School Updates

Welcome Back, Dragons!

Welcome back to school, Dragons! It was so good to see so many smiling faces at drop-off this morning! Be sure to carefully review Principal Faison-Bullock’s first message of the school year. There’s lots of helpful tips including the new volunteer registration process (you don’t have to go to campus to register — yay!), a new way to access the school meal calendar, a review of carpool, and more. Here are some highlights:

Visitor Check-In

To continue providing safe learning environments, all WCPSS schools have upgraded their visitor check-in process to a district-wide Visitor Management System. The new system will identify all school visitors and check nationwide sex offender registries for potential matches. The office staff will continue to ask for picture identification when you want to enter the building. Please have that ready when asked. Staff have the right to decline admission to the building should ID not be shared.

Volunteer Registration Process

Please consider registering now to be a volunteer at Douglas Elementary. The application may be completed from any device (you don’t have to come to campus to register anymore!). Click here to complete the registration. This registration must be approved by WCPSS prior to volunteering on campus or with students at an event/field trip.

School Meals

Breakfast and lunch are available for purchase daily at Douglas. If you would like to see the monthly school menus, please use this link. You will need to choose either breakfast or lunch to see the correct menu. Menus are in both English and Spanish – again choose which option you need. Breakfast costs $1.50 and lunch costs $3.25.

Kindergarten Meet the Teacher

Please reserve Friday, September 1 from 2-3 p.m. for an informal drop-in event where families and kindergartners can find out who their teacher will be and have an opportunity to explore their new classroom. In addition, parents will have a chance to acquire a carpool number, set up a lunch account, register to volunteer and join the PTA. All kindergarten students will report to school full-time on Tuesday, September 5. We’ll see you soon!

Save the Date: Open House and PTA General Meeting

Please join us on Wednesday, September 20, from 5:30-7 p.m. for our Open House and PTA General meeting. We look forward to seeing you there!

Spelling Bee Time!

If your child would like to participate in this year’s spelling bee please fill out this Google Form, which is their permission slip to participate. Please submit your permission slip by January 30. The school-wide Spelling Bee takes place on February 3 at 9:30 a.m. in the Media Center. Parents are welcome to attend.

The top speller from Douglas Elementary School will advance to the District Scripps Spelling Bee on February 10, 8:30 a.m. at Ligon Magnet Middle School. If your child is the District champ, he/she will represent Douglas/Wake County at the state level competition which is in Charlotte on March 5. The final step is the Scripps National Spelling Bee which will be held in Maryland scheduled for the week of Memorial Day 2023.

If there are any questions or if there is a parent that would like to learn more about the Spelling Bee and chair the event next year, please email Heather Watts at heatburn@gmail.com.

Practice words can be found here (beginner) and here (advanced). Good luck, Dragons!

Virtual Open House and General PTA Meeting Are Wednesday

Douglas Elementary Virtual Open House and PTA General Meeting graphic

Mark your calendars!

The Douglas Virtual Open House is Weds., Sept. 15. There are two sessions: 5:30-6 p.m. and 6-6:30 p.m. Your teachers will provide their individual Google Meet codes, or you can keep an eye on this page on the school website as the teachers fill in their codes.

Following the Open House, the Douglas PTA General Meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Principal Burns will provide an update at the PTA meeting. Join here: https://meet.google.com/cuu-dbxw-ppf

Slides and Recording of Principal Burns’ Back-to-School Chat

If you missed this session with Principal Burns on Monday, never fear! Here are the slides and recording from the event.

As always, if you have questions, please feel free to reach out to the school’s main office (919-881-4894), your students’ teachers or Principal Burns. The PTA is also here to help: Contact us here.

It’s almost time to head back to school!

We can’t believe it either! As you enjoy the last days of summer break, please mark your calendars for some upcoming school events. And keep an eye on the Douglas website for event updates and other important information like supply lists.

Sunday, Aug. 15 (10 a.m.-12 p.m.) and Saturday, Aug. 21 (3-5 p.m.): Kindergarten and 1st-grade playdates at Eastgate Park. The PTA will provide popsicles and sidewalk chalk. Details here: https://fb.me/e/2vW0tezkE
Monday, Aug. 16: Back to School Chat with Principal Burns, 10-11 a.m. Please submit questions ahead of time here. The session will be recorded for those unable to attend. Google Meet Link: meet.google.com/wmm-pcgv-jzx
Thursday, Aug. 19: 1st-5th Grades Virtual Meet the Teacher, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Teachers will be in contact with all families by the end of the day on Wednesday, Aug. 18, with additional details. Sessions will be recorded for those unable to attend.
Thursday, Aug. 26: Kindergarten Virtual Meet the Teacher, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Teachers will be in contact with all families by the end of the day on Thursday, Aug. 26, with additional details. Sessions will be recorded for those unable to attend.

School Supply Lists Available

Can you believe we’re just a few weeks away from the start of the 2021-22 school year?! Check out the supply lists below (click on the image to view larger or print).