Greetings Dolphin Family,

Welcome back to another extraordinary week at A. Philip Randolph. Spring Semester seems to be flying by. Can you believe it is already February? The school year is moving along so quickly. I hope you all are well and are continuing to stay safe.

I want to take time to thank those of you who continue to provide encouragement for our administrative team, teachers and staff. Your kind words and gestures mean the world to us, and we are so grateful for them. We certainly cannot do this work without your support. The school/parent partnership is so critical, and we are fortunate to have the best parents in Fulton County.

Our Extended Learning Program is up and running, and we are excited to offer our scholars in 3rd an 5th grades the opportunity to close instructional gaps and receive additional academic support. Thank you to those parents who are partnering with us to ensure our scholars continue to learn at high levels. If you haven't signed your 3rd or 5th grade scholar up to attend Extended Learning please do so while there are still spots open. We are offering both virtual and face-to-face options. Our goal is to make sure our scholars have the best opportunity to be successful. For those that have registered and participated, thank you. If you are interested contact our coordinator, Ms. Shena Small 470-254-6520.

Our School Governance Council approved the purchase of two new instructional resources to support online learning in Reading. This directly supports our focus on literacy and math targeted instruction. We are excited to have the ability to provide online leveled libraries for our teachers and students.

Remember, in order for us to see growth and proficiency in our students, it is imperative that all scholars participate in both the Reading/ELA and Math blocks daily. It is much easier to account for our F2F scholars who are in the building with us, so we are relying heavily on our parents with scholars in Remote Learning to make sure they are logging in on time and remaining online for the entire session from home. All scholars in grades 2-5 should have a school issued device to do so. I know virtual learning has presented some challenges in K-1 since we are not issuing devices for these grade levels. If your Kindergarten or 1st grade scholar is completing work packets, please be sure to return them weekly, in order to ensure the teacher can monitor his/her progress. Family, please make sure scholars are logging in every day for the entire day when scheduled.

We recently completed the mid-year diagnostic in Reading and Math and have seen growth from the initial Fall administration across all grade levels. Scholars in grades 3-5 have interim assessments in Math (2/9 and2/10) and ELA (2/17 and 2/18) on the horizon. These assessments are used to measure student mastery of previously taught standards and to assist teachers with planning for small group/guided instruction which is our instructional focus for Spring semester. It is important that virtual scholars have cameras on when taking these assessments in order for the teacher to monitor their progress.

Do not forget to join us for our Virtual Literacy Night on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 6:00PM. The link to join will be sent by your scholar's teacher. The theme this year is, Readers Are Leaders in Our Community. We look forward to seeing you there.

Please do not send your scholar to school if you or someone your scholar comes in contact with is pending a COVID test result or has tested positive for COVID. Thank you for ensuring we are all surviving during this pandemic.

Pay special attention to the district website (www.fultonschools.org) for COVID-19 updates, protocols for reporting, and any changes that may impact schools.

Your continued support is greatly appreciated. We are so grateful to partner with you to ensure our scholars have the best academic experience an elementary school can offer. Please feel free to reach out to me with questions or concerns.

In Partnership,

Principal Wilson, Proud Dolphin

Participation for Attendance at APRES for grades K-5 scholars with computers: Scholars who meet ANY of the criteria below will be marked ‘Present’ for the day (Attendance is marked in Homeroom and both Math and ELA blocks).

1. Cameras on with an approved background, unless otherwise approved by teacher.
2. Engagement during class (see examples below):
3. Chat box responses
4. Whiteboard responses
5. Oral and/or visual responses
6. Asking and answering questions
7. Exit Tickets completed
8. Complete daily assignments on time (before end of class/school day)
9. I-Ready assignments
10. Teacher assigned independent assignments
11. Assessments completed
12. Parent communication
13. Scholar is online with the above criteria for the entire class period

Non-Participation for Attendance at APRES grades K-5 with Computers: Scholars who meet ALL 5 of the criteria below will be marked ‘Absent’ for the day.

1. Camera off unless otherwise approved by teacher.
2. No responses either verbally or in the chat (Scholars will be given three opportunities to respond during the class period)
3. Daily assignments not turned in
4. No parent communication
5. Scholar is not online the entire class period

Participation for Attendance at APRES for K-1 scholars without technology: Scholars who meet the criteria below will be marked ‘Present’ for the week.

1. Learning packets complete and turned in as scheduled by teacher (teacher is responsible for setting due dates for learning packets).
2. Parent communication with teacher (at least one time during the week).

Non-Participation for Attendance at APRES for K-1 scholars without technology: Scholars who meet the criteria below will be marked ‘Absent’ for the week.

1. Incomplete learning packet or no learning packet turned in.
2. No communication with parent.

All report cards are located in Infinite Campus. If you have not set up your account yet please do so as soon as possible. Report Cards will not be mailed home.

Daily attendance can be monitored in the Parent Portal as well.

If you have not set up your parent account in infinite campus, use the link below to do so.

Doors do not open for scholars until 7:10AM

Instruction begins promptly at 7:40AM. All scholars are expected to arrive on time.

(Excessive tardiness will be reported to our School Social Worker)

Breakfast service ends at 7:35 AM. Students arriving after 7:35 will not receive breakfast.

Please be reminded that you will be called to pick your child up if your child does not feel well, is complaining of a stomach-ache, headache, or any other symptoms of COVID-19. You will have a maximum of 30 minutes to pick up your scholar when you are informed that he/she is ill. Please have a plan in place for when your scholar feels sick and needs to be picked up. Thank you for your continued support in keeping everyone safe.

I want to encourage you to stay vigilant about your adherence to those important COVID-19 preventative measures: wearing a mask, washing your hands, and maintaining a social distance of six feet. And if your scholar is ill or has been exposed to a positive COVID-19 individual, he/she is NOT allowed to come to school or to any school-sponsored events.

In effort to keep our scholars and staff healthy and safe, we want to share a few reminders:

1. Students are expected to arrive to school wearing and required to wear a face covering/mask while at school. Staff are also required to wear face coverings.
2. If your child is sick, please keep them at home and make sure they are fever free for at least 24 hours before return.
3. If anyone in your household has tested positive for COVID-19 and you have been advised to isolate or quarantine, please adhere to the public health guidance and do not send your student to school until after the noted timeframe. You are required to report this to the student reporting hotline.
4. Encourage your student to wash hands frequently.
5. If your child becomes sick while at school, you will be expected to be pick-up your child immediately.
6. Please alert school administration of any COVID-19 related concerns.

Please see important school-based expectations below:

• No visitors are allowed in the building.
• If your child is a car rider, they will need to be dropped off in the car rider area no earlier than 7:10 a.m. Temperatures will be taken prior to exiting the vehicle. You must plan to assist your child with exiting your vehicle.
• Parents will not be allowed to escort children to class.
• If your child is a bus rider please be at the stop 15 minutes ahead of time for drop off and pick up.
• Parents are not allowed to visit with teachers in person. We encourage you to communicate with your child’s teacher via email and phone calls.

Supplies Needed:

• Student Masks
• Refillable water bottles (water fountains are used only for filling)
• Learning supplies-Paper, pencils, headphones etc. (students will not be allowed to share materials)