Monthly Update #3
Friday, October 6, 2023
Monthly Update #3 | Friday, October 6, 2023
Factory Shoals Elementary School
Email: tosha.wright@dcssga.org
Website: fses.dcssga.org
Location: 2375 Mount Vernon Road, Lithia Springs, GA, USA
Phone: 770.651.3900
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Factoryshoalselementaryschool
Important Dates to Remember
Friday, October 6th - First Nine Weeks Ends
Monday, October 9-Friday, October 13th - Fall Break | No School
Wednesday, October 18th - Report Cards available in Infinite Campus
Friday, October 20th - PINK Out Day - Wear as much pink as possible in honor of Breast Cancer
Monday, October 23 - Friday, October 27th - Red Ribbon Dress Up Week
Annual Title I Parent Meeting: In-person : Tuesday, October 24th @ 6 PM
Annual Title I Parent Virtual meeting: Thursday, October 26th @ 10 AM
Thursday, October 26th - Fall Picture Re-take Day
Thursday, October 26th - Fall Festival 4:00-6:30 PM
September Students of the Month
Kindergarten
Isaac, Levi, & Braylon
First Grade
Seudi, Jerrod, & Jazmin
Second Grade
Neriah, Cristian, Skylar, & Adrian
Third Grade
Alondra, Destinee, Kennedy, & Jaelynn
Fourth Grade
Adriana, Romel, Luis, Williams, & Khloe
Fifth Grade
Kali, Timur, Teleah, & Marley
September Teacher of the Month
Mr. Jealon Richey
PE Teacher
September Staff Member of the Month
Mrs. Amanda Kennedy
IRR Paraprofessional
September Rookie Teacher of the Month
Teacher Sydnee Simms
Art Teacher
Character Trait List for October
Week of October 2, 2023 | Tolerance: Respecting the individual differences, views, and beliefs of others
Week of October 9-13, 2023 | HOLIDAY
Week of October 16, 2023 | Self-respect: Pride and confidence in oneself; feeling that one is behaving with honor and dignity.
Week of October 23, 2023 | Thoughtful: Being sensitive, thoughtful, subtle and considerate, having understanding.
Week of October 30, 2023 | Considerate: Careful not to cause hurt or inconvenience to others
Title I Compacts
On Wednesday, October 4th, a paper titled School-Parent Compact Cover Sheet was sent home on light blue paper. Please complete this form and return it to school no later than Wednesday, October 18th. Students who return their signed compact by this date will receive an ice cream party!
Parent Conferences
CALLING ALL PARENTS/GUARDIANS - your child's teacher will be sending home information for Parent -Teacher Conferences (if they haven't already). We are asking all parents to partner with us and meet with your child's teacher to get an understanding of how your child is progressing so far this school year.
Student Assessments
Star for Grades K-2
Our students in Grades Kindergarten, First and Second Grades will be the Star assessment in Reading and Math. This is a repeat of the universal screener they took in August. We will take it the week of October 16th so we can see how far our scholars have grown over the last nine weeks. Our students will take DRC BEACON in Reading and Math the week of October 16th.
Star Assessments are short tests that provide teachers with personalized learning data for each student. Star tests are computer adaptive, which means they adjust in difficulty to each answer students provide. This helps teachers get the best data to help students in the shortest amount of testing time (about one-third of the time other tests require). Students may take a Star test for early literacy, math, or reading. Teachers analyze the data they receive from Star Assessments to learn what students already know and what they are ready to learn next, to monitor student growth, and to determine which students may need additional help.
Star Assessments are research-based and scientifically proven to help teachers guide each student on their unique path to proficiency. Your child's teacher will share the parent reports once the assessment window is over.
Beacon for Grades 3rd-5th
DRC BEACON is a computer-adaptive assessment for grades 3–5 that illuminates student learning needs and measures growth throughout the year, allowing educators to target instruction and make informed decisions.
Checking for student learning should not be limited to once at the end of the year in a summative test. Today’s students want to know “where they stand,” parents want to know if their children are “on track,” and teachers need to know how they can adjust instruction in their classrooms in order to maximize student learning. The DRC BEACON assessment does exactly that—checks for student learning with real-time online reports at multiple points throughout the year, with the full battery or short, focused tests.
When students complete the tests, their scores include a growth measure, and indicate if they are in need of support, near, or prepared for grade-level targets. DRC BEACON is offered in both English Language Arts and Mathematics for grades 3–8 in an adaptive online format. The online adaptive format allows students, parents, and teachers to have a more accurate picture of achievement as the item difficulty adjusts to student ability levels and pinpoints a realistic indication and diagnosis of “where students are.”
DRC BEACON will give us a better picture of how our scholars will perform on the Georgia Milestones Assessment System tests they will take in late April 2024.
Help us by joining our PTA
Please complete this FORM if you are interested in joining our PTA.
i-Ready for Reading & Math
We now have i-Ready individualized learning path for all students in Kindergarten through 5th Grades!
What is i-Ready?
i-Ready is an online program for reading and mathematics that will help your student’s teacher(s)
determine your student’s needs, personalize their learning, and monitor progress throughout the
school year.
Students can access i-Ready from their DCSS Student Portal. See the attached flyers for more information! Your child's teacher can also help if you have any questions regarding i-Ready.
Student Check-Outs & School Attendance Policy
The Georgia Compulsory Attendance Law holds parents responsible for making sure that their children attend school. According to this attendance law, the only legal excuses for absences are
1. Personal illness
2. Death in the immediate family
3. Religious holidays
Although attendance at school is very important, students with a contagious illness or fever should be kept home. Upon returning to school after an absence, a written excuse must be given to the homeroom teacher within three days. Students who are absent miss instruction that is vital to the mastery of the standards. Students are tardy to school after the 7:40 AM bell. Students who are tardy miss valuable instruction and disrupt the class. If a student is late, a parent must escort his/her child to the office for a tardy pass before the student goes to class. Again, students who are repeatedly checked out prior to the end of the instructional day (2:10 PM) miss valuable instructional time.
2023-2024 Student & Family Handbook for FSES & DCSS
Here you will find the FSES Student & Family Handbook.
Here you will find the DCSS Elementary Student Handbook.
Transportation Changes
FSES Staff Shout-outs
Complete the FORM here.
DCSS School Calendars
Have you joined us on Remind & ClassDojo?
Our school code for Remind is: @fsesga
Join our school on Class Dojo using this link.
We will use Remind for all communication with families. We will use Class Dojo as our school-wide behavior management tool. Please be sure to sign up for both. Our staff is also available via email (first name.last name @ dcssga.org) or via phone at 770-651-3900.
Go Guardian
School Nutrition: Breakfast and Lunch
If your child has a negative lunch balance, they will not be accepted into any FSES extracurricular activities until that balance is cleared.
Infinite Campus Parent Portal
Here Comes the Bus & Bus Expectations
Here Comes the Bus is available for parents and students to download now. To sign up, visit the Apple or Android store, or visit www.herecomesthebus.com.
Students are still encouraged to arrive at their stop five to ten minutes early and to follow any additional instructions given by drivers. Please sign up for Here Comes the Bus. You can use code 79003.
As your children board the bus each morning, please help us and remind them of our bus rules. Students should stay seated in assigned seat, there is to be no eating or drinking on the bus and students should use their inside voices. Students should also keep their hands and other objects to themselves while riding the bus.
School bus transportation is a privilege afforded pupils by the Board of Education. It is not a right. To protect the safety and well-being of all involved, pupils must adhere to established bus conduct rules. Bus transportation privilege may be revoked if the pupil does not observe bus conduct expectations.
Late Bus Information
Morning & Afternoon Car Rider Procedures
Morning Arrival to FSES
Car riders may only be dropped off and picked up within the designated car rider zone.
Morning student drop-off begins at 7:00 AM in the car rider lane.
As the car approaches the drop-off location, students should unbuckle themselves, have their bookbag on, and place any materials being carried in their hands.
Please move forward until directed to stop. Once stopped, please remember to unlock doors. In the morning, we typically unload three to four cars at a time.
Students MUST wait until FSES School Staff opens the car door in order to proceed from vehicles. Students should not get out of the car by themselves. This is for the safety of all students.
If possible, all students should be loaded and unloaded through passenger side doors- Curb Side.
Do not drive around or pass cars that are still unloading. Vehicles will wait until all children have exited their vehicle before proceeding to the exit. Like school bus loading and unloading zones, violators will have license plates turned over to the DCSS Police Department.
Vehicles NOT in line when the clock turns 7:40 AM will be directed to sign the child in through the front office.
Students coming in through the front office must be escorted into the building by a parent or guardian.
Afternoon Dismissal from FSES
The afternoon car rider line begins at 1:50 PM.
Afternoon dismissal of car riders begins at 2:10 PM.
Please do not use cell phones once the car pick-up line begins to move.
The school-issued car rider tag is required for pick-up. (Even if we know who you are. You must have a car rider tag to pick up a child.) If you do not have a tag, you will be directed to the front office to get one. Additional tags are $2.
A staff member is responsible for radioing your child's car rider number. Please wait until they have done so before moving on in the line.
Move all the way forward until directed to stop.
Vehicles should be placed in park.
Normally, three students are loaded into cars at a time.
Children will enter the car on the right-hand side.
Parents or Guardians should remain in the vehicle at all times.
Once the child is loaded, you may proceed to the exit.
If a child needs assistance with getting buckled in, your vehicle should move forward towards the exit. Do not assist while in the line.
Vehicles need to be in line by 2:35 PM. After 2:35 PM you will need to pick your child up from the front office.
Students waiting after the car rider line ends will be placed in the After School Program and a fee will be assessed.
If you or the person who is picking up your child in the afternoon does not have the hanging FSES 2023-2024 Car Rider Identification card, they will have to pick up the child from the front office and have their ID available for our front office staff to check. This is for the safety of your child. Thank you for your understanding.
We thank you in advance for adhering to our rules as they all help keep your students safe around moving vehicles.
FSES is a No Cell Phone Zone
We recognize that electronic devices are an important part of our everyday world and are increasingly being used in teaching and learning. However, we want to be sure that any devices at school are being used as an appropriate instructional tool, and their use does not interfere with our students’ learning environment.
Factory Shoals is proud to provide student access to Chrome Books in all of our classrooms. Students should only use electronic devices under the direct supervision of their teacher, so there is absolutely no need for students to bring their own devices from home. This includes cell phones, smart watches, iPads, and tablets. We believe that elementary school students are not equipped to deal with the responsibilities of having unsupervised access to technology, and their brains are not quite ready to handle such distractions at school.
If your child must bring a device to school in order to communicate with you after school hours, then please remind them of the following:
Electronic devices brought from home will be kept in the backpack turned off during the school day and will not ring or cause disruption to the instruction in the classroom.
Thank you for helping us to make Factory Shoals an amazing place where students value their education!
Student Birthdays
We do not allow birthday parties during lunch, whole birthday cakes or any birthday treats that are not individually wrapped.
We enjoy honoring our students on their birthday. We announce the birthday child’s name on the morning announcements and allow families to bring in treats within the guidelines below.
Cupcakes/snacks must be store bought AND prepackaged/individually wrapped.
Also, you may want to think about non-food items. The items listed below will still make your child feel special and they will last a lot longer than a food item.
- A game for the classroom
- A classroom book (A nice touch would be having your child pick it out, sign it, and date it.)
- A classroom set of items for each child to keep such as pencils, pens, erasers, markers, etc.
Bilingual Family Liaison
Mr. Hector Cotte is our Bilingual Family Liaison. He speaks Spanish and is here to help parents improve their understanding of the school and the school system, while maximizing their involvement in school activities and helping to minimize any linguistic barriers. You can reach Mr. Cotte at hector.cotte@dcssga.org or 770.651.3937.
Bilingual Liaison
Phone: 770.651.2223
Email: lizzy.kilgore@dcssga.org