August 2024 Newsletter

Dear families of New Life Academy of Excellence,

We at New Life Academy of Excellence are excited to welcome you all back to school on August 5, 2024! Our teachers and staff are preparing for yet another engaging year with impactful opportunities to grow together in excellence.

This month’s newsletter is a special "Back to School" edition with important new information and updates for our new and returning families.

Please read through the important information contained in this newsletter, in addition to checking your email and our website for additional information that will be shared throughout the next few weeks.

See you at Open House on August 1st!

School Hours:

Elementary School

School in-session: 8:00am - 3:00pm

AM Carpool: 7:30am - 8:00am

PM Carpool: 3:00pm - 3:30pm

Office Hours: 7:30am - 4:00pm

Middle School

School in-session: 7:45am - 3:15pm

AM Carpool: 7:30am - 7:45am

PM Carpool: 3:30pm - 3:45pm

Office Hours: 7:15am - 4:00pm

PRE-ORDER YOUR STUDENT LUNCHES NOW!

The menu is now available for August. Parents/Guardians MUST place a pre-order for their student's lunches the week prior by Wednesday.

**** Please place your order by AUGUST 1st for the first week of school! ********

UPDATED CONTACT INFORMATION

If there have been any changes to your contact information, please contact the school office with the new information. This includes address, email, and phone numbers.

This is very important as we prepare for the new school year!

ENROLLMENT

Thank you for promptly submitting your re-enrollment information in December.

If your situation has changed since then, please make sure that you contact our Student Data Management Clerk, Mrs. Patterson, at lpatterson@newlifeacademyga.com to begin the withdrawal process. This will greatly help with transitioning to other schools, as well as opening up spots for those on our current wait list.

IMMUNIZATIONS REQUIREMENTS

Please review immunization requirements for students and a TDAP-Meningitis parent fact sheet for students entering 7th grade. The new vaccine requirements apply to students who are born on or after 1/1/2002 AND entering 7th grade. The requirements also apply to students who are new entrants to 8th-12th grade. New entrants are students who have never attended any school in Georgia or have not attended any school in Georgia for at least one full school year.

Get ready to meet your teachers!

Open House is scheduled for Thursday, August 1st.

Plan to bring your school supplies with you!

Please attend any point during your allotted timeslot noted below.

You do not need to stay the entire time.

Elementary School

10:00 am - 12:00 pm

---------------

Middle School

1:30 pm - 3:30 pm

TO DO BEFORE OPEN HOUSE:

• Submit a Free/Reduced Lunch Application online (Link found in this newsletter)
• Make sure you have your uniforms ready, including P.E. and blazers* (middle school only)
• Create a MyPaymentsPlus account if you do not have one (register for New Life Academy of Excellence as your district, NOT Gwinnett)
• Beginning July 22, 2024, sign-off on important documents on MyPaymentsPlus
• Confirm with your before/afterschool care companies that they service NLAE, and note which building your student will be attending (Elementary or Middle)
• Make sure you are able to access ParentVue (GCPS Parent Portal), update student information if needed

At Open House, you will be able to:

• Meet your teacher(s) and drop-off school supplies
• Fill out important forms for your teacher
• Bring medication to the school office
• Submit free/reduced lunch applications
• Pick up your car rider tag (new students)

Elementary:

Carpool will open for drop-off from 7:30 am - 8:00 am

Pick-up will be open from 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Middle:

Carpool will open for drop-off from 7:30 am - 7:45 am

Pick-up will be open from 3:30 pm - 3:45 pm

This school year, NLAE will partner with Meals Pro, Inc as the Food Service Management Company providing lunches to students.

Full-pay lunches will cost $4.14. If you may benefit from financial assistance for school meals, please submit a Free/Reduced Lunch application.

❗❗❗ NEW this year: NLAE will move to a Meal Pre-Order system, available ONLY on MyPaymentsPlus.

Beginning July 22, parents/guardians may go to their student's account and order meals for the next week.

• The student must not have a negative balance in their cafeteria account
• Payment will be pulled from the Cafeteria account for lunch.
• Parents/Guardians will check-off each day that their student will eat a hot lunch at school.
• Pre-Orders will be open until Wednesday at noon of the prior week.

The New Life Academy of Excellence School Nutrition Program is now accepting Free/Reduced Lunch applications for school year 2024-2025.

Did you know?

Filling out an application helps increase funding to support our school and students!

Your application may help with discounted testing fees, technology and internet access.

Don't wait, apply now online!

Free and Reduced Lunch paper applications have been mailed out, and may be returned via mail. However, the online application is a quick and easy way to complete this process:

Free/Reduced Lunch Application Online

*Please note, students may choose to bring a packed lunch to school.

New Life Academy of Excellence will utilize My Payments Plus for all activities and fees this school year.

Parents/Guardians, please make sure you have a My Payments Plus account by August!

All students must have an account under NLAE, not Gwinnett County Public Schools.

ATTENTION!

• 🥪 Lunch balances have rolled over to this year. Those ending the year with a negative balance will begin the school year with the charges owed.

Be ready for the school year, set up your account today!

🗨️ Instructions:

1. Head to mypaymentsplus.com OR download the app
2. Register your student: GA >> New Life Academy of Excellence (NOT GCPS)
3. Create account!

👉 Tip!

Families may set a threshold for account balances to notify you, or automatically replenish your account. No more worrying about your student lunch account!

❗❗ Important!

When registering, please choose our school, New Life Academy of Excellence, NOT Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS). Accounts under GCPS will not transfer to New Life Academy of Excellence, and a refund will have to be processed by contacting GCPS.

A list of school supplies for each grade level is available on our website. The lists reflect the basic needs of each student at each grade level at New Life Academy of Excellence. Teachers may choose to request additional supplies as the need arises.

In addition to the grade-level list, your student may require:

• Binder or Organization system

• Book Bag (Should be able to fit into a standard locker. May have wheels)

• Pencil Case (Not large/bulky)

• Water Bottle (labeled)

It's time to order your student's uniforms!

❗❗**Rising 6th Grade and New Middle School Students will need to purchase a New Life Academy of Excellence Burgundy Blazer before the first day of school. Blazers should be ordered ahead of time due to fittings and order processing time.

Visit our uniform provider:

Flynn O'Hara

Sandy Springs Plaza

6311 Roswell Road NE

Atlanta, GA 30328

(404) 260-7584

Website: www.flynnohara.com

Kindergarten Requirements

Students whose immunization record is not updated before school starts will not be able to attend school until a current certificate of immunizations is received.

Gwinnett County Public School Procedure P.JBA states that a current certificate of immunization must be submitted prior to enrollment or within 30 days after the expiration date or the child must be excluded from attendance until a current certificate is submitted.

7th Grade Requirements

All students entering the 7th grade are required to have one dose of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis booster) and one dose of MCV4 (meningococcal conjugate vaccine). Although your student’s certificate may not have an expiration date or may be marked complete for school, the law requires that a current certificate be submitted verifying that the student has received both of these vaccines before they enter 7th grade.

Certificates will also be considered in compliance if they provide evidence of medical exemption and have not expired. Parents who previously filed a Religious Affidavit of Exemption with the school do not need to file another affidavit.

Gwinnett County Public School Procedure P.JBA states that a child may be excluded from attendance until a current certificate is submitted.

Resources

Students can get vaccinations and certificates of immunization from their private physician or

at any of the local health department offices listed below.

Please check https://www.gnrhealth.com/locations for health department hours of operations.

Lawrenceville Health Center

455 Grayson Hwy., Suite 300

Lawrenceville

770-339-4283

Norcross Health Center

5030 Georgia Belle Ct.

Norcross

770-638-5700

If your child meets eligibility requirements, he or she may receive vaccines at no charge through the

Vaccines for Children program. However, there is an administration fee for the vaccines under this

program. If you are unable to pay for the administration fee, please ask to speak with the health

center manager for financial assistance.

Locations in Gwinnett County

Good Samaritan Health Center of West Gwinnett

5949 Buford Hwy., Norcross, GA 30071 Call 678-280-6630

(Sliding scale fees for uninsured/underinsured)

Good Samaritan Health Center of East Gwinnett

1175 Commercial Court, Norcross, GA 30093 Call 770-806-0162

(Sliding scale fees for uninsured/underinsured)

Southside Medical Center

5127 Jimmy Carter Blvd. Norcross, GA 30093 (404) 688-1350

(Sliding scale fees for uninsured/underinsured)

Gwinnett Clinic

475 Philip Blvd Lawrenceville, GA 30046

(770) 995-3300

Other locations

CVS https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/clinic-locator/ga/

Walgreens https://www.walgreens.com/pharmacy/immunization/immunization_index.jsp

Publix https://ww4.publix.com/pharmacy-wellness/pharmacy/pharmacy-services/vaccination

Walmart https://www.walmart.com/account/login?returnUrl=/pharmacy/clinical-

services/immunization

❗ Due to limited parking spaces and for the safety of our staff and students, parents will not be able to walk their child to class on the first day of school. NLAE Staff will assist in directing all students to their new classrooms to ensure a smooth first day of school.

New Life Academy of Excellence DOES NOT provide transportation to or from school.

We are strictly a pick-up and drop-off facility. In order to find alternative transportation services for your child(ren), we suggest researching before/after school programs and services in the area.

*We are not affiliated with, nor do we endorse any particular company.

New Life Academy of Excellence WILL NOT have an after school enrichment program

for the 2024-25 school year.

CAR RIDER TAGS

Car rider tags are the form of identification for picking up students in carpool. It is crucial that you always have the correct car rider tag displayed from your rearview mirror or in a place that is visible to staff members in order to keep the line moving.

New students: Make sure to pick up your car rider tag at Open House!

We thank you in advance for your patience and consideration of our new families attending New Life Academy of Excellence, as they adjust to our carpool procedures.

Our goal is to ensure that each child, family, and staff member arrive and depart from New Life Academy of Excellence safely. Please adhere to the following guidelines during your time in carpool.

Morning Carpool:

1. Please follow the lead of the police officer and/or staff member tasked with controlling the flow of traffic.

2. Make sure that your child is alert, packed up, and ready to exit the vehicle.

3. Follow the carpool staff to be placed in the proper lane. Please stay in this lane.

4. Please remain in your car at all times.

5. If possible, please allow your child to sit on the passenger side or be able to cross over to the passenger side. If this is not possible for your vehicle, let a staff member know that your child is on the driver's side.

6. Once your lane has stopped and is ready to unload, PLACE YOUR VEHICLE IN PARK.

7. Wait for your lane to be released by the staff member on duty before moving your car.

8. In the event that your child has forgotten anything in your vehicle, please wave down a staff member or bring it to the front desk.

Afternoon Carpool

1. Please follow the lead of the police officer and/or staff member.

2. Make sure you have your burgundy car rider tag or the temporary tag visible to staff. If you do not have a tag, you will need to show your ID to be verified for pick-up. For safety, we will only release students to persons on the student's authorized pick-up list.
   

3. Remain in your car at all times.

4. Once your lane is at a complete stop, place your car in park.

5. After your child is secured in your vehicle and your lane is released, you may exit the carpool lane.

Please keep in mind, the first week of carpool will be congested as we adjust. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation!

Our annual Sixth Grade Blazer Ceremony will be held on Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 8:30am

Please make sure to have a blazer purchased and ready for this event!

Information will be given to our sixth grade families at Open House.

Our School Wide Community Council is a school organization that supports the unifying of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community partners that help build up the school community.

We hope that you can find the time to become an active and involved member of our school community. Studies have shown that when parents get involved in their children’s education, grades go up, test scores increase, there are fewer discipline problems and children are more likely to succeed in their future academic endeavors.

Parents are welcome to attend our SWCC meetings on the following upcoming dates, which can help with understanding the role of SWCC in supporting the school.

Monday, August 19, 2024

Elementary School

(prior to Curriculum Night)

4:30pm - 5:30pm

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Middle School

(prior to Curriculum Night)

4:30pm - 5:30pm

If you are interested, please attend and join us! We look forward to meeting you!

Curriculum Night is a night dedicated to sharing the objectives and strategies of the teacher/grade level for the school year. Please keep in mind, this is not a parent/teacher conference.

The teacher/grade level will give a detailed but brief presentation of the materials used, future lesson plans and future events. Session times are listed below:

Monday, August 19th : Elementary School

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Two Sessions to choose from:

5:30pm - 6:15pm

6:15pm - 7:00pm

Tuesday, August 20th : Middle School

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Two Sessions to choose from:

5:30pm - 6:15pm

6:15pm - 7:00pm

Make the transition back to school a breeze!

Here are some items to check off your to-do list before August 5th:

☐ Update your contact information if there are any changes

Contact the school office with new information

☐ Purchase school supplies, bring them to Open House on August 1st

☐ Get your uniforms ready! Make sure to read through the Dress Code on our website.

☐ Complete the Free/Reduced Lunch application

☐ Register or update your My Payments Plus account

• please make sure to register under District: New Life Academy of Excellence

[Please DO NOT register your My Payments Plus account under Gwinnett County Public Schools]

☐ Sign-off on school documents on My Payments Plus

☐ Pre-Order your lunches for the first week of school on My Payments Plus

AUGUST

• 1 ... Open House
• Elementary: 10:00am - 12:00pm
• Middle: 1:30pm - 3:30pm
• 5 ... First Day of School
• 15 ... Sixth Grade Blazer Ceremony
• 19 ... Elementary Town Hall and Curriculum Night
• 20 ... Middle Town Hall and Curriculum Night