WEEK 14

🐝 The Hawthorne Hive Weekly Buzz

Greetings Hawthorne ES Community,

🌻 Hawthorne Hive Weekly Update 🌻

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Fall Family Garden Day and our PTA-sponsored Movie Night! It was a joy to see so many families come together to celebrate our school community. From gardening and outdoor fun to popcorn and movies under the stars, the evening truly reflected the Hawthorne spirit of connection and collaboration. A huge "Thank You" to Mr. Dave Spitz and Mr. Chris Lafferty for going above and beyond to make our Movie Night a success! We truly appreciate your help with the setup, sound, screen, and all the behind-the-scenes details that made the evening so enjoyable for our families.

A heartfelt thank-you to all the parents and families who joined us on Friday to celebrate our Students of the Month! Your support and presence made the event even more special as we recognized our students’ hard work, growth, and success. We truly appreciate your partnership in celebrating excellence at Hawthorne Elementary!

This week, we’re continuing that spirit with our 2nd edition of Coffee in the Garden ☕🌿.
Join us on Thursday, November 13th, from 7:30–8:30 a.m. in the STEM Garden located at the back of the school. This casual gathering is a wonderful opportunity to meet other parents and guardians, ask questions, share ideas, and enjoy a relaxed start to your morning surrounded by nature. Whether you’re a returning parent or new to the Hawthorne family, we invite you to stop by for a cup of coffee, conversation, and community. We look forward to seeing you there!

Hawthorne Elementary will honor Veterans Day on Tuesday, November 11th as we recognize the courage, sacrifice, and service of the men and women who have protected our country.
We invite all staff and students to wear red, white, blue, or olive green to show gratitude and unity as a school community. Together, let’s take time to reflect on the importance of service and the heroes who inspire us each day. 💙❤️🤍💚

🍂 Upcoming Events at Hawthorne Elementary!

The week of November 17th is shaping up to be an exciting one at Hawthorne — full of learning, family, and community fun! We’re thrilled to announce three major events happening throughout the week:

📖 Scholastic Book Fair — November 17th–21st
Our annual Book Fair will run all week long! Students and families will have the opportunity to explore and purchase books that inspire a love for reading. It’s a great way to support our school while stocking up on engaging books for home.

🦃 Family Ties Thanksgiving Lunch — Thursday, November 20th (times will vary)
Families are invited to join us for a special Thanksgiving lunch celebration. This cherished Hawthorne tradition is a wonderful opportunity to share gratitude, enjoy a delicious meal, and celebrate the season together as a school family.

🏕️ Literacy Night — “Hawthorne’s Camp Read-A-Lot”- Thursday, November 20th at 6:00 PM
We’re thrilled to host our unbelievably successful Literacy Night once again! Families are invited to join us for an evening of reading adventures, interactive literacy stations, and themed activities designed to spark a love for reading in every child. Come ready to “camp out” with your favorite books and enjoy the magic of literacy, Hawthorne-style! Mark your calendars and join us for this fun-filled week celebrating reading, family, and community. 🐝

⚽ Hawthorne Soccer Highlights

Our Hawthorne Hornets Soccer Teams continues to make us proud with their teamwork, effort, and school spirit!

Saturday Scoreboard: Red Team Hornets on their third consecutive win over Sagamore Blue (3–2)!
Our Gray Team Hornets also earned a thrilling penalty win after a 1–1 draw against Dresden ES.
A huge thank-you to Mr. Barnes and Ms. McKandes for their dedication, encouragement, and unwavering support of our student-athletes!
Next Match: Saturday, November 15th at Adams Stadium 2415 N Druid Hills Rd, Atlanta, GA 30329 (RED team - 9:00 AM and GRAY team - 11:00 AM)

Let’s keep the energy high and cheer our Hornets on to another victory! 🎉

📅 Dates to Remember: (A Peek at the Week)

Veteran's Day | Tuesday, November 11th | Wear red, white, blue, or olive green
Coffee in the Garden | Thursday, November 13th - 7:30 am - 8:30 am
Saturday, November 15th at Adams Stadium 2415 N Druid Hills Rd, Atlanta, GA 30329 (RED team - 9:00 AM and GRAY team - 11:00 AM)

📅 UPCOMING DATES

-Scholastic Book Fair | Monday, November 17th - 21st -Media Center

-Beta Club Induction Ceremony - Wednesday, November 19th - cafeteria (5th grade) -9:00 am

-Thanksgiving Luncheon (K-5) |Thursday, November 20th (times will vary per class - a schedule is forthcoming

-HES Literacy Night Thursday, November 20th - 6:00 pm

-Thanksgiving Break (No School)-November 24th – 28th

-Benchmark 2 Window Opens - December 1st-5th

-2nd PAC Meeting - December 3rd - 5:00 pm

-HES Spelling Bee - December 4th - cafeteria | 9:00 am

-Winter MAP administration - December 8th -12th

-4th/5th Grade Winter Wonderland Concert - December 11th (6 pm)

-Winter Class parties various times December 19th

-Winter Break, No School -December 22nd-January 2nd

Go Hornets 🐝
Proud to Serve,
Principal Henley
#OneTeamOneDream #WeAreALLIN
TWITTER

Hawthorne Elementary will celebrate Veterans Day on Tuesday, November 11th as we recognize the courage, sacrifice, and service of the men and women who have protected our country.

We invite all staff and students to wear red, white, blue, or olive green to show gratitude and unity as a school community. Together, let’s take time to reflect on the importance of service and the heroes who inspire us each day. 💙❤️🤍💚

Let’s come together to celebrate and thank all veterans for their service and commitment to our country. Thank you to all veterans!

Pictured above is a Hawthorne Parent CDR CAPT Neelam Ghiya (Avani's mother)

CAPT Neelam Ghiya, MPH Board Position: Health Services Officer Representative Captain (CAPT) Neelam D Ghiya is a United States Public Health Services Officer (USPHS) stationed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. She serves as a Senior Public Health Advisor in the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) Office of the Director with a focus on Engagement, Recruitment, and Retention.

Previously, she worked in CDC’s Office of Science as Senior Advisor for Training and Communication where she launched agency wide scientific trainings. Neelam has served as a CDC Emergency Coordinator in which she facilitated CDC scientific staff Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Field deployments. She has coordinated the CDC Public Health Grand Rounds and served as a CDC Director’s emergency preparedness and response special assistant.

CAPT Ghiya has participated in Hurricane, Tornado, Nuc/Rad, and Pan Flu exercises as well as UAC, Influenza H1N1 & H7N9, Flint Water, Polio, Ebola, Zika, and MERS CoV, and OAW response activations via the CDC EOC earning her Crisis Response and Outstanding Unit Citation USPHS Awards. She was deployed for the COVID-19 Response as the Lead Liaison Officer and Pre-Deployment Coordinator in which she received the 2022 USPHS Health Services Responder of the Year Award. Most recently, she served on CDC’s Mpox response and Cobalt Magnet Functional Exercise (CM25) as Co-Lead of CDC EOC Public Health Ethics Cadre.

CAPT Ghiya has served as a Voting Member on Health Services (HS) Professional Advisory Committee, Chairing the Membership and Awards Subcommittee. She is currently a Senior Advisor for the HS Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Mentoring Program for which she initiated. CAPT Ghiya serves as the HS Representative Board Member on the Commissioned Officers Association (COA). Neelam has received the Atlanta COA Officer of the Year Award and the HS Public Health Professional Advisory Group (PHPAG) Senior Officer of the Year Award.

CAPT Ghiya volunteers as a mentor for Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and for the CDC’s PHAP Fellowship program. She serves as a speaker for the CDC’s Young Professionals Network (YPN), that she co-founded, and for the CDC’s Ambassadors Program. Neelam was awarded the CDC’s Health Literacy Hero Award.

Veteran's Day Celebration

We want to celebrate the heroes in our Hawthorne community! If you are a parent or community member who has served or is serving our country, please reach out to Ms. Henley so we can recognize you on Veterans Day.

The Student Assignment Project (SAP) is inviting all parents & community members to take part in a series of community engagement events this Fall. Your voice matters as we work together to reimagine DCSD as it relates to programs, boundaries, and buildings in our district! SAP Chats and SAP Town Halls are interactive opportunities to learn more, ask questions, and share your thoughts. Registration opens 24 hours before each event and is required to attend. Don’t miss your chance to join the discussion and make your voice heard!

SAP Chats
Join us for SAP Chats, our virtual follow-up to the SAP meetings—bringing you fresh, next-day updates and key insights while they’re still hot off the press. It’s your chance to catch up on what’s new, hear what’s next, and share your thoughts to help shape the process.

Thursday, November 20 @ 6:30pm
Thursday, December 4 @ 6:30pm

SAP Town Halls
Join us for a SAP Town Hall, as we provide the latest updates on the SAP process, including progress made, upcoming plans, and how program and school placement discussions are evolving. This is also your opportunity to share thoughts and help shape future recommendations.

Saturday, December 13 @ 1:00pm
Tuesday, December 16 @ 6:30pm

A huge thank-you to our parents and families for making daily attendance a priority. Your commitment to ensuring students are at school each day truly makes a difference! Consistent attendance helps students stay on track academically, build positive habits, and remain connected to their peers and teachers. Every day in class is an opportunity for growth, discovery, and success.

Attendance also impacts our school’s CCRPI (College and Career Ready Performance Index) — a measure of how well schools prepare students for future success. Strong attendance rates not only reflect student engagement but also strengthen our overall school performance. Let’s keep the momentum going, Hawthorne! Everyday counts, and every student matters!

Please see our grade-level attendance percentages for the month of October below. Our overall school attendance goal rate is 95%!

📚 Let’s Grow Our Reading Together!

We would like to earn the Reading Culture trailblazer badge on Beanstack with 75% of our students participating!

Let’s keep the momentum going! Just 5 minutes a day of logging your child’s reading on Beanstack can help us climb even higher on the countywide leaderboard in Dekalb County School! Your support makes all the difference!

📚 Here’s how you can help as a parent:

Encourage your child to read daily and log their minutes in Beanstack, every minute counts!
Parents can track progress and celebrate milestones together with their children.

Together, we can build a powerful culture of reading at HES, one page at a time!

Parents and families, come out and show your support for our HES soccer team. Let’s fill the stands with Hawthorne Swarm, wear your HES spirit wear and cheer loud for our athletes as they compete each week.

📅 Date: Saturday, November 15th
🕘 GAME Time: (RED team - 9:00 AM and GRAY team - 11:00 AM)

📍 Place: Adams Stadium
2415 N Druid Hills Rd, Atlanta, GA 30329

Let’s show our Hornets some love and school spirit as they represent Hawthorne ES!

🎟️ Purchase Tickets: https://gofan.co/app/school/GA3487
📹 Review DCSD Stadium Policies: https://youtu.be/0Ompg6SPArc

#GoHornets #HESSoccer #FeartheSwarm

Do you have a 4th- or 5th-grade student who loves to dance? Don’t miss the chance to be part of our Elementary Competitive Dance Team!

📝 Registration is open now through November 18.
💃 Season kicks off December 1.

This is a great opportunity for students to showcase their talent, build teamwork skills, and represent our school with pride.

Key Dates:

December 2nd - First Day of Practice
January 17th - First Match
January 24th - Second Match
January 31st - Area Championship
February 7th - County Championship

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE DANCE TEAM

i9 Sports

We are now registering for our Winter 2025 sports season. For this season, i9 Sports offers flag football (ages 4-13), soccer (ages 3-8), basketball (ages 4-12) and Girls Only Volleyball Instructional Clinic (ages 9-14). We have locations in Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Chamblee, Tucker & More!

All this information is on our digital flyer (attached below) for you to distribute to your school community through your website, social media, eblasts, etc. Please post it now through October and send it out to your school community asap for early registration savings.

We look forward to working with you again this season and providing another opportunity for $10 per registration.

Thank you for your partnership with i9 Sports!

Action Required: Complete Student Information Form

If you have not yet completed this form in the link below, please do so as soon as possible. Having this information on file is essential for your child’s safety and participation it ensures we are prepared for field trips, medical needs, and other important school activities.

👉 Your timely response helps us take the best care of your child. Thank you for your cooperation!

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE HES STUDENT INFORMATION FORM

Please complete Meal Application Information 2024-2025. Only 1 Application Needed per Family:

Please ALL complete this application process even if you plan to bring lunch for your child daily or believe that you will not qualify. This is very important, this impacts funding for Title 1.

Please click link for English/Spanish application.

https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/featured-news/free-reduced-meal-applications-sy-2024-2025/

The drop-off times in front of the school are below:

7:00 am

MORNING INTERVENTIONS & EXTENTIONS TIME DAILY - 7:15 am

Tardy bell - 7:45 am

Morning announcements begin at 7:45 am

Car riders:: When picking students up, parents should have the Hawthorne ES Car Rider Tag visible in their car. If the Car Rider Tag is not visible, parents are required to park, come into the building and provide Identification. Thank you for your patience as we simply want to keep your students' safe.

The pick-up times for dismissal are below:

Bus riders-2:25:pm; Car riders 2:35 pm (front of building after buses) & walkers (Side door)

Walker Dismissal Protocol Update
The dismissal process for the Walker group is being slightly adjusted to ensure a smoother and more secure experience. Students will continue to dismiss from the side door; however, we will now be implementing a numbered tag system.
Each walker will be assigned a unique number. Parents or guardians must walk to the designated walker door and visibly display their child’s assigned number. This number will correspond to the student’s walker tag, which will be attached to their backpack.
For safety and accountability, students will only be released once the matching number is presented at the door.

Attendance & Dismissal Procedures Update

To ensure accurate attendance records and to maintain a safe and orderly school environment, we are updating our arrival and dismissal procedures:

Late Arrival: Students arriving after 7:45 AM must be checked in by a parent/guardian inside the school office.
Early Check-Out: If a student needs to leave school early, parents/guardians must come into the building to sign the student out prior to the start of dismissal.

These updates are in place to support accurate attendance documentation. We appreciate your cooperation and commitment to helping us ensure that your students are safe during arrival and dismissal from school. 😊Thank you!

BUS ROUTES

DCSD bus routes can be found on the district website: https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/bus-routes/. Hawthorne ES morning bus routes are below along with the district

🚗✨ Arrival & Dismissal Reminders ✨🚶‍♀️

Reminder: As we kick off a successful school year, please review and follow our arrival and dismissal expectations to ensure a smooth and safe day for all students:

🌅 Morning Arrival:
🕖 7:00 AM – School doors open and breakfast begins.
🍽️ After breakfast – Intervention & Enrichment starts. This is a critical time for academic support and acceleration—please ensure your child arrives on time.
⏰ 7:40 AM – Breakfast service ends.
📣 7:40 AM – Morning announcements begin.
📘 7:45 AM – Instruction begins promptly.
🏁 Afternoon Dismissal:
🕝 2:15 PM – Dismissal begins & typically follows this order:
➡️bus riders
➡️ van riders
➡️ car riders

➡️ walkers
➡️ aftercare
Please remember that our buses must be in line first.
🕝 2:35 PM-2:40 PM – All students should be fully dismissed from classrooms.
🕒 2:45 PM – Students not picked up by this time will be sent to aftercare, and a drop-in fee will apply. Communication is key!

Late Pick-Up Procedures

In order to ensure the safety and supervision of all students, Hawthorne Elementary has established the following late pick-up procedures:

Dismissal ends at 2:45 PM.
Any student not picked up by 2:45 PM, upon arrival -parents will need to complete the Late Pick-Up Roster.
Three (3) late pick-ups may result in a referral to the school’s social worker for additional support and follow-up.

Your partnership helps us create a safe and focused environment for all hornets. Thank you for your attention and cooperation!

After School Activities Are Back! 🎉

Afterschool Clubs that still have spots available!!!

Opportunities include:

EIM Dance (Various grade levels)

Use the link below to explore and sign up today, spots may fill quickly!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR EIM DANCE, Fridays: 2:30 - 4:00 (PRE-KK - 5TH)

Thank you for your interest in becoming a volunteer for the DeKalb County School District! By signing on as a volunteer, you become a member of our team of professionals that proudly provides educational services to more than 93,000 students in our DeKalb County School District.

Steps to Complete the Volunteer Process:

Complete the Volunteer Application and Release Form:

Review and Complete the DCSD Volunteer Code of Conduct:

Complete the Mandated Reporter Training:

Watch the Mandated Reporter Video and complete the quiz before attending a training session.
Steps to complete the training:

Create a free account
Select State: GA
Click on Child Abuse and Neglect Course: Mandated Reporter
Start the course and complete the quiz
Save or print your certificate and email a copy to DCSDvolunteer@dekalbschoolsga.org

Training link: Mandated Reporter Course

Upcoming DCSD Volunteer Training (via Zoom):

Join a Zoom Session That Fits Your Schedule

Fall 2025 Volunteer Training Dates

Please select the Zoom session that works best for you from the options below:

November 12 – 12:00 PM & 6:00 PM
December 3 – 12:00 PM
December 10 – 12:00 PM

Join the DCSD Volunteer Training Zoom Meeting:

🔗 Join Zoom Meeting
📌 Meeting ID: 857 5784 5773
🔑 Passcode: 598219

Thank you for your dedication to supporting our schools! We look forward to your participation!

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DCSD Volunteer Public Safety.pdf

Volunteer Flyer 2025.pdf

HES School Family Innovative Compact Template_FY26-(Final).pdf

HES PFE policy 2025 .pdf

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Hawthorne ES has the BEST events—hands down! From unforgettable family nights to, spirit wear, staff appreciation, and more… our PTA is behind it all!

But we can’t do it without YOU.

Whether you can volunteer your time, share your ideas, or simply stay connected, your involvement makes a huge difference in our school community. Every parent is welcome and every voice matters!

🦅 Why join the PTA?
✔️ Help plan amazing events
✔️ Support teachers and students
✔️ Build community
✔️ Stay in the loop

Let’s work together to make this the best year yet at Hawthorne ES!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE HES PTA

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HAWTHORNE PTA