Falcon Flyer

In this Issue

Principal's Corner

Message from the Principal

F.AVE News

STAR Testing
Girls on the Run
Lego Robotics
School Leadership Team
Upcoming Events Calendar

F.AVE PTO News

PTO Volunteers Needed for 25-26

CSD News

CSD Weekly

Scroll down to learn more!

Message from the Principal

Full Steam Ahead!
It's hard to believe we're already on Day 6. It feels like just yesterday we welcomed everyone back for the first day of school! The year is off to a smooth and exciting start as students settle into routines, dive into learning, and build new friendships.

As the school year continues, there will be several opportunities for families to engage with us and learn more about what your child is experiencing in the classroom. One key event is our Fall Curriculum Night, scheduled for Tuesday, August 26, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. We hope you'll join us!

Student Attendance Matters

As part of our 90-Day School Improvement Plan, we are placing a strong focus on student attendance. Every missed day is a missed opportunity for learning. Research consistently shows a clear link between attendance and academic success. Please partner with us in making daily attendance a priority. We want all students present and ready to grow every day!

Arrival and Dismissal Reminders

Thank you for helping make our arrival and dismissal routines run smoothly! A couple of important reminders:

Car riders must be dropped off and picked up on Oakview Road. Please do not use the front of the school for car rider drop-off or pick-up.
U-turns on Oakview are only allowed at the second loop.

Following these guidelines helps ensure the safety of all our students. We appreciate your cooperation!

Teacher Wish Lists

Fifth Avenue Upper Elementary is committed to ensuring every classroom is stocked and ready for students and teachers to have what they need to be engaged and successful, beginning on the first day of each school year. We do this by using our allocated state and local funding to fulfill classroom needs. Funding covers essential classroom supplies, any specialized materials needed for educational programming in different grade levels/subjects and individual or team requests for specific supplies.

Some staff have customarily shared supply wish lists with families via email or online. Please know that these are optional and individualized by the staff member. Wish lists should not be interpreted as an indication that classrooms or programming lack supplies. Instead, the lists reflect individual preferences for extra or specific items. Any purchases made from these lists are considered gifts to staff and must follow state guidance and Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) rules around gift-giving to public employees, including monetary limits.

If you have any questions about how supplies are funded or how you can support our classrooms, please contact Mrs. Shronda Edwards, bookkeeper at F.Ave.

One Flock, One Flight, and F.Ave Falcons Unite!!!

STAR Testing at F.Ave

The STAR testing administration window is from August 4th to August 15th.

In compliance with House Bill 307, the Georgia Early Literacy Dyslexia Act, all third-grade students will complete the Early Literacy, Encoding, and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) assessments. Additionally, all students in grades 3-5 will take both reading and mathematics assessments.

These diagnostic screenings will be administered three times during the academic year: Fall (August), Winter (December), and Spring (May). As a diagnostic tool, the STAR assessment adapts to your child's knowledge and progress.

Please refer to the school's Fall testing schedule below:

August 5th-3rd- Early Literacy

August 5th-4th-5th STAR Reading

August 6th-3rd-5th STAR MATH

August 7th-3rd-STAR Reading

August 8th-3rd-STAR CBM (Encoding and RAN)

August 7th-15th- makeups for all assessments

If you have any questions, please contact the testing coordinator, Shannon Stewart at sstewart@csdecatur.net

Girls on the Run

Each season, Girls on the Run creates a safe and fun place for girls of all abilities to make new friends, new healthy habits and new memories. Registration for the fall Girls on the Run season is now open! If you or someone you know has a girl interested in participating in the fall season, lottery registration is open through 11:59 pm on Thursday, August 21. The lottery will run on August 22 and reopen for teams that did not fill at 3 pm. Registration will remain open for teams with open spots through September 11. Practice begins the week of September 1 and will be Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday practices.

Just select Fifth Avenue during registration to register for our site. Learn more and register at www.girlsontherunga.org for the fall season today!

Lego Robotics

Lego Robotics
The FAVE Robotics Club is kicking off its third year of building and learning!

This year, we'll continue using the Lego Spike curriculum to explore robotics. We'll also have 1-2 teams participate in the First Lego League (FLL) challenge, using kits from last year's competition.

Club Details

When: The club will meet every other Thursday right after school. We'll dismiss members at 3:15 PM. We will communicate our first meeting date soon.
Capacity: We have a maximum of 35 members for now, but this number may increase if we get more volunteers.
Membership Priority: Spots are first given to challenge team members and the children of volunteers. If interest is high, we'll share more information about how to join.

Interested? Please fill out this Google Form to sign up or learn more.

Additional questions or comments can be sent to fave-robotics-coaches@googlegroups.com. We can't wait to see you this year!

School Leadership Team Elections Coming Soon

We're excited to announce the candidates for this year’s School Leadership Team (SLT) election! Click the links below to learn more about each candidate.

Voting will take place August 11–14. The two candidates who receive the most votes will serve as our parent representatives and will be announced on Friday, August 15, 2025.

2025 School Leadership Team Candidates

Niki Anderson Niki Anderson

Jean-Jacques Credi Jean-Jacques Credi

Nik Osadchiy Nik Osadchiy

Andy Redman Andy Redman

Rachel C. Sedlack-Prittie Rachel C. Sedlack-Prittie

Patrick Yang Patrick Yang

Mark Your Calendars

Mark Your Calendars

DHS Football Home Opener vs. Banks County – August 8
SLT Elections – August 11–14
Board of Education Meeting – August 12
Curriculum Night – August 26 (6:00 p.m.)
Early Release Day – August 27 (12:15 p.m.)

Labor Day – No School – September 1

PTO Volunteers Needed!

We are looking for a few board positions and quite a few committee chairs for the 2025-2026 school year. The good news? *Every single one* will be partnered with a seasoned veteran who knows the ropes! If you've been thinking about getting involved, now is the perfect time to do so! Click HERE to let us know about your interest.

Read the August 7, 2025, issue of the district-wide newsletter, CSD Weekly here.

Reminder: Infinite Campus Credit Card Processing Fee Update

CSD is pleased to continue offering credit card payments as a convenient payment method for school-related fees. In line with standard industry practices, CSD imposes a transaction fee to cover the processing costs charged by credit card companies for accepting these payments. During the 2024-25 school year, CSD capitalized on the increase in electronic check transactions ($0.35 per transaction) to reduce the Infinite Campus credit card processing fee from a flat rate of $4.00 to $2.50 per transaction.

However, credit card companies impose a fee of 3.5% or more on the total transaction amount for credit card payments rather than a flat fee. The difference has created a gap between the fees charged by CSD and the actual credit card processing costs incurred by the district, leaving the district to cover the additional expenses for each credit card transaction.

Effective July 1, CSD will shift to a retail merchant model for credit card processing. This change will involve moving from a $2.50 flat fee to a 3.5% percentage-based fee for all CSD credit card transactions. The transition means there will be a charge of $3.50 for every $100 credit card transaction. We encourage electronic checks, as these fees will remain $0.35.

The transition to a percentage-based fee supports the district's financial sustainability and aligns the fee structure with actual processing costs. It also allows CSD to maintain credit card payment options without diverting funds from other educational priorities.

Basic Incident Response Protocol