At this point, I’ve successfully completed one full week of my reign. To be honest, the mixing of metaphors (President? Queen?) has been taxing. I’ve been rewatching some old episodes of West Wing and binging the newest season of Bridgerton to help me decide which feels more comfortable.

One of my greatest joys this past week has been the one-on-one midyear conferences that I’ve had with staff members. Holly and I began meeting with each member of our GL crew before she went out on leave, and I’ve continued in her absence. We call it a “stay” interview because it’s a chance for us to check in with staff to gauge how well they enjoy their work and how we might better support them so that they’ll stay.

When asked the question, “What do you like best about Glennwood,” over and over again the teachers rave about this community. "When asked, “What type of recognition is most meaningful to you,” very few wanted any kind of public attention but almost all said they treasured a positive note or word of thanks." Many have talked about how much a positive email from a parent has meant.

I share that because, in the words of one of my favorite school leaders, “It’s the people, stupid!” The way you all support our teachers and make them feel valued means a great, great deal to them and to the overall culture of this school. Whether you realize it or not, you all are a big part of why our teachers stay (I don’t want to hurt your feelings by telling you that they like your kids better, but…) Thank you!

I look forward to seeing you all next week when you come for your child’s student-led conference.

Warmly,

Summer

Assistant Principal

sclayton@csdecatur.net

It's here! The Mead Road Mardi Gras Parade is this Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1pm. The parade starts at 1pm at FAVE and ends a mile later at The Imperial, where there will be a festival of music and food.

Our Glennwood Crew will meet up with Ms. Pierce at 12:45 near the large green electrical box located behind the school's front sign (see picture attached). You can also look out for Soarin, our fabulous Glennwood Eagle mascot.

Our theme is "Glennwood Eagles Have Superpowers," and kids and grownups alike are encouraged to dress up as any kind of superhero. Ms. Pierce will have some tambourines and maracas for kids to play.

Friendly reminder to plan for your parking/transportation. There is minimal parking around FAVE and we'll end up a mile away at The Imperial.

We'll see all you Superheroes at FAVE at 12:45!

Are you a mystery enthusiast? Does the mere thought of a riddle to be solved spark excitement and wonder? Well, step right up to our Mystery Person Challenge! As part of our Black History Month festivities each day we will share clues about a Black leader, artist, inventor, etc. that made a difference in our world, with our students. Students will have an opportunity to guess the mystery person by writing down their guess and submitting it to a box in the front office. We will draw winners at the end of each week throughout February.

We’d love your support in helping your child identify our mystery people! Below are the first set of clues for next week's mystery person. Each Thursday in Feb., the Eagle Edition will include the next set of clues for the following week's mystery person!

Week of February 6-10 - Who Am I?

Monday's Clues

• When I was a teenager, I met Martin Luther King Jr. He was my friend, and he used to call me “the boy from Troy” because I’m from Troy, Alabama.

• I marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama with over 600 others to fight for voting rights for black people in the south.

• I dreamed of becoming a preacher and used to preach to the chickens on my family farm.

Tuesday's Clues

• As a 20 year old college student, I organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.

• I knew Rosa Parks and was inspired by her and began getting into what I call “good trouble, necessary trouble.”

• I was the son of a sharecropper and born on February 21, 1940 and died on July 17, 2020.

Wednesday's Clues

• In 1986, I was elected into the House of Representatives representing Georgia’s 5th district. I served more than 3 decades in Congress and was one of the most respected members of Congress.

• I love books and tried to read as much as I could. I even wrote the “March” trilogy, which is a series of graphic novels about my work in the Civil Rights Movement.

• In 1988, I introduced a bill to create the national African American Museum in Washington, D.C. For 15 years, I pushed for the bill to pass, and it finally passed in 2003. In 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened to visitors. If you have not visited it, you should go one day.

Thursday's Clues

• I was one of the founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee which is also known as SNCC (pronounced as“Snik”) and was the chairman of the committee from 1963 to 1966 and helped to register black people to vote.

• I hold a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University and graduated from American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee.

Friday's Clue

• Despite being arrested over 40 times and being physically attacked when I was protesting for fair treatment of black people, I remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence.

February Snack Table

This year, to show our appreciation for our amazing staff, the Glennwood PTA will be sponsoring a staff snack table each month. We are asking each grade level to "stock the table" for a given month; each grade will be asked to sponsor a staff appreciation event 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 needs to participate once).

For February, we're asking second grade families to host a Valentine's treat table for our staff on Wednesday, February 8th. If you're a second grade family and you didn't participate in October, please visit the Sign Up Genius to sign up to bring in something for our staff. The PTA is also requesting clean up volunteers, so kindly please sign up via the Sign Up Genius if you can volunteer your time to help clean up. We very much appreciate our cleanup volunteers!

Please drop off your items with Ms. Reynolds at the front office February 6th any time during school hours-February 8th by 8:30am. The PTA will assemble the snack table for our staff to enjoy the morning of February 8th.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Staff Appreciation Co-Chairs: Haley Stevens (haleycstevens@gmail.com) or Samantha Bryan (samantha.chopp@gmail.com).

Lost and Found

Hello Families! Please don’t forget to visit the LOST & FOUND on your way in and/or out of school. It is currently overflowing. There are a lot of water bottles and jackets.

If your child is missing an item, please fill out this sheet form with your child’s name, class and description of the item. I will make sure to deliver it. I will also visit the classrooms every two weeks for a couple of minutes and bring a rolling cart with all items in the lost and found.

*All items will be donated by the end of this week if they aren’t claimed.*

Questions?! Please email (Nydia Almond) at nialmond05@gmail.com

Artwork Help For Glennwood’s Art Teacher:

Each grading period, our Glennwood Art Teacher, Ms. Nadine Howarth, would like help sorting, rolling, and taping "Art Portfolio Bundles" for the students and changing out the artwork on a few of the school Bulletin boards.

Please consider signing up to help. The job should take about an hour of your time. In the comments section, please include the date of your choice from the list of dates, and the time you plan to arrive.

Join us for a tour of a new exhibition at the High Museum of Art George Voronovsky: Memoryscapes that will spark joy, creativity, and conversation. Born in a small village in eastern Ukraine in 1903, Voronovsky immigrated to the United States after World War II and eventually retired to Miami Beach in the early 1970s, where he turned his home into an art refuge filled with paintings and sculptures he created from found materials like old Styrofoam coolers and pizza boxes. The show’s curator and Glennwood parent, Dr. Katherine Jentleson will provide a child friendly tour, with open exploration of the museum’s other galleries and it’s interactive play space, The Greene Family Learning Gallery.

The event is Sunday, April 16 at 1 pm. To reserve a spot, please sign up on the sign-up genius! Capacity is limited due to space limitations within the galleries. If many families wish to join, we can add additional tour times.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F4AAEAA22A5FA7-high

State & Federal Programs “Ask an Expert” Event

You are cordially invited to “Ask the Expert,” a virtual event being held February 2, 2023 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. for K-5 Title I, ESOL, Special Education, and General Education parents and families.

Ms. Gereen Francis, Behavior Interventionist, will give an overview of her role and upcoming CSD behavior support initiatives. Over the past two years, students, parents, and caregivers have had to adjust to changes in our world. At times, these changes are reflected in behavior. Ms. Francis will offer suggestions to pre-submitted behavior questions to help support your child at school and at home. To learn more about the speaker or to RSVP, please click the link here.

Please submit your questions here.

For questions or additional information, please contact Cheryl Grant at cgrant@csdecatur.net or Brittany Stewart at bstewart@csdecatur.net.

Google Meet Video call link: https://meet.google.com/mwz-siww-qmw

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 865-375-0059‬ PIN: ‪938 337 249‬#

More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/mwz-siww-qmw?pin=4696257640820

Community Celebration of Black Joy

On Friday, February 3, 2023, from 6:00 to 8:30 PM, the GPB and Decatur High School Library program partnership, ASALH, and AAHGS will host a “Community Celebration of Black Joy” at DHS. Events will include a panel discussion centered around clips from the series “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine'', spoken word performances, a student-curated gallery walk, a genealogy exhibit, and more facilitated by the DHS Black Student Union. Click here to register for this event.

The Special Education Parent Survey is a survey that helps the state to determine parents’ perception of the success of parent engagement relating to 10 specific areas of special education and the IEP process and is used as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities. Georgia’s parent survey is available to all families of students with IEPs.

* Families that have more than one student with an IEP, please complete an individual survey for each student.

For more information about the survey click here! Thank you in advance for your participation!

Kings Award

ALL CSD students, PK-12, are invited to apply for their school's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King Awards. This joint award recognizes student teams who best demonstrate the beliefs and visions of two great Civil Rights leaders. Complete this application (one per team) by Monday, February 27, at 4 PM EST. Contact Anthony Downer at adowner@csdecatur.net for more information.

Join the Atlanta Hawks on March 3, for City Schools of Decatur Night at State Farm Arena. Each ticket includes $10 worth of food and beverage credit that can be used at our restaurants inside the arena the night of the game. Special pregame performance by the BHMS Chorus!

To purchase tickets, click here. See flyer for details.

1pm at F.AVE. Every CSD school is invited to march in the parade that has raised more than $30K for music and theatre grants! Let’s gather as a community to carry on this fun homegrown tradition that celebrates music and creativity! As a reminder, this is a “walk or roll only” parade, no motorized vehicles allowed (we’re keeping it old school!) Laissez les bons temps rouler!

At the beginning of each month, our BHMS snack pantry and weekend backpack programs are depleted and need to be replenished. You can help by donating directly to them using these links:

Beacon Hill Middle Snack Program: /a.co/d0HJHTr Weekend Backpack Program: https://a.co/6Etc74W We are also in need of a snacks coordinator/committee to organize and deliver the snacks once per month. This would be a fun, easy way for a couple of friends to volunteer together for a couple of hours each month. For more information, please contact marie@decatureducationfoundation.org.

IN MARCH: Registration is for the 21 st Annual Tour deCatur is NOW OPEN at www.tourdecatur.com. Decatur’s favorite 5K and one-mile fun run is scheduled for Saturday March 11th . All adult participants who register on or before February 18 th will receive a race t-shirt. Youth participants for both the Fun Run and the 5K will receive a participation medal. As DEF’s biggest fundraiser, your participation helps fund everything we do to help our students learn and thrive. Thank you to our Presenting Sponsor Mathnasium of Decatur who will be there at the race with math games and giveaways!