Chestatee Families,

As we near the end of the first semester, I am reminded of how proud I am of our students and how thankful I am for our families and your support. We have accomplished a lot together!

This morning, 4th and 5th grade students competed in our school Spelling Bee. They battled their nerves and showcased their skills in front of an audience of families and classmates. That is a difficult thing to do, and we are very proud of them. Congratulations to Luke and Gabe. Luke will represent Chestatee at the district Spelling Bee!

December is a busy month, filled with lots of fun activities. I hope you will take some time to enjoy the little moments. We look forward to seeing many of you as you visit the school building.

Mark your calendars for some exciting events happening over the next few weeks:

12/7- Penguin Patch Gift Shop

12/10- High Flyer Ceremony

12/13-12/19- Winter Parties

12/17- Chorus/Orchestra Concert
12/20- Early Release for Students, 11:50 am

12/23-1/3- Winter Break

Our “Big Winter Raffle” will take place the last week before the Winter Break. We look forward to celebrating our students showing the Chestatee Way of being Respectful, Responsible, Problem Solvers! Sharing expectations with students while keeping our environment positive is important. A safe and connected environment allows our students to thrive.

I hope you all have a wonderful winter break and holiday season!

Jennifer Williams

Principal

If you think you might be coming, go ahead and preregister for the party. If you are in the system, we will preprint you a badge and save you time. We are asking that families preregister by December 11th to give us time for printing. We are expecting a big crowd for each day!

• Please remember to send in your child’s excuse within 5 days.
• Families can send up to 10 notes from home for absences before doctor notes are required.
• On email excuses to the teacher, it’s easy to add Ms. Stacey (Sholbrook@forsyth.k12.ga.us) to make sure she gets the excuse.
• Any time you go to see the doctor, please ask for a school excuse. If you forget, contact the doctor and ask them to email or fax the excuse. Fax: 770-781-2281.
• Georgia law requires the school to send attendance letters after 5 or more unexcused absences.
• If your child is checking out from the clinic, the absence is excused.
• When you check your child in/ out on Checkmate, the absence will be unexcused. Please provide a medical excuse if you'd like the absence excused.

Our Spelling Bee took place on Friday, 12/6. Each fourth and fifth grade class sent a representative. Congratulations to Luke and Gabe. Luke will represent Chestatee at the District Spelling Bee. Thank you to our judges: Melanie Roper, Julie Hubbard, and Ashika from Jeremiah's Ice!

Students can be "written up" for showing the Chestatee Way! Ms. Williams calls each student to the office to get a prize and picture. She loves seeing these role models in her office.

Each month, we have a ceremony to recognize students in each classroom for showing the Chestatee Way. Families are invited for these special events. We love when students are responsible, respectful, problem solvers.

We are proud to announce Meredith Sellers as our Staff Member of the Month!

Mrs. Sellers is a kindergarten teacher at Chestatee. This is her tenth year teaching and third year at the T. Mrs. Sellers received her Bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University and her Master’s degree from Kennesaw State. She also received her Specialist degree from Piedmont University. Mrs. Sellers has taught grades K-3 and 2nd grade ESOL.

Meredith has received several nominations for Staff Member of the Month. Her latest nomination stated that she makes learning fun for students. Another one stated that she has stepped up as an academic leader for her grade level teammates. Meredith has a commitment to growing and learning as a teacher. She also works hard to reach all of her students. Her positivity inspires our staff.

Meredith is a newlywed and married Trey last year. Meredith is an avid animal lover. She loves horses and actually rides them! She also loves adopting dogs. In her free time, Meredith enjoys travelling and has a big trip planned at Thanksgiving.

We are very grateful that Meredith works at the T. Congratulations to her on this great honor. A big thank you to our Chestatee Elementary PTO and Mathnasium of Coal Mountain for sponsoring our Chestatee Staff Member of the Month Program!

We need your input! Please let us know if there is a staff member who is making a difference for your child!

December 2- Culver's PTO Spirit Night 5:00-8:00

December 4- Enrichment Club/ Students dismiss at 4:00

December 10- Last day of CFA biscuits in car line for 2024

December 10- High Flyer Ceremony (by invite) 9-9:30

December 11- Enrichment Club/ Students dismiss at 4:00

Please pre-register for parties by December 11th.

Pre-register for parties here.

December 13- Kindergarten Party- 9:00 AM and Fifth Grade-10:45 AM

December 16- 2nd Party- 10:00 AM and 3rd Party- 12:15

December 17- 1st Party- 10:00 AM and Specialized Classes 12:00 PM

December 17- Chorus/ Orchestra Concert- 6:00 PM

December 18- 4th Party- 9:15

December 19- Assembly during Pathways

December 19- Pre-K Party-10:00 AM

December 20- Early Release- students dismissed at 11:50 AM.

December 21-January 5- Winter Break

January 6- Students return from winter break

January 14- CFA biscuits start back up in car line.

Resources from our Counseling Department.

Resources for Food Help

Food Help- Spanish

Mentoring Info

President- Kandi Wetzel

Co-Vice Presidents- Jennifer Grindle, Liana Hall, and Nicole Tierney

Secretaries- Meg Killingsworth and Christy Pittman

Treasurer- Emily Morgan

Parliamentarian- Julia Weart

Contact our PTO here!

Boosterthon Fundraiser- over $30,000

Successful School Events, Biscuit Tuesdays, Spirit Nights

Well Established Board

Volunteer and Family Involvement

Items Purchased with PTO Funds 2023-24

2 Water Bottle Fillers

New Stage Curtains

Decorated and Designed Staff “Haven”

Decorated and Designed Professional Learning Room

$4000 in Teacher Grants

Refreshed Reading Garden and Kindergarten Garden

Carline Upgrades/ Pavilion

Clinic Supplies

Supported Vertical Alignment and Family Events

Indoor Recess Games for ALL Homerooms

Staff Morale/ Teacher Appreciation

Items Purchased So Far with PTO Funds 2024-25

4th grade STEM bins for entire grade level

Over $3000 in teacher grants so far (11/24)

Bus driver appreciation

New Camera in newsroom

Refreshed Outdoor Gardens Staff Morale

Teacher Appreciation Items

Coming soon- Benches in bus lane and playground equipment

If you ask to connect your Kroger Plus card to Chestatee Elementary, they will donate a certain percentage of the profits to our school. You can find out more about how to do this if you CLICK HERE.

Publix Partners with Chestatee also. You only need to put your phone number in as you checkout. Publix will donate a certain percentage of their profits to Chestatee from your purchase!

We love our Partners in Education!

Email: chestateees@gmail.com
Website: http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/site/default.aspx?domainid=260
Location: 6945 Keith Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA, United States
Phone: 770-887-2341
Facebook: facebook.com/ChestateeES
Twitter: @chestateees