• November 1-15: Thanksgiving Food Drive
  
• November 8: SteamRoller Lab at Latchkey
• November 10: 3rd Grade Field Trip to the Library
• November 11: Veteran's Day Holiday - No School
• November 23-25: Thanksgiving Holidays
• December 5-6: Used Book Sale
• December 14: Christmas Parties
• December 15-16: E-Learning Days for ALL students

Athens Elementary School will be conducting a food drive for our local LCCI food bank. Each grade is asked to bring the following specific food items:

Pre-K: Canned Soups

Kindergarten: Boxed Macaroni and Cheese

1st Grade: Canned Beans

2nd Grade: Canned Corn

3rd Grade: Canned Tomato Sauce or Diced Tomatoes

The classroom that brings the most items will win a Cookie Cake party. Students may begin bringing the items on Tuesday, November 1st. The last day for bringing items will be Tuesday, November 15th. We are so excited to be able to help our local food bank, so let the competition begin!

Athens Cheer is excited to announce our Princess Breakfast and Makeovers on December 3, 2022.

Please complete this form if your princess is interested in attending.

It is important that students are here at the beginning of the school day! When students are tardy, they miss valuable time in the classroom. Our morning time is an important time and our day begins at 7:45. This morning time is when we work on social/emotional skills, building positive relationships with classmates and teachers, and breakfast for all students. Beginning at 8:00 we have intervention and enrichment groups that all students are a part of.

Please help support your student by getting them to school on time!

• We will start classes in our new building 2nd semester on January 4th, 2023!
• The address is 515 N. Madison Street - please drive by and check out the progress!
• Teachers and School Staff will begin moving items to the new building beginning next month!
• Students will take field trips to the new building in December so that they can tour the building and see their new classrooms!
• December 15 & 16 will be e-learning days for all students so that staff can move to the new building.
• We will have open houses for parents & the community next semester!

As we get closer to the start of the 2nd semester, we will share lots of information about the new building, how morning & afternoon carline will work, and any other info you will need to know!

You can check out the progress by clicking HERE.

Mrs. Lisa Gill

Mrs. Rebecca Gladney says her favorite thing about working at our school is getting to work with the 3rd grade team. In her spare time she likes to watch football and play the piano. Her favorite memory from when she was in the 3rd grade was when her school had a fall festival one evening each year. Her parents would take her around to each classroom and each had a different game that you could play for prizes.

Ms. Melinda Simpkins thinks iAcademy has a wonderful way of putting student needs first. Our faculty and staff work together to support each other so that we can make sure we are helping students achieve their goals. Before she joined education, Ms. Simpkins was a fine arts major. She loves going to the theater, watching movies, reading books, painting, or crafting. In elementary school she had a teacher, Mrs. Ferguson, who went above and beyond to turn chores into a game. This was especially helpful to her because she says she was a horrible speller! Mrs. Ferguson played one game that was similar to a typical spelling-bee but instead of spelling the whole word students would stand in a line and spell the word one letter at a time. In addition to this, she would always give funny directions like "say your letter like you're a giant" or "sing your letter". While Ms. Simpkins hated spelling, this. motivated her to want to stay in the game longer so she could have more fun!

Anytime you come to our campus during the school day, please come to the main entrance and ring the doorbell for assistance. Please do not try to enter through any other door and do not go past the office.

Checking In or Checking Out

If you need to check in or check out your child, please come to the main entrance and ring the doorbell. Our office staff will buzz you in. Come into the office. We have a QR code posted and a website where you can electronically check in or check out your student. You may do this on your own phone or we have an iPad available.

Anytime you arrive after 7:45 am you will need to come inside to check your child in.

FOR PRE-K Students: If you are checking in or checking out, please contact your child's teacher to have them meet you at the pre-k door.

Our teachers communicate with families in a variety of ways.

• Each day students bring home a GOLD FOLDER in their backpack. This folder contains important information for students from the teacher. Please check the Gold folder daily.
  
• SeeSaw is an online tool we use to communicate student's work and information from the class. Your teachers sent home information on joining your child's class Seesaw.
• Email is a great tool for communicating with your child's teacher. Please know that they may not be checking email during the day so if there is something time sensitive call Mrs. Carr in the office.

Latchkey will begin the first day of school this year.

Please click the following link for the latchkey paperwork: CLICK HERE

A few important tips to remember!

For Pre-K Carline

• Follow the signs directing traffic for carline.

• Keep Crosswalks Clear (do not park on them).

• PreK dismisses at 2:00pm

• Pull forward from the pickup location to the Pre-K Loading Zone to buckle in your child and proceed to the Pre-K exit (turn RIGHT and exit alongside K-3 carline).

• The person picking up must have a car tag. Otherwise they will need to come to the door and show a picture ID.

For K-3 Carline

• K-3 parents remain in your cars during carline.

• Adhere to those directing traffic

• Keep Crosswalks Clear (do not park on them)

• If you arrive early to carline, please do not block both lanes - keep it open for through traffic. And please do not block the Pre-K carline exit.

  We ask that you don't arrive any earlier than 2pm to wait for carline to start. We share the campus with another school and traffic will be very crowded this year.

• PreK dismisses at 2:00pm

• The person picking up must have a car tag. Otherwise they will need to come to the door and show a picture ID.
  
• If you walk up to pick up your child, please park in a designated parking space and bring the carline tag with you and wait for a staff member to help you.

This newsletter will be a great source of information for you regarding all things related to iAcademy. We will send it out through our Blackboard communication system every Monday throughout the school year. It is sent via text, email, Twitter, Facebook and posted on our website as well.

We also send out reminders about upcoming dates/events through the Blackboard communication system. If you are not receiving these communications, please call the office and speak with our registrar Vickie Carr. If you have signed up via email and haven't received them, check your spam folder. If they are coming to your spam you may need to add our emails to your address book. There is also an app you can download. Information on the app is at the bottom of this newsletter.

We use Facebook and Twitter as a one-way communication where we can post announcements because we cannot monitor the social media posts during the day. If you need us, the best way to reach us is via phone or email. Please don't ever hesitate to reach out to us!

Principal - Amanda Tedford - amanda.tedford@acs-k12.org

Assistant Principal - Nick Looney - nick.looney@acs-k12.org

Click HERE for opting out and communication info!