne.
Possible Next Steps: In person/outdoor recruitment/retention events for these parents in the next few weeks. Better to have masked/outdoor events than one more zoom call.
Action: Liz Aloi volunteered to work with Ms. Mobley-Cox and Ms. Brown to get the list of prospective parents and then advertise an event for early May for these parents. We could use more volunteers here to coordinate other events. Mr. Creef described an outdoor science event he is planning for the same timeframe and all agreed that would be another good event for these parents to attend. LSAT will need to work with Principal Byrd/Mr. Eskay to advertise these events in an inclusive manner via Blackboard text/email.
3. Challenge: Communication During COVID. LSAT members referenced the recent PTA meeting and part of our budget meeting where discussion centered around communication between the school and parents and how all our inboxes are slammed.
Possible Next Steps: There was agreement that making these LSAT notes public, in addition to Principal Byrd’s more recent zoom calls and the improved Payne Post format/content could help make parents feel more connected to Payne during the pandemic. There was general agreement that the POC chart that Liz Aloi put together was another step in the right direction
Action: Principal Byrd/Mr. Eskay- please have a look at these notes in the next few days and let me know if you have any adjustments before i send to the Payne community and post on the Payne PTA website. Principal Byrd/Mr. Eskay/Liz–can we include the POC chart as a standard addition to the Payne Post and post it other places like the PTA website, etc…?
4. Challenge:Address gentrification to build school community
Possible Next Steps: Chris Tissue provided a summary of the Payne Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) group’s various initiatives. These include AM announcements where kids include an interesting fact about another culture, book clubs with kids centered on DEI topics, and being more intentional about advertising PTA and LSAT elections via multiple modes of communication and by word of mouth to ensure diverse parent leadership. Another idea surfaced on big brother/big sister programs, possibly around reading help or other useful mentoring opportunities.
Action: All: PTA President Deidre Duffy, Ms. Bannister, and Becky Bell raised their hands to work on what a big brother/big sister program at Payne might look like. Payne’s DEI group will continue to report back to the LSAT on activities and for more ideas. Others are welcome to join. Please contact Chris Tissue from our LSAT at cwtissue@gmail.com.
5. Challenge:Find community representatives to provide advice and support. LB and Robyn from NRG which runs “The Roost” on Penn Ave and 15th SE–https://www.theroostsedc.com/ are willing to work with Payne.
Possible Next Steps: Liz Aloi has stepped up to be our representative to the NRG. She’ll help them figure out a “Payne day” fundraiser and ensure that we are spreading the word about their generosity in our community.
Action All: Please think about other local businesses we could partner with. Ms. Bannister (and others)– I will send the form letter I promised you for reaching out to other businesses separately.
6. Challenge: DCPS computers are not working for Teachers. Thanks to Ms. Randolph we know that teachers are using 2-3 devices and more often those are problematic personal devices. We have recruited an “IT Squad” of 4 dads who are willing to help right away.
Possible Next Steps: The IT Squad is still willing to help teachers. Let’s please keep spreading the word. Any teacher who is having IT problems you can email them at tech@paynepta.org and one of the dads will contact them.
Action:Principal Byrd/AP Coleman/Teachers–Please continue to encourage your fellow Payne Staff to take up the IT Squad on their offer and let’s think of what else we might do to help.
Payne Elementary School 