Hembree Highlights

Greetings Hembree Families!

I am proud to announce that Hembree Springs has been recognized as a 2026 Title I Distinguished School by the state! This designation means that we rank among Georgia's highest-performing Title I schools, placing in the top 5% statewide based on our combined ELA and Math performance during the 2025 school year.

This is an incredible accomplishment and a direct reflection of the hard work, dedication, and commitment of every staff member at Hembree Springs. Thank you for all that you do each day to support our students and school community.

Today is also a big day as we celebrate our 25th Anniversary this evening! Many people have worked tirelessly to make this a special event, and I hope to see you there. The celebration begins at 6:30 p.m. and concludes at 9:00 p.m. Feel free to stop by for a short time or stay for the entire evening.

On a personal note, I continue to be excited about the Dawgs' performance this season. The Oklahoma game was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to the Vanderbilt game on Saturday.

Go Dawgs!

As you may have seen in a recent district communication, Fulton County Schools will be considering attendance zone adjustments and evaluating school capacity through a redistricting, consolidation, and closure review process this fall. This process includes Geographic Region A (schools located south of the City of Atlanta) and Geographic Region C (schools located north of the Chattahoochee River). Because our school is located within one of these regions, we encourage parents and community members to stay informed, learn more about the process, and provide feedback as opportunities arise. Information about upcoming community forums can be found at www.fultonschools.org/redistricting and in the attached flyer (below).

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I look forward to celebrating with you tonight.

Warm Regards,

Nancy Lahey

For Geographic Region C, the redistricting/school closure/consolidation process will focus on elementary and middle school attendance zones as well as identifying solutions that address underused facilities, balance school capacity, and align resources with projected enrollment. The process will evaluate attendance zone adjustments and potential school consolidations and/or closures to better align enrollment with available capacity.

Parents are encouraged to stay informed and participate in upcoming community forums:

Elementary Schools

October 13, November 9 and December 14

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Roswell High School – Gym

(11595 King Road, Roswell)

Middle Schools

October 7, November 11 and December 15

6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Centennial High School – Gym

(9310 Scott Road, Roswell)

Successful, future-focused school planning involves the community and helps stakeholders understand how and why decisions are made. Fulton County Schools encourages public discussion before new attendance zone maps are developed to ensure there are meaningful opportunities to participate and provide input.

10/1 Winter Coat Collection during morning carpool

10/2 25th Anniversary Celebration + STEM Faire + Star Night @6:30-9:00pm

10/6 PreK/PSE field trip to Cagle's Farm

10/6 Title I ELL Parent Workshop @ 7:40am

10/8 Winter Coat Collection during morning carpool

10/9 Village Burger Spirit Night 4-8 pm

10/23 Trunk or Treat @ 5:00-6:30pm

10/30 Storybook Character Day (see below)

Thank you so much to our amazing dads who volunteered their time to help run carpool this morning! We are incredibly grateful for your support and willingness to serve our school community. Your help made a big difference, and we truly appreciate you!

Hembree Springs Elementary is very excited to announce that on Friday, October 30, 2026, we will be hosting a Story Book Character Day! On this day the staff and students may dress up as their favorite storybook character. We are asking that the character comes from a book that your child reads and loves (not just from a movie or cartoon.)

Please work with your child to plan a fun and simple homemade costume. We are asking that you work together to be creative with items around the house versus spending money on a store-bought costume. Your child may bring a copy of the book to class that day so that we can take part in several character study activities!

To help ensure students’ feelings of safety and security, violent or frightening costumes are not acceptable. No props, dangerous-looking items, or costume masks covering the face. See below for examples of acceptable costume choices.

Thank you for helping to make this day possible for your student(s).

Acceptable Examples:

• Fancy Nancy Characters

• Cinderella, Snow White, etc.

• The Wimpy Kid Series

• Ramona the Brave

• Nate the Great

• Harry Potter and crew

Unacceptable Examples:

• Characters from Goosebumps

• Vampires

• Ghosts

• Horror Movie Characters

• Clowns

• Characters with guns or weapons

We're ending Attendance Awareness Month with a bang! Check out the flyer below for details about our attendance drawing next week. Remember, our goal is to be present, on time, and ready to learn every day. Every day counts!

¡Estamos cerrando el Mes de Concientización sobre la Asistencia con broche de oro! Consulte el volante a continuación para obtener detalles sobre nuestro sorteo de asistencia de la próxima semana. Recuerde que nuestra meta es estar presentes, llegar a tiempo y estar listos para aprender todos los días. ¡Cada día cuenta!

Save the Date for Hembree's annual PTA Trunk or Treat Event!

Interested in supporting this event?

Sign Up to Host a Trunk Here

Sign up to Volunteer Here

Or drop off candy donations with "Fillmore the Candy Monster" in the front office, beginning on Monday, October 5th.

Be on the lookout for more information regarding this fun event over the next several weeks. We can't wait to see you there!

National School Lunch Week: Step Right Up to the Greatest Lunch on Earth!

Join Fulton County Schools as we celebrate National School Lunch Week, October 13-16, with a fun-filled circus theme, " Cafeteria Circus: Where Nutrition Takes Center Stage!" Students can look forward to exciting new menu items, special prizes, surprise activities, and guest celebrity servers throughout the week.

Featured highlights include NEW Pepperoni Bites, Churro Bites with Chicken Drumsticks, Dole Whip, and Sidewinder Fries with Texas BBQ (Turkey). Students will also have opportunities to win prizes through our Lucky Tray promotion and a Grand Prize Circus Grab Bag giveaway. On Friday, special celebrity servers, including school leaders and staff members, will help serve lunch as we wrap up the celebration.

We invite all students to join us in the cafeteria for a week of delicious meals, fun surprises, and circus-themed excitement under the big top!

3rd - 5th graders are invited to compete in the FCS Technology Competition taking place on Saturday, January 9, 2027, at North Springs High School. Interested students can select from the categories listed on the flyer and may only enter one project for the competition. Students can enter individually or with a partner.

By November 1st, please contact our school's Technology Competition Liaison Amanda Lee via the following email: leea8@fultonschools.org to sign up.

Survey Link: https://bit.ly/4zNhq85

We are collecting new and gently used children’s winter coats. Our dropbox will be available at the school Monday 9/28-Friday 10/9. We will also be doing collections during morning carpool on Thursday 10/1 and Thursday 10/8. Please help us keep our fellow Hawks warm this winter!

Estamos recolectando abrigos de invierno nuevos o usados en buen estado, en tallas infantiles. Nuestro buzón de donaciones estará disponible en la escuela del lunes 28 de septiembre al viernes 9 de octubre. También tendremos recolección durante el carpool de la mañana el jueves 1 de octubre y el jueves 8 de octubre. ¡Ayúdanos a mantener abrigados a nuestros compañeros Hawks este invierno!

📣 Reflections Deadline Extended!

Good news! Since we just returned from Fall Break, we’re giving our Hembree Springs students a little extra time to participate in the PTA Reflections Art Contest!

✨ NEW DEADLINE: Monday, October 5 ✨

Haven’t started an entry yet? There’s still time! Students have another week to get creative and submit something inspired by this year’s theme, “What My Culture Means to Me.”

Students can enter in one of six categories: Visual Arts, Photography, Literature, Film Production, Music Composition or Dance Choreography. Winners will be selected to move on to the district level who could potentially advance to the state and national level.

📥 How to Submit:
Once your entry is finished, submit the completed piece along with a parent/guardian-signed Reflections entry form. Please place entries in the orange Reflections bin located on the bench in the front lobby.

For digital Photography or video entries, you may email the entry along with a photo of the signed entry form to HembreePTA@gmail.com.

Whether your student is putting the finishing touches on an entry or just getting started, there’s still time to participate!

🏆 Awards Ceremony at Hembree: October 27 • 8:00–8:30 a.m.

🎥 What is Reflections? Watch the short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FlgjlxKQms

🎨 Category Guidelines:
https://georgiapta.org/events-programs/reflections-submissions

📝 Reflections Entry Form – Fillable PDF: Download the form, type your information directly into the fields, then print and sign before submitting.

You only need to print pages 3 and 4.

Check out all the fun creativity at the Reflections workshop’s PTA held this week!

I’m excited to invite you to be a part of our School Counseling Advisory Council!

The Advisory Council will be a small group of staff, families, and community members who are interested in helping strengthen and support our school counseling program. As educators, you have such valuable insight into our students—their strengths, needs, challenges, and successes—and your voice would be incredibly meaningful in this work.

The Advisory Council is an opportunity to share ideas, provide feedback, identify areas where our students and families may need additional support, and help shape counseling initiatives that are meaningful and responsive to our school community. This is not a group that counsels individual students. Instead, we will focus on the bigger picture and work together to help our counseling program continue to grow.

We will have two meetings during the school year—one in the Fall and one in the Spring. My hope is that these meetings will be a relaxed and collaborative space where we can listen, share ideas, and work together to support our students.

If you are interested in being part of the School Counseling Advisory Council, I would love to have you join us! No special experience is needed—just a willingness to share your perspective and a heart for supporting our students.

If you would like to participate, please complete the interest form here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/28nbLJ6Lqe?origin=lprLink

Thank you for all that you do for our students each day. I truly value your partnership and would be so grateful to have your voice at the table!

Warmly,

Ms. Tamia Adams

Dear Families,

We’re excited to invite our wonderful parent community to participate in Career Day! This is a special opportunity for our students to learn about the many different careers. If you’re interested in being a Career Day guest, please take a moment to sign up using the link/form provided. No presentation experience is necessary—we’ll provide any details and guidance you need!

Thank you for helping us make Career Day a meaningful and memorable experience for our students. We’re so grateful for the support and talents of our school community!

Here is the link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/LSSK12ejH5?origin=lprLink

The flyer is below.

Thank you,

Tamia Adams, counselor

Will your child be absent for multiple days? Did you know you may be able to request a Participate Remote Day? See the flyer below for details!

¿Su hijo(a) estará ausente durante varios días? ¿Sabía que puede solicitar un Día de Participación Remota? ¡Consulte el volante a continuación para obtener más información!

📜🏰 HEAR YE, HEAR YE! 🏰📜

By royal proclamation, all Hawks and their families are hereby summoned to the kingdom of Hembree Springs THIS FRIDAY for a celebration 25 years in the making! 👑🦅✨

🎉 25th Anniversary STEAM Faire & Star Night
📅 Friday, October 2
⏰ 6:30–9:00 p.m.

⚙️ Adventure awaits throughout the kingdom! Build and launch at the Royal Catapult Challenge, investigate owl pellets, explore robots and circuits, experiment with coding and engineering, mix up some fun at the Potions Lab, step inside the giant Earth Balloon, create your own royal crown and shield, and much more!

And that’s not all! Look for swan boats, enchanted bubbles, balloon animals, face painting, art projects, fairy hair, magical creatures, math challenges, games, prizes and plenty more surprises throughout the evening.

🍕 And did we mention FREE PIZZA? We’ll have pizza for our Hembree families to enjoy while supplies last!

🎶 Be sure to arrive at the beginning for a very special anniversary moment! At 6:45 p.m., our Hembree Springs Choir, led by music teacher Miss Slay, will perform our School Song in the cafe as we celebrate 25 years of Hembree Springs! Our TAG program students will also be showing their parents what they are working on from 7:15-8 p.m.

🕰️ Take a walk down Hembree memory lane! Stop by the Media Center to visit our special 25th Anniversary Memorabilia display and partake in some fun Lego builds.

🔭 And as night falls, we hope to open our observatory and telescopes with former Hembree science teacher Mr. Javier Tavel for Star Night and a look at the night sky! (Weather permitting.)

Come one, come all as we celebrate...

✨ From Once Upon a Time to Today, 25 Years of Magic! ✨

🏰 The kingdom awaits. We’ll see you tonight!

Already a PTA member for this year? You can still support our budget this year by donating here https://hembreespringselementary.givebacks.com/shop/items/d119b6214d8bdb

Join the Kingdom. Keep the Magic Alive.

We’re looking for parent volunteers to lead our Hembree Springs Book Club discussions in November! It takes less than 45 minutes and is a fun way to connect with students in your child's class. Sign up here.

Dates & Books

• 3rd Grade: Tues, Nov 10, 10:35–11:10 am // The Case of the Snack Snatcher
• 4th Grade: Wed, Nov 11, 10:40–11:15 am // A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Clues
• 5th Grade: Thurs, Nov 12, 11:10–11:45 am // City Spies

• Meet with about 10 students in their classroom during lunch. We’ll send discussion questions ahead of time—reading the book is optional! Afterward, collect books and you're done!

Thanks for your help -- sign up here!

¡Estamos buscando padres voluntarios para dirigir las conversaciones de nuestro Club de Lectura de Hembree Springs en noviembre! La actividad dura menos de 45 minutos y es una manera divertida de compartir un rato con los estudiantes de la clase de su hijo/a. Regístrese aquí.

Fechas y libros

• 3.er grado: martes 10 de noviembre, 10:35–11:10 a. m. // The Case of the Snack Snatcher
• 4.º grado: miércoles 11 de noviembre, 10:40–11:15 a. m. // A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Clues
• 5.º grado: jueves 12 de noviembre, 11:10–11:45 a. m. // City Spies

¿Qué puede esperar?

• Se reunirá con aproximadamente 10 estudiantes en su salón durante el almuerzo. Le enviaremos las preguntas para la conversación con anticipación; ¡leer el libro es opcional! Después, simplemente recogerá los libros y ¡listo!

¡Gracias por su ayuda! — ¡Regístrese aquí!

We’re getting closer to our 25th Anniversary goal of 250 PTA members! 🏰✨ We’re currently at 210 members — just 40 more to go!

Haven’t joined yet? Membership is only $10 per person for the school year, there’s no volunteer requirement, and parents, grandparents, teachers, staff and other Hembree supporters can all join. This also helps keep our events free for all!

✨ Want to make an even bigger impact? You can also add a donation to our 25 Years of Magic Annual Campaign when you join.

Suggested Giving Levels:
🏰 Kingdom Friend — $25
👑 Royal Supporter — $50
🛡️ Castle Champion — $100
✨ Magic Maker — $250

Your membership builds our community. Your donation helps fund the magic.

👉 JOIN PTA + ADD A DONATION:

https://jointotem.com/ga/roswell/hembree-springs-es-pta

Tag Screenings occur twice each year for all KK-5th graders and are based on the data detailed in the document. Reach out to Mrs. Anderson at andersoncm@fultonschools.org for specific questions.

Please see the attachments below for instructions on how to access your student's iReady Inform results. Note: we use Classlink to access iReady. You can log in to your student's Classlink portal using their student ID and their birthdate (mmddyyyy). The link to Classlink is on the Fulton County Schools' webpage. Do not go directly to the iReady website.

Our district code is CMVRR3. Reach out to your teacher or to Dr. McAtee, CST, if you have questions.

Looking for the easiest way to stay connected with everything happening at Hembree Springs?

The Hawk's Nest is our private Facebook group exclusively for Hembree Springs families (and staff!). It's your go-to place for school news, PTA updates, event reminders, volunteer opportunities, spirit nights and helpful resources.

Whether you're a brand-new family or a returning Hawk, The Hawk's Nest is one of the best ways to stay informed and connected throughout the school year.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HSEHawksNest

From Title I

Families! YOU are your child’s first and most influential teacher. As such you have so much to offer your student! To encourage family engagement at home, we are offering family engagement Thursdays. Each week there will be (1) activity to do at home to be completed prior to Friday. We’ll list the activities for the month in Hembree Highlights and offer reminders via social media. Your student will have the opportunity to receive a *bonus* Hawk’s ticket for participating (look out for more details from your teacher) We’ll include tips and tricks to get the conversation started and reinforce learning from the school day. Please spend anywhere from 10-20 minutes with your child engaging with them around their day at school and encouraging their social and emotional skills. We’ll also encourage you to practice additional skills inclusive of Math and ELA. Please feel free to reach out to me Lucy Gilbert, Title I Parent Liaison (gilbertl2@fultonschools.org) with any questions. Please check the box on your child’s homework to receive an additional Hawk’s ticket for your student.

Del Título I

Jueves de Participación familiar

¡Familias! USTED es el primer y más influyente maestro de su hijo. ¡Como tal, tienes mucho que ofrecer a tu estudiante! Para fomentar la participación familiar en el hogar, ofrecemos jueves de participación familiar. Cada semana habrá (1) actividad para hacer en casa que se completará antes del viernes. Enumeraremos las actividades del mes en Hembree Highlights y ofreceremos recordatorios a través de las redes sociales. Su estudiante tendrá la oportunidad de recibir un boleto de Hawk * adicional * por participar (busque más detalles de su maestro) Incluiremos consejos y trucos para iniciar la conversación y reforzar el aprendizaje del día escolar. Pase entre 10 y 20 minutos con su hijo interactuando con él durante su día en la escuela y fomentando sus habilidades sociales y emocionales. También lo alentaremos a practicar habilidades adicionales, incluidas matemáticas y ELA. No dude en comunicarse conmigo Lucy Gilbert, Enlace de Padres del Título I (gilbertl2@fultonschools.org) si tiene alguna pregunta. Por favor, marque la casilla en los deberes de su hijo para recibir una entrada adicional de Hawk's para su alumno.

Have you heard your child mention anything about an app called Beanstack? It was introduced in the Media Center. Beanstack is a digital reading log that students can use to log the number of minutes they are reading. They can earn badges and rewards along the way. If your child is reading at school, home, daycare, etc. they can log their minutes and help us get closer to our goal. The following is a video explaining how to use Beanstack from home. You can always find your child's lunch number/student number in infinite campus or email Mrs. Soberanis: soberanis@fultonschools.org. Happy Reading!

How To Video: https://go.screenpal.com/watch/cZQTbzVSAkv

Each week the PE department will choose 4 All Star Athletes (2 students & 2 staff members). If your student enjoys hiking, swimming, baseball, softball, football, biking, etc. Please email a picture to marzetti@fultonschools.org.

Thanks,

Ms. Marzetti

We welcome lunch visitors, Monday-Thursday only. Please check in at the front desk before proceeding to the cafeteria.

Website: https://www.fultonschools.org/hembreespringses
Location: 815 Hembree Road, Roswell, GA, USA
Phone: 470-254-2902