College Heights Connection

Dear Families,

Thank you for attending Curriculum Night last night. I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse of your College Heights student's busy school day. We pack a lot of learning and play into our days! If you have any follow up questions, please reach out to your child's classroom teacher. Look for more parent engagement opportunities throughout the school year, such as the upcoming Parent Coffee Chat on September 6. We hope you can join us.

I want to put in a plug for our amazing PTO. The College Heights PTO supports so many of our important programs and events. We are grateful to our PTO parent leaders for all they do. Please consider joining the PTO if you haven't already to learn more about what they do for College Heights. It's free!

Finally, as a follow up to my communication about the recent rise in COVID-19 cases at College Heights, please keep your child home if they are sick until they are well enough to return. Open communication between your family and the school is vital in keeping our community healthy; thank you for being our partner in this effort.

Have a great weekend,

Principal Garland

We are excited to announce our 2024-2025 Advisory Council members. Our first meeting will be held virtually on September 5. The council was established many years ago to offer advice on school operations and program quality, advance the goals of the program within the community, serve as the liaison between the school and City Schools of Decatur leadership, and ensure alignment with the school mission and vision.

• Sarah Garland, Principal
• Erynn Mathews Davis, Instructional Coach
• Joseph Brasfield, Pre-K Parent
• Samantha McMahan, Community Parent, Secretary
• Mercy Udoji, 0-3, Pre-K Parent
• Jessica Flowers, Pre-K Parent
• Candace Jones Boynton, Teacher Representative
• Garrett Womble, 0-3 Parent, Chair
• Lauren Baker, Pre-K Parent
• Taylor Russell, Pre-K/0-3 Parent
• Mariela Sanchez, 0-3 Parent
• Chris Allen, 0-3 Parent

PLEASE NOTE NEW DATE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 8:30 AM

(was initially scheduled for September 13)

College Heights Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Overview

More details coming soon!

Approximately once a month, all CSD schools release students two hours early so that teachers and staff are able to have important meetings, participate in professional learning, and hold parent conferences.

The Pre-K early release schedule is as follows:

• Two hour early release. Students eat lunch at school.
• Bus riders will be dismissed between 11:45 am-12:00 pm.
• Walkers/car riders and community after school programs will be dismissed beginning at 12:15 pm.
• Families enrolled in community after school programs should contact the program directly on their early release details.
• Students enrolled in the College Heights aftercare program will remain in their rooms for rest time and will transition to their aftercare location at 2:30 pm.
• Early release days generally fall on the last Wednesday of the month, but some early release days occur just before a holiday or break. The 2024-2025 dates are: 8/28, 9/20, 10/30, 11/22, 12/19, 1/22, 2/26, 3/26, and 4/30. There is no Early Release Day in May.
  
• Students in the 0-3 tuition program are not released early; they attend for the entire school day as usual.

Please reach out to Caretha Hall if you have any additional questions.

We will be offering camp services during the Pre-K fall break (September 23-27). Camp is open to any current Pre-K enrolled student. Camp will be capped at 40 students and spaces will be given on a first come, first served basis. Registration opens on August 26 at 8:00 am. Payment is due at the time of registration. Deadline to register is September 13. For families in need of financial assistance please contact Principal Garland. For questions or concerns please email Ms. Elecia Fulton, After School Manager.

Tuition is $230/week. (breakfast, lunch and snack are included)
Camp hours: 7:30 am-5:00 pm

I had the chance to visit all eight Pre-K classes on Monday for our first library class of the year. We enjoyed the book Groovy Joe: Ice Cream and Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, and we started learning how to do the Groovy Dance, which we will do at every Community Circle this year. More information about Community Circle will be shared soon.

Pre-K, one year olds, two year olds, and preschool (three year old) classes will visit the library for the first time next week.

Thank you to all the families who have participated in the birthday book program. We will be posting photos of students with their books on the bulletin board near Caretha's desk. Want to honor your child's birthday with a new book for the College Heights library? Click here!

August 28 - Early Release Day (Pre-K only)

September 6 (date changed from September 13) - Parent Coffee Chat on Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

September 20 - Early Release Day (Pre-K only)

September 23-27 - Fall Break (no school for Pre-K and Preschool special education students)