Monthly Update #10

Email: tosha.wright@dcssga.org
Website: fses.dcssga.org
Location: 2375 Mount Vernon Road, Lithia Springs, GA, USA
Phone: 770.651.3900
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Factoryshoalselementaryschool

• Friday, May 3rd: ALL LIBRARY BOOKS/MATERIALS DUE

• Monday, May 6th-Thursday, May 9th: BOGO Book Fair
• Monday, May 6th: Field Day for 4th & 5th Grades
• Tuesday, May 7th: Field Day for 2nd & 3rd Grades
• Wednesday, May 8th: Field Day for Kindergarten & 1st Grade
• Wednesday, May 8th - Friday, May 10th: Fifth Grade Field Savannah Trip
• Thursday, May 9th - 5th to 6th Middle School Orientation at respective middle school - 5:30 PM

• Tuesday, May 14th: Moving Up Night/Chorus Performance @ 5:30 PM
• Wednesday, May 15th: Elementary Math Competition @ Chapel Hill Elementary @ 3:45 PM
• Friday, May 17th: Last Day of ASP and Dolphin Club

• Monday, May 20th: Last Full Day of School
• Tuesday, May 21st: Half Day- Dismissal at 11:00 AM
• Wednesday, May 22nd: Half Day- Dismissal at 11:00 AM - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

Yearbooks are on sale in-person (first come first serve; while supplies last) CASH ONLY $40. See our Media Specialist, Mrs. Jiles for more information.

Week of May 6, 2024 | School Pride: Proper delight or satisfaction in your school’s achievement and status

Week of May 13, 2024 | Accomplishment: Appreciation for attaining one’s goals, or something that has been achieved successfully

Week of May 20, 2024 | Honorable: Upholds the principles of honor

We need Book Fair Volunteers! If you have any time to spare, please sign up via the link here ---> Book Fair Volunteer Sign Up link: https://forms.gle/s3pXByBMPvm36mr29

Our students will be taking part in field day activities next week! Here are a few reminders about the event:

• Students must have good behavior to participate. Your child's teacher will notify you by next week if he/she hasn't earned the opportunity to attend field day.
• Parents are welcome to attend field day. You will need to communicate with your child's teacher before you attend. Parents must sign in (using a state issued ID) before reporting to the field.
• We encourage you to make sure your child has everything he/she needs before being dropped off at school. All students will need to bring a change of clothes (including underwear, socks, deodorant and shoes).
• Students should bring a water bottle with his/her name on it for the day. Students may bring snacks and drinks for themselves or the class.
• Students can wear bathing suits UNDERNEATH shorts and t-shirts.
• Swim shoes are suggested (students will be on the concrete).
• Do not forget sunscreen!

In addition to snacks being sold, we will also have Kona Ice for sale during each field day after lunch.

Tickets for our Fifth Grade Ceremony will go home on Monday, May 13th.

You may check your child out after their award ceremonies with their teacher.

We are committed to ensuring that our students continue to learn and grow during the summer months. On Thursday, May 17th (K & 5th grade) and Friday, May 17th (1st-4th grades), your child will be sent home with a Summer Learning Backpack. The bag contains summer bridge activities in all subjects, math flashcards and reading books. There is also a parent guide on how you can enrich your child's learning during the summer months. Our school made tremendous growth this past year, and we want to continue to 'Level Up'!

If your child is currently enrolled using a multi-family form, you should have a received a letter in the mail on how to update for the upcoming school year. Douglas County School System policy states that multi-family forms are valid for a period of one year. Your child’s multi-family form will expire on May 22, 2024.

New documents may be submitted to the school’s office beginning July 15, 2024. If new documents are not received by July 22, 2024, your child will NOT be placed on a class list or scheduled for classes for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Douglas County School System reserves the right to verify residency and the authenticity of utility bills at any time. False swearing of the multi-family form and any other enrollment documents is a violation of Georgia law and is punishable by a fine or by imprisonment.

If you have any questions, please contact our school registrar, Mrs. Denise Hoyos at 770.651.3901.

The Douglas County Public Libraries will be hosting free clinics on the following dates:

Douglas County Public Library: June 10th

Lithia Springs Public Library: June 6th and June 17th

Dog River Public Library: June 11th

To register, https://bit.ly/DouglasCountyLibrary

Vision To Learn provides vision screenings, eye exams, and prescription glasses to students – free of charge for the children and their families.

Vision To Learn was founded in 2012 with one mobile clinic visiting California schools.

VTL, which operates primarily as a schools-based program, expanded to Georgia in 2017 at large metro Atlanta school system. VTL added summertime public library clinics starting in 2018 in Cobb County, and has added Douglas County this summer! Demand for Vision To Learn appointments at libraries is typically high and it’s common for the clinics to be filled.

“Vision To Learn’s mission is to provide children with the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life,” said Vision To Learn founder Austin Beutner. “Libraries are an ideal place to help reach children and their families.”

Vision To Learn is a national non-profit of eyecare professionals and supporters calling for communities to act to close the “glasses gap” of children in need to support literacy, grade-level reading and wellness.

Just as communities make sure students have food and school supplies, everywhere in the country should strive to ensure all have the glasses they need, Vision To Learn officials say.

Congratulations to our 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year, Ms. Shontal Greer!! Her dedication, passion, and commitment to her students is truly remarkable. From creating engaging lessons to providing support, she goes above and beyond every day.

Several of her colleagues state that Ms. Greer represents Factory Shoals Elementary in the true spirit of “all-in”. She is always striving to do better or do more for her students. She is committed to teamwork within her grade level and from a school perspective. The relationships Ms. Greer has with her students, the high expectations of students she sets each day, along with the support and mentoring of teachers, and her intentional instructional focus are areas that make her stand out as a “stand out” teacher.

Congratulations to our 2024-2025 Staff Member of the Year, Mrs. Fabie Holloway! Mrs. Holloway is often the first face you see when you enter the Factory and she greets our families, teachers, staff, and visitors with a warm smile.

Her colleagues state that Mrs. Holloway is inspiring in all that she does. She remains calm in a storm and reassures everyone she interacts with. She encourages the parents, students, and teachers. Mrs. Holloway is a strong asset in her role here at FSES and we are incredibly fortunate to have her as our "front line/sergeant at arms." Mrs. Holloway is dedicated and hardworking. She is extremely organized and focused on maintaining a professional demeanor and environment.

Please complete this FORM if you are interested in joining our PTA. We hope to hold a PTA Meeting in May so we can start the 2024-2025 School Year with an active PTA Board. The date will be sent out soon.

As instruction and student safety are our top priorities, we hope to limit the reduction of instructional time disruptions and the decrease in office chaos in the afternoons. When students are consistently checked out of school early, they are missing valuable instructional time with their teachers. We respectfully ask that all families refrain from office check-outs after 1:45 PM each day. In addition, we can no longer pull children off the bus once we have began our dismissal process as this becomes a safety issue for students. Of course we understand that emergencies happen but we do ask that you work with us as we ensure all students get home safely in the afternoon.

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.

Here you will find the FSES Student & Family Handbook.

Here you will find the DCSS Elementary Student Handbook.

All afternoon dismissal and transportation changes must be made in writing; we cannot accept changes made by a child or over the phone. Please send notes in with students in the morning. If you need to send an email, those need to be made prior to 1:00 PM to our transportation team. The transportation team email is fses-transportation-dcss@dcssga.org.

Do you want to shout out a teacher or staff member for the amazing job they're doing?! Well, now you can! Use this form to recognize a teacher or staff member. All recognitions will be shared with the appropriate staff member and may also be posted on our Facebook page. Please submit one form per teacher.

Complete the FORM here.

Here are the district approved calendars for the next two years. [2024-2025 and 2025-2026].

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.

GoGuardian is a Chromebook monitoring and teacher facilitator application that helps students learn safely, stay focused, and get engaged. Administrators and teachers can see everything your child does on their school issued device and when they are logged into their DCSS portal. Administrators get alerts when students search inappropriate or explicit content on their device. Students will lose device privileges if their account is flagged for inappropriate content.

Parents are required to complete a Free and Reduced Meal Application in order to qualify for free or reduced meals. Meals will no longer be free. Parents will be required to send money for breakfast and lunch until the free/reduced meal application is approved. You can use schoolcafe.com to load money to your child's account or send cash for meals.

If your child has a negative lunch balance, they will not be accepted into any FSES extracurricular activities until that balance is cleared.

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 data.

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.

There are some days that your child's bus may be late due to busses being combined or a substitute bus driver driving a new route. If you would like to know if your child's bus will be late, you may locate that information here. Our school is abbreviated as FSES. This information is updated each morning and each afternoon.

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. Additional tags are $2.

• 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 2:35 PM. After 2:35 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 2023-2024 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.

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.

Thank you for helping us to make Factory Shoals an amazing place where students value their education!

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.

Mr. Hector Cotte is our Bilingual Family Liaison. He speaks Spanish and is here to help parents improve their understanding of the school and the school system, while maximizing their involvement in school activities and helping to minimize any linguistic barriers. You can reach Mr. Cotte at hector.cotte@dcssga.org or 770.651.3937.

Ms. Lizzy Kilgore is our District Bilingual Liaison. Please contact her if you need help with translating or interpreting.

Phone: 770.651.2223

Email: lizzy.kilgore@dcssga.org