Panther Post
Summer 2022
Hello Panther Family,
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer vacation. Although it is still summer time, I want to officially welcome everyone to the 2022-2023 school year. Our planning and preparation for your scholars to return is well underway!
It’s hard to believe that in just a few short weeks, it will be time for teachers, staff and
students to come back to school! I eagerly await the arrival of our students and staff! I look
forward to having a building buzzing with the excitement and energy of teachers teaching and
students learning. As always, I am honored and excited to serve our community a I simply cannot wait for the opportunity to be a part of the learning and growth your child will experience this school year!
This year we will continue our journey together as a TEAM to ensure student success! Our goals this year will center around the district’s three big rocks: Relationships and Routine, Tier 1 Instruction and Interventions.
For our Relationships and Routines goal, we are working on building our Hilliard family! We will continue with our morning meeting time to allow staff opportunities to prioritize relationships with students. You will hear about our PBIS overhaul and new house system to enhance our opportunities to celebrate our scholars. We will increase our communication with our parents to fully engage them in their child's education.
Academically we will work toward supporting our scholars in becoming proficient lifelong readers and mathematicians. We will be utilizing our new RELA (Reading English Language Arts) curriculum, which is in alignment with the learning we continue to engage in through LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). With math, we will continue our focus on unpacking the GSE to plan tailored instruction for all. We will highlight opportunities for us to close the gap in learning for our scholars through unique opportunities with tutoring, extended learning, and small group instruction aligned to specific data points.
Additionally, we will work to enrich our students with additional after-school options.
With the school year approaching quickly, I wanted to share some updated information with our community regarding events, procedures, and updated policies. This should help everyone begin to plan for the start of school.
Our Meet and Greet will take place on Thursday, August 4th from 4:00 pm- 6:00 pm.
During the Meet and Greet, students may meet their teacher, receive information about their schedule and House Information for PBIS. The Meet and Greet will take place outside with a Block Party feel. When you come to Meet and Greet there is nothing more important than making sure your child’s homeroom teacher knows how your child will be getting home from school!
Bus Riders: For bus transportation and assignments, parents and families can receive information regarding bus stop location as well as pick up and drop off times. We also highly encourage families to download the Here Comes the Bus App which will notify you of bus changes and possible delays throughout the school year. Also, please keep in mind, these will vary during the first week of school as our drivers get accustomed to their new routes. We appreciate your patience in advance.
Car Riders: Students who are car riders will also meet with our car rider team to go register for carpool information. When registering for a car tag, please provide our staff with the names of adults who have permission to pick up your student at dismissal. You must register and pick up a number at open house or on the first day of school in order to be in our car line. Please remain in your car and our staff will load your child daily. Again, this process is in place to ensure the safety of all of our Panthers. We anticipate long waits through the first week of school. Please exercise patience as your scholars learn their car rider number and our process for dismissal.
Daycare Pick Up: We have a daycare vans that pick up each day from the bus loop. They are loaded immediately after bus riders are dismissed. When you come to Meet and Greet, please be prepared to let your child’s homeroom teacher know the daycare name, address, and phone number.
Transportation Changes: Please keep in mind that changes in transportation must be in writing and shared with your child’s homeroom teacher and the front office staff. Please do not depend on teacher e-mail as some teachers do not have an opportunity to check e-mail during the school day. Also, when picking up your student early for appointments, you will need to present your driver’s license for safety and security. Early checkout will end at 1:30 pm.
Class Assignments: Please note that all class assignments will be considered temporary, pending an increase or decrease in allotment as calculated. This is a state procedure and our teacher allotments are funded by the state based upon enrollment. Changes in class assignments will be communicated to parents prior to taking place.
School Calendar: I would also like to encourage all families to print a FCS calendar located on the district website, as well as below, so you have all the dates of student holidays. You can also use the link here to download a copy, https://www.fultonschools.org/cms/lib/GA50000114/Centricity/Domain/4/2022-2023SchoolCalendar_Revisions_3-17-2022.pdf . Ideally, we would love for you to plan your travel around these dates and other school holidays so that students are in school as much as possible. Every day is a learning opportunity!
School Calendar: In addition to our district calendar, we have an extensive event calendar for AGHES. You can download the calendar below. These events range in student to parent opportunities.
School Hours/Information: Our school hours are 7:40 am to 2:20 pm. Our morning drop-off will begin at 7:10 am and we will have several staff members supervising the car and bus areas.
Cellphone Policy Change: Fulton County Schools has updated its 2022-2023 Code of Conduct as it pertains to the use of and carrying cell phones in schools. Personal devices, to include cell phone use, will be prohibited for elementary school students while at school. They may keep these devices in their bookbags, etc., but they should remain in the ‘off’ position. Unauthorized recording and sharing of inappropriate conduct on school grounds will be a Tier 3 offense with a potential consequence of 5 days suspension.
Our first day of school is August 8th. I am waiting excitedly to see our scholars again!
Of course and as always, please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns at lillym@fultonschools.org..
Your Proud Panther Principal,
Maureen Lilly
