Good Evening Brightwood Tiger. This is Principal Stokes. Welcome to Our Game Changing School Year!

Please remember welcome our Tigers into the building beginning at 7:05 am.

This week our third-grade students will be taking their 3rd Grade BOG on Wednesday Sept. 14. We invite you to come out Thursday Sept. 15 to support our Brightwood Steppers as they will serve be part of the GCS Celebration of Excellence Red Carpet Greeting from 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm at Eastern High School.

We also Invite students and staff on Thursday to Make their mark wear a Dot or several dots to celebrate International Dot Day based off the book, The Dot. The Dot is a story of a perceptive and caring teacher who reaches a reluctant student who thinks she can’t draw by encouraging her to be brave enough to “just make a mark and see where it takes you.”

Parents remember our safety protocols include that parents are not allowed to enter the building during our morning drop off and afternoon pick up times. When only students enter the building during these times, we can keep laser focus eyes on the children and are also more equipped to recognize any potential suspicious activity. We welcome you to contact the school and/or your child’s teacher to schedule 15-minute classroom visits and meetings. Parents are not allowed to eat lunch with students as of right now we are just now transitioning back to eating in the cafeteria. We are teaching our children the cafeteria expectations.

We ask that all car riders cars enter through the car rider loop, which is off of Brightwood School Road, following the 10-mile speed limit sign, in a single file line that will go all the way around the circle to the front. Staff will be along the side walk to motion traffic to move forward, open car doors, greet you and our tigers. We will then direct students into the building and to class. Inside the building we also have additional staff that will help support our Tigers getting to their classes.

To maintain a steady flow of traffic, we ask parents to please remain in your cars during the drop off and pick up process. We ask that our tigers sit on right hand side of each vehicle with all their items including their One Card ready to exit the vehicle as you follow the traffic pattern. Please note that exiting left from the parking lot will very difficult due to constant flow of traffic on Brightwood School Road and with the stop light at the corner of the street. We ask that our Tigers Riding the bus have their One Cards as well so that they can scan their cards to get on and off of their assigned bus. We thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we navigate the first couple of weeks.

The main parking lot is for staff parking, students with special accommodations and buses only.

Parents please know that we have safety precautions in place to protect all children and staff. All staff are GCS employees which means we have been screened with background checks. To prevent incidents of students being misplaced which include parental custody disputes that can potentially lead to child abduction and/or violence that typically happen during school transition times where students are picked up and dropped off. We ask that you support us by honoring our procedures.

School dismissal will begin at 2:13, instruction ends at 2:10 pm. Please make sure you have photo ID with you each day if you need to pick your child up early for appointment and emergencies which is before 1:45 pm. Please make sure you sign up for ClassDojo to receive your child’s class and our school information and updates. For your child to be a walker they must live in our verified walk zone which is within a mile radius from the school.

Our drop off and afternoon pick up procedures were shared at open house and were also placed on the School ClassDojo Story and is outlined in our Student Handbook. Please make sure you review all procedures.

We thank you so much for all that you do! Remember it is always a Great Day to Be a Brightwood Tiger! Have a wonderful evening remember to be amazing, because you are Amazing.

Love Always Your Proud Principal

Ms. LaTrice Stokes

Our Vision

Brightwood is a community of 21st century learners who value the importance of education by consistently promoting mutual respect, personal responsibility, and high expectations.

Our Mission Statement

The Brightwood School Community will create a positive learning environment where individual needs are met through:

• Establishing and developing relationships using clear coherent expectations for students, parents, staff and community.
• Consistent implementation of Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS).
• Rigorous instruction focused on students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, information and technology skills, and collaboration.
• Progression towards highly functioning Professional Learning Communities (PLC).

Brightwood Creed

The Brightwood Creed sets the tone of the day for students and creates a focus for them. It will be recited by all students each morning during the morning announcements. While the creed is recited, all movement and talking throughout the building should cease, especially in the hallways.

As a Brightwood Tiger, I will show:

P - Personal Responsibility

R - Respect

I - Integrity

D - Determination

E - Excellence

I will be successful!

Class Dojo: https://www.classdojo.com/invite/?s=558088396f0c41f11aa7f628

School Website: https://www.gcsnc.com/Brightwood_Elementary

Twitter: @BrightwoodES

Facebook: @BrightwoodElem