Sawnee Elementary
April 2023 Newsletter
A Note from Mrs. Davis
Dear Sawnee Families,
With Spring Break upon us, let's take the time to reflect on the amazing school year we have had so far and concentrate on finishing strong. These next two months will pass quickly with many activities on the horizon. Even though we are busy planning for the 2023-2024 school year, we have so many things to celebrate from 2022-2023.
If you are interested in participating in our Local School Council, please contact Lauren King (f40060@forsyth.k12.ga.us) in Building 1. LSC meets 4 to 5 times a year to discuss items pertaining to not only Sawnee Elementary, but Forsyth County Schools as well. The discussions can be very informative regarding what is on the horizon for FCS.
Please remind your students to check the Lost & Found in both buildings so we can watch it get smaller as the items find their way back to their owners. Our spring weather is often unpredictable and the items seem to grow as a result.
Included in this newsletter are reminders regarding our car rider line. We are trying our best to get students to class prior to 8:20 and need your help. Please check out the car rider information section.
As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to give feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. It is a pleasure to work with all of our families.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Davis
Principal
Car Line Procedures
Morning Car Line
The school day begins at 8:20 AM each day. Our morning car line takes between 6-8 minutes to get from the entrance to drop off. In order to have all students in the building at 8:20 AM, please plan to be in line by 8:12 AM to ensure your child is in class at 8:20 AM. Once car line is closed at 8:20 AM, you will need to check your child in at the office of either the front or back building depending on their grade level. Thank you for your support!
Please review the Car Line Procedures. Please follow the blue arrows all around the back of the building to ensure the safety of all cars and students.
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What's Happening at Sawnee?
7 Mindsets - The Time is Now
The Time Is Now Mindset teaches us the importance of harnessing the power of the moment and taking purposeful action. The simple fact is that all of our power to act and make an impact exists in this moment. We cannot change the past, and the future hasn’t happened, so we must recognize that our only path to happiness, fulfillment and meaning is to take purposeful action in the present toward creating the lives of our dreams.
The four components of The Time is Now are:
1. Embrace Every Moment
2. Get in the Zone
3. Let yourself be vulnerable
4. Act with purpose.
To learn more about this mindset, click here.
2023-24 Kindergarten
5th Grade Information
Field Day
FIELD DAY EVENT DATES
May 9th : Kindergarten - 9:00-11:00; First Grade- 12:00-2:00
May 10th : Third Grade - 9:00-11:00; Second Grade- 12:00-2:00
May 11th : Fourth Grade- 9:00-11:00; Fifth Grade- 12:00-2:00
Pre-K and SBA - Please check with your homeroom teacher for event dates and times.
Parent Volunteers Needed! Click Here to volunteer.
Library Books
Robotics
Team Roboshot
Team Gorgeous Group
Team Gorgeous Group won the Innovation Award at the state competition which qualified them for the world competition in Dallas.
Team Rogue Robots
Team Rogue Robots was invited to the Worlds Competition in Dallas after placing in the finals at state.
Family Connect Choice Board
Important Information from the Office
**Please send in excused Doctor or Parent notes no later than 5 days after the missed school day.
Reminder to make sure you have your I.D. with you when coming into the school or checking out your child.
~Thank You from the Sawnee Office Staff
Cafeteria News
Strawberries
Unlike any other fruit, strawberry seeds are on the outside (rather than the inside) of the fruit, technically making the strawberry not a berry at all.
Strawberries are good for your whole body. They naturally deliver vitamins, fibers and particularly high levels of antioxidants know as polyphenols - without any sodium, fat, or cholesterol. They are among the top 20 fruits in antioxidant capacity and are a good source of manganese and potassium. Just one serving - about 8 strawberries - provides more vitamin C than an orange.
Clinic News
**Please remember Forsyth County School’s policy that students are NOT to return to school until fever free, diarrhea, and/or vomiting has stopped for a full 24 hours without medication
Just a reminder that all medication needs to be brought to the clinic by a parent/guardian. Students are not permitted to carry medication at school per Forsyth County School Policy.
Forsyth County Schools are in need of Substitute Nurses. If you are a RN or LPN and would like more information, please contact Nurse Robyn or Nurse Kate. We would love to have you!
We always welcome your calls and emails. Nurse Robyn (PreK-1) RFreeze@forsyth.k12.ga.us and Nurse Kate (2-5) F36415@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Counseling Information
"The Place" Food Pantry
Need help with food? Order with a simple click-list when you qualify. Click application link to apply online or for more information call 770-887-1098.
https://www.theplaceofforsyth.org/food-app-spaneng.html
~ Camp MAGIK: Healing Camp for Kids, Teens, and Adults
Camp MAGIK (Mainly About Grief In Kids) serves children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or other close family member within the past three years. Camp MAGIK/Erin will provide an opportunity for children and teens to meet, talk, and process their grief with professional grief counselors. Our camp sessions are FREE OF CHARGE to all participating children, adolescents and adults. Free transportation will be arranged to camp and back based on need.
Applications need to be postmarked or emailed to us no later than April 5th, 2023 for our spring session at the Cherokee Retreat Center April 14-16.
See links below to apply!
https://tinyurl.com/2p85zkpb (Spanish)
~ Parents, it’s back! And it’s FREE!
A free online conference for parents with children of all ages! Discover time-tested, research-backed, practical ideas for raising resilient, confident kids and becoming a more peaceful and effective parent.
FREE Online Positive Parenting Conference is coming back for the 7th year on May 18, 2023!
Early Registration Begins May 1, 2023
Positive Parenting Conference 2023 COMING SOON <- Click link to sign up.
ARE YOU IN?
Sawnee Elementary has a “Strive for Less than Five” unexcused absence per year policy. We support every student in reaching his/her greatest potential and encourage parents to support children in maximizing academic instruction opportunities. Some of the potential consequences of absenteeism are listed below. We understand that injuries and illness occur. As such, parents should send in a doctor's note for necessary absences.
STEM
We also discussed the many career opportunities in Agriculture and it’s impact on our society. I believe we have some future farmers at Sawnee.
We collected eggs from the chicken coop and planted strawberries and greens
We made our own butter
We learned about grains and made fresh bread
Computer Science
This is our last rotation in Computer Science. We are wrapping up this school year by learning about computer history, reviewing computer hardware and software, and careers in computer science.
History – Students are learning about human computers like Katherine Johnson, and we’re going back in time even further to learn about Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing and more. Students are learning about the precursors to modern day computers including the abacus, difference and analytical engines, Pascal calculator, tabulating machines, Mark 1 computer, ENIAC, Colossus and many more. Students learn about different types of computers like mainframes, servers, pcs and we discuss how computers have changed over the years and what they may look like in the future!
Hardware and Software – Students learn about motherboards, CPU, types of storage like external and internal hard drives, RAM, GPU, graphics cards, power supplies and more. Students learn about operating systems and other software programs. Students also learn the difference between input and output devices. We open up computers and look inside to identify computer parts. Students are able to identify parts of a computer and what they are used for.
Careers in Computer Science – Students learn about career paths in computer science including software engineer, design technologist, aerospace engineer and security analyst. We talk about the fact that all industries include technology components that they can apply their coding and/or computer knowledge to help them be successful in any career.
Once we have finished covering all of the new material, students have an opportunity to go back to basics and have fun with coding, Code & Go Mouse, ozobots and more.
Central Processing Unit
Rack Mounted Server
Code.org Binary and CPU Processing
Sawnee PTO
2022-2023 Board Members
President- Taylor Milburn
VP Fundraising - Cheryl Ewell
VP Hospitality & Events - Melissa Fagan
VP Family Engagement - Jenny Morgan
Treasurer- Becca Lopez
Secretary- Nicole Hale
*Date Night Success!
Our Mother/Son & Father/Daughter date nights were once again a huge success... thanks to you! We saw just over 1,100 total guests at these events, received wonderful feedback from you about our new vendors/partners and are already looking forward to next year! We hope that those of you that were bummed to be missing a "formal dance" got to enjoy the dance floor with DJ Randy. We always welcome your feedback and take your input to heart. Feel free to reach out at any time via email (sawneeptoboard@gmail.com). If you were not able to download your photo(s) from one of the events, please let us know and we'll be happy to help!
*Staff Appreciation Week
What a fun week! Your support throughout the year allowed us to spoil our 185 staff members all week long! We loved partnering with Traveling Tom's Coffee Truck to kick the week off caffeinated, Kyndal's Kitchen on Tuesday with charcuterie cups, Dulce Luna's on Wednesday for a mexican lunch buffet, Tropical Smoothie Cafe on Thursday for a mid-morning treat & Chick-fil-A on Friday morning. We also brought bright spring colors inside with balloon arches by Haleigh Amanda Design & of course, yard cards in the front of each building, courtesy of Sign Gypsies Forsyth. Thank you for spoiling your teacher(s) with supplies, books, treats, gift cards & notes from the heart. We saw lots of excited kids giving out their gifts and some really big smiles on the faces of our teachers that work so hard every day!
*5th Grade Yard Signs
We received over 100 graduation yard sign orders- yay! So many rising 6th graders to celebrate! We will be working with West Ink (the printing team at WFHS) to get everything produced and will reach out to the email you provided on your order form with details on when & where to pick up the signs once we have them in hand. If you did not get your order submitted in time, please email us immediately!
*Sawnee Soars Fundraising Update
We are thrilled to share that three new water bottle filling stations have been installed! As of today, we've contributed just over $45,000 in school improvements this school year. We're plugging along with the gaga ball pit plans (no more ruined shoes!), greenhouse updates with Ms Downs, 50 new Chromebooks to be distributed among the various grade levels, new flag football supplies for recess and are giving some much needed love to our basketball hoops around campus! More pictures to come.
*Let Us Connect You
If you are ever looking to partner with one of the vendors we have teamed up with, please reach out and let us know so that we can connect you! Word of mouth is the most powerful business marketing tool and we would love to be able to share our positive experiences with you!
*Easy Ways to donate to Sawnee- Did you know that you can connect your everyday purchases to Sawnee to give back to the school without even thinking about it?
Click here for info on how to connect your Amazon account
Click here for info on how to connect your Kroger account
Contact us: sawneeptoboard@gmail.com
Quick Links
My Payments Plus - online payment program. If you have any questions, contact Allison Taylor
Celebrating Birthdays with Ice Cream - Birthday Ice Cream Packs are available for $25 for the entire class including the teacher. These must be ordered 3 school days prior to the day you want the ice cream pack served. You may bring in store bought treats for your child’s birthday, but we cannot allow homemade items due to student allergies. The last day we will serve birthday ice cream packs will be May 19th. We will not be able to serve birthday packs on the last week of school. The ice cream packs may be purchased under "activities" through www.mypaymentsplus.com. If you have questions, you may contact Allison Taylor by email at aytaylor@forsyth.k12.ga.us. We look forward to celebrating your child's birthday.
Sawnee Zone Information - Our Sawnee Zone pick-up location is located in the front of our Back Building. Please make sure to bring your ID with you as we will follow all procedures that we do for student check-outs. For any questions or more information about Sawnee Zone, please click here.
Important Dates to Know
April 14 - Kindergarten Orientation A - M - 9am-10am
April 18 - Spring Chorus Concert at 6:30pm
April 20 - LSC Meeting at 2pm
April 21 - Kindergarten Orientation N - Z - 9am-10am
April 24 - Ga. Milestones 3rd & 5th Grade Begins
May 1 - Ga. Milestones 4th Grade Begins
May 8 - 5th Grade Aquarium Field Trip
May 9 - Field Day - KK (9a-11a) and 1st (12p-2p)
May 10- Field Day - 3rd (9a-11a) and 2nd (12p-2p)
May 11 - Field Day - 4th (9a-11a) and 5th (12p-2p)
LSC West Cluster Meeting 8am at Vickery Creek Elementary School
May 22 - 5th Grade Graduation Ceremony at FoCal
May 24 - 5th Grade FUN Day and Walk
Partners In Education
Caddyshack Golf Carts of Georgia
World Champion Tae Kwon Do
At Home Medical
Mathnasium of Coal Mountain
Dulce Luna's Mexican Tavern
4335 Bethelview Rd. Suite 120 Cumming, Ga. 30040
770-205-0079
Jason Hipps Homes
Moohan Martial Arts Academy
Dental Town
Troncalli Subaru
DOJO
Foam South
Southern Skies Doodles
In the Community
The Cumming Recreation & Parks Department has released their 2023 Summer Programming Brochure.
We are also working on setting up our Instagram account and will be coming very soon!
Contact Sawnee Elementary
Website: http://forsyth.k12.ga.us/sawneeelementary
Location: 1616 Canton Highway, Cumming, GA, USA
Phone: 770-887-6161
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SawneeES/
Twitter: @SawneeElem