Exploris PTO News

1/6/20 Monday Minute

  1. North-South Bicycle Facility- Important
  2. Equity and Diversity- Volunteer Opportunities
  3. School Calendar
  4. Applications for 2021
  5. Upcoming Events

Happy New Year!  We hope everyone had a great Winter Break!

s5_logo1. North-South Bicycle Facility Open House – tonight!
Important: The City of Raleigh Downtown North-South Bicycle Facility may be placed on Harrington Street which would block the Exploris Middle School carpool lane. The City of Raleigh will be holding an Open House to get public input.  See below for details or visit http://bikeraleigh.org/home/ 

North-South Bicycle Facility Open House
Monday, January 6, 2020
4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
at The Dillon (401 West Hargett St), 9th floor lobby

If you can’t attend the Open House there will be an online survey published on January 6.  The Exploris PTO will share the link and we hope that Exploris parents will provide some feedback to the city.  

2. Help us Grow Access to Exploris in January 2020

GrowingAccesstoExplorisThe Exploris Equity & Diversity Team is a group of parents, staff, and stakeholders committed to strengthening the culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Exploris. Over the last few years, the team has made significant progress in this work, beginning with establishing a weighted lottery. The team’s most measurable impact has been the enrollment of increased numbers of underrepresented students in each of the last two years. We are proud of these results, and are focused on keeping the positive momentum.

Between now and the application deadline of February 7, 2020, our goal is to increase the number of applicants from underrepresented students and families. 

We are looking for more parent and community support to help us meet this goal. If you, like us, believe in the value of strengthening Exploris’s culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion, please consider volunteering your time, skills, and/or resources in one or more of the following ways:

  • Tuesday, January 7th, from 5 pm – 6 pm. Join us at the elementary campus to help us plan our Chavis Park recruitment event. We would also love to hear from a diverse group of parents about their experiences at Exploris.
  • Saturday, January 11th, from 12 pm – 2 pm. Join us to help distribute flyers in the Chavis Park neighborhood.
  • More information and ways to support Equity and Diversity at Exploris: https://sites.google.com/exploris.org/growing-access/home
  • Contact Jay Korreck at jkorreck@exploris.org with any questions.

3.  School Calendar 2020-2021

The calendar committee including parents, staff, and administration have drafted the 2020 -2021 calendar and are getting feedback before finalizing the calendar.  We anticipate presenting the 2020-2021 calendar to the Board for approval at the January Board meeting.   The Board approved the start date of August 19, 2020 for the 2020-2021 school year at the December Board meeting so that families could make summer plans around the start of school.  Please remember that it is critical for all students to be present on the first day of school to ensure that we receive full state funding.

4. Applications for 2020-2021

Applications are now being accepted for the 2020-2021 school year.  Please remember to complete your applications for siblings by the February 7, 2020 deadline.  We also ask that you share information about Exploris with your friends and neighbors.  Please post the admissions link here to your social media pages to promote Exploris and ensure that all families are aware of the February 7, 2020 deadline.  The lottery will be held on March 6, 2020.  Good luck to all.

5. Upcoming Events
  • Friday, January 17 – PTO General Mtg @ 11:30am
  • Monday, Jan 20 – MLK Holiday
  • Friday, February 7 – Teacher Workday – Portfolio Conferences
  • Monday, Feb 17 and Tuesday, February 18 – Presidents’ Day Holiday
  • Friday March 6 – End of Second Trimester
  • Monday, March 9 and Tuesday March 10 – Teacher Workdays
  • Spring Break – Friday, April 3 (3:15pm) – Tuesday, April 14 (8am)
  • Friday, May 15 – Teacher Workday
  • Friday, May 22 – No School for 8th grade only – passage portfolios
  • Monday, May 25- Memorial Day Holiday
  • June 1 – June 12 – EOG Testing Window
  • Friday, June 12 – 8th Grade Graduation (10:30 am), early dismissal
  • Friday, June 12 – End of Third Trimester, last day of school

The 2019-20 Exploris Google Calendar and PTO Calendar links are here: https://explorispto.org/about/calendar/

2020_New_Year

Thanks for reading the Monday Minute!  We publish this Exploris PTO blog post each Monday during the school year.  

If you would like to submit information, please email your text (copy ready), photos, and links to Dana Deaton by 9pm Sunday at news@exploris.org