College Heights Connection

Dear Families,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break and enjoyed time with your loved ones. A huge thank you to all the parents who contributed to our staff dessert bar. The staff were overjoyed by the delicious sweet treats. It was a great way to jump into our Thanksgiving break. December is a busy month at College Heights. We look forward to seeing you for parent/teacher conferences. As a gentle reminder, please be sure to send your child to school dressed for the cold temperatures, and please make sure to label all clothing items with your child's name.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Principal Garland

December 1-12 - Parent Conference Window

December 19 - Early Release Day (Pre-K)

December 22-January 5 - Semester Break (Pre-K)

December 24-January 2 - Winter Break (0-3)

January 5 - School resumes for 0-3

January 6 - School resumes for Pre-K

January 19 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (school closed)

January 28 - Early Release Day (Pre-K)

February 16-20 - Winter Break (Pre-K)

Registration for the 2026-2027 school year has begun. Packets will include a cover letter that will walk you through the documents and fees required for enrollment.

Current 0-2 families:

Teachers will send home registration packets in January. Please note: current residency must be submitted to secure your spot. If you have updated immunizations please submit the GA 3231 form with your packet.

Current Preschool/Rising Pre-K families:

Teachers will send home registration packets this week. Please note parents must submit all required documents. Bright from the Start will not allow us to use documents currently on file. Therefore, all documents must be resubmitted. All enrollment documents and fees must be submitted by January 30 at 3:00 p.m.

Current Pre-K/Rising Kindergarten families:

Your Pre-K student will be automatically enrolled in your neighborhood school for Kindergarten. There is nothing families need to do at this time. We encourage you to reach out to your home school if you will need aftercare services for your student to find out about the enrollment process.

Thanks to a recent grant from the Decatur Education Foundation, College Heights is now recycling plastic film and multi-layer plastic in our cafeteria. Classes will take turns emptying tabletop recycling baskets into our large recycling bin, which will be collected every two weeks. See this video for more details, and many thanks to DEF for helping our students learn the value of recycling and caring for our earth.

Our school's interior is scheduled for a complete repaint over the holiday break. To prepare for this exciting and much-needed refresh, staff will begin taking down all items from the classroom and hallway walls starting this week.

Families, please click the image below to access the conference signup Google doc. You will need to click your teacher's individual link to sign up for a conference. Links to conference agendas are also below.

Pre-K superstars Danielle Ballard and April O'Callaghan and their students just showed off their skills at Pre-K Community Circle in November with an adorable song on community helpers. Let's get to know this dynamic duo a little better.

Ms. Ballard hails from South Holland, Illinois, and is in her second year as lead Pre-K teacher here at College Heights. In her spare time, she likes to cook, go for walks, and do yoga, and she loves spending time with her family and her dog Louie. She is a travel buff; Ecuador is her favorite travel destination so far!

Ms. April is from Georgia, the Winterville countryside specifically, and when she's not at school, she loves hiking and kayaking. Need some advice on where to go for weekend family fun? Ask April! She has visited every state park in Georgia at least once.

Stop by room 138 and say hello to these great teachers!

Pre-K students will check out books for the first time this week. For the next few weeks, these books will remain in the classroom, and then after Winter Break in February, students will bring books home. Some classes came on Monday before the water main break sent us all home; the rest of the classes will make up their library time on Friday. This week's read-aloud is The Scarecrow by Beth Ferry, illustrated by the Fan Brothers. Students loved this simple but impactful story about an unexpected friendship.

Preschool students learned that chickens are related to dinosaurs. Yes, really! Minds were blown during our reading of the new book Lena the Chicken (But Really a Dinosaur) by Linda Bailey, illustrated by K-Fai Steele. Younger students enjoyed a cool bossa nova version of the song/book Rain, Rain, Go Away, retold by Steven Anderson, illustrated by Misa Saburi, which seemed appropriate on a cold rainy Tuesday.

Other books we read this week:

Toy Boat by Randall de Sève, illustrated by Loren Long

Do I Have to Wear a Coat? by Rachel Isadora

Dog on a Frog? by Kes & Claire Gray, illustrated by Jim Field

Melle Houston, our photographer, wishes to thank all the families who ordered pictures this year. Though the window for print orders has ended, families can still purchase image files to download for personal use. There is no cutoff date for digital images. Reach out directly to Melle at hello@mellehouston.com.

Ms. Tori's class collaborated to create this adorable dog artwork.

Grace's adorable sweatshirt reads, "Readers Make Leaders." We couldn't agree more!

Ms. Ballard's Pre-K class enjoyed their trip to the Alliance Theatre yesterday morning.

Read the December 4, 2025, issue of CSD Weekly, the district-wide newsletter.

Clairemont Elementary’s Decatur Holiday Marketplace + Café is just around the corner!

Friday, December 12 & Saturday, December 13

Come shop local, discover unique handmade gifts, and enjoy delicious treats at our cozy café.
It’s the perfect way to support local artists and soak up the festive spirit with neighbors and friends.
A beloved community tradition awaits! We can’t wait to see you there!

All recent issues of the College Heights Connection are available here.

Older issues of CSD Weekly may be found on CSD's district newsletter webpage.

College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center cultivates an atmosphere where children take their first steps in building an authentic love of learning through developmentally appropriate practices in an environment that fosters family and community involvement.