Dear Claxton Caregivers,

As we head into May, there's so much to celebrate and prepare for at Claxton! This week’s newsletter includes details about Staff Appreciation Week (May 5–9)—we invite you to help us honor our incredible team! You'll also find updates on end-of-year events, EOG prep resources, and important reminders around student cell phone use and morning car rider safety.

We’re also excited to share a few big highlights:

• 🎉 We hit our 95% attendance goal—let’s keep that momentum going!

• 🧘‍♂️ Our SEL team is creating a Zen Den for teachers—check out the Amazon Wish List if you’d like to contribute!

• 🎓 End-of-year celebrations and testing dates are quickly approaching—mark your calendars!

Check out all the details in this week’s Pollinator Newsletter. Thank you for your continued support as we finish strong!

Warmly,
Corey Simons

Staff Appreciation Week is May 5-9! We love our Claxton Staff! Please see the attached flier for some ideas of how to honor our amazing staff this week. You can find our staff's "Favorite Things" lists here. FTO will provide breakfast, a boxed lunch, and a special treat from Poppy Popcorn during the week. Thanks to all those who "adopted" a staff member for the week!

Monday, May 5th

Tuesday, May 6th

Wednesday, May 7th

• 1st Grade Field Trip to Arboretum

Friday, May 9th

EOY Dates:

🚌 May 14 and 15 – 5th Grade Overnight Field Trip

📅 May 23 – Science EOG (Grade 5)
📅 May 28 – Reading EOG (Grades 3–5)
📅 May 29 – Math EOG (Grades 3–5)
🏃 May 30 – Field Day!

🎓 June 2, 10:00–12:00 – 1st Grade End-of-Year Celebration
🎓 June 3, 12:00–2:00 – 4th Grade End-of-Year Celebration
🎭 June 4 – Variety Show
🎓 June 4, 12:00–2:00 – 3rd Grade End-of-Year Celebration
🎓 June 5, 9:30–11:30 – Kindergarten End-of-Year Ceremony
🎓 June 5, 12:00–2:00 – 2nd Grade End-of-Year Celebration
🎉 June 6 – 5th Grade Promotion, 5th Grade Walk @ 8:15 AM, Half-Day & Last Day of School!

Our SEL team is working on a special space just for our incredible staff. The Zen Den will be a wellness room designed to support relaxation, mindfulness, and a moment of calm during busy school days.

🛍️ Want to Help?

We've created a Wish List to gather the items that will help bring this space to life! If you’re able to contribute, take a peek below:

🛒 Click to view the Amazon Wish List ➡️

🌈 Every little item makes a big difference!

Preparing for the North Carolina End-of-Grade (EOG) tests involves consolidating the key concepts and standards learned throughout the year. Students will typically participate in focused review sessions, practice tests, and skill-building exercises to become familiar with the test format and content. Parents, teachers, and students all play a critical role in carving out time to review lessons aligned with state standards and providing ample opportunities for review. To ensure success, it's important for students to engage in strategies that allow them to apply their knowledge through hands-on activities and collaborative learning. Additionally, parents and guardians can support their child’s preparation by creating a productive study environment at home, encouraging regular review in the weeks leading up to the EOGs, and offering help with more challenging topics. By following these strategies, students can approach the EOGs with confidence, well-prepared to demonstrate their academic skills.

To assist with preparation, these pages provide access to materials and content for review, along with daily questions you can ask your child at home.

Please click on the links below for practice materials and helpful resources:

• NCDPI Grade 3-8 End-of-Grade Information
• NCDPI EOC Test Information
• Approximate EOG/EOC Cut Scores for Achievement Levels
• Released EOGs (Released test items from previous years)
• Released EOG Forms and Supplemental Materials
• Released EOC (Released test items from previous years)
• Released EOC Forms and Supplemental Materials

We've noticed an increase in student cell phone use during the school day, which is distracting from teaching and learning. To help students stay focused, we strongly encourage phones to stay at home. If your child does bring a phone to school, it must be turned off and kept in their backpack all day.

As a reminder, our cell phone policy is:
🔹 First offense: Warning + parent notification
🔹 Second offense: Phone goes to the front office and is returned at the end of the day
🔹 Third offense: Phone must be stored in the front office safe daily

We appreciate your support in keeping classrooms distraction-free—especially over the next 45 days. Thank you for partnering with us to keep students engaged in learning!

We just had our best week of attendance since I arrived—huge thanks to each of you for your hard work in making that happen!

We’ve seen steady growth in our ADA (Average Daily Attendance), and I’m thrilled to share that we’ve officially hit our 95% goal as a school—way to go, Claxton! 🙌

Now, let’s finish the year strong and aim even higher.
🎯 This week’s challenge: 98% or better!

Every day matters. Every minute counts. And together, we can do this. ⏰📚

Let’s finish strong, Claxton! 💪💛

After reading a novel centered on the Civil War and its impact on one family, Claxton students took on a powerful end-of-module project to show their understanding of how characters' experiences shaped their perspectives.

One creative option? Rewriting lyrics to three different songs from the point of view of three key characters.

Check out this moving example—a rewritten song from Cass’s perspective. Cass is a girl with visions who can see and feel what her brother endures while away at war. Her lyrics beautifully express the emotional weight of that connection and the toll it takes on her.

Claxton students are not just learning history—they're living it through empathy, creativity, and voice. Bravo!

Claxton Elementary Administration is committed to improving the efficiency of the morning car line. However, some traffic challenges remain beyond our control. Officer Jones has reached out to the NC DOT to request adjustments to the traffic light timing during drop-off and pick-up times to help improve traffic flow.

Additionally, the School Safety Team is exploring other strategies to enhance efficiency.

We need your help to make this process smoother! When dropping off students in the morning, please follow staff directions, pull all the way forward before stopping, and allow students to exit quickly. Staff will also be managing the crosswalks and may briefly pause pedestrians to keep the car line moving efficiently.

Most importantly, do NOT drop children off on Hillside St. This creates significant safety risks and causes traffic backups in the car rider line. The section of Hillside St. in front of St. Paul’s Methodist is marked “No Parking During School Hours” to ensure visibility for the crossing guard and the safety of all pedestrians and drivers.

To keep everyone’s children safe, please follow the approved traffic route for morning drop-off. Thank you for your cooperation and support in making the drop-off process safe and efficient for everyone!

Staff Appreciation Week is May 5-9! We love our Claxton Staff! Please see the attached flier for some ideas of how to honor our amazing staff this week. You can find our staff's "Favorite Things" lists here. FTO will provide breakfast, a boxed lunch, and a special treat from Poppy Popcorn during the week. Thanks to all those who "adopted" a staff member for the week!

Final FTO Meeting of the Year! Our final FTO meeting of the school year will be on Tuesday May 6, 6:00 pm, either in-person in the Claxton Media Center OR you can join via Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/too-vzcy-kyn (NOTE: ACS employees need to join with a non-ACS email address). Join us as we start to plan for next year!

Parents and caregivers want their children to thrive in school—to be engaged and excited about learning, to build meaningful relationships with their teachers and peers, and to develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed academically.

However, understanding what children should know and be able to do by the end of each grade—and how to have meaningful conversations about it with their children and teachers—hasn’t always been easy.

These Family Guides take the guesswork out of the process. They provide clear, practical information and tools to help parents and caregivers support their children’s learning in literacy and math—the foundation for all academic success.

With these Guides, families can take an active role in their children’s education, advocate effectively, and build strong partnerships with teachers. By working together, students, families, and educators create the support system children need to truly thrive.

We want to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our ACS staff every day. If you know a staff member who has gone above and beyond as a dedicated CREW member or demonstrated exceptional qualities that align with our Three Promises—Creating a Sense of Belonging, Engaging in Challenging and Relevant Material, and Making Every Second Count—please fill out this form to nominate them. Let’s recognize the incredible work happening at Claxton!