Talley Street Update
October 7, 2021
Dear Talley Street Community,
I hope everyone is having a great week. I need your help with our morning arrival. We continue to have parents trying to make left hand turns in and out of the school’s parking lot. Left hand turns are not allowed during carpool hours. The hours are shown on the image below. Also, continue to turn on your car signals as you approach the Talley Street marquee. It is becoming increasingly difficult to determine who is turning into the parking lot and who is going straight.
We are also having parents use the bus lane to drop off their child. All car riders should be dropped off at the parking lot entrance. I realize that the line can get backed up. But please be patient and wait in line like the vast majority of our parents are doing. Beginning Monday, after the buses have left, Talley Street staff will be placing cones in the bus lane until after 8:30. This has become a safety and equity issue. We will continue to look at ways to improve the process and ask for your patience. Thank you so much!
Billy
CSD Updates
School Nutrition Department
We are celebrating National School Lunch Week from October 11 - 15, 2021! We will be serving all your favorite meals with a newly named twist: see our menus for more details. Eating school lunch is one of the best ways to ensure a well-balanced diet for your child, at NO COST to your family during this school year. Children participating in school meals are less likely to have nutrient inadequacies and are more likely to consume fruit, vegetables, and milk at breakfast and lunch (FRAC.org). Very few packed lunches and snacks brought from home meet the USDA school nutrition program standards.
We are asking for ALL our CSD students to wear animal print or jungle-themed clothing on Friday October 15th to celebrate #NSLW2021 with us! Our nutrition staff will also be dressing up at every school site on that day. Throughout the week we will have themed coloring pages, stickers, bookmarks, and even fun music playing some days during meal service! Our goal is to increase lunch participation at every school site for the week. We want to give a big thank you to our community for continuing to support our school nutrition program.
K-5 Saturday School Sessions
The K-5 Saturday school sessions are open to all K-5 CSD students but space is limited. If you have staff members that are interested in working I am still accepting interest forms HERE. They do NOT have to commit to all dates and pay will be their individual hourly rate.
Sessions will include about 6 highly engaging hands-on learning stations with energetic CSD teachers and staff. The first session will focus primarily on math standards but the focus will change from month to month. Enrollment will remain open until spaces are filled for each grade level.
CSD Transportation Department
The City Schools of Decatur Transportation Department is happy to announce the adoption of an innovative mobile device app and website entitled, Here Comes the Bus®.
Here Comes the Bus is a bus and student tracking software tool that helps keep you informed and your children safe as they travel to and from home and school on the school bus. This free app can simply be downloaded, create a secure account, add your students and you’re all set!
See our School Code here: City Schools of Decatur ( 29749 )
What will you see with Here Comes the Bus?
Real-time location of your child’s bus on a map
Scheduled and actual bus arrival times at home and school
Confirmation that your child’s bus has arrived at the bus stop, at school or both
Push notification* and email alert when:
The bus has entered the radius around the home stop
The bus has been substituted
To sign up to track your child's bus, click here.
To learn more about Here Comes the Bus, visit http://www.herecomesthebus.com.
Have Questions? please contact the school district via email hctb@csdecatur.net
Talley Updates
Hispanic Heritage Month
Title I Annual Parent Meeting
Please come and join us for our upcoming Title I Annual Parent Zoom Meeting. During this meeting we will discuss:
- What is a Title I school?
- How does our school spend Title money?
- How does our school participate in the Title I Program?
- Title I Schoolwide Plans and Foals
Title I Annual Parent Meeting
Wednesday, October 27, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Zoom link is forthcoming!
FitnessGram
Information about FitnessGram and thenew requirements can be found at:
www.fitnessgram.net
www.georgiashape.org
Georgia Department of Education-Physical Education
PTO Corner
Class Fund Pool
Thank you parents who have already contributed!
These are the last 4 weeks of our joint Class Funds Pool collection. We will close the Pool on Friday October 29th. This is a collection for 54 Teachers (Homeroom, co-teachers & Specials) in this Pool. Typically, class funds cover gifts for birthday, holiday, teacher appreciation week and end of year as well as any extra class supply needs.
Thank you for helping us support our Talley teachers!
Questions? Please contact one of our Room Parent Coordinators (Dori Coblentz, India Epps, or Lynda Kim) at RPCoordinator@talleypto.org.
DEI Equity Series
Save the Date for Talley's Reading Rally!
The Talley PTO in partnership with our presenting sponsor, Jambo Books, is excited to announce our 2nd annual Reading Rally Fundraiser Friday, October 15 - Friday October 22! Our theme this year is Tigers RAWr!: Reading Around the World--A Celebration of Global Poetry. Our goal is for students to read 75,000 minutes in 7 days! They will set goals, find sponsors, log minutes, and collect donations on the PTO website. Due to the pandemic, we will continue to run the logistics of the Reading Rally virtually. For directions on how to set up a Reading Rally campaign, click here. You are not required to find sponsors for your child to log minutes, although we certainly appreciate the support. We want all students to participate so they are eligible for a chance to win special prizes!
Starting Monday, 10/18 each day of the Reading Rally will feature a poem written by a different poet from around the world. Shout out to Mijha Godfrey, owner of Jambo Books, for her work in finding diverse poems to spotlight and for donating Jambo Book Boxes to winners!
Stay tuned for more details...
Please contact Kimberly Mohl with any questions at fundraising@talleypto.org.
Amazon Wishlist
October Snack Cart
Thank you to our third grade families who made the September Snack Cart a success! Our teachers and staff appreciated the goodies and the kind cards!
This month, our fourth grade families are asked to donate snacks, beverages or thank you notes throughout the month that will be distributed on October 15 and October 29. Please sign up here. Items can be dropped off at the front desk or you may want to check Amazon or Walmart for delivery to the school.
Passive Fundraising
Please visit the Talley PTO website to find out how to sign up for passive fundraisers through Minted, Publix, Kroger, Amazon Smile and Box Tops for Education.
Community Updates
Attention 3rd Grade Families!
City of Decatur
A Discussion about Trust Between Citizens and Public Institutions | Wednesday, Oct. 13 • 6-7:30 p.m.
Join Decatur High School student leader and member of the Student Coalition for Equity Kayla Evans, alumni and co-founder of the Coalition Koan Roy-Meighoo, and City Schools of Decatur Superintendent Dr. Fehrman as they take part in a panel discussion with Fonta High (co-chair of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance) and Captain Jennifer Ross (Decatur Police Department) on the importance of trust between citizens and public institutions. The event will create space for an honest dialog about trust as the foundation for constructive and purposeful civic engagement and institutional responsiveness. The conversation will explore the trust deficit in the United States and how that impacts race relations in particular, as well as discuss effective strategies to nurture trust between citizens and public institutions.
Visit decaturga.com/speakerseries for additional details and to register.
Decatur Acts on Affordable Housing Task Force Report
The City of Decatur has implemented several recommendations from the Affordable Housing Task Force report and will host three focused conversations on the Missing Middle Housing policy to inform final policy recommendations. Each session will have a short panel discussion before entering into participant breakout rooms for further conversations, concluding with Q&A portion. Visit www.decaturga.com/affordablehousing to learn more about these recommendations and the history of housing in Decatur and to register for the sessions. If you wish to submit a question for the panel email Kristin.allin@decaturga.com.
In addition to the sessions, a community survey is available until November 15 to collect input from the community on potential zoning changes to Decatur’s neighborhoods. Visit surveymonkey.com/r/MissingMiddleHousingSurvey to complete the survey.
A hotline is also available from 1-4 p.m., Tuesday thru Thursday, Oct. 26 – Nov. 11 for the public to call to ask questions, make comments or learn about specific events. During this time period, call 470-868-5114.
Decatur Education Foundation
It's October, or as we like to call it “Festober!” The 10th Annual Madison Ave Derby is happening on October 16th and is bound to be a fun-filled day! Bring the family out to see some creative and FAST handcrafted machines roll down Madison Avenue while enjoying food from Universal Joint and King of Pops. This year's Derby beneficiary is the Decatur Student Center, located in CSD Decatur High School and equipped to attend to our students' behavioral health and nonacademic needs. To learn more about the Student Center, please visit www.decatureducationfoundation/behavioral-health. See you at the Derby!
Homework Help: We are continuing our Virtual Pals tutoring program in which we pair a 2nd-8th grade student with an upper high school student or adult volunteer to help with homework, time management, and motivation. If you would like to sign your student up for the program, you can go here: https://forms.gle/nLrKbwkXyvYjEAJB8
Could you be a mentor? We’re also seeking 15 women and 15 men volunteers to serve as mentors for our AIM Scholars mentoring program. Third grade students are paired with an adult mentor who help them by supporting their Academics and explore their Interests; Mentors also help their students connect to educational and enrichment opportunities. For just 2-4 hours per month, you can have a meaningful impact in the life of a student. For more information, please visit www.decatureducationfoundation.org/mentoring
Social Media and Contact Information
Social Media and Contact Information
You can find more information on the following Facebook pages:
Talley Street Upper Elementary School PTO
Talley Street Upper Elementary School Parents
For news in the Media Center and from our school counselors, check out their websites:
For more about the Talley Street PTO, visit their website here: https://talleypto.org/