Alpharetta High School
Week of October 17th
Upcoming Dates
September 26 – October 28 – Gallup Poll for all Sophomores and Juniors through World History and US History classes
October 15 - Upload Professional Learning documents into TKES
October 14, 15, and 16 – 1 ACT PLAY
October 17 - PTSA mini grants are due
October 18 – Fall Chorus Concert
October 19 - PSAT
October 19 – Balance Night
October 20 – Junior Night, 7 PM
October 21 – Big three drills – intruder, tornado, evacuation - to the stadium for the pep rally
October 21 – Fall Pep Rally & Homecoming Game
October 22 – Homecoming Dance
November 1 - Parenting 2.0 Night
November 2 - End of 12 weeks
November 3 - Load 12 week grades
November 3 - Band Cluster Concert
November 7 – AHS Professional Day (9:00 - 10:30 - IG sessions; 10:30 - faculty meeting; 11:30 group PD on stress; Stars and Strikes outing for all - see information below)
November 8 – District Teacher Work Day (Yoga at 10 AM FREE for all)
Congrats to Andy's quartet! They won the division championship and his chorus took 2nd place!
Students with Clean tables celebrated success in the Cafe Wars
Students enjoy lunch fun
TOTY and POTY is around the corner!
Teacher and Professional of the Year nominations are approaching! During the weeks of November 7-11 and 14-17, you will have the opportunity to nominate deserving colleagues to take part in our Teacher and Professional of the Year process. Begin thinking now about colleagues and team members who contribute in exceptional ways to our work within the AHS school and community and mark your calendars for the nomination window!
Fall Play - THIS weekend (October 14, 15, 16)
Friday (7PM), Saturday (7PM), and Sunday (3 PM)
Our students will perform two, one act plays - a comedy - The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon and a musical - The Spitfire Grill
Tickets are 10.00
Come enjoy wonderful entertainment and support our students.
Wanted: stff high school yearbook photos
The AHS Yearbook staff would like teachers and staff to send us their high school yearbook picture. Please email them to Rita Flowers.
Look at Cheryl Solan!
Homecoming Spirit Days
Monday 10/17 – America Day
Tuesday 10/18 – Tacky Twin Tuesday
Wednesday 10/19 – Jersey Day
Thursday 10/20 – Career Day
Friday 10/21 – Crazy Color Carnival Day
There will be a prize for the staff member who demonstrates the most spirit through dressing up for spirit days!
Take photos of you, your colleagues, and your students illustrating AHS spirit and send them to Pam and Rebecca for the newsletter and website.
AHS Weight Watchers
AHS has an At Work Weight Watchers group that meets at AHS every Wednesday morning. We begin private weigh-ins at 7:15 a.m., followed by a 30 minute meeting from 7:30-8:00 AM in our Media Center. We must have a minimum of 15 members to qualify as an At Work group. We are currently in our second session and are hoping to have the next session begin after Thanksgiving. Currently, Weight Watchers is offering a 15% discount if we commit by next Wednesday, October 19, 2016. We have a fun, lively group. It is a great way to share ideas, get inspired, and laugh! Please feel free to call or email Tanoni Houston with any questions. Payments will be held until the session begins, but must be submitted to insure group numbers.
For current members or members who want to join, the Deal Days will help to ensure we flow right into another series at the completion of this one. The Deal Days is offered during a special, two-week limited-time window.
The offer: Current members or new members who want to join the next series can get 15% off their next series (cost of $132.60) when they renew during the special, two-week Deal Days window Wednesday, October 12th to October 19th.
How it works: ONLY new or renewing members who turn in their payment during the two-week window are entitled to 15% off. If they miss this window, they will need to pay the regular series price and will be eligible the next time a Deal Days window occurs.
Need to revisit AHS videos?
The first link was shared with all (including students) and was deleted. Here is a link to the new folder:
Charitable Fund Campaign
Charitable fund campaign is asking for staff to complete the following sentence and return replies to Michelle:Waliaga@fultonschools.org
Please share with us WHY YOU GIVE to the Charitable Fund by completing the following sentence:
I GIVE TO THE CHARITABLE FUND BECAUSE ________________________________.
Name (optional):
Title:
School:
Mr. Tire Coupon
Business Partner - Mr. Tire - has given us coupons for 7.99 oil change, and they are in the mail room if you are interested. Pick yours up today!
They are located at 11910 Alpharetta Highway
Congrats to Kathy Hubbard - AHS Remarkable Raider!
Orchestra students focus on skill work
Ms. Johnson shares TAC communication tips with new teachers
Thank you to all for a successful first-ever AED drill.
October 21st Drills
October 21 - Big Three (hard lock down, severe weather, evacuation)
We will conduct these drills with our 6th period class in the order below and use an alternate bell schedule. We will end in the gym for our fall pep rally.
- Hard lock down/Intruder
- Severe Weather/Tornado - Return to room after drill
- Evacuation to the gym
I will send out the procedures for these drills soon. Please make sure they are in your Red Emergency Folder along with your current class rosters.
We will come over the intercom and walk you and your class through each drill.
CPR/AED trained staff members:
If you are scheduled to attend a CPR/First Aid class an America Heart Association CPR/First Aid Student Workbook is available in the clinic for your review/check out.
AHS Blog
We have a blog on the home page of the school website with all the great happenings here at AHS. Please add this link to the monthly newsletter. Click the picture for the link-
Intro to Art students work on ceraminc
Congrats to our softball team for an AMAZING season!
Students begin work on Homecoming Spirit items
Health Benefits information
**Open Enrollment dates are October 17th through November 4th.
If you would like to see the Benefits presentation with all the info regarding open Enrollment, a slide presentation is attached to this week's newsletter email.
**Benefits has notified us that those who did not complete the dependent audit will have dependent coverage ended 9/30/16.
If you did not respond, you will need to call 800/610-1863 and see what you need to do.
If you are new to FCS, please check your paystub in advance to verify that all benefit deductions are as you expect.
Log into Employee Express, click on “Benefits and Payments,” then “Salary Statements.”
Deductions start with the Sept. 15th check, so if you don’t see them, email benefits@fultonschools.org or call 470/254-6845.
For More info go to:
If you are not changing anything you do not need to do anything If you want flexible spending, you must go into employee express and select the amount.
Want to have some fun?
Imagine bowling against your department chair or playing laser tag on a team with your department administrator!
Join us in for a staff outing on November 7th from 4 - 6 at Stars and Strikes. For $18.00 you get an hour of bowling with shoe rental, 2 pieces of pizza, unlimited soft drinks, one game of laser tag, and two hours of games.
November 7th is a AHS PD day and the November 8th is a FC work day, so you can have some fun in between! RSVP to Rebecca at perkinsr@fultonchools.org
October Birthdays
Anthony Hobbs 3
Zhi Zhang 4
Colin Renaldo 5
Amilia Cadet 8
Stephanie McDonald 15
Jessica Robinson 16
Teresa McGahee 19
Tom Mulroy 23
Jermaine McDowell 24
Tracylynn Wagner 25
Quote for the week
"A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others."
-Ayn Rand
Retirement Seminar - 11/9
If retirement may be in the near future, it pays to understand how your retirement benefits really work. In an effort to provide you with some tools to prepare you to meet your financial goals and plan for your retirement, VALIC is pleased to offer an educational workshop on Social Security and your TRS Geogia Retirement. This seminar discusses the role of Social Security in retirement planning, ways to maximize benefits and the importance of leveraging other sources for retirement income to supplement Social Security benefits.
In this seminar, you will learn about:
- Your TRS Benefits
- The cost of retirement
- Social Security benefits
- Bridging a possible income gap
This seminar will be on Wednesday, November 9th from 5:30pm-7:30pm at Alpharetta High School, 3595 Webb Bridge Road, Alpharetta, GA 30005. We will be located in the Media Center. Please be prompt! This event is hosted by VALIC Financial Advisor, Joyce Krinsky, (770) 395-4706 or cell: (770) 715-7508, joyce.krinsky@valic.com.
Please click on the link below to register for each individual that will be attending:
https://my.valic.com/seminarregistration/availableseminars.aspx?regcode=FCBSAN11AA
Don't forget to complete the county policies/procedures review!
FCS requests that our returning employees review some essential policies/training materials annually, so that there is an awareness of the serious expectations outlined in each. The list of this information is accessed and submitted electronically in order to establish a record of the training. It is not an exhaustive list. Also, when policy revisions are made or new ones created, a systemic alert is made to notify district personnel of the policy change(s). (If you are a new hire this is part of your “First 30 days” requirements; please review the instructions listed on the New Employee portal page link).
In order to complete this review,
Please go to www.fultonschools.org, Human Resources/Talent Department the bottom of the page
Click on Access Personnel Records/Forms link (at bottom right of page)
Log in using your FCS email address and click on Forgot Password to have the information sent to you if you don’t recall the password (it may not be your normal network password) OR to receive your initial password
Click on Forms tab, Start New Form and select Employee Policy Code/Review
Click on Start Form to begin your review
Several of the essential trainings are housed in Edivate. Edivate has recently undergone an update and how you access the trainings has changed. Watch this brief tutorial to see how to access required trainings and other trainings/courses: Edivate Basic Navigation
It is important that all read Policy GAM (Staff Rights and Responsibilities). Failure to report an arrest within the stated timeline (5 days) can result in the immediate termination of one’s employment with FCS. The electronic Notice of Employee Arrest form is on the HR portal and is to be used for submitting an official notice to the Employee Relations department.
Finally, OCTOBER 31, 2016 is the deadline for completing this review. Again, the checklist is not exhaustive, and it is expected that employees are aware of all the FCBOE policies/procedures that inform their work. Board policies, procedures, and operating guidelines are accessible via the district website.
Please contact the Technology Help Desk if you need assistance, technologyhelpdesk@fultonschools.org or 470-254-4357.
Raider "Balance Days" for 2016-17 - mark your calendars!
We want to create a community filled with more balanced lives. The School Governance Council proposed a solution, and the Instructional Leadership Team agreed; thus, we have declared two nights a semester during the 2016-17 school year as "Balance Days."
October 19th
November 16th
February 15th
March 15th
The nights above are Wednesday nights the week of the 17th (to celebrate the class of 2017), and on these nights there will not be any homework assigned, no assessments will occur the next day, and no AHS meetings will be scheduled.
The idea is that Raiders will go home right after school and work to create balance in their lives. Staff members and students alike will take a night off. Club sponsors and coaches and directors may hold meetings and practices and games as needed. We feel students release stress through these extracurricular activities.
Please plan to enjoy yourself and work your assessments around these dates this year.