Morris Memo
November 26, 2018 LWE Newsletter
Principal's Letter
Dear LWE Families,
I hope your Thanksgiving break was fun and restful! My husband, boys and I enjoyed a visit with extended family in Clearwater, Florida which is always a treat! It is so important to have downtime as a family in order to reconnect due to the busyness of our lives. Creating memories with our children is definitely something we should prioritize whether we are relaxing at home or traveling the world!
As you know, Ms. Farrar and I had the honor of traveling to Washington, D.C. to accept the National Blue Ribbon award on behalf of the LWE students and staff a couple of weeks ago. What an amazing experience it was! It was so refreshing to be amongst educators from all over our country who also love serving students and supporting their educational needs. Ms. Farrar and I were able to bring a minature "Wally Gator" with us, and we documented our adventures with him by taking pictures as we toured the historic sites around Washington, D.C. We have shared our pictures and journey with students and staff through our closed circuit television system. Next time you visit LWE, check out our National Blue Ribbon plaque in the trophy case in the front lobby!
On Friday prior to the break, we were lucky to get a visit from the First Lady of Georgia, Mrs. Sandra Deal. She read a book to one of our third grade classes and spoke to them about the importance of writing about what they know and sharing it with others.
Coming up on Thursday, November 29th, we are getting to host a Safety Day event where law enforcement agencies from all over Georgia will come to our school and discuss their jobs and show us their vehicles and equipment used to do their work. We were lucky enough to host the same event a little over 4 years ago and cannot wait to welcome them to LWE again!
Have a great week!
Julie Morris
Mrs. Morris and Ms. Farrar in Washington, D.C with Area Superintendent, Mrs. Crumbley
A special guest
Mrs. Deal visits LWE!
3rd Grade Teachers (Current & Past)
Kindergarten Thanksgiving Performance
LEGOS and Makerspace at LWE!
We are very excited to share that Lake Windward Elementary was chosen to participate in the Siemens STEM Outreach Program. Siemens generously donated fifteen LEGO Early Simple Machines kits to our media center which will be used to initiate our new makerspace stations with all classes in our school. In addition to the donation of these wonderful LEGO kits, Siemens will host a formal STEM training with LEGO, which our Media and Educational Technology Instructor, Mrs. Brandon, has been invited to attend. The makerspace stations in our media center will impact student learning by creating interactive, inquiry-based learning activities that will further support classroom learning. The stations will change throughout the year and will incorporate STEM and humanities content. We would like to thank Siemens for this wonderful donation, and we would also like to thank one of our LWE parents, Mrs. Christine Baumann, for recommending Lake Windward to be a STEM Outreach School.
Safety Reminder!
KIDS HEART CHALLENGE
Dear Lake Windward Elementary Family,
We have officially kicked off our Kids Heart Challenge, and our school is on the prowl for heart health with our new Heart Heroes. We are thrilled to participate as we work together to raise awareness and funds for the American Heart Association and learn how nutrition and being active can help us live longer, healthier lives.
Just for registering online and accepting a heart healthy challenge, your student will earn the glow in the dark wristband during PE class!
Click here to register: http://www2.heart.org/goto/lakewindwardelementary. You can also download the FREE Kids Heart Challenge App to register and bring your Heart Heroes to life! Last day for donations will be Monday, December 10. Please make any checks payable to the American Heart Association.
Thank you for your support of this community service project.
Ann Van Loo
Physical Education Specialist
LWE Calendar- What's coming up?
November 29- Safety Day School Event
November 30- Mother/Son Game Night (register online by Wednesday)
December 5 – Whimsy Daisy Holiday Shop & Family Balance Night
December 6 – Whimsy Daisy Holiday Shop & Chorus Concert – 7:00 pm in Café
VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION
All parents wanting to participate or visit classrooms must go through the volunteer registration process. Any person who has not gone through the training since June 2, 2018 must go through it again even if you did it last school year.
Applicants should be prepared to spend about 10—15 minutes for the training application process. In accordance with State Law, all volunteers must be current with Child Abuse Reporting Protocol Training BEFORE being allowed to volunteer in our schools.
It is very important that volunteers enter their full legal name as it appears on their government issued ID (please do not use nicknames or ‘goes by’ names on the application).
All applicants must wait 24 hours after applying for application processing and approval, before volunteering in our schools. When coming to the school to volunteer, you must bring your government issued photo ID to use when checking in at the front office.
For your convenience see link below:
http://www.fultonschools.org/en/community/Pages/volunteer.aspx
Updated Procedure for Absence Approval in Extenuating Circumstances
Students should be present in school every day unless illness or other extenuating circumstances exist. The Georgia Board of Education lawfully excuses students for the following reasons: personal illness, death in the immediate family, religious holidays, and other educational days as pre-approved by the school principal. The principal has at his/her discretion according to Board Policy the option to approve a maximum of six (6) days per student per school year in extenuating circumstances. Parents/guardians must notify the principal of their request by completing the request form located on the school website at least two weeks prior to the absence. Submission of parental/guardian request does not grant automatic approval. A school administrator or designee will contact the parents/guardian upon the final decision. As in the past, absences for illness, death in the family or religious holidays can be approved by your child's teacher by sending in a signed note from you.
- The principal approval form is to be used for extenuating circumstances only, as stated in the information above.
- Two weeks ahead of the planned absence, print and complete the request form located on the Lake Windward website.
- One form is required per student.
- Submit the completed, signed, and dated form to the Lake Windward front office.
- Your student’s attendance record will be taken into consideration when reviewing your request.
- A copy of the decision to accept, decline or amend your request, will be sent to you and your child’s homeroom teacher.
Email requests will not be accepted.
Are you a Dad looking for an easy way to volunteer?
We need a few (a lot) of good men! Come and join the Super Dads every Friday morning for carpool, starting at 7:00am. It only takes 45 minutes of your time on the Fridays that you choose. This is your chance to earn bragging rights for your child!! Be a Super Dad!! Please sign up at tiny.cc/superdads to help out! See you next Friday!
Stay in contact!
Email: morrisja@fultonschools.org
Website: http://school.fultonschools.org/es/lakewindward/Pages/default.aspx
Location: 11770 East Fox Court, Alpharetta, GA, USA
Phone: 470-254-7050
Twitter: @lwesprincipal