Alpharetta High School
Week of October 31st
Upcoming Dates
September 26 – October 28 – Gallup Poll for all Sophomores and Juniors through Social Studies classes
November 1 - Parenting 2.0 Night
November 2 - End of 12 weeks
November 3 - Band Cluster Concert
November 7 – AHS Professional Day - See schedule below
November 8 - Load 12 week grades by 2; verify by 4
November 8 – District Teacher Work Day and faculty meeting - See schedule below
November 9 - School Governance Meeting
November 10 - Grade Reports disseminated
November 16 - Balance Night
November 17 - Fire Drill (end of Anchor Time)
November 21 - 25 - Thanksgiving Holidays
December 5 or 6 - Faculty Meeting
December 5 – Winter Chorus Concert
December 8 – Anchor Time Ends
December 8 – Recovery Deadline
December 8 – Winter Orchestra Concert
December 12 – 16 – Georgia Milestones EOC
December 12 – Winter Band Concert
December 13 - School Governance Meeting
December 16 – Fire drill – end of day 3:45
December 20, 21, 22 – Final Exams for first semester (Early Release days)
December 22 – Last day of First Semester
Feedback on 2nd IG session needed
Our IG facilitators are planning the next session and want your feedback. Please take a few minutes and offer your insights:
AHS Varsity Volleyball team
Student fans cheer on volleyball
Alpharetta Varsity Volleyball team clinched their State Championship spot last
November 7 and 8 schedules
November 7:
8:30 - 9:30 - New Teacher Meeting, rm. 2321
8:30 - 11:30 - IRR teacher training, media center
11:30 - 12:30 - ALL - Understanding and minimizing test anxiety seminar by Applerouth with treats from Great Harvest Bread company, media center
12:30 - 1:30 - Lunch
2:00 - 3:30 - ALL - IG sessions
4:00 - 6:00 - Stars and Strikes faculty fun (See below)
November 8:
9:00 - 10:00 - Faculty Meeting, media center
10:00 - 11:00 - Free Yoga class by Fitness4U in the Aux gym
11:00 - 12:00 - Individual work time or department/PLC meeting time
12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch
1:00 - 3:00 - IRR working meeting
2:00 - 3:00 - Free Smoothies from Smoothie King in the main hallway
Students get crafty during Mrs. Magill's Anchor Time
AHS student sings the National Anthem to begin olympics
Major fun at Special Olympics Bowling
Smoothie King Discounts
Look at all those colors
Wright and Sibold get crazy on twin day
Richards-Boyles spends hours making cotton candy at the HoCo dance
Open times with Thomas
Thomas has consulting openings:
October 31st during 2nd and 6th periods
November 2nd during 1st period
If you have something you'd like to brainstorm, problem-solve, or discuss, email Rebecca for one of these times with Thomas.
The Media Center is only open during Anchor Time to students who need help with their Surface devices.
Health Benefits information
**Open Enrollment dates are October 17th through November 4th.
If you are happy with the coverages you have and don’t want to change any of them, you do not need to do anything at all, except re-elect Flexible Spending if you have it.
You will not be defaulted into the tobacco surcharge.
If you don’t have coverage and do not want it, you don’t have to do anything. You will not be defaulted into coverage.
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.
AHS welcomes French Exchange students
Jennifer Yoo teaches the French students about Study Abroad at American universities and what the application process / experience entails
Guillemette Toutlemonde conducts a guest lecture to French 4 Honors students about the French government and elections
November 8th - Staff Parking will be limited due to voting
Last Chance to sign up for faculty bowling
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
Career Day fun
HoCo dance rocks!
Students play carnival games when not dancing
Healthcare Science Students participated in a gloving and gowning experience as part of our infection control unit
AHS students participating in the Northside Healthcare Explorer Program
Over 200 students applied for the program of 28 students; 10 AHS students were accepted!
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
"If you want to awaken all of humanity, awaken all of yourself." - Lao Tzu
Spring Anchor Time Enrichment Proposals
Overview
The goal of Anchor Time Enrichment is to provide students with learning experiences that they might not otherwise have access to during their regular schedules and are not currently offered as clubs or extracurricular offerings. Enrichment classes fall into the following categories: “Hands-on” (learning how to do something), “Kinesthetic” (getting up and doing something), “Intellectual” (learning about something), “Artistic” (creating/performing something), or “Academic” (being supported in something).
Guidelines
Enrichment classes will be open for ANY interested and eligible (e.g. non-RTI) students to sign up and participate.
Because all enrichments will be open to any students who wish to participate, keep in mind when drafting your proposal that there may be “novices” who do not have much (or any) familiarity with what you may be proposing.
ANY teacher interested in teaching a section of Enrichment may submit a proposal. Enrichment proposals will be reviewed and approved by Frank Fortunato, Laurie Veillon, and Derek Wright as we work out our needs for the Spring Anchor Time.
All proposals must include the following information:
Teacher
Title of Enrichment Class (make it catchy!)
A brief description of the enrichment that details what students will know, understand, and/or do as part of the enrichment and explains how the enrichment promotes either “Hands-on” experiences (learning how to do something), “Kinesthetic” experiences (getting up and doing something), “Intellectual” experiences (learning about something), or “Artistic” experiences (creating/performing something). To support our PBIS branding, please also try to use language that would help show alignment with and promotion of one (or more) of the R.I.C.H. Raider attributes.
Students will have the opportunity to sign up for Enrichment sections (date TBD). More information will be given about the sign-up process once the final list of Spring Enrichments has been approved, but our goal is to allow students to begin signing up before the winter break.
Enrichment proposals are due by Monday, 11/14. See below for some examples.
Proposal Example 1:
Name of Enrichment Class: Hooked on Crochet
Teacher Name: Flavia Villarinho
Class Proposal: Apart from being fun and relaxing (offering students an alternative method of combating boredom and relieving stress), learning how to crochet and how to follow a crochet pattern or instructions can improve a student’s fine motor coordination, reading skills, math skills, comprehension, critical thinking, and problem-solving. In addition, learning to crochet can teach valuable life lessons, such as:
- Responsibility (Students have to keep up with their supplies)
- Ability to focus and follow through (Learning how to crochet is a step-by-step process)
- Persistence (Projects take time and patience to complete)
- Positive social behaviors and teamwork (The classroom environment caring and collaborative – students are able to chat about their day as they help each other learn and perfect new stitches)
- Expressing creativity (projects are only limited by a student’s imagination)
Proposal Example 2:
Name of Enrichment Class: Check, Matie!
Teacher: Dotty Davis
Class Proposal: In this enrichment course, Raiders will be exposed to the world of playing CHESS. Benefits of playing chess: Playing chess teaches planning and foresight and helps develop problem solving skills, foster self-confidence, increase creativity, improve memory and concentration, and enhance decision making skills. It’s a great way to exercise your brain (both the left and right sides) and is a game you can play for the rest of your life! Chess is a “sport for the mind.”
Expectations:
Play: Students will learn the rules (novice) and/or develop/research strategies (advanced); we will do tactical and positional exercises, appropriate for various level of play; students will have the option of practicing and playing face-to-face or online against comparable competitors; students also have the opportunity to prepare for chess tournaments outside of school (we will enter teams if we have enough participants)
Research and Reflection: Students will set their own goals for what they want to get out the program; they will keep statistics on wins and losses and have the opportunity to obtain a USCF rating; students will also research past and current national and grand masters to determine ways to improve play.
AHS and CHS teacher learn collaboratively about IB
AHS School Governance Council discusses Requests for Flexibility
Chorus annual pumpkin decorating
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
County policies/procedures review Due October 31st!
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."
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.