Crabapple Crossing Elementary
Principal's Newsletter
February 5, 2018
Dr. Rachel Williams, Principal
From the Principal
Dear Parents,
It’s been business as usual here at Crabapple Crossing this week. Something I do not talk enough about is the fantastic group of committed parents, teachers and administrators who sit on our School Governance Council board. This is a small team that has been doing some very detailed work lately behind the scenes. They have given up time away from their families to attend monthly meetings as well as meetings in the community in order to help us write our new strategic plan. As you know, Fulton County Schools is writing a new plan, therefore all schools are going through alignment as well. We started from scratch this summer and now, as we head into February, I can say we feel confident about the document we have created that focuses on: Student Achievement, People and Culture, Fiscal Responsibility and Community Collaboration.
This time of year we get busy in many day-to-day operations within the school. For the first time ever our teachers will be signing contracts extremely early (this month) so that we can get ahead of other districts and select the best teachers to hire. This is a new and exciting change. Just this week, I interviewed a potential teacher for the 2018-2019 school year. Isn’t that hard to believe? We truly strive to find top talent at Crabapple and we want you to be aware this process has begun.
Finally, I want to re-emphasize the importance of student attendance. I realize it has been a rough year with the flu and other illnesses, but we truly need your student here each day for teaching and learning. Attendance is a factor that is calculated into our Georgia school rating. Remember, this year we gained 9.1 points and are now at a 97.1 here at Crabapple. We would hate to see this number decrease and attendance is one factor that is beyond our control, so we need your help! School ratings have an impact on home buyers in our community. I cannot emphasize enough that we need our students in school and on time to class when they are healthy. Thank you for partnering with us. I have no doubt as a parent and home owner you value Crabapple and want the best for our school community as well.
Career Day was spectacular on Friday! Make sure you talk to your student about what they learned. I will speak more about Career Day in the newsletter later this week.
Think First & Stay Safe Program
Ms. Lundy, our School Counselor, will present the Think First & Stay Safe™ program to our students in February. The Think First & Stay Safe™ is a research-based program that teaches specific personal safety education lessons to students. An OPT-OUT form will be sent home with your child. Please only complete and return this form if you do NOT want your child to participate in the Think First & Stay Safe™ program.
National School Counseling week, 2/5-2/9
CCES Magazine Subscription Renewal and Orders
Please consider renewing your family magazine subscriptions or purchasing new magazine subscriptions at a discounted price through CCES. Orders will continue to be accepted until Friday, February 9th at school. The online order link is available throughout the year.
- Magazines are 85% off newsstand prices.
- The school will receive 40% profit from the magazines ordered.
- Orders may be placed online or with the order forms in the Time for Reading packet.
Packets have gone home with your child, but if you would like to Go Green and order online:
- Go to www.gaschoolstore.com
· Use our School Code: 2533123
· Please register your child if you are ordering online so that we have information for prizes.
FCS TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION
We would like to say congratulations to our CCES students for their outstanding performance at the Fulton County Technology Competition this past Saturday at Westlake High School. We had 17 fabulous projects entered into the competition and are so proud of all of our students who competed: Idhanth Premkumar, Nathan Majure, Neev Ghafourikia, Nolan Var, Saanvi Movva, Haasini Pothineedu, Shriya Dharmendran, Aasritha Remala, Ananya Tadepalli, Dhvanish Vaghela, Niyati Kumar, Sathvik Jitta, Amishi Jain, Ashwika Gandra, Saanvi Rebbapragada, Hunter Davis, Siddhartha Jitta, Aditya More, Nathaniel Dsilva, Arya Konteti, and Ansh Gupta.
The projects that placed 1st at the county level will move on to the Georgia Educational Technology Fair at Middle Georgia State University in Macon on March 10th.
Kindergarten Sneak Peek
SGC Parent Elections - Candidate Declaration
Parents and guardians, are you looking for an opportunity to shape the strategic direction of your school? If so, you should consider running for an open seat on our School Governance Council. Interested parents and guardians must visit the following website to submit their candidate declaration forms SGC Candidate Nominations by February 23rd.
Margaret White appointed as Associate Superintendent for Professional Learning and Leadership Development
As a district, we are constantly reevaluating our needs to make sure we fulfill our goal to “prepare all student to graduate ready to pursue and succeed on their chosen paths.”
Our latest move is to realign our FCS organizational structure with our new strategic plan. Professional Learning and Leadership Development will now be reporting to a new position recently approved by the Board: the Associate Superintendent for Professional Learning and Leadership Development. This position will be a part of the Academics Division.
Margaret White, the current Area Superintendent for the Northwest Learning Community, was appointed by the Superintendent for this new role and began this week. Her years dedicated to our school system and her experience in both professional and leadership development made her a perfect candidate to lead this work.
Until a replacement is named, Cliff Jones, current Area Superintendent for the Northeast Learning Community, will be overseeing both the Northeast and Northwest Learning Communities. With the help from both Area Executive Directors, Eric Hollinhead (NWLC) and Angela Parham (NELC), we are confident that we will be able to continue to provide a high level of service to our schools.
Joint Assessment Parent Night
Upcoming Events
2/5-2/9 National School Counseling Week
2/9 Walk to School Day
2/9 Class Pictures
2/9 PTO Meeting
2/14 Katha Stuart's Community Meeting, Roswell North ES, 9:30 am
2/15 Math Night - new date
2/16 Box Tops Due
2/16 Hurricane Irma Make up day - School for students and staff
2/19 President's Day - No School
2/20 Katie Reeves' Community Meeting, Alpharetta ES, 9:30 am
2/23 Kindergarten Sneak-a-Peek, 8 am
About Us
Principal's Email: WilliamsRA@fultonschools.org
Cluster: Milton
Grades: KK - 05
Email: masterson@fultonschools.org
Website: www.crabapplecrossing.org
Location: 12775 Birmingham Highway, Milton, GA 30004, United States
Phone: 470-254-7055
Twitter: @CCES_Principal