Talley Street Update

• Walk n Roll: November 7
• Thanksgiving Lunch: November 12
• PTO Meeting: November 12, 6 pm
• Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL): November 24-28
• Talley Library Spirit/Fundraising Day: December 10 (all day at Little Shop of Stories)
• PTO Meeting: December 10, 6 pm

The STAR testing administration window is from December 1st to December 12th.

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 Winter testing schedule below:

• Tuesday, December 2- 3rd Early Literacy

• Wednesday, December 3 -3rd-5th Reading

• Thursday, December 4 - 3rd-5th Math

• Tuesday and Wednesday, December 9th-10th-3rd CBMs (Encoding and RAN)

• Week of December 5th-12th Makeups for all assessments

If you have any questions, please contact the testing coordinator, Lateefah Mosley at lmosley@csdecatur.net

There will be NO checkouts after learning celebrations, Talley Rally or after 1:45pm. The office will not be able to enter last minute dismissals. If you would like to change your child to walkup pick up in Pick Up Patrol, please enter that information in advance anytime or day before noon on the day of Talley Rally or special events. As a walkup pick up, your child will meet you when walkers are dismissed on the sidewalk on the parking lot side. They can also dismiss how they normally dismiss on a Friday or special event afternoons, and you can catch them as they walk outside. Thank you for your cooperation.

Registration is open for the Talley Thanksgiving Lunch until November 9 in the Parent Portal. Students are limited to two guests. $5 per person. Please present a printed or digital receipt upon arrival to serve as your ticket.

Payment Instructions in Parent Portal:

1. Shop: Select “School Store,” then select "Nutrition" and then "Products."

2. Choose item: Click on the Thanksgiving icon, select the parent name and # of guests. (2 tickets per household). Add the item to your cart.

3. Review and pay: Confirm the quantity, add any payment options if needed, and enter your email address for the receipt. Click "My cart" and then "Submit payment" to complete the transaction.

4. Your receipt will be your ticket, so provide a valid email address.

School photos are here! You can access the proofs using this link. The link will expire on November 8. The access code to log in is your child's student ID.

Some of our houses have begun working on their service projects for the year. We need support from our entire Talley community!

Calling all K-12 storytellers, writers, and authors! Every story deserves to be told — especially yours.

Submit your story and share your voice with the world!

Did you know that Talley opts out of traditional book fairs in order to host a more equitable, True Book Fair in May? We love this event, and in order to make up for the loss of fundraising, we host an annual spirit day at Little Shop of Stories. On December 10, shop in-store or online and say you are with Talley at checkout. 20% of those sales will come back to our library to support collection development and programming! Join us without kids during the school day to get some holiday shopping done, and come after school to visit with favorite teachers, participate in some exciting activities (more info coming soon), and shop teacher wishlists.

Please consider shopping small on December 10 to support Decatur's local businesses and our school library! Thank you in advance for your generosity. Please reach out to Mrs. Long (along@csdecatur.net) with any questions.

Girls on the Run is looking for parents/caregivers/community members to coach at Talley Street for the Spring 2026 Season! If you are interested in becoming a coach/mentor for our participants, please see this flyer and visit girlsontherunga.com/coach to learn more about the kind of commitment it takes to be a coach, and to register to coach. Practice is on M/W or T/Th from 2:30-4:00 pm from February 9-April 28. No practice when there is no school or on Early Release days. Your Talley student is guaranteed a spot on the team if you volunteer to coach. We must have at least 3 coaches per team in order to host teams at Talley. We need you! Email programs@girlsontherunga.org for questions about GOTR or coaching, and nbundschu@csdecatur.net for questions about coaching at Talley. For more information about GOTR as a program, go to https://www.girlsontherunga.org/3rd-5th-grade-program-details.

Important Dates:

• Participant lottery registration WILL OPEN SOON and will be open through 11:59 pm on January 28th.

• A computer-generated lottery will take place on January 29th for teams that are full. For any teams that don't fill through the lottery, registration reopens by 3 pm on January 29th and will remain open through February 19th on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Practices for all teams begin the week of February 9th.

• The last day to register for teams that have not yet filled and the last day for refunds is February 19th.

• The Girls on the Run 5K celebration is April 25th.

• The last week of practice will be the week of April 27th.

Join the Green Team on Tuesday, November 18 as we welcome composer and percussionist Chris Childs, who makes musical shakers that incorporate recycled plastic bottle caps. Chris will talk to us about how he makes his instruments and how they are used in musical performances. This event is open to all Talley families. Entry fee: As many plastic bottle caps you can collect between now and our event date!

Send your clean, empty packaging to Green Team for special recycling programs organized through TerraCycle. (In the case of Swiffer pads, send your used refills.) Your items stay out of the garbage stream, and Green Team earns TerraCycle points that turn into dollars to help fund our school efforts. Items should be directed to Mrs. Roberts. Learn more here.

A big shout out to fourth grade student Kihei Spurlock-Welsh for leading a presentation about Talley's recycling efforts and why reducing waste is important to fellow students attending the Whiz Kids after-school program.

Interested in being part of the Talley Green Team? Students and parents are invited to join us. Complete our registration form.

Read the November 6, 2025, issue of CSD Weekly, the district-wide newsletter.

On October 30, Education Planners sent an update about the K-2 School Consolidation and Redistricting Process to the community. The letter is copied below:

"Based on the input received, Education Planners recommends that the City Schools of Decatur proceed with a community-based process to explore additional solutions before the Board of Education makes a final decision. This updated approach will be presented to the school board at the November 11 meeting.

Our recommendation is that four committees guide this next phase:

• Facilities & Finance – enrollment, costs, and capital planning
• Student Experience – instructional programs, transitions, and early-learning access
• Safety & Operations – traffic, walkability, and daily operations
• Culture & Communication – transparency and ongoing engagement

Community members are invited to participate in one of the committees by clicking this link: K-2 School Consolidation Committee Sign Up."

Upcoming Board Meeting and Public Hearing:

• The next Board of Education Meeting is Tuesday, November 11, at the Wilson Center. Here is the BOE meeting schedule: Pre-work Session: 2:40-3:05 p.m., Work Session: 3:05-4:40 p.m.,
• Regular Meeting: 4:50-6:30 p.m., and Public Comment: 6:30 p.m.
• The next public hearing will be Thursday, November 13, 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Beacon Hill Middle School Cafeteria. The community is invited to provide input and offer considerations to Education Planners regarding a potential school consolidation.

Please continue to visit the City Schools of Decatur website at csdecatur.net for the latest information.

• Come join us for Walk & Roll tomorrow, Friday, November 7th! We're still looking for volunteers to help run the new Marble Table for Bus Riders! More details and sign-ups here.
• Crossing Guard Appreciation Week is next week, November 10th-14th! We’re collecting funds to give each of the 20+ crossing guards a Kroger Gift Card from the Talley community. To contribute, please Venmo Mallory Donaldson (@Mallory-Donaldson) by Monday, November 10th. We also encourage students to make thank you cards and give them to their Crossing Guards that week. Thank you for helping us celebrate the people who keep our students safe every day! Questions? Contact Mallory at srts@talleypto.org.
• You Lost It? We Found It! Please label all student items that could be left behind! Did you know that Talley has an extensive Lost and Found collection? Labeled items will be returned to students’ homeroom classes. Unlabeled items are stored in the Lost and Found at the hallway cafeteria door (racks will be rolled outside every Thursday at dismissal!) Unclaimed items will be donated on the last Tuesday of every month. Please encourage students to check the Lost and Found as soon as an item is identified as missing!
• Join the Talley Street Bike Bus! We bike to Talley every Friday morning! More details at: https://atlantabikebus.com/schools/talley. We’re 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.
• Talley ‘25-’26 yearbooks are on pre-sale! They are $23 through 12/31/25 (when they will increase to $28). Order at bit.ly/talleyyearbook25. Please consider donating a yearbook. If you need financial assistance, a discount code is available; contact Ms. Weaver (kiweaver@csdecatur.net), Talley school counselor. For other questions, contact yearbook@talleypto.org.

The DHS Boys' soccer team is hosting a fundraising camp! It will be from November 24-26. Register and get more information using the link below!

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/.