The Ram Report
We are so excited to welcome you and your child/children back to Mt. Carmel Elementary School! If you are a new enrolling parent or transferring parent, please ensure that you have fully completed
your registration application by submitting all documentation that was needed. For any child who is not returning to Mt. Carmel Elementary, please come to the school to obtain withdrawal paperwork prior to enrolling your child in his or her new school. If you are unable to come by the school because you have already moved, please complete this form linked here.
As a reminder, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, we will host our annual Sneak-A-Peek at 4:30 PM. Doors will remain open until 6:00 PM. In addition, the first day of school will be on Thursday, August 1, 2024. Students may be dropped off beginning at 7:00 AM. Please note that elementary students will be dismissed early at 2:00 PM on the first two days of school.
This year, your Ram Report will be provided to you bi-weekly. Be sure to visit the most recent version to know what is happening with your Ram.
Our annual Sneak-a-Peek will be held on July 30, 2024. Doors open at elementary schools at 4:30 p.m. and will remain open until 6:00 p.m. Sneak-a-Peek is an opportunity for students and parents to meet teachers and administrators, find homerooms, learn more about bus schedules and the cafeteria, and so much more.
Be sure to complete this form prior to the Sneak-a-Peek. This will help to save some time.
For the safety of our students, we are unable to accept changes over the phone. Please use this form to submit your request. Please follow the instructions below to set up your child's default transportation and emergency transportation for the 24-25 school year. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the form. This is where you will make transportation changes throughout the year as they arise. Again, the front office will no longer be accepting changes through written communication or phone calls.
All afternoon dismissal and transportation changes must be made using this system. Also, if there is someone other than yourself picking your child up from car riders, please email the name of the person. If he or she does not have the green car rider placard, please let them know that we will ask to see their license prior to releasing any student. This is to protect the safety of your child. Please make all transportation changes prior to 1:30 PM.
Link: https://mces.dcssga.org/o/mces/forms/mces-transportation-changes
This year, all students (K-5) will use agendas in conjunction with AVID Elementary. Through the implementation of Avid Elementary students develop the academic habits they will need to be successful in middle school, high school, and college, in an age-appropriate and challenging way. Children learn about organization, study skills, communication, and self-advocacy. AVID Elementary students take structured notes and answer and ask high-level questions that go beyond routine answers.
AVID states that “ when students effectively manage their time, it helps them to meet classroom deadlines, increase the quality of their work, reduce their stress, and accomplish their goals, while also helping to ensure that they have time for other interests and passions.”
All agendas are $7. To purchase your child's student agenda, please use the link below
Below you will find the list of school supplies that your child will need at the start of the year for his or her classroom. As a reminder, there are some school supplies such as baby wipes or Lysol wipes that will be communal property and will be shared among all students.
School Supply Lists for all grades (Click link)
Complete your Free and Reduced Meal Application On-Line in Just 3 easy steps!
Parents can apply for free or reduced priced meals by applying on-line at www.schoolcafe.com
Choose:
- Sign-in or Register (if you don't already have a SchoolCafe Account).
- Click the Apply for Free or Reduced Benefits
Please only submit one application per household. If you submit an on-line application, you will not need to fill out a paper application. Filling out more than one application will delay the processing of your application. Applications are processed within 10 school days. You will receive a letter letting you know your eligibility once your application has been processed.
Please note, until your application has been processed and approved, you will be responsible for paying for meals.
The Fee-Based After School Program sponsored by the Douglas County School System is designed to provide adult supervision, in a group setting, to students whose parents work outside the home after school hours.
All students must be pre-registered in order to attend the after school program. Registration is all online, we will not be accepting paper applications. Students who have not been registered electronically, will not be allowed to stay after school. All registration is set up as a drop in contracts for all program sites.
The After School Program does not provide educational services to students and is not intended to be an educational program. Rather, group activities in which students will participate include things such as movement, homework, computer games and story time.
All of the after school programs in the Douglas County School System are registered with Bright from the Start, a department of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. The school system programs are exempt from licensure and letters of exemption are posted in the school office.
The program is open directly after school until 6 pm when school is in session. There is a $10 registration fee per family and tuition is $10 per child, per day. ASP fees must be pre-paid, due prior to the child staying in the program.*There is a 3.96% credit card processing fee applied per transaction made on online payments with credit card or ACH electronic payments.
All medication (prescription and non-prescription) must be brought to the school by the parent or guardian.
No student will be allowed to bring medications to school or on the bus. Students may not have medication in their possession except with a physician's order for emergency situations only. There is zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol in Douglas County Schools.
Medications must be in the original container. Medications brought in Ziploc bags or other unmarked containers will not be given. Prescription medications must be in the pharmacy container labeled with the child's name, date, name of medication, name of prescribing physician, times(s) medication is to be given and name of the pharmacy filling the prescription. We request that you ask the pharmacist to give you two labeled prescription bottles so that you have one bottle at home and one at school.
Do not bring medication to school which needs to be given once daily or two/three times a day unless the physician specifically states a time during the school day for the medication to be given. If the medication can be given at home, please do so.
Parent/guardian must provide specific instructions, including the drugs and related equipment to the school. It will be the responsibility of the parent/guardian to inform the school of any changes in pertinent data.
Express/Self-Service Car Lanes
Last year in April, we began implementing a self-service line for car riders. It was such a success that we have decided to continue the self-service lanes. After 7:10 AM, you may enter the bus area to drop off car riders. Please pull to one of the cones. Your child will exit the car by themselves from the passenger side door. Please note again that there will be no adult to open the door for your child. Once they exit the vehicle, they will walk through the car rider entrance. Students are not permitted to enter the main entrance. If you would like for someone to be available to open the door for your child/children, you will continue to use the car rider lanes. (Enter at the third entrance for car riders.)
Regular Car rider lane morning procedure
- Car rider lane opens at 7:10 AM. Do not let children out of the car prior to 7:10 AM.
- School begins at 7:40 AM. All students should be in the building before that 7:40 AM or they will be considered tardy.
- Please have your child's belongings ready and be prepared to exit the car when you pull up to the sidewalk.
- If the car rider lane is closed, you must drive your child around to the main entrance and escort them into the building.
- For safety reasons, children should exit the car on the passenger side of the car.
Car rider afternoon procedures
- Car rider lane opens at 2:10 PM. Please plan to pick your child up no later than 2:30 PM.
- At 2:30, any child who has not been picked up will go to our fee-based after school program.
- Ensure that your child is aware of his or her car rider number.
- Please hand your car rider tag from the rearview mirror where the number is visible until you leave the campus. This will help the adults on the sidewalk know who you are picking up.
- If you lose your car rider tag or need an additional tag for another vehicle, you may purchase additional car rider tags.
- If you do not have a hang tag, you will need to have a picture ID ready and available to present to the car rider staff.
- Enter the car rider lane from Fairburn Rd. DO NOT turn LEFT onto the campus. This may lead to traffic jams because it prevents other cars from leaving.
For all students in the 3rd grade and below, a parent must be present at the bus stop for the student to disembark the bus. If the student has a sibling on the bus that is in the 4th or 5th grade they will be allowed to disembark the bus with that sibling. If a parent, guardian, or parent/guardian designee is not present at the bus stop to receive their child or if they otherwise appear to have no appropriate supervision, the student will be taken back to their school of origin.
Drivers must be able to see the parent/guardian so that proper identification can be made. This means that you have to be physically at the stop and out of your car. (Photo Id may be required) Please be standing at the bus stop five minutes prior to the bus arrival time and note that the driver cannot release students other than at their designated bus stop. The drivers are not allowed to leave their bus so the parent/guardian will have to come to the door of the bus to present proper ID.
No Parent/guardian will be allowed to board the bus for any reason.
If you would like for your child to disembark the bus by him or herself. Please complete this form prior to August 1, 2024. Your child will be given a green or yellow tag that will be added to their backpack. This tag will serve as an indicator to the bus driver that your child may exit the bus independently or with an older sibling. The tag must remain attached to book bag, and do not write on the tag.
Please note that students 8 years old and younger may be brought back to their school in the afternoon if a parent, guardian, or parent/guardian designee is not present at the bus stop to receive them or if they otherwise appear to have no appropriate supervision. This is in accordance with Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS) Guidelines for safety and supervision of children.
Link: https://forms.gle/eounYhjW27kuNFDZ9
Here Comes the Bus® is a bus tracking and student tracking software tools from Synovia Solutions that truly help keep children safe as they travel to and from home and school on the school bus. The code for DCSS schools is 79003.
Bus Driver Procedures:
➢ Drivers must be able to see the adult or designee so that proper identification can be made. This means that you have to be physically at the stop and out of your car. (Photo Id may be required.)
➢ Please be standing at the bus stop five minutes prior to the bus arrival time and note that the driver cannot release students other than at their designated bus stop.
➢ If a parent or designated adult of an 8 year old and younger child is not at the stop OR we do not have signed permission to release the child without an adult, the child will be returned to school.
➢ All requests for a waiver from any requirements contained in the Safe Rider Contract must be submitted in writing to the Transportation Department. The Transportation Department will consider any extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis.
To ensure that you have all the important dates for this year, be sure to visit our school website to access our year at a glance calendar. Click here to access our school calendar.
Important August Dates
August 1, 2024 First Day of School
August 8, 2024
Meeting: Safety and Discipline Meeting
Location: Virtual
Time: 5:30 PM
August 9, 2024
Meeting: Safety and Discipline Meeting
Location: Virtual
Time: 8:30 AM
August 29, 2024
Event: Open House, Homework Help and Study Skills for Academic Excellence
Location: Mt. Carmel Elementary School
Time: 5:00-6:30 PM
