Welcome to the New School Year!
August 13, 2020
Important Dates to Remember
- Meet and Greet - Now through August 14th (Your child's teacher will contact you.)
- PTA Virtual Kindergarten Playdates - August 15 and 16 at 1:00 pm via Zoom
- First Day of School - Monday, August 17 and PTA Cheers and Tears via Zoom at 8:30 pm
- SLT Nominations Due - Monday, August 24
Glennwood COVID-19 Readiness Team
We are anticipating a great start to our new school year! In preparation for our return to in-person learning sometime in the future, we have been asked to form a team that will assist in making decisions that will work to keep our staff and families safe when we return to the building. The Glennwood COVID-19 Readiness Team will serve in this capacity. This team is open to staff, parents, and community members.
This team is NOT to decide WHEN students will come back into the building but this team's purpose is to help PREPARE for when our teachers and students return to the building for in-person instruction. This team will meet virtually every other Thursday beginning August 27th from 3:30-4:30 PM. Please click here to complete the survey if you are interested in serving. We will review the responses and contact those selected to participate on or before August 20. We appreciate your support.Thank you!
Kindergarten 101 Virtual Session
Communication
Website:
The Glennwood Elementary School website is a great source of information that is regularly updated. During the school year, we also send a school-wide electronic newsletter to all families on Thursdays. When we resume school in person, we will also add the Sunday night "week at a glance" newsletter. Teachers also communicate with a regular newsletter throughout the school year.
Parent Portal/Infinite Campus:
Families new to CSD will receive an email from Infinite Campus with a prompt to set up a parent portal account. The parent portal allows parents to view their child’s attendance records, assessment records, lunch balance, and an online lunch payment option. Parents can customize their contact information to ensure they receive weekly newsletters, and emergency school and CSD robo-calls. Classroom assignments were posted on August 5th. If you need assistance with the parent portal, please email Karen Hearn at khearn@csdecatur.net.
Glennwood PTA Website:
This is another great source of information about the school, including events, membership, and how to connect with other parents. The PTA is focused on supporting the instructional program of the school and building community. Learn more at the Glennwood PTA website.Virtual Learning Help
A team from City Schools of Decatur has created this awesome website with all kinds of tools to help you during virtual learning! Check out the Virtual Learning Help and Knowledge Center for everything you might need to know!
You will be able to help your child log into his/her Google Account/Google Classroom by Friday, August 14th. Please see the step by step directions here or download the pdf document below. You may also watch a video tutorial created by Ms. Marquez by clicking here.
Glennwood Yearbook Photo Requests for the 2020-21 School Year
Hi! By way of introduction, my name is Natasha Vorspel-Rueter and my daughter Mia is a kindergartner in Ms. Mason's class this year. My husband Christian, my daughters Mia (5) and Zoe (2) and I have called Decatur home since 2014. Prior to COVID, as a family we enjoyed traveling, riding our bikes to Butter and Cream for a sweet treat and going on outdoor adventures in the greater Atlanta area. We're now enjoying slowing down, hanging out at home, playing in the pool, doing lots of science experiments and baking different treats.
I'm excited to be taking on the role of the Yearbook Chair this year! I know the start of the 2020-2021 school year looks REALLY different this year. We'll probably share lots of cheers and tears as we go through the next few weeks. No matter what, I am committed to documenting the school year as much as possible and I'll need the help of parents, teachers and staff to ensure we capture these crazy moments. One day we'll all look back and say wow what a crazy year 2020 was!
The links below will allow you to upload your photos to our school shared folders. You can also email me pictures along with a 1-2 line description! My email address is Natasha@vorspel-rueter.com
I look forward to making this school year a memorable one!
Upload your photos here: Yearbook Photos 2020-21
PTA's New Website and 2020-2021 Membership Drive:
Over the summer, the Glennwood PTA transitioned to a new website in an effort to improve efficiency and better support our students, teachers, and families. The new site will make it easy for you to gather information, volunteer, and engage. We are especially pleased to announce that it will include a password-protected directory of students and parents, to help you stay even more connected during these unprecedented times. Very simply, visit www.glennwoodpta.org to register (following the instructions below) and provide information for the directory, if you wish to be included (please note that creating an account on the website does NOT register you as a PTA member; this just registers you for access to the website material).
Click My Info/Sign In
New User? Click here to register
The password is: soareagles
Follow the prompts to set up a user account and add students/teacher assignments/etc.
While you’re there, please consider joining the PTA for $20 per individual adult, and, if you're able, making a donation to provide valuable support for our students and teachers for the 2020-21 school year. Membership dues and donations will be used to support the PTA’s mission to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering students, families, and communities in education. Dues will directly support our community and the initiatives, events, and services we offer throughout the year. Our goal is to have 100 percent participation in the PTA this year (financial assistance is available upon request). If you have any questions, please reach out to president@glennwoodpta.org We thank you for your support!
Upcoming Events:
Kindergarten Playdates
The PTA would normally host an in-person kindergarten playdate before the new school year, as an opportunity for new families and students to meet. This year, we’re taking the playdate virtual, and students will be able to connect online with their classmates prior to the start of school. The playdates will be offered Saturday, August 15 at 1pm and Sunday, August 16 at 1pm for all kindergarten classes. Class Zoom playdate links will be shared prior to the playdates so students can “meet” each other before school begins. We hope you’ll join us if possible!
Virtual Cheers and Tears
Cheers and Tears is a long-standing Glennwood tradition on the first day of school (the event would normally take place after morning drop-off). This year, we plan to continue the tradition, but we’ll take it virtual so parents can connect after the first day of school, Monday, August 17, at 8:30pm on Zoom. This is a casual event for all parents to chat and get to know each other better. To facilitate this, we will be dividing into small "break-out" groups on Zoom.
Please join us to toast (or cry) with other Glennwood parents, as we commemorate the first day of this unusual school year. Zoom details will be shared prior to the event.
Volunteers Needed:
The PTA is seeking the following Board and Chair Positions:
-Community Outreach and Development- PTA Board Position; one monthly meeting (via Zoom currently) required; works with PTA Board to oversee community outreach and fundraising opportunities for the school. No previous experience necessary.
-Co Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee-The objective of this Committee is to help promote and enhance spaces at our school community where everyone is appreciated and celebrated. The group will be listening to the voices and needs of all families at Glennwood and aims to be intentional about modeling and promoting the building of meaningful relationships among members of our diverse school community. The Chair(s) will be responsible for leading a monthly meeting and working with the Committee to host (virtual) events that foster a sense of community (both at Glennwood and at the CSD level) and promote conversations on the topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. If this work speaks to you, please consider volunteering for this very important position at our school.
After School Clubs (Virtual):
Glennwood has a few virtual after clubs available. To view the opportunities, visit https://glennwoodpta.org/custom-page-2/ (Please be aware that these clubs are NOT sponsored by Glennwood or City Schools of Decatur (CSD), nor will there be a Glennwood staff person present during the class. Glennwood nor CSD are liable and do not specifically endorse these classes.)
Glennwood School Leadership Team Elections
As a reminder, we will have two vacancies on our School Leadership Team this year. This team serves as a collaborative, guiding coalition for all things Glennwood. Please consider submitting your application here. The nomination asks you to write a short bio which will then be published in the Eagle Edition. An example of a bio can be found here.
The deadline for submission is August 24th and candidate statements will be included in the Eagle Edition Newsletter. Voting will take place in early September in conjunction with our virtual Curriculum Night (to be scheduled) via a Google form. If you have any questions, please email Dr. Brookins at hbrookins@csdecatur.net.
CSD Black Parent Alliance
Glennwood Elementary Where Learning Takes Flight
Principal
Email: hbrookins@csdecatur.net
Website: https://www.csdecatur.net/glennwood
Location: 440 East Ponce de Leon Avenue, Decatur, GA, USA
Phone: 404-370-4435
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gleagles/