8th grade student IGP meetings have started, and they need to be completed by the end of January! Both Westside and Hanna have the same registration form. Parents, please set up an Individual Graduation Plan or IGP meeting with either Dr. Chamblee or Ms. Doolittle. Your meeting can be virtual or in person. During the IGP meeting, students will review the course catalog for their freshman year of high school, and the high school registration form will be completed. A PDF of the high school catalog, the high school registration form, and links to sign up for a meeting are below. For more information about IGPs, careeer clusters, and more, visit Ms. Doolittle's website.

The yearbook staff would love to include photos of your activities outside of school! If you have a fun travel, sports, club, team, or activity photo, please access the Google form and upload your photo! The best photos will be included in this year’s yearbook.

In Mr. Pendergrass’s science class, the 8th grade students are studying astronomy. In these pictures, the students are taking notes from their textbooks about observing the universe. Along with watching a video about the size of everything in space, the students have also been reading about astronomy and the nature of black holes.

Students in Mrs. McElhannon’s and Dr. Boltin’s 7th grade math classes start every day with a Core Bites review. It often allows students to review multiple standards in just a few minutes. This allows students to review content covered yesterday along with content covered a few weeks or even months ago.

Mrs. Boswell's & Mrs. Liles's ELA class are learning how to create a text dependent analysis (TDA) in manageable sections. In the photos, students were working on their thesis statements and introductions. They also reviewed simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences with the sentence building activity.

Mrs. Cloninger’s 6th grade Social Studies is now studying about the Byzantine Empire, which lasted 1,000 years after Rome fell. This unit will cover the geography and contributions of the Byzantines. The city Byzantium later became Constantinople and is currently Istanbul today.

7th grade students have the option to attend Work It Out Wednesdays if they are missing work or need help. This will be held during 7th grade lunch on Wednesdays in the media center. Interested students may sign up to participate.

As part of our ongoing effort to provide a safe and secure school environment for our students and staff, Anderson School District Five will be implementing a clear bag policy for high school and middle school football games. Further adjustments to this policy may be enacted prior to the beginning of winter sports. Prohibited bags include, but are not limited to:

• Purses - larger than a clutch bag

• Camera cases

• Briefcases

• Backpacks

• Cinch bags

• Tinted/printed pattern plastic bags

• Diaper bags

• Mesh bags

Diapers and other baby supplies can be carried into the stadium in a clear bag. Infant formula, milk, or medicine needing refrigeration is allowed in a small soft-side cooler, and is subject to search at the gate. For additional information, please check out the image below.

Anderson School District Five is in immediate need of bus drivers. The current salary is $17.43 for new drivers and up to $25.82 for equivalence drivers. On-site paid training is offered at a rate of $16.43 per hour. This includes, but is not limited to, classroom training and behind-the-wheel training. Certified bus drivers are guaranteed 30 hours per week and could work up to 40 hours per week. Full-time drivers qualify for state benefits and participation in the South Carolina Retirement System. If you are only interested in driving a morning or afternoon route, part-time positions are available. Please check out the interest form below.

*Video Information: Under the leadership of Mr. Keith White at TLHS and Mr. Mark Lyon at AIT, several videos have been created by students as part of a fun classroom assignment while using younger students and staff of A5 as the actors. We appreciate the partnership from Nevitt Forest and North Pointe with providing such talented student actors. There will be more videos to come…this is just the beginning!

The field trip is March 9-10 2023.The total cost of this trip will be $175. This is an overnight trip and the trip fee will include: transportation, lodging, all meals, all activities, and sixth grade t-shirts. Parents have until January 9th, 2023 to pay for the trip. If you have been paying for the trip in installments, the last payment is $75 due January 9th. The parent form for the field trip is below.

Students may purchase meals and extra sales items with cash, checks deposited onto their account, or funds deposited into their account online. Students cannot purchase extra sales if their account balance is negative. To view your child’s balance or make payments on their account, visit this site. You will need your child’s student account number to create an account/log in and view their meal account.

If you would like to order a yearbook, use the link below! Information was sent home with students through their arts classes. Yearbooks are $45. The current yearbook purchase offer that includes the option for personalization ends January 27th, 2023. If you have an 8th grade student, you may order a yearbook and order an 8th grade recognition ad! The 8th grade recognition ad sale ends February 3rd, 2023! If you have yearbook questions, contact Mr. Powell.

Follow Southwood Academy on your choice of social media: Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram! Another way to stay on top of Southwood Academy events is to check the school's website and calendar. You can add Southwood Academy's Google calendar to yours.

Students and parents may check assignment grades using this PowerSchool link. You may also download the PowerSchool app for your Android or Apple device.

A5's District Code is GWJZ

Procedure change for any dismissal during the school day due to COVID19 precautions:

• When you arrive at school, please call the office: 864-260-5205 to let us know you are here to pick up a student for dismissal.
• Make sure to have your license ready and press the buzzer for entrance.
• Once the door is unlocked, be prepared to show your license through the window while you will remain in the foyer. Please DO NOT enter the office area.
• We will have a sign-out sheet in the foyer. Please know that we will get your student to you as quickly as we can.

COVID-19: Attendance is important and we want children to be in school every day that they are healthy. However, this year the greater good for school attendance is to keep children showing any symptoms of COVID-19 home until they are well. To keep all staff and classmates healthy, it is imperative that parents monitor the symptoms and temperatures of their children before sending them to school and implement the following steps:

1. Any students with the following symptoms should stay home: temperature, headache, shortness of breath, loss of taste/smell, sore throat, muscle aches, chills, new or worsening cough, or runny nose.

2. Students may return to school once they have been fever free for 24 hours without medication AND their symptoms have significantly improved.

3. If you decide to have a COVID-19 test, notify the school nurse of the results.

*All information will remain confidential between the school and family. No other families will be given the health information of your child.

TDAP: All students are reminded that they must have their Tdap vaccination BEFORE starting 7th grade! Now is the time to schedule an appointment for your 6th grade student. Please submit documentation to Nurse Rosa after immunization.

For any health-related questions, call the office or email Nurse Rosa.

Monday, January 9th - Newsletter AM, Crittendon & Nickles circulation, check out Outsiders

Tuesday, January 10th - Paradis circulation

Wednesday, January 11th - Games Club, English I Midterm 1-st-2nd block, Newsletter 3rd block

Thursday, January 12th - Mundy circulation

Friday, January 13th - Teacher PD day - no school for students

Read 3 of the SC Junior Book Award titles, and write 3 book reviews for them. That is what Read 3 & Review 3 is all about! The 20 SCJBA nominees are being promoted with a display and Mrs. Spencer's website. If you need to review the titles, check out the presentation above. If you have already read a book or two on the list, fill in the book review form! All forms are due February 16th, so you have plenty of time to read and participate!

All A5 students have new touch-screen Chromebooks this year! With the new devices come Chromebook responsibilities. These devices are meant to be used by the students for four years. For more information, feel free to review an in-depth presentation from our DIS team below.

A PDF of the A5 Academic Calendar is available below. Save it to your device and stay on top of grading periods and breaks!

Newsletter created and compiled by Kristin Spencer and her Newsletter staff: Ezra, Ryker, Savannah, Bailee, Karis, Anna, Tori, Zoie, Tully, Eli, and Julia. Contact her at kristinspencer@anderson5.net for future announcements.