Eagle Wings

Greetings Eagle Families,

Recently some of our Instructional Leadership Team members were able to receive school supplies from our friends at the Atlanta Mariott Hotel on Windward Parkway. We also received supplies from a former AES Eagle, Camp Brien, as part of his work in the Cobra Patrol for Boy Scout Pack 69. We are grateful for these donations to help our students and staff.

Last week we enjoyed an evening of hands-on experiments with our friends from Innovation Academy with support from our staff and PTO volunteers. Thank you to all those who came out!

This week we'll welcome lunch visitors. Please adhere to the following when joining your Eagle for lunch:

• Come at your student's designated lunch time(s)
• If arriving early, wait for your student outside the cafeteria
• Refrain from having other classmates join you
• Eat at designated visitor tables or in the courtyard
• Students are to return to their class when their lunch time is over
• Enjoy food from our cafeteria or from home

As we finish the month of August strong, we look forward to your continued support!

Yours in partnership,

Ms. Crawford

August:

31st-Lunch Visitors & Volunteers begin

September:

4th-Fall Pictures

7th-Labor Day: No School

8th-Academic Partnership Night 5-6:30pm

11th-Grits with Grandparents 7-8am

21st-25th-Fall Break: No School

28th-Bright Star Performance (3rd-5th grade)

30th-Eagle Dash Kick Off

Due to the population growth of the Alpharetta area, more & more drivers are using Mayfield Road as a means to get to their morning destination. Please take note of the "No left turn from 7:10-7:40am" signs that are now located at the main and bus rider entrances. By helping to adhere to this, the flow of traffic can continue while ensuring that our students who arrive by car are in their class by 7:40am.

Beginning this school year, morning carpool will end at 7:35 am. Ending at this time allows for students to walk to their class and be in their seat by 7:40am, which is the start of our instructional day. If you are arriving after 7:35 am, you will be directed to park and walk your child to the front door. If the bell rings during this time, you will need to sign you child in on our Checkmate system which is located outside the front doors.

*Please note, we have several families with students who participate in our Autism classes and use our main carpool drop off area after 7:35am. This is to help ease their transitions and limit distractions.

We appreciate our families' commitment to student safety. A quick reminder to remain attentive and limit phone use during arrival and dismissal. Your focus helps create a safer environment for all students, staff, and families.

Also, please refrain from cutting through the bus lane during morning and afternoon carpool. This is a significant safety issue.

We have new carpool tags this year. Each family should have received 2 in their red folder during Meet & Greet. Please ensure that these are visible during afternoon dismissal. For questions or tags, please reach out to Jenna Silverman, AP (silvermanj@fultonschools.org).

Please take a moment to review information in our AES Family Handbook. In coming weeks, we will highlight pertinent information you need to know about.

Students will be receiving the FCS Code of Conduct in their folders. Please review the FCS Code of Conduct. Parents/guardians must complete the Student Code of Conduct acknowledgment in Infinite Campus by August 31st.

2026-2027CodeofConduct-ENGLISH.pdf

2026-2027CodeofConduct_SPA.pdf

In accordance with the Rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, (FERPA), students under 18 years of age objecting to the release of their information should complete the attached form and email it to the Assistant Principal in order to place their objection in writing.

If you do not wish to have your child's information shared in items such as yearbook, etc., please click here and email form to the Assistant Principal, Jenna Silverman (silvermanj@fultonschools.org), no later than August 31st.

At our school, we are committed to creating a safe, positive, and productive learning environment for all students. To support this goal, we teach and reinforce our school-wide behavior expectations through SOAR:

• Safe
• Ownership
• Attentive
• Respectful

Throughout the school day, students are expected to demonstrate these behaviors in classrooms, hallways, the cafeteria, playground, buses, and all other school settings.

What is a SOAR Reminder?

When a student does not meet one of our SOAR expectations, a staff member will provide a SOAR Reminder. A SOAR Reminder serves as an opportunity for the student to reflect on their choices, understand the expected behavior, and make positive adjustments moving forward.

Our behavior system is designed to give students multiple opportunities to correct their behavior before administrative intervention becomes necessary.

• 1st, 2nd, and 3rd behavior infractions: Student receives a SOAR Reminder.
• 4th behavior infraction: Student receives an office referral/write-up, which is submitted to the Assistant Principal for review and follow-up.

This process allows teachers and staff to address minor behaviors consistently while providing students with opportunities to improve and demonstrate our SOAR expectations.

We ask that parents/guardians review the SOAR reminder, sign the form, and return it to the homeroom teacher. See below for what the form entails:

How Families Can Help

We encourage families to discuss SOAR expectations at home and reinforce the importance of being:

• Safe in actions and choices
• Taking Ownership of behavior and learning
• Being Attentive and ready to learn
• Showing Respect to peers, staff, and school property

Thank you for your partnership and support as we continue to foster a positive school culture where every student can SOAR!

We are excited to begin planning two engaging career-focused events for our students and are looking for volunteers from our school and community to participate!

🚚 Touch-a-Truck Event (Pre-K–2nd Grade) – Fall 2026 (October)
Our younger students will have the opportunity to explore a variety of vehicles and learn about the important people who use them in their daily work. We are looking for participants with trucks, emergency vehicles, construction equipment, service vehicles, and other interesting vehicles that children would enjoy seeing up close.

💼 Career Exploration Day (Grades 3–5) – Spring 2027 (April/May)
Our older students will learn about different careers and pathways by hearing directly from professionals in our community. We are seeking volunteers from all career fields who would be willing to share information about their profession, education, skills, and experiences.

If you, a family member, friend, or community partner would be interested in participating in either event, please complete the interest form below:

2026-27 AES Touch-A-Truck & Career Exploration – Fill out form

Your willingness to share your time and expertise helps our students connect their learning to future possibilities. We greatly appreciate your support and look forward to partnering with our amazing Alpharetta Elementary community!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Turquisha Lasker-Smith (laskersmitht@fultonschools.org)

Students are now able to purchases snacks daily as well as ice cream on Wednesdays and Fridays. Students will need to have money on their account in order to purchase these items. Please reach out to Lawanda Blyther, Cafeteria Manager, with any questions (blyther@fultonschools.org).

Screening for the Gifted Program takes place twice a year for Fulton County Schools, and every student is screened every year. Automatic Screening takes place in August- September. Parents will be notified before any testing begins. Students referred for testing will be tested during the Fall semester. All parents will be notified of eligibility by December. The Classroom Screening will take place for a two-week period from January – February. Students Identified for testing will be tested January-March. All parents will be notified of eligibility by the end of the school year. For more information please read the documents below:

​Notification_Screening_Referral_Gifted_Students_2026-27_Accessible.pdf​

​Notificacion_Seleccion_Referencia_Estudiantes_Superdotados_2026-27_Accesible.pdf​

You can also visit the following website for more information: FCS TAG Department Website

If you have further questions, please reach out to our TAG teachers, Kellie Cleveland (clevelandk@fultonschools.org) and Lindsey Messina (messinal@fultonschools.org).

Please take a moment to read information regarding FCS Health Services.

2026-2027 DHS School Health Services Parent Information Letter - English

26-27 DHS School Health Services Parent Information Letter - Spanish

Are there any medical conditions or concerns that we should know about?

Please contact:

Tamera Shellington

Cluster Nurse for AES

shellingtont@fultonschools.org

ArtsNOW is a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit with more than 20 years of experience reshaping education. Through programming that integrates visual arts, music, dance, digital arts and drama into academic lessons, ArtsNOW sets the stage for educators to become effective in their teaching — and for students to achieve greater academic and personal success.

What is arts integration?

The Kennedy Center defines arts integration as an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process that connects an art form and another subject area, allowing them to meet evolving objectives in both.

Arts integration is designed to be a joyful, active and memorable learning experience. Incorporating the five recognized arts disciplines — visual arts, dance arts, theater arts, music arts and digital media arts — an arts integrated curriculum aligns with common core standard practices and fine arts standards. The arts become an approach to teaching, as well as the vehicle for learning.

What does arts integration look like in AES?

At AES, teachers are training in the four arts disciplines: theatre, visual arts, music, and dance. Teachers are learning to integrate arts content standards and objectives and academic content standards and objectives to engage students in a process that encourages mastery in both areas. Additionally, students attend weekly STEAM classes that introduce and reinforce the arts disciplines' routines, strategies, and vocabulary for smoother integration in the academic classroom.

This month in STEAM

Students are learning theatre strategies and vocabulary as a way to engage with reading/language arts. Students will show mastery of retelling a story and analyzing point of view through creating and performing plays.

Parent Resources

ArtsNowLearning.org provides materials and activities for at-home connections. You can also find a weekly activity that aligns with the week's STEAM class highlighted in your homeroom teacher's weekly newsletter. See https://artsnowlearning.org/resources/at-home-lessons/ for more resources.

Reach out to Ms. Wilkinson (wilkinsonrm@fultonschools.org) for more information

Please consider joining the PTO--they provide incredible resources and support to our students, staff, and community. For more information, click here: Alpharetta Elementary School PTO - Home

Fulton County Schools is excited to introduce SchoolCash Online—a convenient and secure way for families to pay for school-related fees. With this new system, you can easily pay for items such as field trips, classroom activities, parking permits, yearbooks, and more—all from the comfort of home.

SchoolCash Online helps reduce the need for cash and checks in our schools while giving families a safe and simple way to make payments using a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.

Getting Started

Beginning July 1, 2026, please be on the lookout for a registration email from:

"KEV Group at noreply@stagingschoolcashonline.com."

The subject line will read: “Fulton County Schools shared a student with you.”

For step-by-step registration instructions, please visit the SchoolCash Online webpage at https://fultonschools.schoolcashonline.com/.

Learn more about SchoolCash Online on the FCS district website at www.fultonschools.org/schoolcash.

Please take a moment to read Fulton County's Device Handbook.

FCS 26-27 Student Device One-to-One Handbook- English

Families will need to complete the Device Use Agreement.

Optional Device Protection (ODP) Enrollment Information:

This window remains open through September 25th. We encourage all schools to actively promote this program with families, particularly our middle schools, where students have recently been issued brand-new Chromebooks.

The Optional Device Protection Plan helps families offset the cost of accidental device damage and can significantly reduce out-of-pocket expenses for repairs or replacement. Without coverage, families may be responsible for repair costs ranging from $30-$270, with replacement costs up to $500 depending on the extent of the damage.

Protecting devices early helps keep students connected to learning while minimizing unexpected costs for families. Thank you for your partnership in helping ensure a successful and uninterrupted learning experience for our students.

For more information, please contact Dr. Taylor Barton at BartonT@fultonschools.org

As you prepare for the first day of school, please note that there have been some changes to bus routes. If you haven't already, we encourage you to check Here Comes the Bus for updated information on your student's bus route to ensure a smooth start to the year.