It is almost March and winter is almost behind us. I have some wonderful news to share. The initial report from the Deputy Mayor of Education was shared with me earlier this week. The draft proposal from the DME is calling for the reduction of the boundary for Oyster Adams to not be considered as a solution to the overcrowding of the Oyster Campus. Instead, the recommendation is to closely monitor enrollment and building utilization over the next ten years and adjust the use of the facilities as needed based on the impact of new construction within the school boundary. I wanted to personally thank all staff, families and the community for their support in keeping our community whole. Also, I wanted to thank everyone who completed the survey, and we will release the data from the boundary survey as soon as we have completed looking over the data.

School Without Walls Math Club is excited to announce our third annual DC middle school math competition! The competition will take place on April 27th, 2024, at School Without Walls High School and will include an individual round, then a team round, and an elimination round for all top-scoring students. Topics will range from geometry, ratios and proportional relationships, statistics, expressions and equations, to the number system. All middle school students, regardless of grade/math level, are invited! The competition is open to all students in grades 6-8. The competition runs from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Participants should plan to arrive at 8:30 am. We will be giving individual and team prizes to the top competitors. We will also offer tours of School Without Walls if participants are interested in applying for the upcoming school year. Note that space is limited, and only the first 100 students to sign up can compete. Students can sign up here. This form should be completed by March 31st at the latest.

The Oyster Adams Debate team had a competition this past weekend. Thank you, Mrs. Schuettpelz, for supporting our kids at the event and thank you Coach Miller for supporting our students to prepare for the competition and providing them with the opportunity to participate in this event. We had 4 teams compete in the rookie division and one team compete in the Varsity division against HS students. All our Rookie teams placed in the top ten of the competition and our Varsity team did a wonderful job considering they competed against much older students. Please join me in celebrating our team members (Olive Schuettpelz, Shaan Parekh, Kalyan Patel, Annika Pinol, Andres Berrios, Lucas Lucero, Santiago Giron, Henri Risher, Isabela Galdo and Elena Berdt).

We had a wonderful Black History Month Celebration at the Meyers Campus this past Friday. I had a wonderful time, and it was great seeing so many staff and families come together to celebrate Black Excellence. The food and entertainment were fabulous. Thanks to all who were able to join us for the celebration and a special shout out to Monique Worrell and Catherine Depret for their commitment to making this evening such a huge success. I would also like to say thanks to all our staff and students who helped to set up the day of the event.

Wednesday morning, I had the pleasure of hearing the Oyster Choir and the third-grade class perform various songs as part of our Black History month concert. The students were amazing, and it is moments like these that make me extremely proud to be a part of this community. The students seemed so confident and happy singing their songs and the cafeteria was filled with parents and families. Thanks, Mr. Salvador, for making this happen and looking forward to catching the other Oyster grade level’s performances on Friday when they will perform for their classmates.

Wishing you all a great rest of the week.