Eagle Edition
October 28, 2021
Glennwood Elementary ~ Where Learning Takes Flight
Holly Brookins, PhD, Principal ~ Jill Tolsma, Instructional Coach Karen Hearn, School Manager
Email: hbrookins@csdecatur.net
Website: https://www.csdecatur.net/glennwood
Location: 440 East Ponce de Leon Avenue, Decatur, GA, USA
Phone: 404.370.4435
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gleagles/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Calendar of Events
Friday, October 29
Wild! Sock Day for Socktober
Book Character Dress Up Day (Optional)
Friday, Nov. 5th
Walk and Roll to School
Virtual Community Circle with Ms. Jones' Class Hosting
November 1-30
Native American Heritage Month
Monday, November 1
Teacher Work Day (No School)
Fall Book Fair with Little Shop of Stories
November 2-9 with
After school Outdoor Shopping Day
Thursday, November 4
2:45-5:30 pm
Saturday, November 13
Romp + Read
10:00-11:00 am
Glennwood Playground
Where Learning Takes Flight
October Design Principle: The Having of Wonderful Ideas
"Everything you can imagine is real."
~Pablo Picasso
Hello, Families!
Thank you,
Dr. Holly Brookins
Principal
Fall Book Fair with Little Shop of Stories Begins on Tuesday, Nov. 2nd!
Our fall book fair will be held Nov. 2-9. It is presented by Little Shop of Stories sponsored by PTA as a fundraiser for our media center. Our media center will receive 20% of all sales. Students will create wish lists and preview the book fair early next week. If parents wish to purchase books, you have a few options:
1. Send cash or check (payable to GL PTA) with students to school. Students will have the opportunity to shop at the book fair with their homeroom class.
2. Shop online at Little Shop of Stories book fair website. Books will be delivered to the school for students to take home.
3. We will offer one shopping opportunity after school for outdoor shopping on Thursday, Nov. 4th from 2:45-5:30 pm. We need a few parent volunteers to help with the book fair sales. (We will send a volunteer sign-up soon.) Please remember to wear masks. Credit cards will be accepted for the outdoor sale.
Thank you in advance for supporting the Glennwood Media Center!
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. Please review the Daily Home Screener every morning before school. You can view it here.
While the students have done amazingly well wearing their masks, several kids are coming to school with masks that are too big. Masks should fit well, covering the nose, mouth and chin and should not have open gaps on the sides. Loose fitting masks do not protect the one wearing it or those around them. Please review this Mask Guidance from CSD. Please send a few clean masks in with your child so they can change masks that become wet or dirty.
The Glennwood community has worked so hard to keep everyone safe and healthy. I truly appreciate every one of you who have been diligent and flexible to help keep our kids in school. Thank you!
[Note: Point of Care/POC testing is temporarily paused as we work to procure additional tests.]
If you any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at ebarrington@csdecatur.net
Surveillance Testing Update
Walk and Roll to School, Friday Nov. 5th
Please join us on your feet, your bike or your scooter (don’t forget those helmets!) and let’s show CSD how Eagles SOAR! You guys are doing an amazing job this year! Students who participate will continue to enter at their grade specific doors, where they will be counted, using our traditional marbles, by their staff door monitors. Don’t forget your masks on campus. And, each marble will still count towards students earning extra school wide recess, with announcements made at virtual Community Circle! For additional details and a full Walk & Roll schedule for the year, please visit the Glennwood website: https://www.csdecatur.net/Domain/530
*Walking School Buses are on hold (due to Covid) until further notice*
Contact Amanda McMillan (almcmil@gmail.com) with any questions!
1st Annual Stew and Chili Cookoff
The 1st Annual Stew and Chili Cookoff was a success! Congrats to winners Mr. Holloman for the meat category, and Chef Kay for the veggie category! Huge thanks to all the volunteer chefs! Special thanks to the bands, Polly Holiday and the Quaranteens, and to the setup, serving, and cleanup volunteers. Thanks to Community Q for the mac n cheese, and Charis Bookstore for the gift card for the “guess the number of beans” contest. Thank you everyone who came out to support our school!
Glennwood Staff Snack Cart/Table
This year, to show our appreciation for our amazing staff, Glennwood PTA will be rolling out a regular staff snack cart/table. We are asking each grade level to "stock the cart" for a given month; each grade will be asked to do so twice this year. We kindly ask that each family participate in one of the two opportunities for your grade level (the intention is that a family only need to participate once).
For November, we're asking kindergarten families to host a "Gratitude Table" for our staff. If you're a K family, please visit the Sign Up Genius here to sign up to bring in something for our staff. Due to COVID protocols, all items must be individually wrapped and store-bought (not homemade). Please drop off your items with Ms. Hearn at the front office November 15-17th anytime during school hours and the PTA will assemble the snack table for our staff to enjoy on November 18. If you have any questions, please reach out to Staff Appreciation Co-Chairs: Haley Stevens (haleycstevens@gmail.com) or Cristina Stevenson (cristina.stevenson@gmail.com). Thank you!
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 in an upcoming Romp & Read. See details below for our first event scheduled on November 13th.
ESOL and Federal Programs Department
CSD Federal & Title Programs Coat Drive!
As the colder months are approaching, and as we are moving into the holiday season, the CSD Federal & Title Programs Department is kicking off a Coat Drive during November and December to help our families in need stay warm this winter!
We will have a drop-off bin at each CSD school and at the Elizabeth Wilson School Support Center to collect coats and will collect coats beginning Monday, November 15 - Monday, December 13, 2021. We ask that all donations be NEW items to help us maintain the integrity of our families.
News from the Decatur Education Foundation
Tutors Needed! We now have more students who need tutors, could you help? Our Virtual Pals Tutoring Program pairs a 2nd-8th grade student with an upper high school student or adult volunteer to help with homework, time management, and motivation. If you have an hour per week that you could help a student (high schoolers can earn volunteer hours!), you can sign up here: https://forms.gle/rKsKSbG4GaNYhzws5
Come Enjoy Live Music for a Great Cause! DEF and the DHS Songwriter’s Club are hosting the first No Ordinary Joe, a coffeehouse music series on Thursday, November 18th from 7-10 pm at the Decatur Student Center at Decatur High School. The evening’s emcee is internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Caroline Herring, who will play in addition to five of our DHS student musicians. Tickets are $50 apiece and proceed benefit DEF’s behavioral health fund, Joe’s Fund. Join us for an evening of great music, coffee and desserts.
Could you be a mentor? We have two mentoring programs for which we’re seeking 15 women and 15 men volunteers to serve as mentors. Our AIM Scholars mentoring program pairs third-grade students with an adult mentor who help them by supporting their Academics and exploring their Interests; Mentors also help their students connect to educational and enrichment opportunities. Our REACH Georgia program pairs five 8th graders with mentors to help navigate high school and preparation for college. In 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
Food Insecurity Needs
DEF is addressing weekend food insecurity in our school district and we need your help. Through counselors and social workers, we have identified around 30 students who need assistance on the weekends. Our weekend food Backpack Program is designed to provide each student with a breakfast, lunch, and snack for two days. The cost of each bag is approximately only $5.59! If you would like to support this program, we have two ways you can do so:
1. Donated on our website and add “lighten the load” in the memo section https://decatureducationfoundation.org/donate/
2. You can purchase the food we need from our Amazon Wishlist at https://a.co/6Etc74W
A Season of Giving/Christmas Decatur
A Season of Giving is beginning preparations for our 27th year of service to the City of Decatur community. At this time, we will continue to manage the program online, using the same process that we utilized last year. We will not be collecting physical gifts but instead will be providing gift cards to the families requesting assistance.
If your family would like to request assistance with holiday gifts for children who live with you, through 8th grade, you must complete this Survey Monkey application by November 21st. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ASeasonOfGiving2021
If you have trouble with the form, questions, or concerns, please email us at aseasonofgiving@decaturga.com or call our voicemail (404-378-8068) and leave a message.
For those families who do not need assistance, we need your help! Please donate at https://legacydecatur.org/. Select ‘A Season of Giving / Christmas Decatur’ in the donation form.