Panther Press
New Prospect Elementary School Newsletter
Nurture~Personalize~Engage~Succeed
Proud Panther!
Thank you!
I want to thank the whole New Prospect Community for your patience, understanding and support on Friday during our early dismissal. Everyone came together as a team and it was truly extraordinary! All of our students got home safe in record time.
Surveys:
One of my most important jobs as principal is balancing our students’ needs & wants (I know you have this job as a parent too!). There are many pieces of data that determine these needs and wants. One large factor is survey data; therefore I desperately need to you to take two surveys (both are purple buttons below).
1. One is to drive our NPE Strategic Plan for 2018-2022 that is being developed by our School Governance Council.
2. The other is for CCRPI which is how our school is graded each year. This year we earned 4/5 stars! An important aspect of getting the stars is surveying the community on needs. We need 75% participation in order to even be considered for the stars. This survey data will also help us plan for coming years and your answers do matter in determining the points we receive.
Proud Panther Moments:
New Prospect is one of only a dozen schools in Fulton County who have completely implemented Readers’ and Writers’ Workshop. There are multiple of reasons to support this work in classrooms. It personalizes Reading and Writing instruction for every single child in our school. It also encourages a love of reading and writing as well as reading and writing a lot in order to become better. I am seeing FANTASTIC things in our classrooms! I wanted to show you some pictures of this amazing work (see below)! Also, if you haven't watched our Panther Parent Prep video on Readers' Workshop, click the button below to educate yourself on the strategy.
We are so excited to be back to school tomorrow and have fun while learning in our last two weeks before break!
Your Partner in Education,
Amy Lemons
Principal
Upcoming Events:
December 13th-Chick-fil-a Spirit Night 5-7:30
December 14th- Panther Parent Prep @7:15am
December 14th-Last day of Panther Pride Project Fundraiser
December 15th- Pizza & Dunk Tank Party for 10 donors or $200
December 18th-Student Governance Council Meeting 7:15am
December 19th-21st- Class Holiday Parties
December 22nd-January 5th-Winter Break (School Resumes January 8th)
Panther Pride Project Fundraiser
Have you participated in the Panther Pride Project yet? Its not too late! Shopping Boss fundraiser continues through 12/14. We have raised $10,200 in donations through your efforts! Thank you! We are still working towards our goal of $30,000. All students with 10 donors OR $200 in donations will get to attend the pizza party on 12/15 with a chance to dunk Mrs. Lemons in the dunk tank. Lost your invitation code? Text SB CODE to 516-380-2764 for a new code!
PBIS-Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports
We are so proud of all of our houses for earning so many points in November. Combined, the houses earned 2125 points! In November, our house winner was FIRE, with 601 points. Our teachers with the most points were, Ms. Wells (AIR), Ms. Turturro (EARTH), Ms. Beasley (FIRE), and Ms. Lowery (Water).
The winning house, and the teachers will be able to celebrate by choosing a special treat. At our Panther Parent Prep on December 14th, we will be discussing PBIS, giving tips to help support behavior in the home, and sharing information on keeping your kids safe while on the internet and computer. We hope to see you there!
Panther Parent Prep Classes
Our next session is this Thursday December 14 at 7:15am. Mrs. Levine, our Instructional Support Teacher and Ms. Suzanne Petersen, our KSU Tech Coach will lead us in behavior & tech strategies to help at home. Hope to see you there! Please RSVP below.
Panther Parent Prep-Behavior Management Strategies @ Home
Thursday, Dec 14, 2017, 07:15 AM
New Prospect Elementary School, Kimball Bridge Road, Alpharetta, GA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
"Hour of Code" in the STEM Lab
In honor of Hour of Code, this week in the S. T. E. M. lab all grades are learning to code our DASH robots. The DASH robots provide different levels of programing that are perfect for all grades. Kindergarten and 1st grade are using the “Path” app to learn how to draw paths for Dash to take and commands for Dash as he follows the path. 2nd and 3rd grades are using the “Wonder” app, which is a beginning to block coding. 4th grade is using the “Blockly” app and writing their own block code. The 5th graders have become Dash experts this year so I have introduced the Sphero robots to them. This week the 5th graders are doing what I call “Flexible Technology.” Each student will be able to pick what type of coding project they would like to do. They are able to choose from Dash robots, Dash launcher, Dash Xylo, Sphero, Sphero mini, 3-d pen, Code-a-pillar, Little bits, and Makey makey.
Hour of Code has been such a hit this week. I think we are going to extend it to next week as well to give every student more experience coding.
The S. W. A. T. team (Students Asissting with Technology) has been teaching students how to use the robots and how to code them. This has been so helpful for when they come to the S. T. E. M. lab we already have “experts” who can show the other students the correct way to connect the robots, etc.
Program Recommendations from Kids 4 Kids
The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. However, it has grown into a week-long campaign to engage as many students in the world as possible. Code.org organizes the annual Hour of Code by providing the leading curriculum for K-12 computer science in the largest school districts in the United States. Your student can also code on Code.org at home. The S. W. A. T. team (Students Assisting with Technology) previewed most of the programs and here is a list of the programs they recommend:
- Code Commander
- Dream sequence
- Monster Maker
- Star Wars
- Tracy the Turtle
- Python Chat Box
- Light Bot
- Frozen
- Code your Own Sports
- Learn to Code with Hot Wheels
- Code Combat
- Bits or Bricks
- Space Quest
- Kodable
- Alice in Wonderland
- Bits Box
Learning about Careers!
Mr. Kevin Carnegie (father of Nathan and Libby) spoke to Ms. Searcy's 4th grade TAG students this week. Mr. Carnegie has been in the computer science business for over 25 years and, as an entrepreneur has created new Internet companies. He talked with the students about coding and assisted them as they participated in a variety of Hour of Code programming activities.
From Ms. Welch our Curriculum Support Teacher
Spelling Bee
Congratulations to Rohan Kumar our winner who will move on to the Fulton County Spelling Bee! We are so proud of all of our participants and finalists!
To ensure the most appropriate math/reading/language arts placement all students will be screened during the month of December. The professional staff at New Prospect Elementary School will review performance on system-level diagnostic assessments, standardized test data, student grades, and the teacher’s recommendation for placement. Students that pass the screening criteria will be tested for further advancement and/or acceleration. For further clarification or questions, please contact Heather Welch, Curriculum Support Teacher at welchh@fultonschools.org
A note from Student Council:
We will be collecting items for the Humane Society starting Tuesday December 5th. They are in need of the following items:
-Newspapers: For shredding to put in puppy cages, admissions kennels, and puppy suites (this is a huge need–hook us up!)
-Old bath towels, hand towels and fleece make beds for sick or injured animals, to help them feel safe and warm, and for drying off after baths
-Doggy Bags: Help us keep our doggie areas clean while we run and play with our pups
by donating any type of doggie poo bags.
- Laundry Detergent: Detergents that get odor and germs out are the best
- Bleach: We use bleach for some of our cleaning; any brand is fine
- Cat grooming supplies: Furminators, brushes and combs all keep our kitties happy!
- Trash bags: 45 gallon or larger
- Milk Bone Dog Biscuits: MEDIUM, SMALL or MINI size only, please! Volunteers use them to train the dogs and cannot break the big ones
-A note from AHS: We can always accept used crates, collars, leashes and other dog/cat supplies, but please note that we cannot accept pillows, opened dog or cat food, or carpet samples.
Please bring items to Miss Wilson’s room (P145-2/3rd grade hall). We will be accepting donations until Wednesday December 20th.
Parent Spot from Ms. Nadir
The Parent Spot-New Prospect values the partnership between home and school. Check out this article for some easy tips to help your child be successful at school.
From Mrs. Bercher in the Media Center
A special Thank you to Sandee Treece, Whitney Cresci, and Danielle Blum for Co-chairing the Scholastic Book Fair. Their dedication, patience, and hard work really shined in the beautiful book displays, and cheery, helpful attitude. Also, many thanks to all volunteers, staff, and students for supporting the Book Fair. Our gross sales were over $14 K. We gave out over approx. $280 in discounts to volunteers and staff members. Students raised over $400; this allowed students who couldn’t afford to buy books to receive the book of their choice! Please note that this was our only Book Fair this school year. Your dedication to reading made it amazing!
Learning.com Update: (Picture below) Learning.com is an amazing Fulton County-paid resource that teaches basic keyboarding skills. During the months of December, Mrs. Bercher will instruct K-3 students how to use the program; and will instruct grades 4-5 in the month of January. Do you want to help your child at home? First, go to your child's Launchpad at: http://launchpad.fultonschools.org Then log in using:
Username: Student ID # Password: Birthdate (MMDDYEAR) Locate the Learning.com icon on the Launchpad; it's next to the Mackinvia icon. Once you click it, you will be automatically logged into to the account, and your child can begin where he/she left off at school, or on the lesson that the teacher assigned.
Digital Citizenship: Congratulations to New Prospect for its re-certification in digital citizenship. This was a very extensive certification process that involved teachers, students, and community training.
Six Flags Read to Succeed program: This is an excellent way to reward students for reading for six hours. The six hours must be logged in on the form that was distributed a few weeks ago, and signed by either a parent/guardian or a teacher. Please turn in this form to Mrs. Bercher as soon as students complete it; the deadline is late February. Many students have already turned in their forms. Please note that Six Flags will release their tickets in mid-May at the earliest. Mrs. Bercher will distribute them when they are available.
During the December Holiday break...Keep reading! This is the easiest way to improve reading skills. Remember to log into Launchpad; then to Mackinvia. Mackinvia has over 1,300 ebooks that are available 24/7; there are numerous audiobooks as well that are fun to listen to any time. Interested in learning more about a topic you learned about in class? Investigate one of the many exciting databases in Mackinvia. You'll be glad that you did!
Transportation & Absence Notes
No Student is allowed in the school until 7:10 am. There is no supervision until that time.
We have had a lot of students who are tardy to school. Please make sure your children are here before 7:40.