Welcome to our weekly Gator Bites newsletter! Every Sunday evening our team at CGE will send out any important updates for the following week. Our goal is to be prepared, transparent and informative! We appreciate your time and urge you to read through carefully each week- especially during these unconventional virtual learning weeks.

Stay safe, stay informed and stay Gator Strong! 🐊

If you didn’t see the Stand Alone transportation email that I sent on Friday evening, I’m resharing it below.

Dear CGE Gators,

I am writing in response to some recent concerns related to the intersection/crosswalks at Andrews Store Road and Granite Mill Boulevard. Here are some changes we are making after consultation with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). This organization has oversight of all state-maintained roads.

First, additional school zone signage has been approved for the part of Andrews Store Road near our school. The school zone speed limit has already been changed to 35 mph and SCHOOL will be painted on the road in both directions. In addition, the Chatham County Sheriff's Office has placed electronic signs on Andrews Store Road for the next two weeks while the SCHOOLS road painting is completed.

NCDOT officials have evaluated and made adjustments to the signal timing for both the crosswalks and the surrounding traffic lights. These changes were in place by Thursday afternoon and help create a buffer between the end of the walking time and start of new vehicle motion. Please be sure to use the button and correctly observe the walking signals.

Specific to our school, NCDOT officials have recommended that we modify our carpool line to create additional vehicle stacking to reduce/eliminate cars lined up on Andrews Store Road and Granite Mill prior to our morning drop off and afternoon pickup times. More information to come in the next few days regarding this improved traffic pattern.

As an added layer of safety, we would like to ask pedestrians needing to cross Granite Mill to do so at the crosswalk in front of Pollard Middle School. This will help to reduce pedestrian congestion/movement during peak traffic times at the Andrews Store intersection.

Please know that it will take all of us working together to ensure the safety of our school family, and we need everyone to be our partners in this endeavor. Managing school traffic is always a complex issue and we need drivers, walkers, and bike riders to all follow the NCDOT approved signals and signage with patience and fidelity each and every day. NCDOT will tell you that there is no magic solution that will make this 100% foolproof, 100% of the time. We are therefore all counting on each other to do our parts to help us keep safety as a priority.

Thank you CGE Gator Family for your continued support and assistance with this important matter.

Sincerely,

Dr. Larry Savage

October is National Bullying Prevention Month! Throughout October, students will participate in fun and educational lessons, discussions and group activities to promote kindness, acceptance and inclusion! Students will be able to show their Gator PRIDE by participating in CGE’s UNITY SPIRIT WEEK October 18th-22nd! Our goal is to ALL UNITE TOGETHER to put an end to bullying, promote KINDNESS and make CGE NO place for hate! During UNITY SPIRIT WEEK, have FUN, go all out & let's ALL show our UNITED GATOR PRIDE! *Please EMAIL your SPIRIT pictures to Mrs. Kennedy at akennedy@chatham.k12.nc.us!

Per our pre-k licensing expectations, only our pre-k students are allowed to use the pre-k playground. Please refrain from using the pre-k playground area even after school hours or on weekends.

Thank you to all the families who joined us for movie night and for the clothing donations to CGE’s counseling department! #GatorStrong

CCS is offering free, weekly COVID-19 testing for students who have parental permission to participate. Families have to opt in to be part of this program. The testing will take place at your child’s school. We will begin the testing Oct. 25 for our elementary students, Nov. 1 for grades sixth through eighth and Nov. 8 for our high school students.

Please visit our website, www.chatham.k12.nc.us, and click on the Coronavirus Info button at the top of the homepage for more details about this grant-funded program and to enroll your child up. You also can call XXX-XXXX to sign your child up.

CCS is committed to protecting the health and safety of our staff and students. The testing program is one more strategy we can use to reduce the spread of the virus, prevent outbreaks and protect all members of our CCS family. Our goal is to keep our students in school, maintain athletics and continue school activities. This is an important tool in furthering our progress in doing so.