Talley Street Update

• Walk and Roll: August 14

• Curriculum Night: August 25, 6:00-7:30 pm

• Author Visit Orders Due: August 31 (4th and 5th only)

• Family Math Festival: September 17, 5-7:30 pm

• September Break: September 21-25

Please be sure you are using Pick Up Patrol for ALL dismissal plans and changes, including afterschool clubs. Contact Jen SanAngelo (jsanangelo@csdsecatur.net) with questions.

Guardians must sign up every year to chaperone.

Please sign up for a background check and pay the fee. The earlier, the better!

To continue to qualify for Free/Reduced lunch, you must register online each year.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped with Sorting Day! To those newly sorted, welcome to your House! Students will participate in House Meetings or Talley Rally most Friday afternoons. House-led Talley Rallies will begin in October – one per month from October through March, 1:35pm-2:10pm. When your child’s House leads a Talley Rally, you are invited to attend! Save the date!

Welcome back, Talley musicians! Here are a few new year notes from Ms. Jessup:

• 4th & 5th graders will bring recorders to school by Friday August 28th

• Use link to purchase if recorder is lost or damaged.

• Chorus registration for 4th & 5th grade only, opens Thursday August 20th and will close Thursday August 27th. Look for the registration link in the Talley newsletter on August 20th. This year, registration will automatically close when the limit is reached.

• First rehearsal is September 2nd (Chorus information page)

• Professional/Amateur Adult Musicians! If you or a family member sings or plays an instrument and would like to share and/or support the Talley Music Program, please contact Tanya Jessup at tjessup@csdecatur.net. You may play for a class, or make music alongside students. We’d love to have you any time of the year!

• Orchestra Overview: Orchestra is almost full! Tiffany Ryce is the director, tryce@csdecatur.net. Please contact Ms. Ryce for more information (This is a before or after school extra curricular activity for grades 3rd-5th)

Attention 4th and 5th graders! The time is now to apply to be on one of our FIRST LEGO League robotics teams! Teams of about 8 kids will work together all fall, building and programming a LEGO robot and completing a research project, to prepare for a full-day competition in December.

Spots are limited, so we encourage students to complete the application thoughtfully — it plays an important role in team placement.

Time commitment: One 2-hour practice per week after school (2:15–4:15 PM, weekday TBD), starting (hopefully) before Labor Day, with a full-day competition on a Saturday in early December (and a second in January if the team advances).

Want to learn more? Visit firstlegoleague.org to see what FLL is all about or attend the info session listed below.

🙋 We need coaches! The more parent coaches we have, the more teams we can form and the more kids we can accommodate. No robotics experience required. Interested? Let us know on the application below.

📝 Apply here: https://forms.gle/xbDrV4NRS36X1v59A

💰Cost: $140 per student. Scholarships are available — no student will be turned away for financial reasons.

⏰Deadline: 9:00 AM, August 17th

Questions? Email Ms. Reno at areno@csdecatur.net or Mattie Ruth Backman at mattieruth@gmail.com

Registration is now open! Click here to register your child for class. Registration closes August 27, 2026, or once we reach class capacity. Orchestra meets from 7-7:30 on Tuesday and Thursday at Talley. There is a parent meeting on 8/19 and classes begin on 9/10. Please email Ms. Ryce (tryce@csdecatur.net) with questions.

Girls on the Run (GOTR) is recruiting coaches for the Fall 2026 season at Talley Street Upper Elementary! GOTR is an after-school program for grades 3–8 that empowers participants by building confidence, life skills, and strong connections through fun, movement-based lessons.

• No Running or Experience Needed: Full training, tools, and materials are provided, and you will always coach alongside a co-coach. Role models of all genders (including dads!) are welcome.

• Time Commitment: Practices run Mondays and Thursdays from 2:30–4:00 PM for 10 weeks (September 14 – December 8). Commit to joining us for 1 or 2 days each week.

• Coach Application Deadline: Apply by August 21st by visiting https://www.girlsontherunga.org/coach.

Participant Registration is Also Open! Participant registration lottery closes on August 27th. Spots are limited, so register your child today to join a team! https://www.girlsontherunga.org/3rd-5th-grade-program-details.

Visit girlsontherunga.org or email programs@girlsontherunga.org for more details.

The Talley library is SO excited to welcome Tony DiTerlizzi (the artist behind The Spiderwick Chronicles) on September 28! He will be talking to 4th and 5th graders about his new book The Wump, which he both authored and illustrated. This book is creepy, with an incredible story and dazzling illustrations, so it sure to be beloved by all! Orders for autographed copies of the book are due Monday, August 31.

Talley, in partnership with Communities In Schools, will celebrate Attendance Awareness Month this September by acknowledging three classes on each grade level with the highest rates of attendance for the month. This means EVERY MINUTE COUNTS! Getting to school each day, arriving on time, and staying until the final bell will help your class win. We want every student to know: your presence here matters. The competition begins 9/1 and ends 9/30, with the winners announced at the Talley Rally on 10/2.

The Talley Green Team Store is officially open for the school year,, and our first special collection item of the school year is all types of Takis-brand packaging (flexible plastic bags and canisters). We will recycle these through TerraCycle for points to help fund our program. Earn one house point for five items, three house points for 10 items and five house points for 15 items. Packaging should be emptied of all food and dropped off to Mrs. Roberts in the Media Center.

Are you a student (or parent) who is passionate about the environment and wants to make our school a more sustainable place? Then come join the Green Team! We meet after school (from roughly 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm) on Tuesdays for participation in various sustainability projects and Fridays for our schoolwide recycling collection. Can’t help after school? Become part of our morning crew!

NOTE: Attendance is NOT mandatory. Parents, select “Green Team” in Pick Up Patrol on the days your child plans to attend and include how your child will get home afterward. (Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles also are all welcome to assist us.)

Please direct questions to Mrs. Roberts at kathryn.roberts@csdecatur.net.

Read this week's CSD Weekly for district-wide news and information.

Students will not be allowed to use personal electronic devices during school, such as cell phones and smart watches, starting this school year. Devices brought to school must be kept in backpacks.

• Our first Walk and Roll of the year is tomorrow, Friday, August 14th! Come join us to stretch your legs and earn marbles for House points!
• At Talley, all adults associated with the school are PTO members – Welcome! Instead of a membership fee, we ask that families who are able donate to the PTO during our Annual Donation drive, happening now. Give once up-front to support our plans and events for the whole year! Choose your contribution level and receive Talley swag as a thank-you gift: bit.ly/3ygCwRt
• We still have a few classrooms in need of Room Parents! If your student is with Ms. Jimenez, Ms. Gee & Ms. Reynolds, Ms. Nichols & Ms. Longley, Ms. Canty, or Ms. Friedrich, we need your help! Support these awesome teachers with celebrations, communication, and classroom needs. A couple Specials teachers still need Room Parents, too. This is a great way to stay connected and make a difference for Talley students, staff, and families! Sign up here.
• We’re still looking for amazing volunteers for one PTO Co-President and other PTO positions. More info available at bit.ly/4mhwBPl. Interested? Email president@talleypto.org. We need a 3rd or 4th grade parent/guardian to fill the Co-President position. We will continue searching for a candidate until this position is filled.
• Please label your student’s water bottles, lunch box, jackets, and any other items coming to school with their first AND last name. This will ensure these items are returned to your student if they are lost and found! Need labels? Consider Mabel’s Labels – Talley earns 20% of every purchase! Visit campaigns.mabelslabels.com and search for “Talley Upper Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization (Decatur)” before shopping! The Lost and Found is located by the hallway entrance to the cafeteria. Unclaimed items will be donated on the last Thursday of each month.
• Join the Talley Street Bike Bus! We bike to Talley every Friday morning! More details at: https://www.talleypto.org/bike-bus. We’re always looking for more adult volunteers to help with routes! Express interest or sign up (for yourself and/or your student) at: https://tinyurl.com/talleybikebus. For questions, contact talleystreetbikebus@gmail.com.
• Join the Talley PTO Parents Group on Facebook (bit.ly/Parentgroup) and follow us on Instagram (@TalleyPTO) to stay connected and receive PTO updates throughout the year! bit.ly/m/talleyonline

Talley Street Website

You can find more information on the following Facebook pages:

Talley Street Principal

Talley Street Upper Elementary School Parents

Talley Street Artists

And these Instagram pages:

@talleytigergram

@talleystemstagram

@talleystreetgarden

@TalleyPTO

For more about the Talley Street PTO, visit their website here: https://talleypto.org/.