Abbotts Hill Hilltop Happenings
September 27, 2023
Abbotts Hill Elementary School
Website: https://www.fultonschools.org/abbottshilles
Location: 5575 Abbotts Bridge Road, Johns Creek, GA, United States
Phone: 470-254-2860
Important Dates
9/25 - 9/29 Book Fair
10/13 PTA Reflections Award Ceremony at 7AM
10/9 Columbus Day (School Closed)
10/10 Teacher Work Day (No Students)
10/11 Professional Development Day (No students)
10/26 Bingo Night - PTA Sponsored
A Note from Dr. Stabler
Dear Parents,
Thank you for supporting the Abbotts Hill Elementary School Boosterthon Fun Run sponsored by our PTA. We did it! The children had a great time, and we exceeded our goal of $25,000.00. These funds help support extra student and family events, materials for the classroom, as well as support for staff and community events. Again, thank you for your continued support!
Attendance Matters! As you know we have a goal this year of 90% of our students attending school for 93% of the school year. Requests for absences for the months of August and September of this year were a little higher than last year. Most absence requests were due to travel and vacations scheduled on school days.
Please help us reduce our student absences by doing the following:
- Limit the number of absence requests for travel and or vacation days during the school year that are scheduled school days.
- If student work is provided, ensure that he or she returns the required assignments in a timely manner.
- Be mindful of school days when making doctor/dentist appointments. When making these visits if your student misses school, please request a medical note to send to the school.
Some of you may not be aware that attendance matters when it comes to our school ratings such as the CCRPI score. This rating impacts property values in our communities when new homeowners consider purchasing a home in any community. But, most importantly if children are not in school, they are missing valuable instruction. Each family can support our school’s goals by getting students here on time each school day. Attendance really does matter.
Thank you in advance for your support!
Roytunda Stabler Principal
Important Note
Emergency Release of Students
At Fulton County Schools, we prioritize student safety. Emergencies happen. When they do, preparedness is the key to handling them well. We ask that all parents or guardians who have not listed an emergency contact to update their emergency contact list to include one person who is not the parent/guardian. If the parent or guardian is not accessible due to an emergency, it is important that the school has an approved person to contact regarding your student.
Thank you for updating your emergency contacts at your earliest convenience.
Here are step by step instructions for updating your student’s emergency contacts and a link for doing so in the Parent Portal:
EMERGENCY-RELEASE-STUDENTS.pdf
Link to parent portal:https://www.fultonschools.org/infinitecampus
Note From Ms. D'Eloia
Welcome back to the 2023-24 school year! My job as the K-2 Literacy Coach is to provide on-going classroom support and professional development to kindergarten through second grade teachers, as well as visit classrooms, model lessons and co-teach. I will eventually work with small groups of K-2 students on phonics skills in the “Reading Lab” each week. My classroom is in the first-grade hall, in room A110. If you have any questions regarding K-2 literacy, feel free to e-mail me at: deloia@fultonschools.org
I am looking forward to another WONDERFUL school year!
News from the Learning Commons
OUR LITERATI BOOK FAIR IS UNDER WAY!
The theme is “Uncover your next great book!”
Parents/guardians have been joining their student's this week during their class shopping time. There are still 2 days of the book fair for class shopping. For parents who may want to do some "surprise" shopping on their own, see the schedule below for Open Shopping times. Thank you for supporting the Learning Commons.
https://efairs.literati.com/?school=abbotts-hill-elementary-school-johns-creek-ga
Please share this link with family and friends who’d love to buy books or e-gift cards for your student. You may also visit efairs.literati.com and search for Abbotts Hill.
Balances remaining on e-gift cards can be used online or at a future book fair. Of course, we will also accept cash and credit cards. We are required to collect sales tax on all purchases.
Online Fair: All books ordered through the online fair will be delivered to SCHOOL AFTER THE FAIR ENDS.
Kids Book Club Subscription Boxes: Keep great books coming all year long with a personalized Literati book box and get five just-right books delivered to your door every month. Literati’s prices are LOWER THAN AMAZON’S and the books are selected based upon your child’s interests! Plus, 10% of every dollar spent will always go back to our school! The first three months are 50% OFF and you may cancel at any time.
This book club would make a wonderful recurring holiday gift!
BOOK BINGO!
This is an optional challenge for all grade levels that invites students to read 16 books from various categories (these vary by grade and are listed on the BINGO sheet). The books must be borrowed from our Learning Commons. There is no “due date”! Once a student completes the challenge and returns the signed form, he/she will earn a free book from our book vending machine!
Participation will open the student’s eyes to the wide variety of books available in our Learning Commons- and they will likely even discover some new favorites!
If your child is interested, please have him/her stop by the Learning Commons to pick up the form.
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
Students who signed up to participate in Battle of the Books met with Mrs. Dickinson in person this week and should clearly understand expectations and procedures. All participants will need to finish reading their first book (and post their first set of questions, answers, and evidence) by September 29th.
We will not meet during the first semester, but students will still need to read and post their questions, answers, and evidence. Beginning in January, our meetings will be in-person from 7:10-7:40am once per month. Battle of the Books is lots of fun, but it does require organization and commitment. Students who do not keep up with the requirements will not be able to participate. All information about Battle of the Books can be found on the Learning Commons website at www.abbottshillmc.weebly.com (Battle of the Books tab)
Interested in Volunteering in the Learning Commons?
Please consider volunteering in the heart of the school, the Learning Commons! If you are interested in helping in the heart of the school, please complete the mandatory Fulton County Volunteer Training. Questions? Please email Christy Ramineni, our amazing volunteer coordinator at christylramineni@gmail.com
Here’s the September sign up link:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4EAFAC2AA6FD0-september2
BORROWING BOOKS
Please help your child develop responsibility by encouraging them to find a safe space to keep their library books (away from young siblings, water, food, and pets).
Books are checked out for 2 weeks, but can be returned sooner, of course!
Kindergarteners and 1st graders may check out 1 book at a time.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders may check out 2 books at a time.
Parents/guardians are welcome to come to school to set up an account of their own. They can then check out up to ten books at a time!
Clinic News
Did you know...
That keeping your hands clean and germ free is one of the most important things we can all do to stay healthy? It is the best way to prevent the spread of germs, illness, & allergens.
Wash, wash, wash your hands after....
Using the bathroom
Sneezing, blowing your nose or coughing
Touching a cut or open sore
Playing outside
Playing with pets
and always BEFORE eating!!
To wash your hands properly...
1)wet your hands with warm water,
2) apply soap and scrub for 20 seconds (sing ABC song twice)
3) Rinse and dry
If a student must take medication during the school day, on a field trip, or during school-chaperoned activity, an “Authorization to give Medication At school” form must be filled out. If non-prescription, only a parent signature is required. If prescription (even inhalers), we MUST have a doctor’s signature in order to administer the medication. All medication is stored in the clinic.
Parents must supply ALL medication. We do NOT supply Tylenol, Advil or even cough drops.
Please check the Fulton County website (https://www.fultonschools.org/Page/7525) for all forms needed.
Thank you and feel free to stop by or email with any questions. (Pereras@fultonschools.org)
News from the 4CIT Studio
Digital Citizenship
All of our students have completed their digital citizenship Commonsense Media lessons. We will continue to revisit how to stay safe, respectful and responsible when using technology in and outside of school throughout the year. Please remember to have important conversations with your child about this topic. Together we will work to keep our children safe.
Minecraft EDU
We are a Minecraft EDU School. Minecraft Education is a game-based learning platform that offers educators a transformative way to engage students and ignite their passion for learning. Minecraft includes standards aligned content across K12 subjects. Minecraft helps prepare students for future workplace building skills like: • Creativity • Collaboration • Communication • Problem-solving • Systems thinking. We will be using Minecraft EDU for some grades 2-5 projects in the 4C-it Studio this year, and in some classrooms. These performance tasks are aligned to grade level standards. Please click on the link to read the Minecraft EDU parent/guardian letter for more information.
Science Olympiad is postponed until further notice. We will post any additional information as we get it. Thank you for your patience.
Please contact Barbara Simon with questions at simonb@fultonschools.org.
News from Coach Andrews
Physical Education & Health Happenings
During the month of September, students in PE will participate in games that include chasing, fleeing, and dodging. Students will demonstrate different movements and motor skills while playing tag-like games. Students in Health will be identifying healthy behaviors with an emphasis on expressing emotions and staying away from harmful and hazardous substances.
We have also started our September Sport Contest! Students may choose to participate in this contest for a chance to win a token to the new book vending machine. For more details about the contest, students should visit the green poster outside the gym or the Health & PE Seesaw page for AHES.
** Go Jaguars **
From School Social Worker:
Help Your Child Succeed in School: Build the Habit of Good Attendance Early
Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves. Start building this habit now so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Eventually good attendance will be a skill that will help them succeed in high school and college.
Did you Know?
Starting in preschool and kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.
Missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read.
Students can still fall behind if they miss just 1 or 2 days every few weeks.
Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
Absences and tardiness can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.
What Can You Do?
Set a regular bedtime and morning routine.
Lay out clothes and backpack the night before.
Try to schedule non-Covid-19 related medical appointments and extended trips when school is not in session.
If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to the school counselor, social worker and other parents for advice on how to make your child feel comfortable and excited about learning.
If your child must stay home due to illness or quarantine, ask the teacher for resources and ideas to continue learning at home.
If you have questions about school attendance, please feel free to contact Ms. Sheridan, School Social worker at sheridanbq@fultonschools.org.
Attendance Matters!
Why attendance matters?
If students are absent from school regularly, they miss out on fundamental reading and math Skills.
Students who are often absent from school miss out on the chance to build a habit of good attendance that will carry them through college and their careers.
What can families do?
Talk about the importance of regular attendance and about how your child feels about school.
Build regular routines for bedtime and in the mornings during the school week.
PTA News
WE REACHED OUR GOAL!!!
A huge thank you to all of our families for your amazing support over the past two weeks to help us not only meet but exceed our goal for the Fun Run. Because of your dedication we raised over $30,000! Whiteboards are already being installed in our classrooms. We will also be ordering books for our vending machine and setting up our awesome events for the year!
Save the Date! Bingo Night will be Thursday 10/26. More information to follow.
Don’t forget to drop off your gently used books for our upcoming used book fair. We will take books for all ages including adults! There are bins in the front lobby for easy donations.
The PTA and the Atlanta Falcons have partnered to offer our families a fun day at a game!
Please see the flyer below and purchase your tickets today. A portion of the ticket will come back to our school. Feel free to share with friends and family!
Thank you again for your continued support. If you have any questions, concerns or want to get involved, reach out to Samantha Feldschneider at sfeldschneider@gmail.com