We Love Durham NC

Domo-kun

You know the Domo has reached mainstream when you find little stuffed ones in the Target. I shouldn’t have even stopped in the toys, but we spied him on the endcap on the way to light bulbs. There is some disagreement as to his rightful owner. The Girl fell asleep clutching him, but haha! I will stay up later and he will be mine, all mine.

Intersession Camp

Can you believe it’s almost time for intersession? Here’s one intersession option, at the Durham Arts Council. I’ve listed a few more below the image. Other ideas for our year-round friends?

Durham Arts Council Intersession Arts Camps brochure

North Carolina Museum of Life and Science Track-Out Camps

Piedmont Wildlife Center Intersession Camps

Schoolhouse of Wonder Fall Intersession Camps

Durham YMCA Year-Round School Intersessions

TK’s Jungle Track Out Camps

SeeSaw Studio

Durham Parks & Rec

Durham Public Schools Intersession Camp

Tennis Camp at Five Oaks Club

Hush

The Boy reports today that the bus driver doesn’t let them talk on the bus when it is raining.

Having driven a bus in Durham* with young passengers and having driven in the rain with squealing kids, I understand completely.

*Ask me if I think it’s a good idea that high school students can no longer drive school buses in North Carolina.

Is Your Child’s Teacher Happy at Work?

Thanks to Steve for the heads-up to results from the 2008 Teacher Working Conditions Survey.

You can see how Durham Public Schools teachers rated their work environments here and how teachers at individual Durham schools rated the same here.

Milk

The Boy reports you can choose strawberry milk (or chocolate or white) with your school lunch. He hasn’t chosen strawberry, but holds the option open for the future.

Ready or Not

Everything’s organized, sorted, and labeled with a Sharpie. Lunch money counted out. Favorite shorts in the dryer now. Clean shoes; breakfast planned down to the vitamins. The Boy’s ready for the first day of school in the morning.

If there are not tears at the bus stop, it’s because I’m biting my inner cheek raw.

Costco Mattresses

Costco was full of back-to-school items today, including mattresses for outfitting new apartments. Someone did not tie their twin set to the top of their car well this afternoon, and it landed on 15-501, the mattress on the shoulder and the box spring in the middle lane. Ouch. I narrowly avoided a crash navigating between these and another vehicle.

Free Tutoring for Durham Students

Although the majority of Durham Schools met the state’s ABCs of Accountability standards for growth last year, several did not meet Federal Adequate Yearly Progress standards. If subgroups of students do not meet AYP standards, the school fails to meet the standards (subgroups include categories of race, income, and special needs). As at least one principal noted, one major challenge for schools with a large number of English as a Second Language students is preparing them well enough in their second language to take the tests. (Currently ESL students have 2 years to learn English before taking the tests.) If you’ve ever seen an example test, you know that a high level of English literacy is required, even for the math problems.

But that’s a reason, not an excuse, and the schools are forging ahead by offering free tutoring services for students in schools who (a) are in a Title I school not making AYP in the same subject for 3+ years and (b) receive free or reduced-price school lunch.

Eligible schools are Bethesda, Forest View, Oak Grove, Burton, Glenn, Parkwood, Club Boulevard, Hillandale, WG Pearson, Eastway, Holt, EK Powe, Eno Valley, Hope Valley, YE Smith, Fayetteville, Merrick-Moore, and George Watts. (Many of these schools are considered to be desirable schools, with strong PTAs and community support, and success on other yardsticks of academic excellence.)

An application is required for the program, and parents can pick their top three choices of the available tutoring services.

Tutoring services participating are:

Academic Achievers by S&L Consultants
Academics Plus, Inc.
Accelerated Achievement at Measurement, Inc.
Achieve Success Tutoring by University Instructors, Inc.
Brainfuse
Bright Futures Learning
Capitol Educational Support
Failure Free Reading
Glosso Educational Services, Inc.
Huntington Learning Centers, Inc.
KnowledgePoints of the Triangle
MasterMind Prep Learning Solutions
NCCU Academic Enrichment Academy
Salient Learning, Inc.
The Enrichment Centers of NCLB, Inc.

Transportation is not provided.

Tutoring Provider Fairs will be held September 9 (at Hillside, 6:30pm) and September 11 (Southern High, 6:30pm). Applications are due September 25th, and placements will be made by October 2nd, with tutoring beginning November 5th.

School Open House

Open House was held this evening for most of the Durham public elementary schools on the traditional schedule.

It was hard to find a parking space, but once inside, we found everything worked smoothly. The assignment letter had the room number on it, so we used that to find the classroom. We met the Boy’s new teacher, and she seems fabulous.

I confirmed that the teachers came back to work this past Monday. They had teacher in-service all day Tuesday, leaving very little time to get classrooms together and organized for Open House. That’s a tight schedule.

I filled out several forms while the Boy did a scavenger hunt to find his cubby, the in-class bathroom, the media center, etc. What a creative way for the kids to learn their way around. There were cookies and stickers.

On the way out, we picked up a t-shirt and Friday folder (homework and other materials go back and forth in the Friday folder).

This morning, he was fussy about starting a new school. As we left the Open House, he said he could hardly wait 4 days for school to start. Now that’s a successful evening.

Children’s Theater in Downtown Durham

Starting Friday, August 22nd, through September 14th, Find the Light Community Theatre in Downtown Durham will present Marmalade Gumdrops by Carol Lauck for ages “5 to 15 and parents of all ages.”

Shows are Fridays at 6:30pm, Saturdays 2:30pm, and Sundays 2:30pm. Tickets are $7.

Location: 124 W. Parrish Street, around the corner from the Bull.

Marmalade Gumdrops is about an imaginative 10 year old boy in his room. Characters include the boy, his bed, a chair, a bookcase, and a “not too bright” floor lamp.

See the Marmalade Gumdrops flyer here.

The director is Gennaro D’Onofrio. Yes, you’ve heard that last name before if you’re a Law & Order fan. Yes, that’s his dad.

Durham Public Schools Bus Schedules Online

The bus schedules are online:

Durham Bus Schedules 

Make a Hole, Make It Wide

Crape myrtles grow very well in North Carolina. You can plant them in any kind of soil, in the hottest, driest part of your yard, and ignore them completely, and they will grow beautifully. I think you should plant a whole forest of crape myrtles in your yard and we’d have a surplus in the bee population.

Something about digging holes in North Carolina is that there is clay (hence all the potteries around). This clay can be 1″ from the top of the ground, or deeper, or not at all. I’ve found if you start digging a hole and hit clay, best fill it back in and dig a hole somewhere else. (I did manage to put in a tether ball pole, but it required a special steel spike from my neighbor to get through 12″ of clay, and I won’t be doing that again.)

I was going to plant these guys in the back yard, but couldn’t find a clay-free area with enough sun, so they’re going up front.

Weight Watchers in Durham

Eve at the Durham Weight Watchers comes highly recommended, and for good reason. She gives an inspirational sermon. You leave thinking, I can do this!

I met Eve this week. I didn’t have to stand up and identify myself as a newbie. I didn’t have to stand at a podium and say, “Hi! I’m Valerie, and I’ve been over a healthy weight since my second pregnancy.” The other newcomer and I had a private session at the end to learn about the magic that is Flex Points.

Today I found two loopholes in this Points thing… there are things that are zero points. Celery, yes, but also broccoli! Yummy, yummy broccoli. And if you work up a sweat, you get more points! Which brings me to my next post…

Durham Teacher Assignments

Teacher assignments came in the mail today from our school. Check your mailbox!

Hummingbirds

Two hummingbirds just flew up to the window, hovering inches away to check us out. Then they flew into the tree and perched for 3 seconds before zooming away again. I thought hummingbirds didn’t perch. I wonder what they are eating in our yard.