Falcon's Nest

March is here and we are in full swing into the second semester of school. We will start the month with parent conferences taking place during the week of March 3-7. If you have not signed up for a parent conference, please reach out to your child’s teacher or go to the Alcova website. Parent teacher conferences are an essential component of the two-way communication between the school and families. This partnership is important to the overall success of your child.

Read Across America Week is scheduled to take place from March 3rd to March 7th. This special event encourages students of all ages to celebrate the joy of reading through various activities and initiatives. Our theme this year is Readers are Leaders. We will encourage leadership of our young scholars. Please read the flyer detailing our activities for the week.

Join us for an exciting International Night on Thursday, March 13th! This event will celebrate diverse cultures through food, music, and performances representing cultures from around the world. Be sure to sign up to contribute your favorite dishes representing your heritage or cuisine you love. Let’s come together to explore and enjoy the flavors and traditions of different countries while fostering community connections. Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity to share and learn!

Early release will take place on Wednesday, March 5th and Thursday, March 6th. All students will dismiss at 12:15 to allow time for teachers to engage in Parent Teacher Conferences.

Are you willing to help us build a new gym floor?

https://alcovaes.givebacks.com/store?limit=21&live=true

March Events:

● March 10-12 District Assessments (3rd-5th grade)

● March 13th International Night @ 5:15-7:15

● March 14th Digital Learning Day

● March 19th Spring Picture Day

● March 21st SOAR Student of the Month

● March 21st Pizza BINGO @ 5:30

Alcova families,

Your voice counts! Join us on Teams so you can be apart of the planning for your child's education next school year.

If you do not have teams, please follow the instructions to sign up.

Link to Register: https://tinyurl.com/4yrdv226

How-to log into the Meeting: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGgZx7HAf4/G3MPjBG37R5EZK3C9ygTHQ/view?utm_content=DAGgZx7HAf4&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h0cc8a59eac

Link to Teams Meeting: https://tinyurl.com/mde72wc8

The Office of Family Engagement in the Department of Federal Programs invites all families to join the Spring Family-School Partnership Advisory Council (PAC) Meeting virtually on March 11th from 6:00 until 7:30 PM via Zoom.

Click here to RSVP for the Family-School Partnership Advisory Council Meeting

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScRYUnSJQHIKro9AmIhbeIrUSTip3zzlvq0DJlcPi5nFnEkcw/viewform

What Makes You Unique?

Students, it’s time to celebrate what makes YOU special! Each of you will receive a hand cutout to decorate. On this hand, you’ll include 5 things that make you unique—things that reflect your culture, family, or what makes you you!

You can draw pictures, write words, or add colors and designs that represent those special things. Need some ideas? Use these questions to help you:

• What’s a tradition or holiday your family celebrates?

• What’s your favorite food that connects to your culture?

• Do you speak a different language or know special words from your family’s heritage?

• Do you have clothing, symbols, or accessories that are important to your culture?

• What kind of music, stories, or art do you love?

Have fun expressing yourself, and let your hand show the world what makes you one of a kind!

https://alcovaes.givebacks.com/store?limit=21&live=true

Click the link to Register!

https://tinyurl.com/5h6b37ym

Alcova Families!

We are gearing up for our annual kickball event! This year, we are inviting our Dacula family cluster to join. Mark your calendars!

Date: May 3rd

Participants:

· Dacula cluster students will compete in games organized by age group.

K-2nd 10am-11am

3rd-5th 11:15am-12:15am

· Dacula cluster staff will face off against Dacula cluster parents.

12:30pm-1:30pm

Links:

Kickball Website: https://alcovacommunitykickball.my.canva.site/

Sign-Up Link: https://signup.com/go/dtBbDxV

T-shirt Link: https://sfnd.io/DaculaClusterT-shirtPayment

Vendor Link: https://tinyurl.com/ysufacjc

On Friday's students can purchase ice cream at the beginning of lunch for $1 exact cash.

Please remember school hours are from 8:15 am -2:45 pm. Students may enter at 7:45 am and car riders will begin dismissal at 2:40 pm. Announcements will begin at 8:10 am, so instruction may start promptly at 8:15 am. Students are encouraged to ride the bus daily to ensure a timely arrival to school. Thanks in advance for getting your children here on time and ready to learn.

We will continue to use Parent Square this school year for weekly school and district communication, individual messages with staff, and school-wide alerts. We encourage everyone to download the app and reflect on how and when you would like to receive Parent Square messages. You can customize your notifications in the settings.

Parents/guardians will visit Parent Square to sign off on required orientation agreements and Title I Plan & Promise for all students. Documents for the 24-25 school will be available in the app starting July 22.

Please login to your ParentVUE account (this is the same account used to register your child). This website/app will contain important information all year long.

Beginning July 31st you will be able to log on to ParentVUE, select your student and click 'Class Schedule', then choose 'First Semester' to view your child's 24-25 school year teachers. While you are there, select 'Student Info' to view bus route information and update any contacts and phone numbers.

NOTE: In March 2024, GCPS consolidated the Parent Portal and ParentVUE. If you have not done so already, you must reset your ParentVUE password by clicking 'forgot password'. Please continue to use your email as your username.

*** Please DO NOT create a new ParentVUE account. Visit the district website for detailed information on how to manage your current account.

• All information about the ParentVUE - https://www.gcpsk12.org/Page/26854

We will use MyPayments Plus this year for parents to add money to their child's lunch account, pay for field trips, club fees, order birthday wishes, and more. Parents can make annual contributions towards the clinic, PBIS, our All Pro Dads club, and more. Click below to access the MyPayments plus website and create your account. You will need your child's student number to create an account. You can access your child's student number and more via Parent Vue.

New Smart Snack Compliant Ala Carte items to include:

• Lay’s Baked Potato Crisps
• Doritos Reduced Fat Tortilla Chips
• Whole Grain-Rich Rice Krispies Treats
• Angie’s Boom Chick a Pop Kettle Corn
• Welch’s Fruit Snacks

These items are Ala Carte for $1.00

https://sfnd.io/alcovabirthday

https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome

Don't forget to follow us on Social Media. See what exciting things are going on at Alcova.

Follow us on Facebook!

Follow us on Instagram!

Alcova Elementary School PTA | Facebook

Alcova PTA Instagram- @AlcovaPTA

Each day we strive to dismiss students with a safe organized process to ultimately ensure the safety of each student. In order to keep our procedures accurate and maintain appropriate processes to ensure the safe release of our students, all check outs in the front office must be completed before 2:15pm and all transportation changes must be made in writing with the front office by the parent by 1:00pm. Thank you for helping us keep our students safe.

Safety Procedures

Alcova is committed to ensuring its schools are safe. We take a very proactive approach to ensuring the safety of students, staff members, and campus visitors. We would like to share information with you about our district safety procedures that are implemented at Alcova.

https://www.gcpsk12.org/Page/24293

Parents,

Teachers are engaged with their students and have limited access to emails and Parent Square throughout the day. If you have an emergency transportation change request, you must email 978.transportation@gcpsk12.org to process the change. Please use this email only for "day of" emergency changes, where you did not send a note in with your student. Change requests must be received no later than 1:30 pm to guarantee the change request will be processed.

Just a Reminder: The Car Rider Lane will close at 8:15 am. All students arriving after 8:15, must check in at the front office with the parent. Please do not drop your child off if the doors are closed.