CALENDAR OF EVENTS     

Annual Fund
Board of Trustees - 100%. Faculty/Staff - 100%. DDS Families - 38%.

The holidays are a time of giving and there are so many worthy and needy causes out there to support. But please remember our school and your child’s teachers this holiday season with a gift to the Annual Fund that will support the educational programs your child is experiencing each day. Our Trustees and Faculty are leading the way with their demonstration of 100% support. Our hope is that our DDS parents will follow their lead and donate to Annual Fund as well.

In recognition of the holidays, you can donate to the DDS Teacher Professional Development Fund in honor of your child's teacher that will not only count toward your Annual Fund gift, but will result in a special card being sent to your teacher stating you have made such a gift. Please click here for a DDS Holiday Gift Form. Gift Forms received by Friday December 11th will have cards delivered prior to Winter break; those received by December 18th will have cards mailed for delivery prior to Christmas.

Thank you to the following who have already given:

FBI and Davidson PD Present Internet Safety Program for Students
On Wednesday, December 2nd, Davidson Day welcomed the FBI and the Davidson Police Department for an Internet Safety Program for the MS and US students. The program focused on basic internet safety, and the dangers of chat rooms and interacting online with strangers. Agent Moss and Officer Geiger finished the program with a Q&A session with students. A big thanks to both professionals for taking time out of their busy schedules. Officer Geiger informed the students that he will be at Davidson Day School on a weekly basis should they have any additional questions or issues.

DDS will offer a similar program for parents on January 13th. More information to come.

DDS Show Choir Performs Can You Dig It? Next Friday
Travel back in time with Show Choir on a musical journey exploring fascinating ancient civilizations. From dancing skeletons in Ethiopia and rapping mummies in Egypt, to a chorus of ancient Greeks, Dig It is filled with toe-tapping music and excitement that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Archaeologists Taki, Tut, and Torch played by 4th Graders Carly Kline, Caroline Spurrier, and Sara Kate Harris respectively, are in for the shock of their lives when a skeleton they've uncovered in a dig suddenly comes to life. Newly awakened Lucy, played by Christina Catlett, takes the young archaeologists on a time traveling adventure where they meet Confucius, Romulus, Sophocles, Gilgamesh, and others, who each give a taste of what life was like during their lifetime. The digging starts Friday, December 11th at 7:00 pm in our school auditorium. Admission is free. Donations are welcome.

DDS 2009 Holiday Concerts
On Thursday, December 17th, please join us for the annual Holiday Concert featuring our 4th-8th Chorus and Band students as they showcase what they have learned this semester. The students will celebrate the holiday season with traditions and songs from around the world! The concert starts at 7:00 pm and will be held in the auditorium.

K-3rd grade will also have their holiday musical performance on Tuesday, December 15th. Their concert starts at 6:30 pm and will be held in the auditorium.

Casino Night 2009 was a Jackpot of a Success
Casino Night 2009 was certainly a night to remember. Our community of parents, teachers, administrators and wonderful friends all came together for a night of fun and celebration.  Please click here to view the Casino Night photo gallery.

A special thanks goes out to Susan Sandler (Casino Night Chairperson) and her committee for orchestrating this great event.  Additional thanks goes to everyone that bid on the fantastic gifts available for auction.  This year's Casino Night made $36,507, a 30% increase over last year's proceeds!  And a hearty congratulations to this year’s tuition raffle winners – Dave and Amy Paronto.

Big Thanks to G & G Landscape
DDS extends its thanks to G & G Landscape and Irrigation Company for their donation of the topiaries decorating the front door to the school.  Thank you to our DDS Parent elves who have adorned them with white lights for a very festive holiday touch.



Academic Enrichment Center

AEC Launches New Reading Program
In its first new venture to expand academic programs to the community of students beyond Davidson Day School, the AEC launched a new enrichment program for 4-year olds through 1st grade aged students. The new Headsprout Reading Program was initially launched as a pilot effort with an intended enrollment of five students. Due to the tremendous response from families both within and outside of our school, we have started the program with over 30 students enrolled. Headsprout is the first of many new academic and enrichment programs to be launched through our AEC that will be made available not only to DDS students, but community students and adults as well. Please contact Dawne Kakitsis at dkakitsis@davidsonday.org for more details on the Headsprout program or other programs being offered through our AEC.

Upper School News

Upper School Bonds with Lower School
The Upper School "International Club" invited the 2nd graders to its presentation about China on Monday. Students learned how to write their names in Chinese and how to count to 10 from Siyi Yung, our international exchange student from China. Students also learned about Chinese currency, history, food, the flag, the Great Wall, and the Olympics among other things. It was indeed a fabulous time for both Upper and Lower school students.  

Upper School Comes Together to Aid Local Families
The Upper School is sponsoring an Angel Tree to aid local families through the Ada Jenkins Center.  If you would like to participate, please remove an Angel from the tree and sign your name in the register next to the ornament number that you took (the register will be located at the front desk).  This is very important so we can track the gifts and make sure they are delivered to the appropriate family.  There is a $35 limit on each gift.  Please consider participating in this worthy cause.  We have chosen to help 24 children this year.  Each child has three ornaments on the tree, which means we need 72 gifts to deliver! Gifts are due by Monday, December 14th.

French Students Celebrate Success with a Campfire
Upper School French II students enjoyed their final project this week by roasting marshmallows by their campfire. They told their stories, sang the songs that they wrote themselves, and participated in traditional French songs and storytelling. Despite the cold weather, it was fabulous time had by all. Middle School French II classes will be enjoying their camp fires next week. See photos in gallery.

College Counseling News
Our seniors are working hard on their college applications.  Although it is still early in the admissions process, our seniors have already received acceptances to the following colleges:

East Carolina University
Florida Southern College
Mars Hill College
Meredith College
Savannah College of Art and Design
St. Vincent College
UNC-Charlotte
UNC-Greensboro
UNC-Wilmington
Western Carolina University

Congratulations to our seniors on the first of an undoubtedly long list of acceptances!

PSAT Results
The scores for our students who took the PSAT in October have arrived.  We will be giving the scores back by grade, and explaining how to interpret the test scores.  11th graders have already received their scores, and 9th and 10th graders will receive their scores and test booklets next week.  Please contact Ms. Rand at mrand@davidsonday.org or at (704) 237-5222 if you have any questions.

College Planning Events in January:
Ms. Rand will be hosting two events in January for college planning.  On Wednesday, January 6th, the College Planning for Juniors program will take place in the Commons from 6:30-8:00 p.m.  On Thursday, January 7th, the Financial Aid Planning for Seniors program will take place from 6:30-8:00 p.m.  Both students and parents are encouraged to attend. 

The registration deadline for the January 23rd SAT exam is Tuesday, December 15th.  Registration is available at www.collegeboard.com.  

Middle School News

7th and 8th Graders Exemplify the True Meaning of Giving
For the Thanksgiving holiday, 7th and 8th grade students carried out Davidson Day’s mission of giving back to the community by delivering over 1200 pounds of food to benefit their community partner, the Ada Jenkins Center.  In the true spirit of giving, the students took great pride in personally delivering the products to the center. “Delivering the food to the Ada Jenkins Center was awesome,” said 7th grader Kendahl Tyburski. “It always makes me feel good to give back.” See photos in the gallery.

Let the Math Games Begin
The Math Olympiad Teams had their first competition on November 17th. Students have been practicing problem-solving strategies during club periods, and they faced some challenging problems on the first timed test. The high scorers in the Grade 4-6 Division were: Christina Catlett, Aaron Augustine, Nell Buechler, Annie Echols, Nikhil Gavini, Marin Harnett, and Alexis Lynch. In the Grade 7-8 Division, James Rees was the high scorer. The next competition will be held on December 16th.


Are you Smarter than a 4th Grader
Problem #4 didn't stump 4th grader Jordan Graham. See if you can solve it.

A digital timer counts down from five minutes (5:00) to 0:00 one second at a time. For how many seconds does at least one of the three digits show a "2"?

Painted Butterflies
On Tuesday, December 8th, the 5th and 6th grade students will participate in a very memorable art experience.  Volunteers from the Levine Jewish Community Center will be visiting our school to assist our students with the creation of hand-painted butterflies in remembrance of the 1.5 million children who died during the Holocaust. This special project is the highlight of other Holocaust themes studied in the classroom.

The Butterfly Project, which originated in San Diego, is officially known as Zikaron V'Tikvah or Remembrance and Hope.  At the workshop, an explanation of the project and a brief history will be shared before each student paints a ceramic butterfly.  The completed pieces will eventually join a permanent display. The goal of the project is to remember the past, act responsibly in the present and create a more peaceful future.

Spare Change Can Pay Big Dividends
Do you have loose change in your pockets and purses?  If you do, please donate your change to Pennies for Peace. 

Pennies for Peace is a foundation started by Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea – a chronicle of his experiences which lead him to dedicate his life to building schools for children in poor villages throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. After reading his book our students adopted his foundation as a cause that has moved them to action. The students will be holding an assembly next week to rally the entire school around collecting change to support the foundation so DDS can have a hand in building schools for children halfway around the world.  

Lower School News

The Midwest Express
The 4th graders took a crop duster tour of the Midwest Region of the United States this week in Social Studies class. They “traveled” by plane to three different famous landmarks and cities in the Midwest.  First stop was Dodge City, Kansas where they experienced life as a cowboy on the range then wrote a new verse to “Home on the Range.” Another stop put them in The Motor City where they sat on an assembly line and made cars. The last stop was the Mall of America in Minnesota where students became mall architects and designed their own mall.


Kindergarten-2nd Grade Showcase Their Musical Talents
All K-2nd grade family and friends are invited to come into the classrooms and see how much our students have learned, and share in the fun as we present our end of semester songs on Thursday, December 17th. Click here for event details.

1st Graders Go Global to Celebrate the Holidays
1st grade has just begun its celebration of “Holidays Around the World.” The students have packed their suitcases and filled out their passports so they are now ready to jet set to different countries to learn about various holiday traditions. Students will be visiting Mexico, Germany, China, Italy, Israel, and of course the United States. Please take the time to stop by and check out what the kids are learning.

Early Childhood News

Montessori Class Plays Huge Role in Giving Thanks
Last week, the Montessori Class collected and weighed the canned food that was brought in for Thanksgiving as part of the MS Loaves & Fishes drive. Each pound fed one person a full meal. The class collected a total of 77 pounds of canned food, thus feeding 77 people. The boys and girls were so excited to check out what everyone brought and see how many people could be fed.

The class also made their very own "Stone Soup" for the Thanksgiving Celebration.  The story of "Stone Soup" is a classic about a community sharing what they have and making a "feast fit for a king."  The children enjoyed making Indian headdresses and decorated them with feathers and stickers. Check out photos in gallery

TK Changes with the Seasons
Ms. Dana's TK class has been learning all about the four seasons. Along with the changes that occur during each time of the year, they are learning about thermometers – how to read them and how to compare air and water temperatures. They are also making observations in nature and discovering that cold temperatures at night makes frozen condensation in the morning which turns the grass to white. Check out photos in gallery

Sports News

Athletic Calendar
Look at Davidsonday.org/athletics for next week’s schedules.

Boys Varsity Basketball Team Wins Big on the Road
The DDS Boys Varsity Basketball team captured a huge road win last Tuesday by beating Shannon Forest 81-24. Junior Clay McLean led the way with a team-high 13 points. The team currently has a record of 2-1.

Patriots Athletic Club

New Spirit Wear is In!
New shipment, new design!  Davidson Day T-shirts, hoodie sweatshirts, hats, mugs, coolers, blankets and chairs are now available.  Check out the Patriots Athletic Club Spirit Wear Store outside the concession stand after school on Mondays and Wednesdays or before most home basketball games.  Great DDS holiday gifts for the whole family!

Parent Council Corner


Walking Wednesday Report
You better watch out, you better not cry, Santa Claus is coming to……Walk! Our very special guest, Santa Claus, will be walking our students to school for Walking Wednesday this month on December 16th. Our theme this month will be Holiday Spirit. All walkers are asked to wear their own holiday spirit wear for the walk and the rest of the day to show their support for this great program. We meet at the Sadler Square shopping plaza/The Egg at 231 Griffith St in Davidson, and at 7:45 we will “walk and roll” to school with Santa Claus. All adult walkers are invited for coffee after drop off at The Egg. Let’s keep the numbers growing and have a great turnout for Santa Claus. For more information please contact Laurie Dennis at davidlauriedennis@gmail.com.


Parent Council Meeting
Thanks to all who attended our December Parent Council Meeting this past Wednesday. For those of you who couldn’t attend, please use the link below to view the presentation and information that was covered.

Parent Council presentation.

Mark your calendars for our second evening Parent Council Meeting! It will be held on Wednesday, January 6th beginning at 5:30 pm in the Commons. To accommodate our working families and everyone’s busy schedules, we will be providing childcare and a light dinner. This meeting will be in addition to our regular morning meeting at 8:30 am that same day. We hope to see everyone there!

If you are planning to attend our evening Parent Council Meeting, please RSVP Kelly Spiggle at kspiggle@yahoo.com.