Star News
"Where Every Child Is A Star!"
August 16, 2019
Georgia Platinum Award 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2016!
2010 Georgia School of Excellence!
2012 and 2018 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence!
JOIN THE PTA!!
IT'S TIME TO BE A SIMPSON SUPERSTAR SUPPORTER!
This Year’s Simpson PTA Annual Family Donation Drive will support:
✭ Arts in Education Events
✭ Fall Festival
✭ Father/Daughter Dance
✭ Mother/Son Game Night
✭ Winter & End-of-Year Parties for ALL classes
✭ Recycling Program & Earth Week
✭ School Beautification
✭ Science Fair
✭ Reflections Awards
✭ Starburst (Field Day)
✭ Talent Show
✭ 5th Grade Musical
✭ Exceptional Children's Week
✭ Staff Appreciation Week
✭ Additional Support to Benefit Students
Donate Online via the Simpson Elementary PTA Homepage (direct donation link can be found HERE)
100% of your annual donation goes to PTA programs and events and
improving our children’s school and classrooms!
✭ We would love to see as many families as possible participate! Every donation makes a difference.
100% of your annual donation is tax-deductible!!!
ICE CREAM SALES BEGIN!
If you would like to purchase ice cream for the whole class to celebrate your child's birthday, please send a $25.00 check payable to Simpson Elementary School to your child's teacher. All students in the class and any students from a buddy class will receive an ice cream.
You can find the ice cream selections and nutritional information on our website under Parents/Students>Ice Cream. Ice cream selections were chosen by our Student Council representatives last May.
A NOTE FROM NORCROSS HIGH SCHOOL
As football season begins at Norcross High School, the athletic director has asked us to remind parents and adults that a student must have a parent or adult present at the game in order for the student to attend the game. Norcross appreciates everyone helping them minimize the number of students on campus who are socializing rather than attending the game.
DID YOU MISS THIS?
This year, most parents completed paperwork for Meet Your Teacher Day online by using mypaymentsplus which was super!!!! Thank you! There may be some confusion, however. A number of parents checked they had seen the items listed below, but thought they would receive these actual items on Meet Your Teacher Day or Curriculum Night. Actually, the items were attached within mypaymentsplus! Please go back to mypaymentsplus and view the items and then indicate you have received them. The only item parents will receive on Curriculum Night are the AKS for their child's grade level.
Thank you!!!!
GCPS Handbook
Simpson ES Parent/Student Handbook (found on our website)
Extra Curricular Activities
Attendance Protocol Form
Library Flier - Branch out
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! DON'T MISS OUR GENERAL PTA MEETING/CURRICULUM NIGHTS!
Go right to your child's classroom! Meeting begins at 6:30 PM!
Monday, August 19th, Grades PK-2, 6:30 pm
Tuesday, August 20th, Grades 3-5, 6:30 pm
The 2019-2020 PTA Budget and April 2019 General Membership Meeting Minutes will also be voted on at Curriculum Night. Please visit the PTA website to review the budget proposal and minutes prior to attending the meeting.
Opportunities to join PTA, purchase spiritwear and vote on the budget will be available after the meeting!
Join the Norcross High School Marching Band and its cheerleaders next Friday, August 23 from 6pm to 8pm for a Free PEP Rally! The Marching Band will perform its new show called the "Missing Piece" with music from the "Greatest Showman". The show will be the band's first performance with large puzzle piece props and tarps.
Come support Norcross High School students! There will be light concessions served at the concessions stand.
TEAM UP WITH KILOMETER KIDS!
Do your kids like to run? A new Atlanta Track Club’s Kilometer Kids Team for Simpson Elementary School students has been created!
What is Kilometer Kids? Atlanta Track Club's Kilometer Kids is a free, game-oriented running program designed to get kids active! The Kilometer Kids mission is to promote a healthy and active lifestyle to area youth through a running-based program, empowering children with the knowledge they need to make smart lifestyle choices. Through the program, kids learn that exercise is a fun and rewarding activity, opening the door for physical activity to become a lifelong habit.
When and Where? Practices will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Pinckneyville Middle School track from 5-6 PM starting 8/28.
Interested? Please fill out the following form, which includes more detailed information, and you will be sent official registration information as well as a schedule of the season soon!
Kilometer Kids Interest Form:
https://forms.gle/2axB9oX5qiv6dqEv7
Kilometer Kids Program Information: https://www.atlantatrackclub.org/kilometerkids
IT'S BOX TOP TIME!
● We are still taking Box Tops until they eventually all go digital!
● Please download the app, scan your receipt and earn cash for our school.
● Each Box Top is worth 10¢ and last year we earned $849.60.
● Our goal for this year is $1000.
● Learn more about the BOX TOPS app @BTFE.COM
Our FIRST Box Top Drawing is Friday, August 30th.
Five lucky winners will get a free ice cream coupon!
-10 trimmed box tops per snack-size Ziploc bag
-Include child’s name, teacher and grade on each bag
-Tell children to put the bags in the “Box Tops” box located in Simpson Square.
Thank you for supporting our school programs.
CHARLESTON WRAP FALL FUNDRAISER
The Fall Fundraising Campaign starts today with Charleston Wrap and will run until Friday, September 6th. The sales packets, which include the catalogs and information on how to register your child and place orders, will come home with your child today. School Code: 11579
Your child can turn in their sales coupons daily in the “Charleston Wrap Coupon” box (wrapped in brick wrapping paper) in Simpson Square for their prizes! Internet orders placed through your child’s account do count toward the number of items sold for the sale coupons.
Gifted Program Referral Information
PERFECT "FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL" PICTURES?
Did you take first day of school photos? If so, the Yearbook Committee wants to see them! Please submit your photos through one of the following options:
- Upload the photos through the Balfour:
- Website: http://www.images.balfour.com/
- ImageShare App on iPhone and Android devices: http://cdn.balfour.com/wp-conte…/uploads/Image_Share_web.pdf
Project number is: 025879
No passcode required
- Send in your first day of school pictures to: yearbook@simpsonespta.org
REMINDER: When taking pictures, please make sure not to photograph any child whose parents did not grant permission for photos.
2019-20 Simpson Yearbook sales will take place only TWICE during the school year, so please take note:
Oct 21 - Nov 2, 2019
Feb 17 - 29, 2020
You will be able to purchase yearbooks online via credit card or send payment (check or money order) to school with your child. Cash will not be accepted.
*No yearbooks will be available for purchase in May.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We send home fliers from a) the organizations our Board of Education supports such as Scouts, Parks & Recreation, b) our Norcross middle and high schools - Pinckneyville MS, Norcross HS, Paul Duke STEM HS regarding events, and 3) business partners according to the level at which they join. For more information about our Business Partnership program, go to our school website, www.simpsonsuperstars.org and click PTA.
Please note: Simpson Elementary School does not endorse a specific business/event/service. We provide advertising information via our Business Partner Program.
2. Has the process changed this year regarding checking visitors' IDs when entering the school?
Yes! In the past, we checked the ID of anyone checking out a student. We now check the ID of everyone who enters our building and/or checks out a student. This is for security purposes.
Please understand that the staff member at the Welcome Desk will ask everyone to show ID until she knows them well (i.e., PTA Co-Presidents). We have several staff members who rotate sitting at the Welcome Desk; so please do not be offended when asked to show ID.
3. I understand Simpson serves both general education and special education students. Can you tell us a bit more about our students?
Absolutely! To be enrolled at Simpson, students in general education must live in Simpson's attendance zone. Of our 990 students, approximately 150 students have identified special needs. They live, not only in Simpson's attendance zone, but in attendance zones of other elementary schools in the Norcross cluster and, occasionally, Duluth or Meadowcreek clusters. They come to Simpson because we house the particular program they need. (Not all schools house the same programs.)
Some students are served through a resource model which means they are in a general education homeroom and see a Special Education resource teacher for 1-3 segments per day. Other students are served in one of our 15 self-contained classes (their homeroom class) where a Special Education teacher works with the students for the majority of the day. Some of these children in those self-contained classes are scheduled to join a general education class (known as a buddy class) for a combination of lunch, Connections class, or curricular classes such as Science or Social Studies.
We want all Simpson students and parents to feel a part of the Simpson school family. We want every child to be included in any and all activities as much as possible. For example, if you are a general education parent, you may see that your child's class has the name(s) of one or more additional students on the class roster. This means that one or more students from a self-contained homeroom class join your child's class for lunch, Connections, recess or an academic subject area.
What does that mean for a supportive parent? Example - 1) If a general education parent is sending in a treat for the entire class, he/she will want to make sure there are enough treats for the additional students joining the class. 2) If a general education parent wants to buy ice cream for their child's class, he/she will want to remember there may be additional children who join the class for lunch. 3) If a general education parent is sending out party invitations for the whole class via email or US mail, or for a group such as all the boys or all the girls, the parent will want to make sure they look at the class roster to include the contact information for the parents of the Special Education children who visit their child's class. Lastly, talk with your child! Ask them if there are friends that come and go throughout the day. If so, remind your child to welcome them to their class and be a friend to them.
Our goal? For every Simpson student to feel included in school activities and events, to have the opportunity to make friends, and to love coming to school. We are blessed to have 990 students who are all unique!
Cafeteria Reminder!
A heads up for the parents of students who participate in our free/reduced lunch program. The end of the "grace period" for those who need to re-apply for Free/Reduced Lunches is September 16th. Those students whose parents do not re-apply must begin paying full price for meals on Tuesday, September 17.
Parents can re-apply via the link on our Simpson website or contact Ms. Lisa Watson, our Cafeteria Manager, for a paper application.