And we're off!

I hope that you all have had an aWESome experience over these past two weeks! We made it through our first half-day schedule and eLearning Day. I'm still feeling and seeing the excitement. Our goal this year is to #SOARTogether as faculty, staff, students, family members, and stakeholders. I'm excited about what's to come!

September is going to be a busy month and we're going to have a number of events, inviting our families into the building from our PTO Meeting on September 14th, discussing our new and improved PTO; to our first 2nd Cup with me on September 21st, where families will be able to chat with me, sharing their celebrations and questions regarding the direction of our school; to our Curriculum Nights, where families will be able to see a "day-in-the-life" for their children.

Stay posted... This is going to be the best year ever!!!!

Dr. G

Our mission is to cultivate a caring community that utilizes a multitude of teaching and learning experiences to prepare children for their next adventure.

1. We believe that everyone deserves to feel safe, valued, and appreciated.
2. We believe that all children deserve a high quality education.
3. We believe in collaboration and making connections.

Monday, September 4 - Labor Day (School & Offices will be closed)

August 28-September 8 - iReady Testing for Grades Kindergarten - 5th

Thursday, September 7 - Thursday Folders Sent Home

Thursday September 14 - Thursday Folders Sent Home

Thursday, September 14 (6:00 pm - 7:30 pm) - PTO Meeting

Tuesday, September 19 (6:00 pm - 7:00 pm) - Primary (Grades K4-2) Curriculum Night

Wednesday, September 20 (6:00 pm - 7:00 pm) - Elementary (Grades 3-5) Curriculum Night

Thursday, September 21 (8:00 am - 9:00 am) - 2nd Cup w/ Dr. Gantt

Thursday, September 21 - Thursday Folders Sent Home

Thursday, September 21 - Progress Reports Sent Home

Arrival

The school day begins at 7:20 p.m. Parents will be asked to park and sign their children in after the start of the school day.

Early Dismissal

If parents plan to take a child from school before the close of the day, a note should be sent in the morning stating the reason for the early dismissal and the time the child will be picked up.

• Parents should enter the school office, and sign out their child. Students leaving early must be signed out in the office and be dismissed only by a parent or approved adult on the emergency contact list. This procedure is for your child’s protection - please keep the information updated to facilitate this function, especially in emergencies or early weather-related school closings.

• To minimize disruption at dismissal time, all early checkouts must occur before 1:20 PM.

Our CERDEP & 1st through 5th Grade dropoff will no longer be at the front doors.

To provide more usability of our parking lot and to ensure more cars in the drop off line, we are asking families to pull all the way up to the awning to drop off children.

Just like with car rider pick up, please pull all the way up before dropping of children.

Children will walk down the awning and enter through the side doors along-side our bus riders.

We will have staff to assist with our CERDEP students.

Reminders

• Please pull all the way up so that we can unload/load as many cars as possible.
• During dismissal, please have your Car Tag displayed.
• Thank you for your patience with us and with each other!

As a reminder... for the safety of our students and families, and to ensure that traffic moves smoothly, please turn right (only) when exiting our campus during pick up and drop off.

If you missed on getting your spirit gear on our Meet the Teacher Night we are extending our PTO promo. Join the PTO and get a discount on adult size shirts. We will send the shirts home with your student during the second week of class.

Every completed Whitesville Wise Owls PTO membership will be entered for a chance to win our Bee City Zoo Family Fun Pack Raffle!!! Which will include 4 admission tickets, a stuffed owl, a YETI kids water bottle and a $50 Chick-Fill-A gift card!!!

Winner will be announce in our first PTO meeting on September 14 at 6 PM.

Let’s have a aWESome school year!!!

http://my.cheddarup.com/.../skip-the-line-membership...

What is a School Improvement Council (SIC)?
An SIC is a broad-based body intended to advise the principal and school, and is focused on helping to achieve school improvement.

What do SICs do?
SIC duties focus primarily on the school improvement process. SICs:

• provide input and feedback during the development of the school's five-year renewal (improvement) plan and annual updates;
• assist in implementation of school improvement programs and activities;
• monitor and report on progress toward improvement goals in the annual SIC Report to the Parents and with the principal in the narrative to the SC School Report Card;
• provide other assistance as requested by the principal.

Why take the time to serve on an SIC?

• Because when parents are engaged in their children's education, their children do better in school and the quality of the school improves.
• Because parents bring wisdom to the Council. They have in-depth knowledge about their own children's strengths and needs as well as the perspectives of other families in the school.
• Because community members who are NOT parent of children in the schools still benefit from good schools in the form of a stronger local economy and property values.
• Because citizens who are NOT parents of children in the schools also have unique contributions to make to School Improvement Councils. Senior citizens, business people, members of the faith community, staff of social service agencies, and others all have knowledge, experiences and resources that can benefit their community's schools.

Learn more about South Carolina School Improvement Councils here.