Principal Neill's Newsletter
December 2017
Season Greetings
We are excited you are with our Briar Vista Family, we are about to close the 2017 year out with a fresh start on the horizon. Our teachers and staff continue to teach Georgia Standards of Excellence through the hard work from our Curriculum and Instructional Division in DeKalb County School District. We encourage you to have your child be in attendance every day. Great opportunities for our student recognition will include: Perfect Attendance Celebrations, Principal's A List for Academic Achievement, A/B Honor Roll, and Students reading 25 books in one semester at the 18 week Progress Report Card in January.
Our students will start Afterschool Tutorial January 29th, every Monday we are in school until April. Our tutorials will be mandatory in order to enhance student growth and increases in academic achievement for all content. Testing will be here before we know it, our theme this year will be: We will "Crush" the Test, which is centered on Orange Crush.
Continue to stay involved, we welcome you to volunteer throughout our campus. May you have a wonderful time with your family and friends during your time away from Briar Vista. We are truly thankful for you and your family!!!
Why Reading is Important
Why reading is important for babies and young children
Sharing stories, talking and singing every day helps your child’s development in lots of ways.
Reading and sharing stories can:
- help your child become familiar with sounds, words, language and the value of books
- spark your child’s imagination, stimulate curiosity and help his brain development
- help your child learn the difference between ‘real’ and ‘make-believe’
- help your child understand change and new or frightening events, and also the strong emotions that can go along with them
- help your child develop early literacy skills like the ability to listen to and understand words.
Sharing stories with your child doesn’t mean you have to read.
Just by looking at books with your child, you can be a great storyteller and a good model for using language and books. Your child will learn by watching you hold a book the right way and seeing how you move through the book by gently turning the pages.
Reading stories with children has benefits for grown-ups too. The special time you spend reading together promotes bonding and helps to build your relationship. This is important for your child’s developing social and communication skills.
Benefits of Reading and Story Telling with your Children
School Closed Dates
Students report to School Jan. 4th
School Choice Tours
Jan. 18 9:00-10:00am
Feb. 1 9:00-10:00am
Feb. 28th 6:00pm
Georgia Milestone Assessment Dates
More information to come:
Grades 3 and 4 will take ELA and Math Assessments
Grades 5 will take ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies