Talley Street Update

• Field Day: October 10
• Talley Reading Rally: October 10-20
• Student Portrait Day: October 14 and 20 (see schedule below for specific date)
• Talley Community Sustainability + Inclusivity Event: October 16, 2:30 pm
• Early Release: October 22 @ 12:15 pm
• Literacy Trunk or Treat: October 22, 5:30 pm
• CSD Digital Learning Day (NO In-Person School): November 4
• Walk n Roll: November 7
• PTO Meeting: November 12, 6 pm

Please turn on low balance IC/Portal Alerts. These need to be activated anew EACH YEAR.

1. Select the User Menu at the top-right corner

2. Select Settings

3. Select Notification Settings

4. Check the boxes for notifications you want to receive

5. Please apply for Free/Reduced lunch each year.

Background checks are needed to chaperone field trips each year! It expires one year after your last.

• If you are interested in being a chaperone, sign up for a background check here.
• The background check fee is $40.

• Checks, cash, or money orders for background checks are to be brought to Talley at least 3 days prior to going for the background check appointment.
• Checks for background checks are to be made out to City Schools of Decatur. In the memo, please write, "(name of field trip) fee - $40"
• Appointments take approximately 10 minutes.
• Candidates need to bring a driver's license.
• There is a short form to be filled out. The department then submits this information to the GBI and results often come back within 24 hours. Once they receive the returns, they process that information.
• Background checks are currently conducted at 2635 Talley Street, 2nd Floor. This is the building next door to Talley Street Upper Elementary.

For Tybee: Please pay the chaperone fee of $350 AFTER you have clearance of the background check, and the 5th grade staff has assigned you as a chaperone. All other chaperone fees are the entry fees for the venue of the student's class field trip.

Please see below for which date your child's class has portrait day.

Please remind your child to check lost and found! There are many items there now. Also, make sure to label all of your child's personal items (water bottle, sweatshirt, jacket, lunch box, backpack, etc.). This will help us ensure that items are reunited with the right kids!

Items left in the lost and found will be donated on the last Tuesday of each month!

Thank you so much to all of our volunteers, and big shoutout

to Timothy Cox for purchasing Field Day shirts.

TO DO LIST:

Advise your child(ren) to:

• Bring a water bottle with their name clearly labeled
• Wear sunscreen
• Wear comfortable shoes and clothes.
• Bring clothes to change into
• Follow all field day behavior expectations

Other reminders:

• Hats are acceptable attire for students.
• Sack lunches (peanut butter jelly/turkey sandwich) will be provided in lieu of hot lunches.

• We will be SAFE and KIND.
• We will FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.
• We will HAVE FUN.

🚨We still need a couple more 5th grade grownup volunteers. Use this link to sign up.

Feel free to email any questions to Coach Jefferson (tjefferson@csdecatur.net) or Coach Johns (njohns@csdecatur.net).

Green Team is sponsoring a special event with Talley’s Best Buddies group! On Thursday, October 16 at 2:30 pm, Talley mom and owner of Joyful Jarra Refillery Veronica Apecena will discuss low-waste swaps; the power of reuse; ways to make sustainability simple, practical and joyful; and supportive employment for persons with developmental disabilities. We will meet in the Media Center, and then Veronica will show us her mobile refillery. All Talley students, parents and caregivers are invited to attend. Let us know that you will attend by registering here.

Communities in Schools of Atlanta, in partnership with Talley PTO and the Talley DAC, is hosting a Reading Is Lit Trunk-or-Treat event at Talley on Wednesday, October 22nd from 5:30-7:30pm! We are seeking volunteers – sign up to host a trunk (by October 15th) or to help with set-up or clean-up at: https://signup.com/go/EhEXsCK. This is a free, fun event for the whole family! Talley students will receive house points for donations of children’s books (K-5), socks, and blankets.

Thanks to a very generous grant from the Decatur Education Foundation, Talley will soon be installing a Sensory Path! Sensory Paths create a space for safe, structured movements that promote regulation and focus. While it has particular benefits for neurodiverse students, this path will be available to all Talley Tigers. You can click to read more about the benefits of the Sensory Path, and see an example of one path design here.

If you shopped the Prime Big Deal Days this week, packages will be heading your way—and many may arrive in plastic mailers. The good news? Those plastic mailers can be recycled as part of our Plastic Film collection. Bring them to school on Wednesday, October 22 for house points.

Loose bottle caps, plastic bread tags, food pouch tops, milk pull-tags, etc. These small items don't have to be garbage. Through Ridwell, these items can be recycled. Send your small items to the Green Team for a special collection.

Sign up using the form below!

• Talley’s Reading Rally is blasting off tomorrow Friday, October 10th and runs through Monday, October 20th! Students will complete fun reading challenges on their reading BINGO cards (coming home in folders today) while collecting donations to support Talley PTO programs. Every student who turns in a BINGO card by 10/20 earns house points! There will also be prizes for individual winners in each class, grade-level class winner parties, and one classroom will take home the trophy! Set up your student’s fundraising page now at bit.ly/readingrally25.

• Host a Pride Porch at Oakhurst Porchfest this Saturday, October 11th! Every year, the CSD PTA/PTO DEI committees collaborate to decorate porches @ Oakhurst Porchfest to help celebrate Atlanta Pride (which is in October) and show support for our LGBTQIA+ families. Craft kits with decorations will be provided to you before Porchfest. All you need to do is set up the activities on a table in the lawn, driveway, or porch. Sign up at: https://evite.me/uKPerreJef.

• Diwali is next weekend, and CSD is celebrating on October 18th from 5pm-7pm at Beacon Hill Middle School! Join us for food, a dance workshop, and activities for all ages! RSVP at: https://forms.gle/QUpN42B9FJTuc2U98
• Join the new Talley Street Bike Bus! A bike bus is a group of riders who travel together on bikes (or other non-car modes of transportation) on predetermined routes, at a specified time, to a shared final destination. We will bike to Talley every Friday morning! See this info doc and the All Routes Map for more details. We are still looking for a few 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!

Read the October 9, 2025, issue of CSD Weekly, the district-wide newsletter.

Show your support for our amazing CSD athletes at their games. All game information is linked below. Don't forget to wear your Navy and Gold!

A Season of Giving/Christmas Decatur ensures that our community’s children and seniors in need experience the joy of the holidays with gifts matched to their wishes. This program is made possible through the generous spirit of neighbors helping neighbors. Applications for children are due by October 31. And here you can find information on how to sponsor a child, teen, or senior citizen, as well as how to volunteer.

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/.