Principal Update

Smith ES Parents and Sponsors,

Last night we completed publishing 3^rd Quarter Grades and posted them to your account on the DoDEA Parent Portal.  If you are unable to access your account, please first check you are using the correct enrollment email address, and if it has been a while since you accessed your account, you can click on the “Forgot Password” button and you will be able to reset your password.  If you are still having trouble accessing the account, please reach out to the School Registrar, Robert.Woods@dodea.edu.  Parents of students who have earned or selected to receive Q3 awards will receive invitations from the principal to attend the Q3 PRIDE and Honor Roll Assemblies scheduled for Wednesday, April 16^th in the morning. 

While you are in the DoDEA Parent Portal, please take a few moments and update your Re-Registration Status.  We are currently at 36% re-registrations for next year!  Please help us get to 100%.  Parents must submit re-registration to indicate whether each student is staying in DoDEA or leaving their current location. All Parents should log into the DoDEA Student Information System (DSIS) Family Portal at https://dodeasis.myfollett.com/aspen/logon.do to submit each student re-registration request. The re-registration process also provides a quick and easy way for families to update information (contacts, Sponsor's employment status, student health) and indicate if your student is returning.  The information collected during re-registration will be used to determine each student's continued eligibility, as well as plan staffing and resource needs for the coming school year. After your re-registration submission has been reviewed, the School Registrar will contact you if additional information is required.  Again, parents even if you are not returning, please complete re-registration and simply let us know you are PCSing at the end of the school year.  If you encounter issues, please contact the School Registrar, Robert.Woods@dodea.edu.  School-wide we are at 36% and in order to try to get to 100% by the end of April, any class with 100% re-registrations by the end of April will earn an extra recess.

April is the Month of the Military Child, this week we kicked off the month-long celebration with a Clap-In welcome from our partners in the 44^th ESB, who also joined us on Wednesday morning for our Month of the Military Child/Purple UP School-wide assembly.  It was an exciting pep rally style event, everyone got a new t-shirt, and we would like to thank our Baumholder Deputy Garrison Manager, Mr. Mark Colbrook for his inspiring message, and a special shout out to the US Army Band who got us all clapping and cheering to some favorite musical selections.  Thank you to the PTO for our new Purple Up t-shirts, and for sponsoring the Tie-Dye event on Wednesday evening so many students can make their new shirt unique to them.  

This coming Wednesday, April 16, 2025 @ 5pm, we will have PTO Sponsored Purple Up BINGO Night. Come out and join us for a night of fun, prizes, food, and of course BINGO!

The first UPK field trip occurred today, and photos will be uploaded as soon as possible showing what a fabulous time the preschool students had exploring the Potzberg WildPark and engaging with animals as an extension of the recent preschool curriculum.

A New Look!  The Principal Update has moved to our Smith Elementary Official DoDEA Website, or https://smithes.dodea.edu/.  You can access our newsletter each week on the “School News” tab.  We are still in the process of updating many of the pages on our Official School Website and we would love to have your feedback as we build our new communication platform.  It is our desire to make this website your “Go to” landing page for information about Smith Elementary School.  If you have suggestions or comments, please simply reply to the parent email and your suggestion goes directly to our admin team.  

You can view photos from all of our events on our website at this link.  

The School Advisory Committee: There were no agenda items for the April meeting date, so this meeting has been cancelled, and we have opened up the end of the year meeting on May 19, 2025 for all stakeholders.  Generally, this is an administrative meeting to close out the year, but we wanted to give more time to collect agenda items before the end of the year.  During the meeting we will be nominating Leadership positions for SY 25/26, preparing our end of the year reports, and setting dates for next year’s SAC meetings.  If you or someone you know are interested in serving on the School Advisory Committee, please email sacsmithes@gmail.com to make a nomination.  We are hopeful this year to elect a new President, Vice President, and Secretary. If you have agenda items for any of the meetings scheduled for SY 24/25, please email sacsmithes@gmail.com.  Minutes from the most recent SAC meeting are posted outside the main office and on the Smith ES Official DoDEA Website.

PTO Update:  Thank you to the PTO for all of their support for the MOMC, our Purple UP decorations, snacks and encouragement for the teachers, and for purchasing a new PURPLE UP t-shirt for every Student and Faculty member.  If you want to know more about our PTO, please check out their Facebook Page at Smith Elementary School PTO where you can find information about activities, how to volunteer, and especially how you can make nominations for PTO leadership positions for next school year.  We are in needed of the following nominations: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. You can learn more about the PTO on the Get Involved/Partnerships page on our Smith ES Official DoDEA Website.

 Purple UP Bulldogs!

Respectfully,

Richard C. Dye
Principal
Smith Elementary School