Talley Street Update

Dear Talley Street Community,

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I need your help with arrival and dismissal. Many parents are not using their turn signal to indicate a right hand turn into the school’s parking lot. This makes it very difficult to direct the traffic. I do not want an accident to happen. Please turn on your car signal as you pass the Talley Street entrance to the school. I would greatly appreciate your help! Have a great week!

Billy

From Our Nutrition Department

As we transition to in-person school at Renfroe and DHS, CSD Nutrition will be changing how meals are distributed. In-person learners at the elementary level will continue the process already established.

CSD Nutrition will begin offering Grab & Go Meal Kits at the middle and high school based on the schedule listed below. Meal kits will include a variety of ready-made and reheat-ready choices. Meal safety, reheating instructions, and, a menu will be provided in meal kits. To participate, you will need to fill out this form which indicates your preferred school of pick up and if you would like milk with your meals.

All children, regardless of school enrollment or meal eligibility status, can receive FREE meals. Families will drive-thru and pick up FREE grab & go meal kits at the bus ramp area of either Renfroe or DHS.

Students participating in the sibling meal pick-up program may continue with this method. For vegetarian, lactose-free, or other special diet options, please consult our website here.

The deadline for placing a pre-order for 3/8/2021 is Wednesday 3/3/2021 by 4:00 p.m.

SLT Meeting

There will be an SLT Meeting on Tuesday, 3/2/21 at 6 PM.

Meet Link:

https://meet.google.com/dhy-bgwk-tcv

Important Information about Gifted Review

Each year the gifted review team looks at existing student data to discuss students’ needs and determine if further evaluation for gifted identification is needed. If you are interested in having your child reviewed and possibly evaluated for gifted services eligibility, you may complete a Recommendation for Review Form (found at the website below) and turn it into the Gifted & Talented Specialist at your child’s school before March 8th. No additional information is needed. The Gifted & Talented Specialists for Talley are: Nicole Fiber, Stephanie Trauner, and Kate Woodbridge. For more detailed information about the evaluation process and to obtain a copy of the Recommendation for Review Form, please contact the Gifted & Talented Specialists for your school or visit the following website: https://www.csdecatur.net/Page/581.

Attention Talley 5th Grade Families!

Attention Talley 5th graders! Coach Nichols & Coach Johns have an exciting announcement. This week in P.E., you will have a guest teacher ... an expert on a sport most of us have never played! One of our very own Decatur High School students will be joining us in our P.E. classes. She's working towards her IB diploma, and as part of her requirements will be teaching all our 5th graders a lesson on ROLLER DERBY! How fun is that?!?! You don't need to bring anything with you to PE except an open mind and positive attitude.

Join us during your PE time this week at meet.google.com, join code: talleynichols

Kids and Companion Yoga Class for Talley Families

Kids, grab a grown-up and join us for some evening yoga in this 4-week class taught by 3rd-grade teacher Kara Morrison. We will stretch, laugh, breathe, move, and relax. The theme of all our classes will be kindness, so each week we'll also practice cultivating kindness for ourselves and others.

This class will meet from 7 - 7:45 PM on the following 4 Thursdays:

March 11, March 18, March 25, and April 1st

Check out this flyer for more information and for the zoom link.

Girls on the Run

Join the Team at Talley Street

REGISTRATION IS STILL OPEN!

We have a few spots open on both virtual teams for Talley Students!

In-Person Decatur Community teams also have spots. (Legacy Park, Oakhurst, McKoy)

https://www.girlsontherunatlanta.org/Program-Registration

Questions? Email nbundschu@csdecatur.net or contact info@girlsontherunatlanta.org

Virtual Girls on the Run Talley Street Site Information

Talley Street Upper Elementary School
Two days a week after school until 3:00-4:00 (Mondays/Wednesdays or Tuesdays/Thursdays)
Register Online: https://www.girlsontherunatlanta.org/Program-Registration
Space is limited
GOTR uses an income-based sliding scale so that every girl who wants to participate can. Registration fee is available on a sliding scale from $10 to $185.
Includes GOTR lessons, water bottle, 2 t-shirts and 5k registration.

Spring 2020 Registration

Until Feb. 9 Registration Open

Week of March 1 Programs begin

March 10 11:59pm Registration Closes

May 8 Girls on the Run 5K

Week of May 10 Last week of programs

Final Math-a-Thon Update

A huge Talley Tiger SHOUT OUT to everyone who participated in the Math-a-thon! We had a fantastic week developing math skills and Celebrating Black Excellence in STEAM!

We logged 29,468 iReady Math Minutes and raised $4,364.99 so far! We will still be accepting donations for the next few weeks, so be sure to follow up with sponsors!

Class Winners

3rd Grade Face-to-Face: Ellsperman

3rd Grade Virtual: Edwards

4th Grade Face-to-Face: Duernberger

4th Grade Virtual: Pacini

5th Grade Face-to-Face: Fredette

5th Grade Virtual: Young

We had over 500 Padlet entries and 30 winners for the Black Innovator Scavenger Hunt and Math Challenge Problem prize drawing! Thank you to our DEI Committee for designing the scavenger hunt and curating the list of featured Black leaders in STEAM!

Thank you again to our business SPONSORS!

3 students have been awarded a 2 month Mathnasium scholarship! All Talley students who enroll in Mathnasium before March 31st receive $100 off of registration--just be sure to mention the Talley Math-a-thon for the discount. Mathnasium also sponsored the event with a $300

cash donation!

Chick-fil-A and Diamond Dust Cupcakes donated coupons for free meals and free cupcakes for prize drawings.

Local business owner Christine Benta donated art kits for our overall individual winners as well as giving her time to make a video describing how she uses math to run cooking and art parties for clients. Check out Cooking and Canvas Creations on Facebook!

Bunnie Hillard is another local business owner who generously donated gift cards and her time to make a video to show our kids how important math skills are when you operate a bookshop. Check out Brave + Kind Bookshop to find your next good book!

Virtual Field Trip Opportunity

Join the Talley DEI Committee to transform Zoom into KaZoom Tuesday, March 23, at 7 p.m. for this fun 45-minute virtual event. Students will trace the history of Southern music, tying together Country, Trap, Hip Hop, and R&B to antebellum music, ragtime, and jazz. This event includes the opportunity to make music with our professional singer/songwriter and playing kazoos in our group “jam band.”

The history of Southern music includes the telling of Black history in a fun and unexpected way -- including understanding cultural appropriation in music.

This virtual field trip is FREE and open to the first 250 families who register (a waitlist is also available). A kazoo will be provided to each family. The link will be provided prior to the event.

OPTIONAL, MUST REGISTER AND ORDER BY MARCH 4: The $30 Music Evolution Field Trip in a Box includes chocolate and music-themed treats you can't find anywhere else:

Symphony Chips
4 of The Teabook's Artisteas
Indulge's gourmet popcorn
Moonshine Bars' gourmet chocolates' truffles (no alcohol)

A limited number of boxes will be available free to families who qualify. Please contact becky.slemons@gmail.com or text 770.855.2085.

The Myths of Racism and Beyond: Personal and Community Reflections

Please join us in January for the next The Myths of Racism and Beyond: Personal and Community Reflections, sponsored by the DEI Committee.

Whether you are a social justice champion or wrestling with these topics for the first time, this workshop will help all of us deepen our understanding of racism and strengthen our commitment to action.

Through independent individual reflections in a personal journal and group sessions reflecting as a community once a month, our Talley Street Upper Elementary community will examine the power of race and discuss its impact across racial lines. Everyone is invited to provide their voice, perspective, and experiences with the power of race.

The series will cover the article “The 10 Myths White People Believe About Racism,” with a paired bite-sized reading and short racial equity video assigned each month. It will include time for independent individual reflections through a personal journal and time for community reflections during group discussions once a month.

The remaining Community Reflections will be Thursdays from8-9 PM on Zoom on the following dates:

Mar 18

Apr 22

May 13

If you are unable to attend all sessions, you can work through the personal reflections asynchronously and join the community reflections as you can.

To participate, please fill out this google form. Email Charlie Copp with any questions. Charlie is a CSD parent and will help facilitate the series along with fellow Talley parent Elliott Robinson.

Decatur Education Foundation News

Grand Re-opening of the Decatur Student Center coming soon at DHS!

Thanks to a generous $25K donation from Decatur City Church to Joe’s Fund, DEF’s behavioral health initiative, the Decatur Student Center at DHS has been completely renovated and will open when in-person learning begins in March. The DSC was established to address our students’ nonacademic needs and will have dedicated space for one-on-one counseling, group counseling, and a ZenDen where students can go to relax and regroup. We’ll be posting photos and virtual tours soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to join the Joe’s Fund Challenge with a donation, please visit www.decatureducationfoundation.org/joesfund. You can help us match Decatur City Church’s gift to double the impact to ensure that we can continue to address the wide and varied needs of all of our kids.

The Tour Must Go On!

Due to Covid-19, DEF can’t host its annual Tour deCatur 5K and Fun Run in its usual in-person form. This year, we are offering a “Run Where You Are” 5K and Fun Run on the weekend of March 27th. 5K participants can register at www.tourdecatur.com where you can also order an event shirt. We hope this event will encourage the community to go outside to celebrate our health and the onset of spring. For some participants, this year’s Tour could be a goal to achieve or a fun family activity, and for others, it might just be exciting to have something to put on the calendar! 5K participants can submit a photo of their tracked time, and race results will be posted on the race website and on the DEF Facebook page in the week following the race.

Decatur Parents' Network Speaker Series

The next Decatur Parents' Network Speaker Series event is You NarCAN Save Lives. It will be March 7 from 3:30-5:00 on Zoom. Click the link below for more information!

From the City of Decatur

2020 Strategic Planning Input Nears Completion
From the hundreds of residents who participated in our in-person and then virtual Citizen Roundtables over the course of 2020 to the Virtual Forums collecting opinions and ideas of all types, to the more recent, topic-specific Decatur 202 sessions that drilled down on issues of mobility, housing, racial equity, and climate action, Decatur residents have been hard at work voicing their vision for the city’s next decade.

These front-end input opportunities for the 2020 Strategic Plan will be wrapping up soon, but it’s not too late to get your ideas on the table. Share any remaining thoughts online in our Virtual Forums which can be accessed at http://bit.ly/300tKT6.

Calling All Decatur Youth. We want to hear from YOU!
The Strategic Plan will help guide the City in deciding what’s most important to Decatur residents like YOU in the next 10 years.
Visit https://decatur2030.com/resources/ and look for the Youth Input section to share your ideas by March 15, 2021. Choose your response type and email your ideas to childfriendlydecatur@gmail.com. If you drew a picture, please take a photo and email it to us. Once input has completed, recommendations will begin to emerge for public review and comment so stay tuned for that as we move further into 2021.

Talley Street Passive Fundraising

Amazon Smile

We're now on Amazon Smile! Log into www.smile.amazon.com and log into your Amazon

account, then select Talley Street Upper Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, then save and the PTO will start getting quarterly deposits!

One important tip - you MUST be logged in via smile.amazon.com while shopping for us to

receive any funds.

Kroger Community Rewards

We are set up to receive funds from Kroger. From your account screens, select Community

Rewards and search for “Talley Street Upper Elementary School PTO." Select it and then you

should be all set. Every time you use your Kroger card, the PTO will benefit!

Box Tops

Box Tops have gone digital! Download the app, Box Tops for Education. Enter your

information, select Talley St., scan receipts and done! We will no longer be collecting paper box

tops. If you have any issues using the app, you can submit (via the app) the item not being

recognized on your receipt for credit.

Publix Partners

Looking for an easy way to support Talley Street PTO?

Who knew Passive Fundraising could be SO easy!! You don' need the key chain card anymore.

Follow the easy instructions on the link:

http://www.corporate.publix.com/community/corporate-campaigns/publix-partners

We’re set up as: Talley Street Upper Elementary School – Decatur, GA

www.csdecatur.net/opening - a repository for all documents, announcements, and communications about how CSD is handling the 2020-2021 school year.

www.csdecatur.net/nutrition - How to order meals

www.csdecatur.net/transportation
www.csdecatur.net/bustracker - How to sign up for the new Predictable Ryde Bus tracking app used for meal delivery, soon for the Fly-brary, mobile book delivery and when in-person learning resumes to track students on their buses
https://virtual.csdecatur.net/tech-help (how parents and staff can put in a tech support request)

https://virtual.csdecatur.net/students - classroom login information

https://virtual.csdecatur.net/parents - Virtual Learning Handbooks