As many of you know, our beloved Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Amy Sanders sadly passed away last year at the start of the school year. We are in the process of planting Amy’s Memorial Garden and will be hosting a tribute to her in our garden area in the back of the school. Please join us for a short program and cookies and lemonade. Amy’s family will also be present at the tribute. Masks and social distancing are required. If you or your child would like to say a few words or read a poem of your choosing, please email Dr. Brookins.

When: October 19th (Amy’s birthday) from 3:45-4:30

Where: Amy’s Memorial Garden (in back of the school)

(If you are a parent who sews and has the time and expertise to help sew cushions for benches that will be installed in the garden in remembrance of Ms. Sanders, please email Susanna Shewan at sshewan@csdecatur.net. Thank you.)

It is the time of year to prepare for flu season. It is recommended that most people older than 6 months of age have a yearly influenza vaccine. Glennwood Elementary and the Dekalb Board of Health will be hosting an outdoor flu clinic on October 19th from 3 PM to 5 PM. The clinic will be located by the blue picnic tables in front of the school. It is open to staff, students, and families with no appointment required. If you would like to participate, please bring your ID, insurance card, and payment (cash, check or credit/debit card are accepted). Students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Most insurance plans cover flu shots. Prices are $40 for a standard flu vaccine and $77 for a high dose (65 and older).

As we move into fall and cooler weather, this is a friendly reminder to keep students home if they have any symptoms of illness. While a negative Covid test is reassuring, there are many other viruses that are circulating currently. Students who are coughing, sneezing, or congested (especially if a child would require frequent mask changes from these symptoms) should stay home until symptoms subside. As always, if a student has a fever, they can not return until they are fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medications.

Stew and Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, October 23, 12:00 PM

Glennwood PTA First Annual Stew and Chili Cook-Off at Glennwood Elementary (note the new location)!

Can you out cook Mr. Holloman?! Got a better recipe than Mr. C?! Sign up your team! Veggie, Vegan, Traditional, Chili, Soups, Stews, all welcome! If your family has a great soup or stew recipe you'd like to share, we hope you will join us for this event!

Email jamesherndon3@gmail.com to create a team.

Avoid the line and pre-purchase tickets here: https://glennwoodpta.org/. Tickets are $10 and provide:

Samples of each stew and chili (and there will be 9+ samples to try!)

An opportunity to vote for your favorite

Free mac and cheese!

Live music from 1-2pm by Polly Holliday

A ticket is NOT required to attend! If you want to try everyone's recipes, the ticket will get you a sample of all the options. Otherwise, you are welcome to show up, hear some good music, let your kids play with their friends, or make new friends of your own!

For volunteer opportunities, please visit: https://glennwoodpta.org/signup/?sheet_id=11

All proceeds go to Glennwood's PTA. Masks will be required when not eating and social distancing measures should be followed. Financial assistance is available - please reach out to Dr. Brookins for more information.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee Updates

The DEI will meet the 2nd Monday of the month, 8pm, via zoom:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/96934475378?pwd=TElsMW5jT1p0WExvZXVnVENFTUhlUT09

Meeting ID: 969 3447 5378
Passcode: 815625

This year, the DEI committee would like to celebrate the similarities and differences of our Glennwood families. If your family has a special celebration or cultural event you would like to share with our greater community, or if you would like to help plan an event for one of the recognized month celebrations (for example- Asian American Heritage month), please reach out to Amanda Gillespie at GillespieAI@gmail.com.

Join the DEI book club! Have a book your family loves that centers a BIPOC or gender-diverse character? Let us know! We'd love to share it with the school community, or even feature your family reading the book in a video in an upcoming newsletter!

Indigenous Peoples' Day is Monday, Oct 11. A few upcoming events to celebrate!

• Please join all the CSD lower elementary schools PTA DEI committees for a reading of the book Christopher Cologre Ogre It's Over by Dr. Oriel Maria Siu to honor Indigenous People's Day.

Event date: Tuesday, October 12

Time: 5:00-6:30pm

Dr. Siu earned her Ph.D. from UCLA and is a scholar of Central Americans in the diaspora.

Brave & Kind Books will be stocking the book if your family would like to purchase for your personal library.

The reading will take place via Zoom webcast hosted by Winnona Park Elementary. Children will be able to submit questions for a Q&A session after the reading. Please join via the link below.

If you have any questions regarding the event, please feel free to email Winnona Park DEI Co-Chairs Jeanie Dizon: jduquedizon@gmail.com and Nicole Guidotti-Hernandez: nmgh24@gmail.com

Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:

Please click this URL to join: https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/94949411614

• The Carlos Museum currently has an exhibition, Each/Other featuring two Indigenous artists. It runs until Dec 12. Stay tuned for collaboration between CSD DEI and the museum for some fun art projects for kids related to the exhibit. Emory University and the Carlos Museum were founded on Muscogee (Creek) land.

The Power of the NOW & COMP Waivers

Jackie McNair, Parent Mentor of Gwinnett County, will present a detailed explanation of the New Options Waiver (NOW) and the Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP) for CSD families. These waivers can provide a financial bridge to assisting your student in having a positive outcome once they transition out of school. In this meeting, Ms. McNair will share how her family manages and utilizes the waiver to assist with sustainable supports for post-secondary transition.

*It is important for families to apply for these waivers while their child is in school.

Audience: Renfroe & DHS Parents of High to Mid. impact special needs students

Date: October 14, 2021

Time: 6pm-7pm

Location: Virtual

Click here to RSVP or email cgrant@csdecatur.net

School Nutrition Department

We are celebrating National School Lunch Week from October 11 - 15, 2021! We will be serving all your favorite meals with a newly named twist: see our menus for more details. Eating school lunch is one of the best ways to ensure a well-balanced diet for your child, at NO COST to your family during this school year. Children participating in school meals are less likely to have nutrient inadequacies and are more likely to consume fruit, vegetables, and milk at breakfast and lunch (FRAC.org). Very few packed lunches and snacks brought from home meet the USDA school nutrition program standards.

We are asking for ALL our CSD students to wear animal print or jungle-themed clothing on Friday October 15th to celebrate #NSLW2021 with us! Our nutrition staff will also be dressing up at every school site on that day. Throughout the week we will have themed coloring pages, stickers, bookmarks, and even fun music playing some days during meal service! Our goal is to increase lunch participation at every school site for the week. We want to give a big thank you to our community for continuing to support our school nutrition program.

It's October, or as we like to call it “Festober!” The 10th Annual Madison Ave Derby is happening on October 16th and is bound to be a fun-filled day! Bring the family out to see some creative and FAST handcrafted machines roll down Madison Avenue while enjoying food from Universal Joint and King of Pops. This year's Derby beneficiary is the Decatur Student Center, located in CSD Decatur High School and equipped to attend to our students' behavioral health and nonacademic needs. To learn more about the Student Center, please visit www.decatureducationfoundation/behavioral-health. See you at the Derby!

Homework Help: We are continuing our Virtual Pals tutoring program in which we pair a 2nd-8th grade student with an upper high school student or adult volunteer to help with homework, time management, and motivation. If you would like to sign your student up for the program, you can go here. If you would like to help as a volunteer tutor, you can apply here. (High school students can earn volunteer hours!)

Could you be a mentor? We’re also seeking 15 women and 15 men volunteers to serve as mentors for our AIM Scholars mentoring program. Third grade students are paired with an adult mentor who help them by supporting their Academics and explore their Interests; Mentors also help their students connect to educational and enrichment opportunities. For just 2-4 hours per month, you can have a meaningful impact in the life of a student. For more information, please visit www.decatureducationfoundation.org/mentoring