The Champion Chatt
September 2025
Champion Families,
The month of August passed in a blink as students and staff were busy building communities within their classrooms and learning and practicing being a Respectful, Responsible, Problem-Solving Champion. The PBIS color teams are well on their way to earning tokens and students are earning many PBIS rewards as they model these attributes each week. We are all looking forward to our first Color Games on Friday, September 19th.
The month of September is foundational in the life of our school. Students have completed all Universal Screening (i-Ready) assessments and teachers have determined instructional strategies to best meet the needs of students where they are currently. Our dedicated intervention time, WIN (What I Need) is one of the intentional times within our master schedule in which we address instructional growth opportunities. During WIN time each day, students work to fill skills gaps and teachers enrich learning through direct instruction. WIN time is a critical foundation for personalized student learning each day.
As a staff, we have set our schoolwide improvement goals for the 25-26 school year based on our Title 1 Comprehensive Needs Assessment as well as 2025 Georgia Milestones data and 2025 Spring i-Ready data. These goals include:
Chattahoochee will improve student achievement in ELA/reading as measured by the Georgia Milestones Assessment in grades 3rd - 5th . The percentage of 3rd-5th students scoring Proficient or Distinguished on the ELA GMA will increase from 40% in 2025 to 44% in 2026.
Chattahoochee will improve student achievement in mathematics as measured by the Georgia Milestones Assessment in grades 3rd - 5th. The percentage of 3rd-5th students scoring Proficient or Distinguished on the Math GMA will increase from 54% in 2025 to 58% in 2026.
Chattahoochee will improve student achievement in science as measured by the Georgia Milestones Assessment in grade 5. The percentage of 5th grade students scoring Proficient or Distinguished on the Science GMA will increase from 40% in 2025 to 45% in 2026.
We are so excited to welcome lunch visitors and classroom volunteers to the building. All visitors must check-in at the front and must have a valid picture ID in order to enter the building. After checking in at the front desk, lunch visitors will wait in the hallway outside the cafeteria for their students and will find a seat at the designated visitor tables located in front of the cafeteria and near the entrance to the media center. As a reminder, families may eat lunch with their children only. Visitors will exit through the front lobby at the end of the lunch period, and students will return to their classroom with their teacher and classmates.
A big shoutout of thanks to the PTO for holding our recent Chattahoochee volunteer training on September 4th. Any parents/guardians interested in joining the corps of volunteers, please reach out to Jennifer Johnson (PTO volunteer liaison) ceschampspto@gmail.com or Kim Sarfaty (Family Engagement Coordinator) ksarfaty@forsyth.k12.ga.us.
Events still to come… We are looking forward to welcoming our Chattahoochee parents for our Title 1 Annual Meeting (September 11) - free pizza for all who attend. Our first on-campus meeting of the Chattahoochee Local School Council (September 18) will focus on School Safety. All Champions are anxiously anticipating a relaxing Fall Break at the end of the month (September 22 through September 26).
With appreciation for our amazing Champion community,
Jill Short
ESPLOST Vote – November 4, 2025
Forsyth County voters will decide on the renewal of ESPLOST VII this November—a one-penny sales tax that funds school improvements like new buildings, safety upgrades, technology, and transportation. This is not a new tax, and a large portion is paid by non-residents who shop in the county.
To learn more about how ESPLOST supports our schools and what’s planned for the future, please visit the Forsyth County Schools ESPLOST website.
Digital Citizenship Spotlight: Cyberbullying Awareness
This month, students are learning how to stay safe and kind online by talking about cyberbullying—when someone is mean on purpose and repeatedly through phones, tablets, or computers.
They will learn about four roles people can play:
- Cyberbully – the one being mean
- Target – the person being bullied
- Bystander – someone who sees it but does nothing
- Upstander – someone who speaks up and tells an adult
Students will practice being Upstanders and will learn four steps to take if they’re ever bullied online:
- Stop – Don’t respond
- Show – Tell a trusted adult
- Block – Block the bully
- Share – Talk to someone for support
We invite you to continue the conversation at home by asking your child:
- What does cyberbullying look like?
- What would you do if you saw someone being bullied online?
- How can we work together to be kind and safe online?
Together, we can help our children build strong digital habits and make positive choices in their online lives.
Free Qustodio App for FCS Families - Chromebook Monitoring
As part of our commitment to online safety, Forsyth County Schools is providing families with free access to Qustodio, a leading parental technology monitoring app.
Qustodio will allow you to do the following outside of school hours:
Monitor your child's FCS-issued Chromebook
Monitor one additional personal device
Set screen time limits and filter content outside of school hours
Receive alerts and insights about your child's online activity
In August, Qustodio sent an email to parents with instructions to activate your account using the email address on file in Infinite Campus. Create your free account by visiting http://qustodio.com/my-school.
Please note that setup and support are managed directly by Qustodio, not Forsyth County Schools.
Please contact Qustodio at myschool@qustodio.com if you have any questions.
Absence Reminders
If your student is marked absent and you use our school QR code attendance form to indicate a medical excuse, please remember that the actual medical documentation must be submitted to the front office.
You may send the medical excuse in one of the following ways:
- Email it directly to the front office (chattattendance@forsyth.k12.ga.us), or
- Send it through your student’s teacher
This helps us ensure that all absences are properly documented and excused. Thank you for your attention to this matter and for helping us maintain accurate attendance records.
Chattahoochee Spirit Rock
The Chattahoochee Spirit Rock is ready to roll for the 2025-2026 school year! 😄 Families may sign-up for an opportunity to paint our rock, sharing birthday, congratulatory, and inspiring messages for their special Champion. Here is the sign up to reserve your day to paint the rock with your special message or picture: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E45A4A829AAF85-50987870-wearethe#/
Families will provide their own paint, and reservation will be complete once you pay $20 through this School Pay link: https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/CHATTAHOOCHEE--CHAMPION-ROCK-PAINTING-20/SyicRC
If you have any questions, please reach out to Kim Sarfaty - ksarfaty@forsyth.k12.ga.us.
We enjoyed seeing our families at Curriculum Night! Thank you for joining us for a meaningful evening together. We value our partnership, and we look forward to a wonderful year.
As we reflect on Curriculum Night, we would love your feedback. Please take a few moments to complete this survey, https://forms.gle/38KMkpU6nLUBQrqQ9 so we can best meet the needs of our students and families. Thank you!
It has been so exciting to see our Champions returning the Curriculum Night one-pager slip of engaging activities that families are enjoying together! Just 10-15 minutes of time spent learning together at home can make a big difference! We will be collecting these slips through the month of September. Your child can return their slip to his/her teacher for a treat that will be coming soon! Thank you for all of your support, families!
Watch D.O.G.S.
Come join us Thursday, September 11th from 5:30pm-6:00pm for our Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) meeting at Chattahoochee! Dad’s, uncle’s, grandpa’s, male role models join us to hear important information about this wonderful program and how to serve throughout our school! We would love for you to stay and join us at 6:00pm for our Annual Title I Meeting afterwards for pizza and a presentation about our school! We love having our male role models involved! We are so excited to see you!
Please use this link: https://volunteer.forsythpartnerconnect.org/need/detail/?need_id=1126763 to sign up as a Watchdog!
If you have any questions, please contact Kim Sarfaty at ksarfaty@forsyth.k12.ga.us or at 770-781-2240 ext.152103, and she will help.
About Us
Vision
Every Child is a Champion.
Mission
Champions are Respectful, Responsible, Problem Solvers.
Email: ksarfaty@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Website: chattahoochee.forsyth.k12.ga.us
Location: 2800 Holtzclaw Road, Cumming, GA, USA
Phone: 770-781-2240
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChattahoocheeES/