Talley Street Update
August 25, 2022
October 27, 2022
Dear Talley Community,
I hope everyone is having a great week! I am excited to inform you that we will have a Thanksgiving lunch on November 10th. This will be our first since the year that Talley Street opened. The flyer to make reservations is coming home in the students' communication folders today. The flyer is also below. For the Thanksgiving lunch, there will be indoor and outdoor accommodations. I look forward to seeing our families on the 10th. Have a great afternoon!
Billy
Lost and Found Purge
The lost and found will be purged on FRIDAY! Please have your child check to see if anything belongs to them!
CSD Updates
Special Education Parent Meetings
Golden Steps ABA
CSD welcomes Amanda Bissonnette of Golden Steps ABA to share an overview of services and support they provide to families.
Here's more about Golden Steps ABA:
Golden Steps implements Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to assist children in overcoming behaviors that challenge their ability to navigate and flourish in social, educational and home settings. We track their progress, encourage their growth, and applaud them when they inevitably succeed.
Date: November 10, 2022
Time: 6-7 pm
Location: This is a virtual meeting.
Target Audience: Pre-K to 6th grades
RSVP here
How It Works - Assistive Technology Meeting
Yael Cohen, Assistive Tech. Specialist & Frank DeFilippo, Special Education Coordinator, will be sharing a variety of apps and Google extensions that students can access to support their learning in class.
For example if your student is experiencing:
Poor handwriting
Poor grammar
Difficulty spelling
Difficulty with Organizing writing assignments
Date: November 17, 2022
Time: 6-7pm
Location: This is a virtual meeting.
RSVP here
For questions please contact Cheryl Grant at cgrant@csdecatur.net.
Nutrition Department
The Nutrition Department is in the process of reaching out to parents about student negative meal balances. These efforts to send the low-balance communications will continue weekly through the automated infinite campus messenger or a personal phone call. Some accounts may have had outstanding balances prior to being approved for free or reduced meal benefits. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Nekee Mathis at nmathis@csdecatur.net. or (470) 237- 0368 ext 7607.
Note: A free and reduced lunch application can be completed anytime during the school year. Currently, the district policy allows students to receive meals, not extra items, for example, i.e. bag of chips. However, a child's negative meal balance will continue to incur debt as they receive meals.
Talley Updates
Talley's Lunar New Year Parade
Is your child interested in participating in Talley's second annual Lunar New Year parade? Sign up using the link below! Registration will close on Friday, October 28. If you have questions, please contact Ms. Brewton (sbrewton@csdecatur.net).
Library Book Character Pumpkin Contest
Book Fair Volunteers Needed!
The book fair is a huge fundraiser for the library, and we need extra help to make it happen! Please consider volunteering your time - we really appreciate it!
Houses Leading Talley Rally
Calling all Talley Families!! The time has finally arrived! Are you curious as to what Talley Rally looks like? Are you extra curious as to what has changed about Talley Rally now that we have implemented the House System? Well, now is the time that you can join us for Talley Rally.
We would like to extend an invitation for you to join us for Talley Rally when YOUR CHILD’S HOUSE is leading Talley Rally. If you have children that belong to different House’s feel free to come to any Talley Rally that your children are leading.
Each House will be leading on the following dates:
10/28 - Amistad Leads Talley Rally- Amistad families are invited
11/4 Isibindi Leads Talley Rally-Isibindi families are invited
11/11 Onraka Leads Talley Rally- Onraka families are invited
11/18 Altruismo Leads Talley Rally-Altruismo families are invited
12/2 Revêur Leads Talley Rally- Revêur families are invited
12/9 Nukumori Leads Talley Rally- Nukumori families are invited
Parent expectations:
Be prepared for the noise! Talley Rally is a fun time, but it is LOUD!
Make sure that you stay in the GREEN along the edge of the gym.
Feel free to dress in your House colors and/or bring a sign to rep your House!
PTO Corner
Talley's Garden
The garden has a few big projects that need to get done and we need your help. Please come help the garden from 2-4pm on Saturday November 5th. This is a great way to get house points and help the school. Please bring a wheelbarrow and shovel if you have one. We will be spreading mulch, cleaning, staining and sealing the picnic tables and taking out the rest of the summer veggies, adding soil and planting new fall veggies. We will serve hibiscus tea and light snacks to keep the fun going. Please bring your student, there's lots to help with!
We are now garden partners with Compost Now. If you have compost credit accrued, please consider donating them to us. We are currently found under Dekalb Country Schools (If you notice all the schools there are just in Dekalb county, not very many are associated with DCSD; but I am working on this).
The garden would also love your leaves! If you have bagging up your leaves, please shoot an email to Jen (jendhowe@hotmail.com) and she will come by and pick them up before the city does. We use the leaves to help mulch are beds... and also hoping to start composting our own garden scraps and they will be used for that as well.
Reading Rally
SHOUT OUT to all of our Talley students, parents, and staff that participated in and supported the Talley Reading Rally! We have raised $13,563.50!
Congratulations to Amistad, our winning house, who read a total of 25,644 minutes! They will be receiving a special house popcorn party at school.
Check out all of the Reading Rally rankings and updates in our final Reading Rally presentation. We will continue to collect any outstanding sponsor donations through the PTO website or checks made out to the Talley Upper Elementary School PTO.
We are so thankful for our hardworking students and generous community!
Spirit Night
Please join us for our next Spirit Night on November 8th at Kafenio!
Please place your orders via phone, in person or directly through the website (KafenioGreekDiner.com) from 4pm-9pm.
Questions?! Please email Kim Mohl and Tiffani Edney at: fundraising@talleypto.org
Safe Routes to School
In preparation of our Crossing Guard Appreciation Week celebration, nominate an outstanding Crossing Guard in your community! Nominations are now open and due by November 1, 2022. Please fill out the form here!
Please help us celebrate our Talley Crossing Guards (15) for Crossing Guard Appreciation Week from November 7th to November 11th.
We will hand out gift bags on Friday November 11 (after the Walk & Roll).
Please sign up to donate items for the gift bags. You can drop these items off at school anytime before the 9th or please email Mallory Donaldson at: srts@talleypto.org to have the items picked up.
Make sure you know your crossing guards by name, too, say “Hi” and “ Thank you”.You can also bring thank you homemade cards or gifts to your assigned crossing guards throughout the week.
Thank you!
Talley PTO DEI
Please join us on Wednesday November 16 at 7pm for Peace and Pie.
Please let us know if you're attending and what you'll bring by completing this form.
We look forward to seeing you!
Community Updates
Run with the Dogs
Run With the Dogs (RWTD) 2023 registration is now open!
Join us on Saturday, January 28, 2023, for Run With the Dogs, a Decatur tradition in its 19th year.
We’ll be back at Beacon Hill Middle School for the 5K and Pup Trot and are pleased to announce that this year’s race is an official qualifying event for the Peachtree Road Race!
If you think you have the perfect dog to be featured on this year’s t-shirt, please enter the Face of the Race contest. Just post a photo of your dog, plus a blurb about why your dog should be selected as the Face of the Race, to http://www.facebook.com/RWTD5k or on Instagram with the hashtag #RWTD5K.
All contest entrants must register for the race for their dogs to be considered. Photos can be submitted until November 7. Four finalists will be selected by the volunteer race committee, and voting on these four finalists will begin on November 11. The Face of the Race winner will be announced on November 18.
Run With the Dogs 5K is an annual fundraiser of DBB and supports the athletic programs at Decatur High School and Beacon Hill Middle School. All race participants will receive a long-sleeved T-shirt, which will once again be designed by local artist Adam Pinsley.
Click here to register. For more information, visit rwtd5K.com.
Decatur Education Foundation
Book a sitter and tell your friends to meet you at the Soiree in the City on Saturday, November 12th from 6:30-10:30pm! Everyone is invited to enjoy an adult evening of dinner, drinks and dancing! It’s the perfect excuse to get dressed up and go out on the town for a great cause! We’ll enjoy a seated harvest dinner by Little Farmhouse Cafe, live music from Maxwell Street and a full array of cocktails and mocktails. Purchase your tickets today at www.decatureducationfoundation.org/soiree or scan the QR code. See you there!
Meaningful volunteer opportunities available! DEF is seeking volunteers to be tutors and mentors. Tutors are needed to help students from 2nd – 8th grades for one hour per week. We are also gearing up to re-launch our AIM Scholars mentoring program in January for which we need 20-30 adult volunteers. If you would like to learn more about these programs and sign up, please visit www.decatureducationfoundation.org/mentoring
Can’t volunteer but want to help out? You can donate to our Lighten the Load program which keeps the snack pantry stocked at Beacon Hill Middle School. For those families in our community experiencing food insecurity, we also have a weekend backpack program. Both have unique Amazon wish lists that are updated monthly. You can donate directly to them using these links:
Beacon Hill Middle Snack Program: /a.co/d0HJHTr
Weekend Backpack Program: https://a.co/6Etc74W
A Season of Giving
A Season of Giving/Christmas Decatur is back to its traditional method of neighbors purchasing gifts directly for local children and seniors!
To apply for assistance, please complete an online application at https://aseasonofgiving.org/application/ by October 28th.
If you have any trouble with the form, questions, or concerns, please email us at aseasonofgiving@decaturga.com or leave a message on our voicemail (404.378.8068).
If you do not need assistance, we would love your help!
Donors will purchase gifts from an individual wish list specific to a child (through 8th grade) or senior citizen. If you would like to be a donor, please complete our online form.
If you would like us to do the shopping for you, please donate directly at https://legacydecatur.org/give/ and select A Season of Giving!
Social Media and Contact Information
You can find more information on the following Facebook pages:
Talley Street Upper Elementary School PTO
Talley Street Upper Elementary School Parents
Talley Street PE
And these Instagrams:
@talleystreetgarden
Follow the media center on Twitter:
For news from our counselors, check out their website:
For more about the Talley Street PTO, visit their website here: https://talleypto.org/