Comet Connection

At Magill ES, we teach students to be SAFE and RESPECTFUL. Being respectful involves keeping using kind words with one another and keeping hands, feet, and objects to ourselves. Physical violence and fighting is neither safe nor respectful. It is simply not allowed at our school.

As a mother of four children, I understand why many of you have instructed your students to defend themselves if someone is physically hurting them. However, this stance is giving our students the impression that fighting at school is okay. The results of our investigations often inform us that some of our students antagonize others to make them hit first so that they are justified in using "self-defense."

Students who participate in fighting will have consequences that may include up to 3 days out of school suspension. Our discipline handbook defines fighting as involving "mutual participation" in the act. Our students are taught to tell a teacher, counselor, bus driver, or administrator if someone is bothering them or hitting them. They are taught to exercise restraint and not to hit back because two wrongs don't make a right.

It hurts to see young children engage in physical violence. We all know that as adults, we often have to practice restraint as a result of the consequences we may receive for our actions. Our school staff is working hard to ensure Magill is a safe space and a bully-free zone.

Please support us in our efforts to teach our students to use their words to resolve conflict.

Yours in partnership,

Dr. Guerlène Merisme

Proud Principal

Magill Elementary is a Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) School.

What is PBIS?

PBIS is a process for creating safer and more effective schools. It is a systems approach to enhancing the capacity of schools to educate all children by developing research-based, school-wide, and classroom behavior support systems. The process focuses on improving a school’s ability to teach and support positive behavior for all students. PBIS includes school-wide procedures and processes intended for all students and all staff in all settings. PBIS is not a program or a curriculum. It is a team-based process for systemic problem solving, planning, and evaluation. It is an approach to creating a safe and productive learning environment where teachers can teach and all students can learn.

What is PBIS at our school?

We have adopted a unified set of schoolwide expectations. These rules define our expectations for behavior and you will see these rules posted throughout the school. Students at Magill are S.O.A.Ring! They are

SAFE

ON TASK

ACCOUNTABLE

RESPECTFUL

Please be sure to review these expectations with your students. The expectations are explicitly taught and revisited often as a proactive measure to getting students to do the right thing.

How can you model expectations similar to these at home?

Daniel J. Boorstin said, “Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.” Since you are our partners in education, we encourage you to continue your children’s education at home. We have noticed that our students struggle with “Number Sense” in math. Number sense refers to the student's ability to understand relationships between numbers, apply knowledge of numbers to real-world situations, and solve problems with mental math. You can help your children enhance their number sense skills at home while making it fun. Try these activities for students struggling with number sense:

· Pretend to shop online or with a sales circular and let your learner use mental math to estimate costs.

· Play teacher: Have your learner devise problems for you to solve. You can solve the problem on paper and let your learner check your work. If you make a mistake, have your learner explain why you were wrong.

It’s never too early to start working on number sense. Read this article on how to work with young learners. This article gives strategies for older students. Happy learning!

Common Formative Assessments in GCPS

Throughout the school year, teachers use formative assessments as “check-ins” on student learning. The information allows teachers to know which standards students have mastered and which standards need additional teaching. Following these check-ins, teachers will provide additional opportunities for learning through small group instruction prior to the summative assessment. The district Common Formative Assessments (CFAs) are a category in the grade book at 5% for 1st-5th, however, this grade may be adjusted throughout the semester as students master standards.

Come Check Us Out!

The Parent Center has resources available for you to check out. You can borrow books, games, and more to help your scholar learn at home.

PTA Updates

We would like to formally introduce the new PTA board to the Magill Family

Officers:

Co-President: Maria Silva and Janaiha Ellis

Vice-President: Homer Anderson

Secretary: Shari Jennings and Nikki Nelson

Treasurer: April Iza

Committees:

Membership Chair: Kasena Carter

Member Hub Chair: Lola McLean

Reflection Chair: Sequoia Ayala

Volunteer Coordinator Co-Chairs: April Iza and Kandis Donaby

Special Events Co-Chairs: April Smith and Meshane Spivey

Communications-Marketing Chair: Yolanda Marroquin

Community Relations Chair: Nikki Nelson

Fundraising (Grant & Sponsorships) Chair: Vacant

Parent-Liaison: Daniel Fraga and Kyria Moore

If there are any questions or concerns, please contact:

Nakia Miller, Assistant Principal @ 770-554-1030 or nakia.miller@gcpsk12.org

At Magill ES, it is important that you are our partners in education. As a parent, you are your child's first and most important teacher, and the learning you do together doesn't stop when children head off to school.

Click on the links below for ways to be an active part of your child's education.

9 Hints for Helping with Homework

Staying Involved in Your Child's Education

How to Stay Involved in Your Older Student's Education

Parent Lunches: Due to high Covid-19 transmission rates, we will not be able to accommodate parent lunches at this time. We will keep a close eye on the situation and let you know when parents will be invited to have lunch with their students.

GCPS Lunch Forms: Lunch applications are due this month. Please remember a new application must be submitted each school year since the previous year's application will not work. The district offers both printed and online options for completion. Each new school year brings thousands of applications for the Free and Reduced Price Meal program. Due to the number of applications received an online application turnaround time is faster. The online application is available in English and Spanish. Please log on to the GCPS website for more information.

September 14th – this is the last day of the 30-day Grace Period for SY23. Any student who has not submitted an SY23 F&R application will move from Temp Free Grace status or Temp Reduced Grace status to Full Pay status on 9/15. They will remain at Full Pay status until they submit a new SY23 F&R application. This information was communicated to our parents at the district level.

SY23 online applications are now available!

Be sure to check your students' bookbags for pertinent information regarding school events. Here are a few of our upcoming events:

September

• 9/14 Girl Scout Parent Meeting @ 6:00 in the Media Center and Cub Scouts Parent Meeting @ 6:30 in the Cafeteria
• 9/15 Hispanic Heritage Month Begins
• 9/16 Digital Learning Day #1
• 9/28 Literacy Night @ 6:00

October Preview

• 10/6-10/10 Fall Break
• 10/12-110/14 Field Days
• 10/19-10/20 Early Release
• 10/21 PTA Fall Festival

Check-Out Policy

Kindergarten- 1 Book

1st-5th grade -2 Books

Every class is registered for weekly or bi-weekly checkout!

****Lost or damaged books are $3.00 for magazines, $5.00 for paperback and $15.00 for hard cover per GCPS Policy.****

Gwinnett County Communique is an online magazine with news and stories about, your classrooms, your schools and your community!

http://gcps-communique.com/

Please log on or sign up for mypaymentplus.com to sign and acknowledge Magill's Title I The Plan, The Promise document which outlines the partnership among students, families, and staff as we work together to help students reach their academic goals.

Empowering Lifelong Learners

Email: guerlene.merisme@gcpsk12.org
Website: www.jcmagill.org
Location: J. C. Magill Elementary School, Brushy Fork Road Southwest, Loganville, GA, USA
Phone: 770-554-1030
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jcmagill/
Twitter: @jcmagilles