Generals eNews
Back to School Edition
When Generals Connect... Together, Everyone Achieves More
Welcome Back Generals
Greetings Annistown Community!
It is my pleasure to welcome you back to another wonderful school year. I am extremely honored to continue this journey of leading and learning together as a school community. We are looking forward to a successful school year, filled with learning, excitement and growth. I imagine that the fall reopening of schools has been weighing heavy on your mind. There has never been a time in education that has presented such complex challenges; yet, this is an opportunity to create, collaborate and adopt new and invigorating opportunities for our students. Please accept the invitation to be a part of the best possible solution by actively participating as we navigate this opportunity to move our school forward while ensuring the safety of our students, staff and community.
Our cluster theme this year is GENERALS CONNECT! As a community of schools, we will be focused on building strong partnerships with our staff, students, families and the community. It is critical that we build those strong connections in order to support one another during these uncertain times. When GENERALS CONNECT… Together, Everyone Achieves More! I know that we will be successful, no matter with what we are faced. This is because the faculty and staff at Annistown believes in the promise of educational excellence. As we CONNECT, your partnership and support are key elements to ensuring that we are able to maximize each student’s educational and personal development. To that end, we encourage a positive home-school relationship based on the mutual goal of providing the best learning experience possible for all of our students.
We know that this year will be one that is very different from any other school year. However, T.E.A.M. Annistown accepts only excellence. When we CONNECT, we cannot help but to be successful. As we embark upon this journey, I invite you to think about a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” I am confident that we will blaze a trail filled with success and accomplishment together as we launch another AMAZING school year at Annistown.
Again, it is my privilege to lead such an outstanding school community, and I look forward to the partnerships that will develop throughout our journey to accomplish both a rewarding and successful school year.
Generals Salute,
Gwenda Nimmo - Smith
Digital Learning at Annistown
The following information details the structure of the digital learning schedule for Annistown Elementary.
Morning Meeting
Teachers and staff will begin each day with a morning meeting. Morning meeting is a daily live check in with students. During this time, the teachers will meet with the whole class to build relationships, develop a classroom community, provide connection opportunities for peers, and prepare students for the learning ahead. The morning meeting will take place at the same time each day.
Balance of Synchronous and Asynchronous Teaching and Learning Opportunities
Synchronous (live) lessons will focus on content and AKS needing more support.
Small group and individual synchronous instruction will take place for students daily to differentiate their learning based on formative assessment and classwork results.
Asynchronous (recorded) mini-lessons will provide students with independent practice on content and AKS (Academic Knowledge and Skills).
Content Areas
Students will receive instruction in ELA (English/Language Arts) and MA (Math) daily following the district instructional framework.
SC (Science) and SS (Social Studies) instruction will alternate weekly.
Fridays
Fridays will be a day of learning.
No new content provided to students on Fridays. However, students will meet with teachers for synchronous sessions and complete assigned tasks.
Assessments and/or interventions may be given.
Teachers will communicate their Friday schedule.
Teacher Office Hours
Teachers will have office hours for individual questions from students and parents embedded throughout their daily schedules. Additionally, 8:00am - 8:50am is open by appointment.
Special Areas
Students will stay with the same special all week.
Students should complete lessons/projects by the end of the week.
Special Areas teachers will post live and recorded lessons and assignments.
Special Area teachers will meet with each class on Fridays.
Special Area teachers will communicate the meeting times for each class.
See parent guide below for additional details.
Digital Learning Parent Guide
2020 - 2021 Calendar
Students without a completed 2020 – 2021 School Lunch Application will be charged the
regular price for all school meals.
Electronic Devices and Hot Spots
Ideally all students should have access to a device (smart phone, tablet, chrome book/laptop) for digital learning. Some parts of the school day can be done on a smartphone (live check in), tablet (recorded lesson) and others are best on a chrome book/laptop. While the school does have some chrome books, there are not enough to make 1:1 devices for all AES students. At this time, the needs of our families exceeds our inventory. We will be checking out our limited supply of devices on a tiered basis. We will begin with our families that selected digital and in most need identified through the parent survey. We will then move on to check out to families that may have called or emailed to request a device.
At this time, there is a waiting list for parent requests. Once we receive additional devices, parents will be notified when they can pick up a device.
Hot spots will be distributed in the same manner beginning with those families that identified a need on the survey. We will do our best to support requests for devices. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
Connect With Us
Email: gwenda.nimmo.smith@gcpsk12.org
Website: https://www.gcpsk12.org/AnnisTownES
Location: 3150 Spain Road, Snellville, GA, USA
Phone: 770-979-2950
Twitter: @annistownes