The Principal's Desk At Sycamore

September 23, 2022

Principal's Message

Another great month of teaching and learning has come and gone at Sycamore ES. I am so proud of our students for their behavior and following our school expectations. Our staff is prioritizing building relationships with our students. Sycamore is a school that cares for every child and their wellbeing.

In academic news, we have finalized our Local School Plan for Improvement, aligning our local school goals for the year to our county Blueprint for the Future. This plan will be shared very soon with the community. We continue to work together as a collective unit to ensure each and every student succeeds at Sycamore Elementary.

Finally, we look forward to seeing your at our PTA sponsored Fall Festival in October. Look for details to be shared soon. Thank you for all those families that supported our PTA with our fall fundraiser. We are hopeful for your continued support as we march into fall for another great month of teaching and learning at our amazing school.

Warmly,

Dr. Scarborough

School Safety Drills

The safety of your child and all children in our schools as well as the safety of the school staff and support personnel is very important to us. To maintain a safe environment for our children to study and learn, it is necessary that we practice our emergency and crisis response plans by having drills designed to exercise our procedures.

We will be conducting various drills throughout the remainder of the school year, and each subsequent school year. This information is to help you understand the importance of this as well as to understand each type of drill.

The students and staff of your school will be practicing 3 primary emergency drills each year. They are “FIRE DRILLS”; “LOCKDOWN DRILLS”; and “SHELTER-IN-PLACE DRILLS”. Each type of drill is explained below.

Sycamore Elementary will have a Lockdown Drill on Tuesday, September 27th at 9:00 AM.

FIRE DRILLS
The school will conduct a “fire drill” each month that school is in session. We want each student to understand and be aware of the importance of this drill and not be afraid when the fire alarm is sounded. By practicing they will know what to do and how to do it.

LOCKDOWN DRILLS
The school will conduct a “Lockdown Drill” periodically throughout each school year. This type of drill will secure the school building and safely shelter all students, staff, and visitors inside the building. The purpose of this drill is to keep the students safe from any danger outside or inside the building. During a “lockdown drill,” all the perimeter doors to the school building will be locked and will remain locked until the danger or issue outside or inside the building is removed. To enable everyone to remain safe, no one will be allowed to enter the building or leave the building until the drill is completed.

SHELTER-IN-PLACE DRILLS
The “Shelter-in-Place” drill will be conducted each school year. The purpose of this drill is to be prepared to move to a safe location within the building in case of severe weather or tornados.

Please remember that these safety practice drills are done to help maintain our schools as safe place to learn and work.

If you have any questions regarding any of these Safety Drills or other safety concerns, please contact our school office.

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Important Dates

9/19-9/23 College Week
9/29 Lanier College Career Night (Lanier High School), 5:30-7:30
10/6-10/10 Fall Break
10/14 Fall Festival
10/24 Picture Make-Up Day
10/24-10/28 Red Ribbon Week
11/08- Digital Learning Day

COVID-19 Surveillance Testing

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) is continuing its efforts to keep everyone in our schools and students and staff safe by making COVID-19 Surveillance Testing available to students and staff. In January of 2022, the district began piloting g in the Norcross Cluster. GCPS has since then expanded the program, offering this testing opportunity to students and staff in the Archer, Berkmar, Collins Hill, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson, Lanier, Norcross, and South Gwinnett clusters.

The GCPS COVID surveillance testing program is currently only available to students and staff members in the Archer, Berkmar, Collins Hill, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson, Lanier, Norcross, and South Gwinnett clusters. If you are a current student or employee in one of these clusters and are interested in participating in this pilot, click the link below.

If you signed up for the program last year, you would not need to complete the sign-up again.

Surveillance testing involves regular testing for the presence of COVID-19 in individuals in the school setting who do not have symptoms. Surveillance testing will allow GCPS to test, receive test results (within 24 hours), and notify individuals of a clinically significant reading. By participating, students and staff members can help to minimize the spread of the virus within our schools, which benefits us all.

Although participation in surveillance testing is not required for students or staff members, it is strongly encouraged. Participation will contribute to the success of this mitigation strategy and our schools’ ability to limit the spread of COVID and keep students learning in person.

Learn more about COVID testing by reviewing our frequently asked questions, located on the right side of this web page.

Link to sign up a student(s): Student Sign Up

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Changemaker Fundraiser

On September 26th, Sycamore will kick off its Changemaker fundraiser! Students will learn about this program on Monday during school and then teachers will email families with the directions to participate. If you want to learn more about this fundraiser, click the link below to watch the video:

Changemaker Parent FAQ Video

Thank you for partnering and supporting our school!

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Social Media

Please check out Sycamore's Facebook and Instagram pages. Updates on school activities and school information is shared weekly. Make sure to hit the "like" and "follow" button.

PTA

The PTA is still accepting memberships. Please scan the QR code below for additional information.

Please email any questions to sycamoreptagwinnett@gmail.com .

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Lanier Education Foundation

The Lanier Education Foundation is the primary nonprofit organization made up of parent volunteers, cluster principals, PTA/PTO/PTSA representatives, city officials and business representatives that provides monetary support for all five schools

We are in the process of recruiting for board members for the 2022-23 school year. Your voice is the only commitment needed to bridge the gap, help unify and raise funds for the five schools in the Lanier cluster.

***We ONLY have one meeting, "via zoom" per month that is "1 hour MAX", and we ONLY plan one event per school year.***

Please send an email to lefpresident@gmail.com if you would be interested in hearing more.

Lanier Education Foundation

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Parent Center

Parents,

Please contact the parent center at (678) 745-2008 or (678) 765- 4861. We are here to help you with Parent Portal, MyPaymentsplus, Free and Reduced meal applications, parent resources to use at home, teacher communications, and volunteering opportunities.

We also have adult English classes every Wednesday from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.

Thank you,

Ms. Mantilla and Ms. Castro

Lanier High School Football

GCPS Is Hiring!

We Welcome New Business Partners

Are you interested in partnering with our school as a business partner? Please let us know your interest so that we can support your business as you partner with our school. Call us at 678-714-5770. Thank you!