Midway Mustang Memo
September 2022
Dear Mustang Families,
We hope everyone enjoyed a safe and long Labor Day weekend! Thank you to the many families that attended our in-person Curriculum Nights last week. It was a thrill to welcome you into the building and we hope the sessions were informative. If you were unable to attend, please check out your child's class itsLearning page. The Curriculum Night slides are available for you to look over. Teachers reviewed both classroom and schoolwide protocols and procedures. A critical topic discussed was student attendance...it matters. Daily attendance in school matters as it not only supports academic growth, it also helps students build strong connections with peers and staff members. Teachers shared our Midway Attendance policy with parents, as well. Please check your child's folder for a copy of the attendance policy sent home to families that were unable to be at Curriculum Night. Take a few minutes to read over, sign, and return the form to school.
In addition, information regarding student birthday celebrations was shared. Our wonderful cafe' is available to partner with parents to provide ice cream or cookies for the class in honor of a child's birthday. These orders need to be made a week in advance to ensure the items are available. The order form can be found on our Midway website using this link.
In regards to student lunches, we need your help. We have noticed several students are bringing lunch in glass containers. This creates a safety concern. Several glass containers have fallen and broken. In an effort to keep everyone safe, we are asking that student lunches be sent in stainless steel or plastic containers. Thank you so much for your help and support with this safety concern.
Lastly, we would like for you to "Be Our Guest!" Midway is excited to welcome guests back into the building to have lunch with their child. Due to the size of our cafeteria, we are allowing one family member per class per day to enjoy lunch with their child. When signing up, we ask that you only sign-up for one slot this semester, leaving other families the opportunity to eat with their child. The sign-up for 5th, 3rd, and 1st grade lunches will begin on September 12th. The sign-up for Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grades will begin the week of September 19th.
Please help us congratulate Angela Vallier on being named Midway’s Teacher of the Year for the 22-23 school year! We are so proud of Mrs. Vallier and she is so deserving of this honor. Mrs. Vallier supports our Mustang students, staff, and families as our Art Teacher Extraordinaire.
We are so grateful to our PTO as they continuously support our school in numerous ways and we want to extend a huge thank you for their dedication to our students and staff! We've had a great kick-off to our first PTO fundraiser this year. Thank you to all families who have or will be contributing to the fundraiser.
In addition, PTO will also be partnering with Mellow Mushroom to host our first Midway Spirit Night on Monday, September 12th from 4:00-9:00 p.m. at Mellow Mushroom Pizza at the Collection. A portion of each purchase, both dine-in and take out, will be donated back to our Midway PTO which in turn supports our students. Be sure to mention you are part of the Midway Elementary family when placing your order. It will be greatly appreciated by all!
Our Fall Break will be coming up in a few weeks (September 26-30). There will be no school. We want everyone to enjoy the time with your families and we send safe wishes for a fabulous Fall Break! We will return to school on Monday, October 3rd. In October, we will also have Student-led conferences. Look for more information from your teachers soon regarding conference schedules and details.
Thank you so much for your partnership!
Daphne Rogers, Principal
Jennifer Brown, Assistant Principal
Davis Barlow, Admin Assistant
Important Dates
Sept 26-30: Fall Break
October 17-20: Book Fair
October 19th and 20th: Early Release/Parent Teacher Conferences
October 21st: No School
FurKids Donations
Counselor's Corner
Your Counseling Department is excited to announce that this year we are doing Coffee With Your Counselors throughout the year. Our first one will be held on September 8th at 9:00am. Please see the flyer below for more details. We ask that all parents fill out the survey in the flyer even if you are not able to make it. We value your input and want to partner with our parents in developing Midway Leaders who are Strong in Mind, Body, and Spirit.
We hope you will join us. As always, please feel free to contact one of us for more information.
Mrs. Hodges and Mrs. Malcolm
Leader in Me-Be Proactive – Habit #1
Be Proactive – Habit #1
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
During the month of September, Midway students will learn more about being proactive and our circle of influence. Our Circle of Control is the area of our lives that we have direct control over—our attitudes, relationships, and decisions. Midway Leaders who are proactive focus on their Circle of Control to positively affect change in their Circle of No Control.
Family worksheet about how to Be Proactive this month.
News from Nurse Berry
Thank you to all the parents who have supplied paperwork regarding their child’s health condition, and medication if applicable. If your child has a health condition and you need an action plan, please let me know. As a reminder, you can always keep medication in the clinic to help your child be more comfortable at school, things like Tylenol and cough drops. . However, only parents can bring medication to the clinic, children cannot carry medicine to school..
The guidelines for Covid 19 have changed for this school year. We still need to be aware if your child is diagnosed with Covid 19 (either with home test or PCR) We no longer contact trace in the classroom or bus. If there is a case in the classroom, you will receive a letter notifying you. We no longer quarantine for exposure at school. It is only recommended with a direct contact at home to observe for 5 days for symptoms. If there is an exposure at home, please reach out for guidance. The link below is the Forsyth county schools Covid 19 guidelines.
Guidance Related to Viruses and/or Infections - Forsyth County Schools
Guidance Related to Viruses and/or Infections 7/14/22 All FCS students and staff are asked to follow guidance related to COVID-19 from their healthcare providers
Please remember if your child has vomited/diarrhea or had fever (100.5 or higher), they need to stay home until symptom free for 24hrs without medication.
Encourage your students to build healthy habits by eating well, sleeping enough, and washing hands frequently to avoid getting sick. There will still be the annual community annual flu clinic held in October on 19th, more information will follow. . As always, if your child has a communicable disease, please notify the teacher and nurse.
There is limited clothing in the clinic for students to change into if they have an accident at school. Please send your child in with an extra set of clothing. Also, LABEL all belongings.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. Also, there is lots of useful information on my page on the school website.
Keri Berry, LPN
School Nurse
Midway PTO updates
Midway PTO thanks all the Midway Families that became PTO members for the 2022/2023 school year and that participated in our annual Ice Cream Social event. PTO is so excited for the new school year with new events and new initiatives! Please help us raise money for the school and kids by joining PTO today: www.MidwayPTO.org.
1) Step IT UP - Golden Ticket 2 Days to Complete!
2) Spirit Night - Sept 12th Mellow Mushroom 5:00PM - 9:00PM
3) Fall Festival - Oct 28th
We hope to see you at all our events this year. Please join us on our first Spirit Night on Sept 12th at Mellow Mushroom, we are gonna have a fun Midway Pizza Party night!!!
Join PTO: www.MidwayPTO.org
From the Midway Café
Halal Burger will be offered only on Burger day. Link is on Midway Website under Quick Links.
Please make sure your student has money on their café accounts for breakfast and lunch.
Birthday celebrations can be made through the Birthday Celebration link is Midway Website under Quick Links.
More information on lunch prices and free and reduced lunch applications can be found on Midway's Cafe Website. https://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/domain/912
Math Corner
Parents often ask, “How can I support my child at home in the area of math?” As a former first grade teacher for many years and now math instructional coach, I recognize the importance of having specific conversations with your child about their day. Being intentional with asking content-specific questions, such as, “What did you do today in math?” What did you learn that was knew?” “What was something that challenged you?” helps your child reflect on their learning, make connections, and create meaning.
In addition to having meaningful conversations, I encourage you to review your child’s classwork and assessments that come home weekly. Spend time with your child and have him/her explain the skill and purpose of the activity. Together, review any concepts and strategies that were not quite mastered and rework the problem(s) with him/her.
Finally, stay up-to-date with the specific concepts your child is working on in class by reading newsletters, emails, and/or the ItsLearning Planner from his/her teacher. This way you’ll always be in the know.
Check out this useful at-home resource that engages students in deep mathematical thinking with little prep work for parents! Math At Home from the Math Learning Center
As always, reach out to your child’s teacher, or to me, for additional support or questions.
Mary Catherine Adam
Math Instructional Coach
Spotlight on Literacy
Greetings, Parents!
We are off to a phenomenal start with reading! Students in grades K-5 are engaged in reading at least 30 minutes daily in their classroom. For each 15 minutes a student reads, they write 1 step in their reading log. Students are logging at least 2 steps at school, daily. Reader engagement is high, and students are celebrating how much reading stamina they have!
Teachers are meeting with each student individually to match them with more "just right" books. Students should be paired with a reading level of these "just right" books, along with a Power Goal for practice by September 15th.
Beginning September 6th, your child will be bringing home their reading log so they can engage in 30 minutes of reading at home as well. Over the weekends, a total of 30 minutes is recommended.
Students may read anything of interest. Continuing this engagement with and passion for reading is critical for continued reading growth. Thank you for supporting your child's love and passion for books!
I am happy to support you!
Sarah LeBlanc
Literacy Coach
ECF Chromebook Request
Parents/Guardians,
Does your child need a Chromebook at home to complete schoolwork or do your children have to share a computer (with you or another child)? If you said, "yes", then we have a solution for you. Forsyth County Schools was provided over 7,000 Chromebooks as part of the federal Emergency Connectivity Fund program to help with the lack of devices at home.
Fill out the online form linked below by September 16th to request a Chromebook. If you have students at multiple schools, each school will have a different form to complete so only fill this linked form for your students attending Midway.
Chromebooks will be prioritized by financial hardship and then the number of students sharing a device at home. Please note, by completing the request form you are not guaranteed to receive a Chromebook. Midway will notify those receiving a Chromebook the schedule for distribution of Chromebooks.
Technology Information
Parents have an important role in online safely as well. At Forsyth County Schools, we value the rich learning experiences that technology brings to our classrooms. We believe that our students must be taught how to use online resources responsibly. With parents and guardians as our partners, we can help our students to gain skills, understanding, and mind-sets that will enable them to be responsible and safe in digital environments. Please follow this link for more information on how Forsyth County and parents can help their students stay safe in a digital world.
Use your student's log in information when looking at Itslearning. Parents can see the planner and other information. Itslearning parent info guide
Please contact Jennifer Lundstrum if you have any other questions.
MyFCS CLASSLINK
MyOn
Dreambox
REMIND
Join the 22-23 Parent remind by texting the message @midw22 to the number 81010.
Midway Elementary
School Handbook
Midway Elementary School
Email: jlundstrum@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Website: www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/midway
Location: 4805 Atlanta Highway, Alpharetta, GA, United States
Phone: 770-475-6670
Facebook: facebook.com/midwayes
Twitter: @MidwayES
Forsyth County Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, or gender in employment decisions or educational programs and activities.