Panther Press
New Prospect Elementary School Newsletter
Nurture~Personalize~Engage~Succeed
Immaculate Support
It has been a wonderful beginning to our 2017-2018 school year! I’ve had two moments in the crazy, busy first weeks of school that have forced me to stop, reflect and be thankful. One of those moments was Back to School Bash last Friday, the other was at our Curriculum Night yesterday. I realized through these events that the amount of support and love in this school is just immaculate! Our students and staff are so lucky to have such a fantastic PTA, Student Governance Council and truly amazing parents who care so much about their success. We can’t thank you enough for giving your time, money and support to make sure we have what we need. The work of being a teacher is hard and having such a fantastic community makes it not only easier, but worth it!
Please take a few minutes to read through the remainder of our school newsletter. This week there is a lot of important information for you to be aware of.
Thank you for your continued support of our school community. I could not be more proud to be a NPE Panther!
Your Partner in Education,
Amy Lemons
Principal
Had so much fun at Back to School Bash!
Fun Times with Panther Pete!
Curriculum Night was a Success!
Upcoming Events:
August 30th - Another Broken Egg Spirit Night
September 1th - RFF Day-No School for Students
September 4th - Labor Day-No School
September 18th-29th- IOWA Testing (3rd & 5th Grade)
September 21st-Peace Day
September 27th- Picture Retake Day
September 28th-Bruster's Spirit Night
Ways to "Be Brave"...
SAVE THE DATE!
Be Totally Vibrant at the Be THE Voice Color Burst Run!
More info to come later, but mark your calendars now, because you won’t want to miss this fun day!
Sunday, October 15, 2017
2-5 pm
Elkins Pointe Middle School Field
Transportation Changes
From the Counselor...Ms. McLeod
I enjoyed meeting all of our new 1st through 5th grade panthers during new student groups.
5th grade Safety Patrols are hard at work ensuring our campus is safe!
Looking for parent volunteers to help with career day on Tuesday October 17th 8:30-10am. Would include sharing information at a “booth” with students about your career
Media Center News
Welcome to another great year at New Prospect. Here are some programs that we offer:
Birthday Book Club: This is a great way to honor your child on birthdays. For $15, your child will select a book from the Birthday Book cart, receive a book mark, pencil, and letter from Ms. Lemons.
5th grade Panther News Network: This is a great leadership program for 5th graders. Each morning, we put on a live TV news show for the school.
4th & 5th grade Media Helpers: This is a program where students can become helpers in the Media Center by volunteering. With their teachers’ permission, they can help younger students find books, sharpen pencils, assemble papers, etc.
4th & 5th grade Reading Bowl: This is a wonderful reading opportunity for advanced readers, offering competition at the district level. We will schedule a meeting during lunch periods after Labor Day. The competition is based upon reading comprehension of books selected from a list. Competition should read at least 15 of the books.
Common Sense Media: We are committed to Digital Citizenship. During August - October, your children will be trained using resources from Common Sense Media according to their grade level. Mrs. Bercher will be holding parent informational meetings (dates to be announced later). Please consider opening an account and viewing some of the lessons. It's also a great resource for feedback for movie, TV, and website reviews.
Information from your School Social Worker
Welcome to another wonderful year at New Prospect Elementary. I am so excited to be spending my 13th year at NPE and 19th year as a SSW. School Social Workers do a variety of activities in the school. One very important aspect of school, for all children, is maintaining excellent attendance. Our school begins at 7:40am and students are expected to be in their classrooms and ready to learn when the bell rings. Arriving late to school can have negative side effects on your student, it is disruptive to the other students in class, and it is disrespectful to the teacher. Being tardy to school and leaving early also means that your student is missing critical instruction time. Attending school every day unless your child has a legal excuse (like being sick, attending a funeral, celebrating a religious holiday, and a few others) means that there is a greater opportunity to excel academically. Please remember to always send in a note to the teacher if your student has missed school. If you are having difficulty with your child in the morning, please feel free to call me so that we can discuss some ways to help make things easier. Some typical things that help parents is to maintain a schedule, organize clothes & backpacks the night before, and ride the bus to school. I want the absolute best for all the students at NPE, so I expect them to be on time and stay all day. Other things I do as your school social worker includes calls/e-mails/letters to parents for attendance issues, homeless help for families, making sure children are not abused or neglected, helping families who experience domestic violence, financial aid, clothes, school supplies, interpretation and discussions about custody issues, needing free or reduced lunch, medical issues, residency verification issues, academic issues that need home visits, mental health issues, outside resources, prevention programs, and so much more!
Thank you,
Lisa Lewy, L.M.S.W.
School Social Worker
Information from Your School Psychologist-Mrs. Maurer
Parent Strategies for Supporting Homework
Check in with your child every day. When parents are involved with homework they have the opportunity to motivate their children, give them strategies, and combat negative feelings that may be associated with homework. Research has shown that when students have parents that assist them in completing their homework, they spend more time on homework.
Establish clear homework routines. When homework routines are established in elementary school, positive habits are developed that will make the transition to middle and high school that much easier. Ways to establish a routine might include: identify a location, make sure materials are readily available, decide on a consistent time, and make plans for completing the assignments.
Help children establish and maintain organizational systems. After a child has completed their homework they should place the work in the appropriate folder and put it in their book bag. Next, they should clear the workspace so that the next homework session can begin in an orderly environment. Even when children complete their homework independently, they may need supervision and assistance maintaining these organizational systems.
Use incentives if necessary. Simple incentives might include: building in breaks, providing choice of the order in which they will complete a task, and giving children something to look forward to once they complete their work.
This information was obtained from the National Association of School Psychologists article, Homework: A Guide for Parents by Peg Dawson, EDD, NCSP.
New Prospect Specials Teacher’s Information
Art-Mrs. Hopen
Follow me on twitter @npesart
Email me at hopena@fultonschools.org
Please Save the Date:
Our Annual Art Show will be Thurs 5/10
This year I will be piloting Artsonia
(Students will upload their Art to a digital portfolio/custom keepsakes with your child’s Art can be purchased online at any point in the year. 20% of sales goes back to the Art Studio for supplies. This will take the place of Square 1. More information will be going home soon.)
Looking forward to another Art filled year!
Music-Mrs. Ingraham
Follow me on Twitter @NPMusicRoom
If you have any questions, please email me at: ingrahamk@fultonschools.org
I look forward to making music with your student this year!
Physical Education-Coach McCarthy
If you have any questions or concerns email me at McCarthym1@fultonschools.org
I am really looking forward to a great year in PE!STEM-Mrs. Davis
Follow me on twitter @stemlabnpes
If you have any questions or concerns email me at davisb4@fultonschools.org
I am so excited for this year in the STEM LAB!
Notification to Parents of the Screening & Referral Process for Gifted Students
The consideration for gifted services may be reported or automatic as defined by the GaDOE Resource Manual for Gifted Education Services. The Fulton County School System screens all students for eligibility for gifted services twice a year and uses a systematic approach to identify highly capable students who may qualify for gifted services.
The gifted teacher routinely reviews available data to refer students for further assessment. Students meeting either the automatic screening OR the classroom screening criteria AND have supporting data gathered from test history, products, and/or advanced content levels are referred for additional testing to determine gifted eligibility.
I. Automatic Screening- identifies students who score at specified levels on a norm-referenced test as defined in the GaDOE Resource Manual for Gifted Education Services, for further assessment to determine eligibility for gifted services. At the beginning of the school year, TAG teachers review existing test data.
Standardized Tests
Students must have minimally a combination of scores that include > 85th percentile and > 90th percentile in two of the three areas on a standardized, nationally norm-referenced achievement test: Total Reading, Total Math, and Complete Battery.
STAR Assessment – (Spring 2017 Assessment)
Grade 1- 8: Students must score 90% or greater on system’s STAR assessment for Math or Reading. Supporting data is needed.
Acceleration Assessments- Students must score 80% or greater on system’s Acceleration Assessment in:
Grades K: English/Language Arts and Mathematics. No additional supporting data is needed.
Grades 1-3: English/Language Arts or Mathematics. Supporting data is needed.Georgia Milestones End of Grade Assessment-
Grades 3-8: Students must score at the Distinguished Learner achievement level (4) for English/Language Arts or Mathematics. Supporting data is needed.
Reminders
Summer Reading
IOWA Testing
Home Access Center
Be sure to join Home Access Center today to sign up for alerts and see your students' progress. Come up to the front office with your ID.