Talley Street Update

While students completed their synchronous SEE Learning unit last Wednesday, October 28, Wellness Wednesday will continue through January. There will be no live classes going forward for SEE Learning but students are invited to participate in asynchronous offerings from the Wellness Wednesday website, https://www.csdecatur.net/wellnesswednesday. Individual schools may offer additional options.

The remainder of this week will follow the normal schedule, including Wellness Wednesday on November 4.

Assistive Technology and How It Works!

Hosted by: Yael Cohen and Frank DeFilippo

November 5, 2020

6:00pm - 7:00pm

RSVP to Cheryl Grant cgrant@csdecatur.net

Yael Cohen, Occupational Therapist and Frank DeFilippo, Special Education Coordinator will present assistive technology tools to support students in CSD.

Navigating Employment & Social Security Benefits

Hosted by Sally Atwell

November 12, 2020

6:00pm - 7:00pm

RSVP with Cheryl Grant cgrant@csdecatur.net

*Target audience- parents of eighth grade & high school age students with an IEP

Sally Atwell, Benefits Navigator will guide families through an overview of how individuals with special needs can maintain disability benefits while working under the WIPA program (Work Incentives Planning and Assistance).

Community Work Incentive Coordinators provide information on:

• How your Social Security benefits and other State or Federal benefits would change if you were employed
• Work incentives such as Plan to Achieve Self Support, the Trial Work Period, and Impairment Related Work Expenses
• Other programs and services that can help you create a plan for successful employment.

Understanding Evaluation and Eligibility

Presented by Vickie Wingard

November 19, 2020

6:00pm - 7:00pm

RSVP to Cheryl Grant cgrant@csdecatur.net

Vickie Wingard has been a School Psychologist with the City Schools of Decatur for the past 25 years and has worked with all age groups from preschool to high school. She has extensive
experience in conducting psychological evaluations and in leading special education eligibility teams in the decision-making process. She also works closely with the Multi-Tiered System of
Support (MTSS) Teams at her assigned schools and is an important resource for identifying research-based interventions and progress-monitoring tools in order to document students’
Response to Intervention (RtI), which is a requirement for special education consideration.

In non-pandemic years, we would be gearing up for our big fall party, Supper & Sips. Since we can't gather together in support of Decatur's kids to enjoy some delicious local food, drinks and fun games, we're launching our "Just Another Thursday Night at Home." While you won't enjoy the party and camaraderie of the Supper this year, you can still have that great feeling of fellowship by supporting our families with a gift to DEF. To participate: put on your jammies, pour yourself a beverage, get cozy on the sofa and click here.

Do you have some positive support to give to a Decatur student? DEF is still seeking some adult male volunteer mentors for their AIM Scholars Mentoring Program. AIM mentors are paired with 3rd grade students and “meet” regularly throughout the year. In just 2-4 hours per month, mentors help connect their mentees with educational and enrichment activities so they can find their passions and develop life skills. For more information, please visit decatureducationfoundation.org/mentoring.

Last Wednesday, the 28th, marked our first ever at-home Decatur Farm to School’s (DF2S) district-wide taste test, featuring RADISHES! Did you get to participate and try CSD Nutrition Department’s lovely Garlic Roasted Radishes? If so, please be sure to answer those survey questions with the QR code! And how about those radish seeds that came with them? Both CSD and Wylde Center’s DF2S will be growing radishes, too, so make sure you plant your seeds, so we can all grow them together!

For those that didn’t get a chance to get seeds, NOT TO WORRY! The Wylde Center will have them available at their front porch. Swing by soon and get yourself a pack to grow at home!

Be sure to post your progress online and tag CSD Nutrition Dept. and DF2S, as we would love to hear from you. Happy Fall Growing!

We will be holding a student materials pick up on November 5th from 9:00-3:00. Materials will be outside of the school building for you to collect. The materials are related to the curriculum taught in Term 3. Please let Mr. Heaton know if you have any questions!

Season of Giving

A Season of Giving/Christmas Decatur works through the volunteer spirit of neighbors helping neighbors to ensure that our community’s children and seniors in need experience the joy of the holidays with gifts matched to their wishes. This year will be virtual, wherein monetary donations will fund either gift cards for parents to buy presents for their children or gifts for seniors purchased online by designated volunteers and sent directly to recipients’ homes.

If you would like to apply to receive support through A Season of Giving please click HERE.

If you would like to donate to this year's campaign please click HERE.

SUPPORT for Families with Food Insecurity:

1. DEF - Lighten The Load - Connect with your child's Counselor for access

2. DEAM (Decatur Emergency Assistance Ministry) is also providing assistance with food resources. Food distribution occurs on Thursdays and Fridays (by appointment).

3. First Christian Church of Decatur hosts a Free Food Pantry 7 days a week.

4. DEF - Kroger Gift Card Application (Any family in need can complete this application)

Thanks from your Talley Street Counselors!!

Mrs. Weaver & Mr. Alan

Talley Street Counseling Website

Book Pickup on Wednesday (11/4)

Book pickup will happen this Wednesday as usual! However, we do ask for your patience in our ability to fill holds this week. Our media center is so fortunate to be having some new bookcases installed tomorrow, but it may slow down our ability to prepare holds as quickly as we normally do. As a reminder, you should use these steps to check that your books are ready for pickup before arriving. Thank you!

Author Visits

Talley students have some exciting virtual author visits coming up! Third and fourth graders will be visited by Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived series on December 2. Fifth grade students will be visited by Alan Gratz, author of Refugee and other great books on November 12. Students will receive more information about author visits this week during their media center lesson. Information about ordering books from Little Shop of Stories can be found at the links below.

Title I Presents:

Reviewing Digital Parent Resources and Reading Tips

Thursday, November 12, 2020

10:00 a.m. & 5:00 p.m.

Virtual Zoom Meeting (Link Will Be Shared)

Amazon Smile

We're now on Amazon Smile! Log into www.smile.amazon.com and log into your Amazon

account, then select Talley Street Upper Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, then save and the PTO will start getting quarterly deposits!

One important tip - you MUST be logged in via smile.amazon.com while shopping for us to

receive any funds.

Kroger Community Rewards

We are set up to receive funds from Kroger. From your account screens, select Community

Rewards and search for “Talley Street Upper Elementary School PTO." Select it and then you

should be all set. Every time you use your Kroger card, the PTO will benefit!

Box Tops

Box Tops have gone digital! Download the app, Box Tops for Education. Enter your

information, select Talley St., scan receipts and done! We will no longer be collecting paper box

tops. If you have any issues using the app, you can submit (via the app) the item not being

recognized on your receipt for credit.

Publix Partners

Looking for an easy way to support Talley Street PTO?

Who knew Passive Fundraising could be SO easy!! You don' need the key chain card anymore.

Follow the easy instructions on the link:

http://www.corporate.publix.com/community/corporate-campaigns/publix-partners

We’re set up as: Talley Street Upper Elementary School – Decatur, GA

www.csdecatur.net/opening - a repository for all documents, announcements, and communications about how CSD is handling the 2020-2021 school year.

www.csdecatur.net/nutrition - How to order meals

www.csdecatur.net/transportation
www.csdecatur.net/bustracker - How to sign up for the new Predictable Ryde Bus tracking app used for meal delivery, soon for the Fly-brary, mobile book delivery and when in-person learning resumes to track students on their buses
https://virtual.csdecatur.net/tech-help (how parents and staff can put in a tech support request)

https://virtual.csdecatur.net/students - classroom login information

https://virtual.csdecatur.net/parents - Virtual Learning Handbooks

You can find more information on the following Facebook pages:

Talley Street Principal

Talley Street Upper Elementary School PTO

Talley Street Upper Elementary School Parents

Talley Street Artists

For news in the Media Center and from our school counselors, check out their websites:

Media Center Website

Counseling Website

For more about the Talley Street PTO, visit their website here: https://talleypto.org/