Monthly Update #2
Friday, September 5, 2025
Character Traits for September
Week of September 3, 2025 | Respect: A feeling of deep admiration for someone, regard for differences
Week of September 8, 2025 | Equality: The right and opportunity to develop one’s potential
Week of September 15, 2025 | Self-control: The willpower to control actions and emotions
Week of September 22, 2025 | Empowered: To make stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and decisions
Week of September 29, 2025 | Tolerance: Respecting the individual differences, views, and beliefs of others
Important Dates to Remember
- Friday, September 5th: Progress Reports available in Infinite Campus
- Tuesday, September 9th: Title I Parent Advisory Council Meeting @ 4PM via Google Meet (LINK)
- Monday, September 15th: International Dot Day - wear POLKA dots
- Monday, September 15th through Wednesday, October 15th: National Hispanic Heritage Month
- Monday, September 22nd through Friday, September 26th: FSES Book Fair
- Monday, September 22nd: Georgia Reads Day
- Tuesday, September 23rd: Annual Grandparents' Day Breakfast - 7:00 until 7:45 AM
- Monday, September 29th: PTA General Body Meeting @ 5:30 PM - FSES Media Center
- Tuesday, September 30th: Fall Picture Day
- Monday, October 13th through Friday, October 17th: Fall Break for Students and Teachers
Attendance Matters at Factory Shoals!
September is Attendance Awareness Month, and we want to remind our families that every minute counts.
✅ Absences: Parent-written notes can excuse up to 5 absences per semester. Beyond that, medical notes are required. Chronic absence (18 or more days) can greatly impact a child’s learning.
✅ Tardies: Arriving late means missed learning and missed opportunities to connect with friends and teachers. Tardies can also:
Interrupt the class and other children’s learning
Disrupt morning routines
Impact a child’s confidence, behavior, and school success
Cause students to miss interventions or services that often happen first thing in the morning
💡 The best way to help your child succeed is by making sure they are at school, on time, every day. Good attendance builds strong habits, supports academic growth, and helps students feel connected to our school community.
Let’s work together to build consistency and ensure that our students are ready to learn and shine each day!
Title I Parent Advisory Council Meeting
Please join us for our Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meeting on Tuesday, September 9th at 4:00 PM. The meeting will be held virtually, and all parents are welcome! This is a great opportunity to stay informed, share your input, and collaborate with school leaders on programs and initiatives that support our students.
📍 Meeting Link: meet.google.com/ozn-vyyf-gru
We look forward to your participation and ideas as we continue working together to make Factory Shoals Elementary the best it can be!
Beacon Assessments Coming Soon for Grades K–5
Students in Kindergarten through 5th grade will participate in the upcoming Beacon assessments. These assessments are designed to measure student learning in ELA and Math throughout the school year. Beacon provides teachers with real-time, standards-based data that helps identify student strengths and areas for growth. This allows us to adjust instruction, provide targeted support, and monitor progress toward our school improvement goals.
Grade-Level Testing Information:
ELA – September 9–10
Math – September 16–17
Why It Matters: Beacon results help teachers tailor instruction to meet each child’s needs, while also giving parents valuable insight into how their child is progressing. Together, we can use this information to ensure that every Dolphin is on the path to success!
Update on Hand, Foot, and Mouth
Hand, Foot and Mouth is an illness that is typically found in daycares; however, we have seen a few cases within our primary grade levels. We want parents to be informed of what symptoms look like if your child happens to complain of itchy hands, sores around/in the mouth or fever. Please discuss prevention with your child, and notify our school health monitor if your child is sick. Children with HFM should not return to school until they have been fever free for more than 24 hours.
Comprehensive Local Education Agency Improvement Plan - Input Requested
We need your input on our district’s FY26 Comprehensive Local Education Agency Improvement Plan. Please take a moment to review and complete the attached survey by September 10, 2025.
Bus Update Text Messages
The DCSS Transportation Department is now sending out text notices to advise of late bus pick ups or drop offs. If you are not receiving these notices, check your contact information in Parent Portal.
⚠️ Parent Alert: Be Aware of Roblox Content⚠️
We want to make our families aware of growing concerns with the online game Roblox. While the platform offers many mini-games and activities, it also connects children with millions of other users worldwide—both kids and adults. Recently, some students have shared concerning language and behaviors they’ve picked up from interactions within the game, including exposure to inappropriate conversations and relationship-based content. Parents are encouraged to monitor their child’s activity on Roblox, talk with them about safe online interactions, and set clear boundaries to help keep them safe.
World's Finest Chocolate Fundraiser - September 8th through October 3rd
Join us for our second annual fundraiser with World's Finest Chocolate! Students in grades K-5 will have an opportunity to sell chocolate and win prizes. Here are the details:
1) Students who wish to sell chocolate must return a signed permission slip to the front office.
2) The student's name will be added to our list, and the student will be issued one box of chocolate.
3) Each chocolate bar is $1. The cost for each box is $60 (60 bars in each box).
4) Once a child has sold his/her box, the child should return their money envelope to the front office (for verification). They can checkout another box once the previous box is paid for in FULL.
5) Chocolate sales will begin Monday, September 8th and run through Friday, October 3rd.
6) Once a child/parent takes and opens a box, they are responsible for all $60 worth of chocolates. Parents can not return unsold boxes that have been opened.
7) Proceeds will go towards celebrations for our teachers and students.
8) Students can earn prizes for each box sold!
9) If you sold candy last year and did not pay for the box in full, your child cannot participate unless you PRE-PAY for the box this year.
🎉 School Dance – Hosted by Junior Beta Club 🎉
Get ready to dance the afternoon away! The Junior Beta Club is hosting a school dance on Friday, September 12th from 4:30–6:00 PM in support of their upcoming conferences. Tickets are $5 in advance and $8 at the door. Concessions will also be available for purchase ranging from $2–$5. Come out for a fun evening with friends while supporting our hardworking Junior Beta Club members!
National Heritage Month
Every year from September 15th to October 15th, we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month by appreciating the community’s history, heritage, and contributions of the ancestors of American citizens who came from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, and South- and Central America. This month, our students will participate in a variety of activities to celebrate.
Hearing and Vision Screening - Thursday, September 11th
All 3rd and 5th grade students will have vision and hearing screenings on Thursday, September 11th. Please make sure your child is wearing his/her glasses for the screening. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Lee, our school counselor.
Visit Parent Portal to View Progress Reports Sept. 5th
Here is the link for directions on signing up for the Parent Portal for our Student Information System, Infinite Campus. We use Infinite Campus school for student's grades, attendance and other important information throughout the year.
Not signed up yet? Click here for directions on how to create your Parent Portal account:
Stay connected and information about your student's progress.
International Dot Day
On Monday, September 15th, join us as we celebrate International Dot Day—a day that inspires creativity, courage, and making your mark! We’re encouraging all of our Dolphins —students AND staff—to show your Dolphin Pride by wearing your favorite dots, spots, and polka dots.
Let’s fill our school with color and creativity as we remind each other that even the smallest mark can lead to BIG change!
2025 Grandparents' Day Breakfast
We are excited to celebrate our amazing grandparents at our Grandparents Day Breakfast! Please join us for a special morning of food, family, and fun as we honor the important role grandparents play in our students’ lives. To help us prepare, please RSVP by completing the form here: Grandparents Day Breakfast RSVP. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!
Fall Scholastic Book Fair
Our Scholastic Book Fair will be held September 22–26 in the Media Center! This is a wonderful opportunity for students to discover new books and build their love of reading. Families can send money with their child or set up a convenient eWallet for cash-free shopping. Visit our school’s fair page to get started: Factory Shoals Elementary Book Fair.
Say Cheese! Fall Picture Day is Coming!
Fall Picture Day at Factory Shoals Elementary is scheduled for Tuesday, September 30th. Be sure your Dolphin is ready with their best smile! Ordering information will be sent home soon.
Transportation Changes
Please remember all transportation changes must go through the office -- in writing. You may send in a note or send an email to fses-transportation-dcss@dcssga.org before 1:00 PM. Please help us get your child home safely!
Join the FSES PTA
We are still looking for families to join PTA.
They have exciting things happening over the next few weeks!
🍪 Snack Cart Fridays – Starting Sept 5th, snacks will be available for purchase during recess. Families who would like their child to participate may send money with them on Fridays.
💰 Penny Wars – From October 6-24, bring in your change to help your class earn points! 🎉 There will be prizes for the top 3 classrooms!
✏️ Back-to-School Supply Drive – Help us stock our classrooms and support our teachers! Drop off donations during morning car line or in the front lobby.
📅Save the date for our first General body meeting to be held on September 29, 2025 at 5:30pm.
💳 Join the PTA! Membership is just $10 and helps us fund activities and events for our students.
📧 Questions? Email us at dolphinpodpta@gmail.com
Thank you for supporting FSES PTA! 💙
Digital Citzenship
The Douglas County Schools System will use the Parent ProTech platform to teach digital citizenship lessons to all students in grades K-12. Every teacher, staff member, student, and guardian in the Douglas County School System has access to the platform. Users can sign up for an account using this unique Douglas County School System link.
Important: Senate Bill 351, “Protecting Georgia’s Children On Social Media Act of 2024”, mandates in section 2.2 that students in grades 6th - 12th receive digital citizenship and online safety instruction, and that districts certify compliance. The four required lessons indicated in the guidance for middle and high schools satisfy the requirements of this portion of the bill.
Elementary, Grades Kindergarten - 5th
The ProTech platform provides four lessons for each grade level. One lesson will be taught every nine weeks. These lessons represent the minimum requirement, but schools can include additional lessons throughout the year. The minimum amount of time required for a mini-lesson is approximately 15 minutes. Lessons contain multiple resources and activities, however, and can be expanded.
Student Medication
All medication (prescription and non-prescription) must be brought to the school by the parent or guardian.
No student will be allowed to bring medications to school or on the bus. Students may not have medication in their possession except with a physician's order for emergency situations only. There is zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol in Douglas County Schools.
Medications must be in the original container. Medications brought in Ziploc bags or other unmarked containers will not be given. Prescription medications must be in the pharmacy container labeled with the child's name, date, name of medication, name of prescribing physician, times(s) medication is to be given and name of the pharmacy filling the prescription. We request that you ask the pharmacist to give you two labeled prescription bottles so that you have one bottle at home and one at school.
Do not bring medication to school which needs to be given once daily or two/three times a day unless the physician specifically states a time during the school day for the medication to be given. If the medication can be given at home, please do so.
Parent/guardian must provide specific instructions, including the drugs and related equipment to the school. It will be the responsibility of the parent/guardian to inform the school of any changes in pertinent data.
Parent Pulse Surveys - We Value your Opinion!
As school we want to get better at improving our school culture and get a pulse on the issues that matter to you. We've signed up to a service that will send you regular, short, anonymous surveys making it quick and easy to get your voice heard.
Please click the link below to sign up https://app.satchelpulse.com/parents?country=us
Please use the school ID (code) 735095 when prompted to join the school.
Concentric Educational Solutions
We are excited to announce that Factory Shoals Elementary School has partnered with Concentric Educational Solutions, Inc. (CES) to enhance our support for students, families, and the school community. This partnership aims to strengthen the connection between home and school by providing evidence-based solutions that address academic and social needs.
Through our collaboration with CES, we will enhance existing supports and resources while identifying effective strategies to improve your child’s attendance and academic success.
One of the most exciting aspects of this partnership is the opportunity to learn about the barriers impacting our families so that we better understand and address any needs. For the remainder of the school year, at the recommendation of the School Support Team at Factory Shoals Elementary School, CES representatives will be conducting informational home visits. These visits will help us gather valuable insights from you and your child, allowing us to create an enriching learning experience focused on improving attendance, fostering appropriate social-emotional behaviors, and boosting academic achievement.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Principal Wright. We are looking forward to a productive and engaging partnership with you and your child!
Epic Books
Students love to read using Epic, a reading app that gives 24/7 access to a digital library of over 40,000+ premium books. It’s great for their daily reading and for keeping up the momentum on weekends and during school breaks. Here are the login instructions:
𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀: Open browser and
1. Go to 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀.𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗰.𝗰𝗼𝗺/𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀
2. Enter class code to log in.
𝗶𝗢𝗦 & 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱: Download & open Epic for Kids app
1. Tap on “Students”
2. Enter class code to log in.
Here is a link to the class codes for your child's homeroom teacher.
Student Check-Outs & School Attendance Policy
The Georgia Compulsory Attendance Law holds parents responsible for making sure that their children attend school. According to this attendance law, the only legal excuses for absences are
1. Personal illness
2. Death in the immediate family
3. Religious holidays
Although attendance at school is very important, students with a contagious illness or fever should be kept home. Upon returning to school after an absence, a written excuse must be given to the homeroom teacher within three days. Students who are absent miss instruction that is vital to the mastery of the standards. Students are tardy to school after the 7:40 AM bell. Students who are tardy miss valuable instruction and disrupt the class. If a student is late, a parent must escort his/her child to the office for a tardy pass before the student goes to class. Again, students who are repeatedly checked out prior to the end of the instructional day (2:10 PM) miss valuable instructional time.
2025-2026 Student & Family Handbook for FSES & DCSS
Here you will find the FSES Student & Family Handbook
Here you will find the DCSS Elementary Student Handbook
FSES Staff Shout-outs
Complete the FORM here.
Have you joined us on Remind & ClassDojo?
Our school code for Remind is: @fsesga
Join our school on Class Dojo using this link.
We will use Remind for all communication with families. We will use Class Dojo as our school-wide behavior management tool. Please be sure to sign up for both. Our staff is also available via email (first name.last name @ dcssga.org) or via phone at 770-651-3900.
Go Guardian
School Nutrition: Breakfast and Lunch
If your child has a negative lunch balance, they will not be accepted into any FSES extracurricular activities until that balance is cleared.
Infinite Campus Parent Portal
Here Comes the Bus & Bus Expectations
Here Comes the Bus is available for parents and students to download now. To sign up, visit the Apple or Android store, or visit www.herecomesthebus.com.
Students are still encouraged to arrive at their stop five to ten minutes early and to follow any additional instructions given by drivers. Please sign up for Here Comes the Bus. You can use code 79003.
As your children board the bus each morning, please help us and remind them of our bus rules. Students should stay seated in assigned seat, there is to be no eating or drinking on the bus and students should use their inside voices. Students should also keep their hands and other objects to themselves while riding the bus.
School bus transportation is a privilege afforded pupils by the Board of Education. It is not a right. To protect the safety and well-being of all involved, pupils must adhere to established bus conduct rules. Bus transportation privilege may be revoked if the pupil does not observe bus conduct expectations.
Late Bus Information
Morning & Afternoon Car Rider Procedures
Morning Arrival to FSES
Car riders may only be dropped off and picked up within the designated car rider zone.
Morning student drop-off begins at 7:00 AM in the car rider lane.
As the car approaches the drop-off location, students should unbuckle themselves, have their bookbag on, and place any materials being carried in their hands.
Please move forward until directed to stop. Once stopped, please remember to unlock doors. In the morning, we typically unload three to four cars at a time.
Students MUST wait until FSES School Staff opens the car door in order to proceed from vehicles. Students should not get out of the car by themselves. This is for the safety of all students.
If possible, all students should be loaded and unloaded through passenger side doors- Curb Side.
Do not drive around or pass cars that are still unloading. Vehicles will wait until all children have exited their vehicle before proceeding to the exit. Like school bus loading and unloading zones, violators will have license plates turned over to the DCSS Police Department.
Vehicles NOT in line when the clock turns 7:40 AM will be directed to sign the child in through the front office.
Students coming in through the front office must be escorted into the building by a parent or guardian.
Afternoon Dismissal from FSES
The afternoon car rider line begins at 1:50 PM.
Afternoon dismissal of car riders begins at 2:10 PM.
Please do not use cell phones once the car pick-up line begins to move.
The school-issued car rider tag is required for pick-up. (Even if we know who you are. You must have a car rider tag to pick up a child.) If you do not have a tag, you will be directed to the front office to get one.
A staff member is responsible for radioing your child's car rider number. Please wait until they have done so before moving on in the line.
Move all the way forward until directed to stop.
Vehicles should be placed in park.
Normally, three students are loaded into cars at a time.
Children will enter the car on the right-hand side.
Parents or Guardians should remain in the vehicle at all times.
Once the child is loaded, you may proceed to the exit.
If a child needs assistance with getting buckled in, your vehicle should move forward towards the exit. Do not assist while in the line.
Vehicles need to be in line by 2:25 PM. After 2:30 PM you will need to pick your child up from the front office.
Students waiting after the car rider line ends will be placed in the After School Program and a fee will be assessed.
If you or the person who is picking up your child in the afternoon does not have the hanging FSES 2025-2026 Car Rider Identification card, they will have to pick up the child from the front office and have their ID available for our front office staff to check. This is for the safety of your child. Thank you for your understanding.
We thank you in advance for adhering to our rules as they all help keep your students safe around moving vehicles.
FSES is a No Cell Phone Zone
We recognize that electronic devices are an important part of our everyday world and are increasingly being used in teaching and learning. However, we want to be sure that any devices at school are being used as an appropriate instructional tool, and their use does not interfere with our students’ learning environment.
Factory Shoals is proud to provide student access to Chrome Books in all of our classrooms. Students should only use electronic devices under the direct supervision of their teacher, so there is absolutely no need for students to bring their own devices from home. This includes cell phones, smart watches, iPads, and tablets. We believe that elementary school students are not equipped to deal with the responsibilities of having unsupervised access to technology, and their brains are not quite ready to handle such distractions at school.
If your child must bring a device to school in order to communicate with you after school hours, then please remind them of the following:
Electronic devices brought from home will be kept in the backpack turned off during the school day and will not ring or cause disruption to the instruction in the classroom. Please see the district policy regarding cell phones in our Family Handbook.
Thank you for helping us to make Factory Shoals an amazing place where students value their education!
Student Birthdays
We do not allow birthday parties during lunch, whole birthday cakes or any birthday treats that are not individually wrapped.
We enjoy honoring our students on their birthday. We announce the birthday child’s name on the morning announcements and allow families to bring in treats within the guidelines below.
Cupcakes/snacks must be store bought AND prepackaged/individually wrapped.
Also, you may want to think about non-food items. The items listed below will still make your child feel special and they will last a lot longer than a food item.
- A game for the classroom
- A classroom book (A nice touch would be having your child pick it out, sign it, and date it.)
- A classroom set of items for each child to keep such as pencils, pens, erasers, markers, etc.
Bilingual Liaison
Phone: 770.651.2223
Email: lizzy.kilgore@dcssga.org
