Gator News
2018-2019: Rich Learning; Enriched Students
Our Mission: Arbor Springs Committed to Student Success.
From Dr. Durrance
Can you believe it's December! Only 13 days left of school in the calendar year! My, how it has flown by!
As you have heard, we are focusing on a school-wide goal of all students and staff reading 30 books. Below, you will see displays of students who have met a 30-, 50-, or 100 book total! We have seen a dramatic increase in check-outs from the media center as well as AR tests passed. If you want to support your child in reading, show them that you are a reader, too! Most successful people report that they read at least 30 minutes a day. I just finished reading Up the Down Staircase, a 1960's gem about a first-year teacher in a challenging school. I remember reading this in high school and being inspired to become a teacher. Dr. Tarleton and I are posting the books that we read and sharing recommendations with and from students.
Our celebration of Grandparents' Day was wonderful! We hope that you enjoyed the new format with staggered days. We feel that it really helps with crowding and parking--and we are delighted that we have so much involvement that that is a problem!
Our annual Can-a-Thon was very successful, with students and staff bringing in over 800 cans. We challenged each other by house this year! Here's the breakdown:
Timsah: 178
Koena: 173
Jacare: 240
Caiman:223
We are happy to have an opportunity to give back to the community.
I wanted to share a little with you about safety. We write a comprehensive safety plan each year with help from local and state emergency responders. These are submitted to the county and reviewed for effectiveness. Each month, we have either a fire drill or a severe weather drill, as well as a code yellow drill two times each semester and a code red drill two times a year. We also do "table-top" drills, where we discuss how we would handle specific situations. In addition, we have two AEDs in the building, with all staff trained in how to use them, and we practice medical emergencies (as well as having actual emergencies) at least once each semester. We are delighted to have Nurse Rebecca back with us to facilitate these. We hope that the safety protocols we have in place are comforting to you. As part of our safety protocols, we ask that you use the car rider line (rather than walking up and signaling for your student) in the afternoon for pickup, unless you have shared with us a compelling reason otherwise. We are monitoring over 100 students each afternoon and need to be confident that we are sending the right students out at the right time. Similarly, if you arrive after the car rider monitors have entered the building in the morning, please park and walk your child inside. Thank you for helping keep all of our students safe!
We need parent input for our annual School Climate Survey. Please click the link here or visit our website to access the 24-item survey. Thank you in advance for your participation!
The REACH referral periods area about to open up:
1st-5th grades: January 2nd - 23rd
Kindergarten is March 1st - 31st
Parents and/or teachers can refer students for screening.
There are many events on the calendar for the next few weeks. Please go to our website or click on the link below for a list of current events. As always, thank you for everything you do to support our school!
Dr. Durrance
Counselor's Corner
Mrs. Clay’s Counseling Corner
Swimming in a School of Character:
This month’s character word is truthful. Truthful means to tell or express the truth. Emphasize to your children that when we give our trust to someone we are confident in their ability to not hurt us, to be honest with us and we ultimately rely on them to be trustworthy. Trust is an essential aspect of any good relationship. When we receive trust we are giving others the confidence that we are trustworthy, that we will be reliable, be honest, be a good friend and be caring to that person.Sit down with them and talk about situations in which having someone who is trustworthy is important and how being trustworthy to friends and family is important.
(Teach Kids How, 2017)
BETA Meeting Thursday, Jan. 10 2:30 pm-3:25 pm in Mrs. Dumm’s Room
BETA & Cookies with Santa
BETA will be providing the baked goods for the Cookies with Santa event on Thursday 12/6 at 5:30-7:00. Please wear your BETA shirt and arrive in the gym by 5:15. Please bring all cookies to Mrs. Clay’s office on Thursday morning. Please refrain from bringing any baked goods that contains nuts or peanut butter. Cookies DO NOT need to be individually wrapped. If you want your platters/containers back, please label clearly for easy return. Don’t forget to log your hours for baking for this event. Thanks!!! All BETA students are expected to provide cookies for this event as part of community service for our Arbor Springs Families.
Arbor Springs Elementary
Can-A-Thon
Thank you to all the families that donated to help stock the Coweta County Food Pantry. Arbor Spring Elementary donated about 800 cans! Thank you to the Junior BETA Club for counting cans daily!
For school counseling program updates, please visit Mrs.Clay's Counseling Corner.
Keivia Clay,
School Counselor
From the Media Center
Students checked out 3,139 books in November and passed 1,516 tests at 86%. Last year in November, students checked out 2,495 books and passed 1,178 AR tests at 85%. Yahoo! The last day of AR is December 19, and students may check out books over Christmas break if they are current with their checkouts. Please check for overdue notices and help us keep our books in use. Thank you for encouraging your students to read! If you would like to donate books to the school for classroom use, please let us know. They can be new or gently used. Ollie's has a great selection of very low-priced books, but we will gladly take books that you no longer need from home, as well.
From the Clinic
Hard to believe that this year is almost over. 2019 is right around the corner. Winter is here and that means a rise in the diagnosis of cold and flu. You might get tired of hearing this, but the best way to protect yourself is good hand washing. Also, the flu vaccine is now available. Please contact your pediatrician. Last but not least…I know I say this over and over, but, if you send “over the counter” medications to school they must be in the original package. Do not send individual tablets. A note with instructions and permission must accompany any medication to be given. A medication cannot be given without parent permission. This includes cough drops!! Cough drops are considered a medication and must be taken in the clinic. A teacher cannot administer any type of medication, even cough drops. If it is a prescription medication, it must be in the original package with a pharmacy label and a medication form will need to be filled out.
Thank you and Merry Christmas!!
Rebecca Sims RN
Upcoming Events
Arbor Springs Elementary School
Website: www.cowetaschools.org/arbor
Location: 4840 Highway 29 North, Coweta County, GA, United States
Phone: 770-463-5903
Twitter: @ASESGators