Dear Chestatee Families,

Congratulations on our first round of Academic Parent Teacher Teams and Curriculum Nights! We had a packed house two weeks in a row. Thank you for taking the time to come and partner with your child’s teacher. Families of students who join in partnership see strong results for their children academically. A.P.T.T. is a nationally recognized model from Dr. Marie Paredes supported by the Georgia Department of Education. Families work hand in hand with teachers to accomplish big goals for children. We have seen fantastic outcomes in the eight years we have been actively involved in the program. The cornerstone of A.P.T.T. is working together with a clear focus.

You may have noticed community partners at our two nights. DJ from the North Forsyth/ Dawson Dojo came to help in childcare. Spanglish provided us with interpreters each evening to help our Spanish speakers. Rusty from Mathnasium of Coal Mountain shared ways to help in math. Wilson Orthodontics gave free gifts and information. Support staff helped with childcare. Our evenings were community events!

Families have a major influence on their children’s achievement. When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer and like school more! (Henderson and Mapp, 2002)

As we head into October, we will be preparing to meet again for individual conferences. Many families say they love the individual meeting. We love that we increase face time and partnerships by offering both models of conferencing. After Fall Break, teachers will be planning these times with you.

Teachers learn a lot from parents by listening to what they say about their children, as families know the child best. (Foote et al., 2013)

We will look forward to seeing our families in the building again! Together we are Chestatee!

Kindly,

Dr. Polly Tennies

• All cars entering the parking lot after 7:00 will need to turn right and go through carline.
• Families needing to park will travel through carline before parking or arrive before 7:00 AM.
• Children should be ready to exit the car when it stops.
• When exiting the parking lot, cars can turn left or right with the officer but should only turn right out of the bus entrance.
• If the line gets backed up, please circle around the parking lot to exit with the officer. This will keep the flow moving.
• We begin carline at 7:00 AM and close carline at 7:37.
• Cars arriving after 7:37 will park.
• We have 37 minutes allowed for drop-off in comparison to 30 minutes at other schools.
• School starts at 7:40.
• Safety is our priority.

• Please remember to send in your child’s excuse within 5 days.
• Families can send up to 10 notes from home for absences before doctor notes are required.
• On email excuses to the teacher, it’s easy to add Ms. Stacey (Sholbrook@forsyth.k12.ga.us) to make sure she gets the excuse.
• Any time you go to see the doctor, please ask for a school excuse. If you forget, contact the doctor and ask them to email or fax the excuse. Fax: 770-781-2281.
• Georgia law requires the school to send attendance letters after 5 or more unexcused absences.
• If your child is checking out from the clinic, the absence is excused.
• When you check your child in/ out on Checkmate, the absence will be unexcused. Please provide a medical excuse if you'd like the absence excused.

School Pay is a new program we will use for all payments EXCEPT meals. My Payments Plus will still be used for cafeteria accounts. Click here.

Congrats to Amanda Pruitt for this amazing recognition! Amanda does so much for our school as a teacher and teacher leader. She has been instrumental in our PBIS program and school store. She will represent Chestatee well!

Kelly Lamb, Crissy Buice, and Amanda Pruitt were chosen as TOTY finalists by peers. Each finalists was interviewed by a committee and observed in a lesson. We are proud of these ladies and our amazing staff.

Thank you to the Foundation for this money to continue to Lexia. And thank you to Brianna Hundt, Emily Flack, and Lori Faulkner for their hard work on the grant. #Foundationfri-YAY!

Cafe inspection- 100! Congratulations, Ladies, and thank you!

The Chestatee kids were asked to play in the inaugural baseball game after the ribbon cutting ceremony. Way to go!

Students can be written up by a teacher for a Positive Office Referral. Dr. Tennies invites these students to her office for a talk, picture, and prize.

Former Atlanta Brave and Atlanta Falcon and now children's author, Brian Jordan, visited students to inspire them. He left a book for each child.

Thanks to all for coming out!

We love our special guests and costumes.

Come early! We are purchasing less this year so we don't interfere with an efficient car line.

Fifth graders had a surprise pep rally!

This will be a calm space for teachers to stop during their day. Thanks to Brooke Hagler and Kandi Wetzel for taking charge of this project! The PTO was instrumental in this project.

We love the new shelter!

Congratulations to Miss Shay Walls for being named Staff Member of the Month for August. Shay is our first bus driver to ever receive the Staff Member of the Month Award!

Miss Shay graduated from North Forsyth High School before attending Lanier Tech. Having grown up here, she still invests in our community. Ms. Shay has been driving for FCS since November 2021. In her spare time, Shay loves to travel.

Ms. Shay frequently supports our One East and school functions. A few examples include:

• Shay decorated her bus and passed out candy during Fall Festival.
• She always makes sure her kids have what they need.
• She makes personal positive phone calls home.
• She keeps up with grade level dress up days and dresses up with the kids.

Miss Shay was nominated by a parent who said, “I feel the utmost peace knowing my child is safe with her. Her job is not easy, but that smile on her face as she drops the students off makes my day.” One administrator said, “Shay is a shining star!” A transportation supervisor said, “Shay is a remarkable driver and good person! She loves her “babies” and takes her job very, very personally. It is awesome to watch her interact with her students.” Miss Shay is outstanding with building individual relationships to support the success and safety of every student on her bus.

Congratulations to Miss Shay on this amazing honor!

Do you want to recognize and celebrate the exemplary teaching and contributions by Chestatee Elementary teachers and staff? Click here to write a nomination.

September 12- Boosterthon Kickoff/ Assembly during Pathways!

September 13- Enrichment begins

September 20- Fall Pictures

September 20- Enrichment after school

September 21- Boosterthon Fun Run

September 21- Mod Pizza PTO Spirit Night

October 2- Panda Express PTO Spirit Night (Order online nationwide to benefit the T. Details coming soon!)

October 4- Enrichment after school

October 11- Enrichment after school

October 9-18 Literati Bookfair (We are excited to offer a new company this year!)

October 19- Online Learning Day/ Parent Teacher Conferences all day

Our PTO board members raise money to help teachers and our school.

You can support our PTO through our fundraisers, Spirit Nights, events, and spirit wear.

Our Boosterthon Fundraiser will begin in September, and the fun run event will be 9/21.

There are no membership dues this year.

Contact our PTO at chestateeelementarypto@gmail.com any time!

Dear Families,

The main reasons for keeping your child at home are as follows:

• If he/she is too sick to be comfortable at school
• If he/she will spread a contagious illness/disease to another child

Remember: Students must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications before returning to school. Students must also be vomiting and diarrhea free for 24 hours before returning to school.

Kristen Knottek, BSN, RN

School Nurse

Chestatee Elementary

770-887-2341 ext. 722151

f41520@forsyth.k12.ga.us

Thanks to our fourth and fifth grade players and cheerleaders and coaches for helping on our carline!

BBC gave us a donation to purchase a new AED for the school. This has been on Nurse Kristen's wishlist! Another AED just makes our school so much safer!

This group collected snacks and food for students at our school.

Brought iced coffee and donuts for our teachers!

DJ provided fun childcare and karate demonstrations during APTT.

Thanks to Faye and Rusty for sponsoring the Room Parent Breakfast!

If you are looking to volunteer this year, we would love to have you! Please watch the mandated reporter video (10 minutes) and sign off on the confidentiality form. Click here for everything you need. https://docs.google.com/document/d/11sucZ7O2QGJMRh5Vr9UwvOpr7UpaRIaCLc8HklX8vjQ/edit?usp=sharing

Meg Killingsworth will take these signed forms in the office. We also have hard copies.

PTO kicked off the year with a breakfast to share the details needed for Room Parents. We had a great turnout and appreciate these ladies so much!

Do you or someone you know have 30 minutes a week to make the difference of a lifetime? Mentors are positive adults the spend time with one student each week building relationships and confidence in the child's life. Please contact Robin Mitchell at rmitchell@forsyth.k12.ga.us or ext. 722455 to discuss the possibilities.

Research confirms that quality mentoring relationships have powerful positive effects on young people in a variety of personal, academic, and professional situations. Mentoring leads to better attendance, academic learning, self-confidence, and higher graduation rates.

Watchdog Dads

Calling all male role models! Watchdog Dads are welcome at the T!

Our WatchDOG (Dads of Great Students) is an awesome program where positive role models come and spend the day with us! From car line to the morning news to visiting classrooms, our guys will have a blast helping us at the school.

There are two ways to help:

#1- Wear a WD shirt (we have one to borrow if needed), and help on car line by smiling, greeting kids, and helping them get out of the car.

Carline Signup

#2-Wear a WD shirt and spend the day with us! You'll visit the carline, the school news, your child's class, Pathways classes, lunch and recess. You'll be busy and tired at the end of the day!

WD Signup for the Day

Click here for all the information!

Questions? Contact Meg Killingsworth

770-887-2341 ext. 723002

Email Meg

Dear Families,

A huge thank you to everyone involved in our first Curriculum Night and Academic Parent Teacher Team Meetings of the year. From families attending to staff presenting and providing childcare, these nights were packed with excitement. It was amazing to see so many children come back to school happily also.

Our families give great feedback. We would love to hear your thoughts about the evenings. Please take a moment to fill out this survey to share your thoughts.

Click here for the survey.

Thanks to our families, we have made several popular changes. These include…

• Staggered times to help families with multiple children and also to help the parking lot and childcare.

• Shortened slideshows and removal of repetitive information.

• Continued childcare which families have said was very helpful.

• Interpreters sharing the presentation in a central location.

Thank you for sharing your feedback and being great partners with the T! Together WE are Chestatee!

See you soon,

Meg

Meg Killingsworth

770-887-2341 ext. 723002

mkillingsworth@forsyth.k12.ga.us

We celebrated with a fun dance party and popsicles! Each student took home a special award.

We collect Box Tops to raise money for our school.

The procedure will be changing in the near future (we will keep you posted!)

For now, keep filling out your Box Top Sheets and turn them in to Ms. Donna in the front office.

If you ask to connect your Kroger Plus card to Chestatee Elementary, they will donate a certain percentage of the profits to our school. You can find out more about how to do this if you CLICK HERE.

Publix Partners with Chestatee also. You only need to put your phone number in as you checkout. Publix will donate a certain percentage of their profits to Chestatee from your purchase!

We love our Partners in Education!

Email: chestateees@gmail.com
Website: http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/site/default.aspx?domainid=260
Location: 6945 Keith Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA, United States
Phone: 770-887-2341
Facebook: facebook.com/ChestateeES
Twitter: @chestateees