The Falcon Flyer
AUGUST 2023
Greetings Falcon Families!
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! In my fifth year as the proud principal of C.J. Hicks Elementary, I am truly looking forward to strengthening relationships with our returning families and building relationships with our new families. At C.J. Hicks, our vision is to be a positive learning environment where students advocate for themselves, accept others, and advance towards their potential. It is our mission to ensure the academic, social, and emotional success of all students through rigorous, individualized instruction. As a school community, we will remain dedicated to honoring our R.I.S.E. expectations: RESPECT, INTEGRITY, SAFETY, and EMPATHY.
To stay well informed throughout the school year, be certain to create a Parent Portal account in Infinite Campus, sign-up to receive Remind messages, check your child’s red communication folder each week, listen to the Sunday messages, read The Falcon Flyer each month, visit the CJH webpage frequently, maintain an open line of communication with your child’s teacher, sign-up for a parent-teacher conference each semester, and attend all school events with pride.
As your principal, it is my long-term goal to LEAD with both humility and confidence, continue to LEARN alongside our dedicated and hard-working teachers, students, and staff, LOVE our school community, and work diligently to ensure that C.J. Hicks is a great place for everyone to work, learn and GROW.
Remember that today and every day is a great day to be a Falcon, I am proud to be your principal, and I love you. Thank you for choosing C.J. Hicks Elementary!
Dr. Erica Wakefall
LEAD | LEARN | LOVE | GROW
CJH PARENT INFORMATION GUIDE
GREETINGS READY FAMILIES!
Welcome new and returning students! We are so excited to start our school year off learning the rules, expectations, and routines of our classroom. Our curriculum includes the Read It Once Again series. Each month we will cover different themes which will include a book(s) of the month, color(s), shape, letter, and number. For the month of August, our themes are back to school, school buses, and sunflowers. Our books of the month are Pete the Cat, Wheels on the Bus and Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Our color of the month is yellow, the shape is a circle, the letters of the month are C and B, and the numbers of the month are 1 and 2. At the end of each month we will engage in a “cooking activity” that relates to our monthly theme. We are looking forward to being a part of your child’s educational journey!
Thank you!
The READY Team
GREETINGS PRE-K FAMILIES
We are so excited to start this new school year! The first few weeks of school are spent introducing rules and routines to the students, so they understand what the classroom expectations are. We also take some time to try and learn our new friends’ names and other interesting things about them. It is so fun to watch the students interact with one another as they are building those relationships with each other. The first few themes that we will be focusing on are back to school and my school/my friends. These themes will be centered on learning about the various places we visit throughout the school day and getting to know one another.
Thank you!
The Pre-K Team
GREETINGS KINDERGARTEN FAMILIES!
We are so excited to welcome you to kindergarten this school year! We look forward to a great partnership with you to ensure your child’s success this school year as well as giving all students a memorable kindergarten experience! As we begin our kindergarten year our students will be assessed with the GKIDS Readiness Check. This assessment provides us with information about the student’s skills entering kindergarten. For the students who are participating in kindergarten reimagined, we look forward to welcoming them into their homeroom classroom at the reveal. This will take place on Monday, August 7th at 1:15 pm. You will be provided with more information about how to contact your child’s teacher after this date. Once your child has a homeroom teacher each student will have a daily communication binder that goes home every night with information about your child’s day and their homework. Please check this nightly for additional communication. If you ever have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Thank you,
The Kindergarten Team
GREETINGS 1ST GRADE FAMILIES!
We are off to an exciting and new start this school year! Our first-grade students will be enhancing their knowledge in Social Studies, Literacy, Writing, Math and Science in many different ways. In Social Studies, students will be explorers while learning about their continents, country, state, county, and city. In Literacy, students will be learning how to ask and answer questions about key details in a text using Who? What? When? Where? Why/How? in order to increase their comprehension. They will also be learning the difference between fiction and nonfiction text features. Writing is all about narratives and learning how to tell the beginning, middle, and end of a story. As mathematicians, students will work on counting to 120, starting at any number less than 120. They will even learn how to organize, represent, and interpret data on a tally chart! As scientists, students will explore the effects of magnets on other magnets and other objects in their everyday lives. We encourage students to bring personal water bottles and dry snacks are welcome. Please be sure to label personal items such as, water bottles, sweaters, jackets, etc.
Thank you,
The 1st Grade Team
GREETINGS 2ND GRADE FAMILIES!
Welcome back! We are so excited about this year. We are planning a great year of teaching and learning. School starts at 7:35 am and at that time we begin teaching. Students may bring water bottles with their name on them. You may also wish to send a light jacket for the classroom as students get a little chilly at times. Make sure that jackets can be identified if left behind. On Wednesdays, we will send home the red communication folder. Please sign and return any item left on the return to school side and remove the keep at home part. Sign and date the outside log and return the folder on Thursday. Homework will begin week two of school, until then you can have your student reading 20 minutes per night.
Thank you,
The 2nd Grade Team
GREETINGS 3RD GRADE FAMILIES!
Welcome back, third grade families! We hope you had a restful and enjoyable summer break. We are excited to have you back at C.J. Hicks and look forward to another year of learning, growth, and success. During the first two weeks of school students will continually go over rituals and routine procedures. Please talk to your student about exhibiting RISE expectations and about following classroom rules and expectations. This year, we are committed to providing your student with the best possible education and opportunities for personal growth. Our dedicated team of Third Grade teachers will work to prepare engaging and interactive lessons that will inspire and challenge your student. We encourage you to talk to your student about actively engaging and participating in class to ensure they understand what they are learning and show growth throughout the school year.
Homework expectations for third grade will be as follows: Students are expected to read each night for 30 minutes. All homework assignments will be posted on Canvas for Monday- Thursday. If for any reason you or your student are having a hard time with homework assignments, please communicate with your student's teacher. Every Wednesday your student will bring a red communication folder home. Please review all contents inside and sign the back and return the folder on Thursday. The first few weeks, students will learn and develop skills to write a personal narrative in ELA. Students will locate and learn about the Georgia Regions in Science while learning about Themes in Social Studies. In Math and Reading students will be reviewing and learning new concepts. We are excited to embark on this journey with you and cannot wait to see what your students will achieve this year. If you ever need support or have any concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out via Remind or email. Let’s make this year the best one yet!
Thank you,
The 3rd Grade Team
GREETINGS 4TH GRADE FAMILIES!
We are so excited about this new school year. During the first two weeks of school, we are focusing on routines and procedures. Please assist us by reminding your students to exhibit RISE (respect, integrity, safety, and empathy) expectations daily.
All students were given agendas to utilize to write down their homework daily. Please be sure to check it daily to view homework assignments and any notes written by your student's teacher. Homework is assigned Monday – Thursday. Students are to read nightly for 35 minutes. Red communication folders will be sent home Wednesday. Please be sure to view, review, and send specified items back within the folder each Thursday.
During the first few weeks, students will learn the following: adding/subtracting multi digit numbers, rounding, and comparing numbers in math. In ELA (English Language Arts) students will continue with developing narratives, work on parts of speech, and conventions. In science, students will learn about ecosystems. In social studies, students will learn about forming a new nation – The American Revolution.
We look forward to working with you and your students this school year. Please feel free to contact us via Remind or email.
Thank you,
The 4th Grade Team
GREETINGS 5TH GRADE FAMILIES!
Thank you all for a great start to the 2023-2024 school year. Our day begins at 7:35 am and attendance is very important. Please encourage your child to get a good night’s rest so that they are ready for a full day of learning. We will be very busy this month getting to know our students and preparing them for a great school year. Please encourage your child to do their best on all class assignments/homework assignments. Please also encourage your child to read at least 35 minutes every night, as this practice will help improve their overall success this school year. Students will start receiving homework the first week of school. Please encourage your student to complete all assigned homework and return it the next day. With your help, we look forward to a great school year.
Thank you,
The 5th Grade Team
The CJH Front Office is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 am - 3:00 pm. Ensuring that you have updated your Infinite Campus Parent Portal account will make it easier for the front office staff to support you. We look forward to assisting you throughout the school year.
We will always be happy to meet the clinic needs of our students. If you have any questions for the clinic, please call the school and ask to speak to our School Nurse, Mrs. Berlinda Alexander.
RCPS participates in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs and offers free or reduced-price meals to eligible students. Application forms for the program are available on the district website www.rockdaleschools.org and in each school from the school nutrition manager. MySchoolBucks.com is a prepayment system that allows you to make online deposits into student meal accounts. Students are allowed to charge meals and students/parents are held accountable for money owed to the cafeteria. At C.J. Hicks, the privilege to charge will be suspended after a student accumulates $10 in charges and an alternate meal will be provided to the student. Meal prices can be found on the RCPS website at www.rockdaleschools.org/meals. If you have questions regarding school meals, please call the school and ask to be transferred to the cafeteria.
We look forward to supporting our students and families throughout the school year. If you have any questions about school policies and procedures, please call the school or send us an email.
C.J. Hicks Elementary School
Email: cjhes@rockdale.k12.ga.us
Website: cjh.rockdaleschools.org
Location: 1300 Pine Log Rd NE, Conyers, GA, USA
Phone: 770.483.4410
Twitter: @CJHicksElem