ALERT: 

Wed, Jun 19th, 9AM -8th Grade Promotion Ceremonies

Thu, Jun 20th - RETURNING FAMILIES - PLEASE RE-ENROLL STUDENTS FOR THE FALL BY THIS DATE
Fri, June 21st, LAST DAY of classes.  Dismissal at 12:15PM.

From the Principal's Desk

Dear Takoma EC Family:

Only a few more weeks to go before we end another school year.  As usual, June is full of activities for the students, from end of the year celebrations to transition programs for our Kindergarten and Grade 8 promotions. 

Our eighth graders are getting ready to leave us and to move on to some of the city’s best high schools.  Many of them have been with us since pre-Kindergarten, and we will miss them.  I congratulate them on their academic endeavors. Because of their hard work, fifty percent of them will attend specialty or academic high schools.  Banneker Academic High School and McKinley Tech High School will welcome thirty percent of our students into their freshman classes.  Others will attend Capital City High School, Hospitality High School, and Coolidge High School.  

We will celebrate our students with a promotion ceremony on June 19th at 9:00 am.  All are invited to attend.  

Our Kindergarteners attended a luncheon in their honor on June 7th at 11:00 am.  It is a brief activity that will get our young students excited about the first grade.

On June 14, please join us or volunteer for our annual Fun and Fitness Day [note: moved up because of weather to June 13th] .  If you are able, please volunteer to help our staff or join in the fun.  We will have moon bounces, snow cones, face painting, and experts that will discuss exercise and nutrition with the students.
 
Before the school year ends, we need all families returning to Takoma to re-enroll for next year.  We already have a waiting list for pre-school and pre-Kindergarten, and have 70 percent of our students enrolled for next year.  We need ALL families to enroll by June 20th.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Takoma, or would like to volunteer.

With Falcon Pride,

Rikki Hunt Taylor
Principal

Feel free to email me if you require any personal assistance.  You may use the "Contact Us" email form on this website.  If you would like to talk more with me about our programs, feel free to call the school and schedule an appointment. 

Parents: Please note drop-off policy

Parents are welcomed to escort their students to class and greet the teacher.  In order to ensure that instruction begins immediately after breakfast, and to ensure that our teachers are focused on the children, all parents are asked to leave the classrooms by 9:00 am unless they have an appointment with the teacher or are volunteering.  Any parent who brings in their child after 9:00 am should sign in at the security desk and a Takoma staff member will escort their child to class.

Arts Integration News

Takoma EC is an arts integration themed school.  What is Arts Integration?   Arts Integration facilitates learning by students with diverse learning styles, and challenges them to think deeply and view the world and academic content through the additional, multiple lenses of visual art, dance, music, and drama. Click on these introductory videos to learn more: 
Teaching through the Prism of Arts Integration
A MAPA Moment: Arts Integration in Education
In our new modernized school with 'smart' boards, and specialized spaces for art, music, dance, and drama and a renovated auditorium, we can truly realize an arts integration curriculum. 

School Modernization
Its been a little over 1 year since Takoma students have been able to return to their newly renovated building after the devasting fire in Dec 2010 (see Events - SY2010-11 and Events - 2011-2012).  A video by the architects, Fanning Howey, is now available describing those events and the return. Click here.

HEADLINES

[Feb] Early Childhood Classes Present A Snow Day 

[Dec] Winterfest!
The culmination of fall classes and the beginning of winter break gave students and teachers an opportunity to celebrate Winterfest! - a day filled with multiple activities, including line dancing, word puzzle contests, art work, face painting, moon bouncers, relays, video game competitions, and of course, for the younger children, pictures with the Winter King (Santa)!

[Dec] Embassy Adoption Program Brings Korean Food Day to TEC
Korean Food Day was celebrated as the first major in-school event of the Embassy Adoption Program at Takoma EC.  Students from all grades had an opportunity to cook and taste Korean food, and learn about  many aspects of Korean culture. They listened to Korean music, heard Korean stories and made traditional Korean dolls.  

[Nov] 6th Grade Class - Tops in Eastern Time Zone in Math Contest!
Takoma's 6th grade class taught by Mary Chatmon was recognized for their great work on Think Through Math - one of the top two best classes in the Eastern Time Zone! Think Through Math is a research-based learning system that uses a blend of web-based, adaptive instruction with certified teachers to transform the way students think about– and think through– mathematics. The goal: readiness for college and career for all. The class participated in the online contest for charity and won a pizza party and enough points to receive $7,000 for charities.

[Nov] Family Reading Feast
Takoma students and parents combined the joys of cooking and reading into a great night of fun. Student in the different grades prepared foods suggested in their books- A Feast for Ten (early childhood); Pancakes,Pancakes; Thunder Cake; and The Giant Jam Sandwhich - and then feasted with their parents and teachers.

[Nov] Takoma's Pre-school & Pre-K Students Visit the Pumpkin Patch
While superstorm Sandy closed the schools, early childhood classes remained undeterred.  They succeeded in visiting the Pumpkin Patch in Ellicot City, MD the following week thanks to the generous efforts of parent fundraisers, parent and community contributors, chaperones and teachers. Thank you!

[Oct] 8th graders Continue Participation in City Vision  for SY2013
Several Takoma's students again were among those chosen to participate in this semester-long outreach program of the National Building Museum.  The program focuses on group projects using urban planning and design to solve community challenges. TEC students work on planning issues in all four quadrants of the city and present their work to a panel of architects at the museum.

[Sep] Three embassies choose Takoma EC for SY2013 Programs
The Embassy Adoption Program, unique to DC,  is an academic program for 5th and 6th graders that enables them to explore globally-themed lesson units, meet heads of state and high officials, sample new and exotic foods, learn and perform traditional dances and plays, and truly experience the global offerings of DC. Not all schools have been adopted by an embassy – teachers have to apply and
typically no school is adopted by more than one country. Takoma EC has successfully applied and been chosen since 2008, and this year three! classes were selected by embassies – S. Korea(gr 5), the Bahamas(gr 5) and Luxembourg (gr 6).  Read more . . .

[Sep] Takoma EC Adopts Tools of the Mind Curriculum for Early Childhood 
 This year Takoma became one of 28 DCPS schools to adopt Tools of the Mind, a research-based curriculum that  uses carefully guided play to stimulate what neuroscientists call “executive function”: a combination of memory, impulse control, persistence and flexibility.   Takoma's early childhood teachers have received extensive training and are excited about the program.  Children get the usual reading, phonics and math instruction,  but lessons and play are designed to build the capacity to “self-regulate. ” And the children's play still incorporates the Reggio Emilia use of natural materials, much art and creative expression, etc.

[Sep] Takoma Welcomes Parents and Students at Annual Back-to-School Night
New (and veteran) Takoma parents had their first opportunity to explore the renovated building and talk with teachers about the new programs and curricula for the coming year that would be enhanced by the facility.

How To Help (see details . . .)
If you want to help students, teachers and the educational programs at Takoma EC, there are several opportunities

-- Donate funds, either by check, credit card or PayPal for materials and supplies
-- Box Tops for Education contributions ( Read more . . .)
-- Volunteer to assist teachers through mentoring and other activities
-- Donate materials to enhance the Early Childhood Reggio-Emilia Program
-- Join the Recycling/Conservation Initiative
-- Help Takoma EC raise funds by contributing used/empty ink jet and laser cartridges, and old cell phones
-- Earn grant fund points for Takoma EC by shopping at Giant
-- Parents: Be a Classroom Mum or Dad