UDSD Royal Scroll March April
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UPPERDARBY SCHOOL DISTRICT 54th Edition March, April, May 2020 UDSD Goes Digital as Schools Close Indefinitely SPRING ISSUE he Upper Darby School District’s digital learning UDSD Goes Digital As Schools Close platform came online this week through the social 1 Indefnitely; UD HS Robotics Team had A Great Year Tnetworking service Schoology, though it was not without some fits and starts. 2 & 3 Kindergarten News; Upcoming Events Schools Superintendent Dr. Daniel P. McGarry reported Upper Darby High School News & the system was “a little overwhelmed” Monday as 4 Athletics Upper Darby and districts across the world strained its resources, but it was back up and running as of Tuesday. 5 Primos News Dr. Daniel McGarry “Communication is always going to be the key,” said McGarry. “We can’t control the network from home to home and 6 Garrettford & Hillcrest News obviously we can’t control the server where this information is stored, but we can control how we communicate and our expectations of our Senkow & Charles Kelly staff and kids. The message I want to communicate is: Be patient, we’re 7 going to work through this together.” Upper Darby’s online instruction – which is aimed at reaching 12,500 to 8 Charles Kelly & Stonehurst Hills News 13,000 students – booted up just in time for Gov. Tom Wolf to announce Westbrook Park News that schools would remain closed indefinitely. Continued on page 18 9 UDHS Robotics Team Had A Great Year! 10 Westbrook Park & Hillcrest News The Robotics 11 Bywood News Team had a great season, 12 Garrettford & Senkow News competing at Delaware County Christian School 13 Bywood & Primos News and Spring-Ford High School. One 14 Stonehurst & Highland Park News of our teams, consisting of 15 &16 News from the Middle Schools Sarah DeMott, Cat Vivo, Aaron 17 UDHS March News Jackson, Hasan Hoque, and 18 Spring District News Sebastian Mostek, qualified for the Vex PA State Competition. They competed at States 19 & 20 UDHS April & May News; Athletic News on February 29th and had some impressive matches. “Our entire UDSD Goes Digital (continued from team did a great job this season and demonstrated growth in their 21 page 1); UDHS A Breathtaking engineering and collaboration skills,” said coach Salmon. “We are Presentation at Annenberg proud of our team this year.” KINDERGARTEN MARCH NEWS Kindergarten Center Read Across America UDKC participated in an assembly featuring a special presentation by students from Upper Darby High School’s National English Honor Society, songs about Dr. Seuss, and a “Silly Seuss dance party”. The students were asked to roll up their pants and show off their “Silly Socks” for our celebration. Kindergarten Students of the Month The focus of the Student of the Month was Kindness Kindergarten’s Making A Diference UDKC raised $4,370 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! Upcoming Events 4/1 UDHS Progress Report 5/4-5/8 Teacher Appreciation Week;State Mandated Closure 4/6-4/10 Spring Break Holiday - All School & Offices Closed 5/12 School Board Meeting ;State Mandated Closure 4/13-4/17 UDHS College & Career Week 5/25 Memorial Day Holiday (All Schools and Offices Closed) 4/13 UDHS Spring MAP 6/9 High School Virtual Graduation, 9AM UJ ROYAL SCROLL Spring Issue 2020 2 KINDERGARTEN MAY NEWS Kindergarten Center Students Check in from Home Showing our Royal Pride with our purple and gold! We love the Upper Darby Kindergarten Center even from our homes! Kindergarten Students Working Hard Distance Learning is a new experience for us all but the kindergarten students are doing their best and even getting creative Kindergarten’s Making A Diference e I me UJ ROYAL SCROLL Spring Issue 2020 3 UPPER DARBY HIGH SCHOOL MARCH NEWS UDHS -- World Afairs 2020 Model Senate Congratulations to all our students who participated in the World Affairs Council 2020 Model Senate atTemple University’s Fox School of Business. Upper Darby students were a force to be reckoned with, as the following three students were recognized for their insight and outstanding contributions to yesterday’s program: Sophomore Nick Fattizzo, Junior Jack DiPrimio and Junior Danny McBride over all great Job representing the Purple and Gold! UDHS French Honor Society The first annual induction of the Upper Darby French Honors Society was held in the UDHS library last month. Recognizing the need to celebrate the achievements of dedicated French language students, Ms. Salhi founded the French Honors Society, which will undoubtedly become an annual tradition. French honors students noshed on bon-bons and other French delicacies. UDHS ATHLETIC MARCH NEWS Congratulations to Upper Darby Bocce Team Unified Bocce at Championships Congratulations to the UDHS Unified Bocce Team for placing 3rd and 5th in their respective brackets at the Special Olympics Unified Bocce Championships in Glen Mills. Upper Darby Congratulates the Track Team Congratulations to the Upper Darby High School track team on their phenomenal performance at the PA Indoor State Championships.The boys 4x200 relay team won first place in the state! The relay was run by Darlington Brooks, Aaron Williams, Sydney Turner, and George Okyne. Congratulations to State Indoor Track & Field medal winners, Siani Barnes and Kayla Thorpe. UJ ROYAL SCROLL Spring Issue 2020 4 PRIMOS MARCH NEWS Primos Basketball Club March is the time for Primos to defend our Basketball Club Trophy. This year we had 28 students sign up, so we were able to have 3 teams. All of the games will be played at the Upper Darby High School main or aux gym. It is single elimination tournament and it started on March 9th.Our teams have done very well. One team is waiting for the tournament to resume. We will keep you informed. Primos’ Running Club Primos Running Club Coach Ms. Nakeia Smith This will be year six of the Running Club for the students here at Primos! Our 4th and 5th grade team and running coaches will meet two days a week. Most Tuesdays and Thursdays Students will train to run in order to prepare for the Brad Schoener 5k (3.1 miles) race on May 16th, 2020 at Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill. Last year this was an amazing event to be a part of! PRIMOS APRIL NEWS Primos Happenings Fifth Grade News Hello Primos Families, Many things were happening in our school before we abruptly Congratulations Timmy Hammond left on March 13th. We would like to share with you those events that happened before Art contest winner, we left. Some of our articles will reflect Timmy Hammond, on our “Stay at Home” experiences, and 5th grade, Delaware some articles will celebrate our students accomplishments. Please keep healthy and County Office of safe by following the recommended Slow Behavioral Health the Spread tips. Primos Experiences Distance Learning Ms. Massimo- Distance learning has forced me to explore the world of technology; a world that our students spend so much time engaged in on a daily basis. I have been trying to navigate all kinds of learning resources, such as Google Classroom, Nearpod, BrainPop, Schoology, and Epic. Every day I am getting a bit more comfortable with them all. I must say, I am excited to bring them all back into my classroom. I even did something I thought I would never do. I made a few TikTok videos! Wow, did my students get a kick out of them! I think that may be their favorite part of distance learning so far. Although all of this is extremely overwhelming, I think we can learn a lot from it. Ms. H- March 13th was the beginning of a whole new world for me. I entered the world of online learning. I have been wallowing in apps directions for navigating Schoology, Hang Out, and Zoom. I am learning how to embed, project, videotape, and hold class chats. I can’t wait to get back to room 221 where I can introduce the kids to a technology called, chalk! UJ ROYAL SCROLL Spring Issue 2020 5 GARRETTFORD MARCH NEWS Garrettford Celebrates Black History Night The Garrettford community is proud to share that three of our students were honored this past month. David Jones (4- 206) presented information at the Delaware County Council meeting about how the Garrettford community celebrated Black History Month.Council Vice-Chair, Dr. Monica Taylor, said “We are proud to honor individuals and organizations who work to celebrate and keep African American history alive in our community.” Specific recognition was given to the Garrettford Black History Night Celebration. David was accompanied by Adam Balagon (2-121).Great job, boys! Garrettford’s Family Literacy Night A Success Our Literacy Night and celebration of Black History Month was February 27, 2020.The literacy theme was to raise our families’ understanding of Phonemic Awareness and its importance in learning to read. We used songs, poems and lyrics by African American Artists to engage families in activities that build phonemic awareness. Upon arrival, families listened to a playlist of great songs by black artists while touring the school to see the doors each classroom decorated with famous African Americans. Then the families were directed to begin the rotation through the 3 activities. HILLCREST MARCH NEWS Students Jump for Their Hearts and Help Save Lives KIDS HEART CHALLENGE Students jumped from February 18th to February 21st during their Physical Education classes. The Hillcrest students jumped at the chance to fight heart disease and stroke, our nation’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers. Kids are literally jumping into a heart healthier life, while helping kids with sick hearts. The Kids Heart Challenge teaches students how physical fitness benefits the heart and shows them that volunteering can be a fun and positive experience for the whole community.