Talley Street Update

Welcome to Talley Street Upper Elementary School's 2024-2025 school year! We are thrilled to have your child as a part of our school community and look forward to a year filled with learning, growth, and new experiences.

I am eager to begin the new school year and welcome our new Talley Street Tigers! The start of the year brings excitement and is filled with endless possibilities. Working together we can make the 24-25 school year a memorable and successful one for all students! In Decatur, ALL means ALL!! Welcome back!

Billy

Our dedicated team of educators is committed to providing your child with a nurturing and engaging environment. Here are the names of our new staff members (some of whom are familiar faces in new roles). We will be introducing them via social media over the next few weeks.

Jennifer SanAngelo - School Manager

Tara Koski - Media Clerk

Kelsey Gee - 3rd Grade

Michael Holliday - 4th Grade

Elizabeth (Betsy) Stuart - 4th Grade

Quonisha Jackson - 5th Grade

Jennifer Thomas - ESS

Melissa McArthur -ESS

Ellen Barneycastle - Spanish

Trina Hill - 5th Grade

Laura Rulon - ESOL

Lindsey Crowhart - ESOL

Rosalyn Reed - ESS

Beth Goodson - Speech

Christopher (CJ) Johnson - Intervention Paraprofessional

Kathryn Roberts - Stellar Substitute

• Class Rosters posted in Infinite Campus: July 25, 4:00 PM

• Meet and Greet: July 29, 1:00-3:00 PM

• First Day of School: July 30

• House Sorting Day: August 2

• PTO Popsicle Social: August 3, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM

• 1st Walk and Roll to School: August 9

• Fall STAR Reading Assessment: August 13

• Fall STAR Math Assessment: August 14

• Curriculum Night: August 22, 6:00-7:30 PM

It is essential for families to complete the Annual Data Update (ADU) at the beginning of each school year. Some “opt-out” selections must be submitted via the ADU, or in writing to your principal, within the first 10 days of school. Please review the K-12 District Handbook and the Code of Conduct and the Restorative Practices Handbook before completing the update. Help your school be the first to reach 100% submission. For more information about the Annual Data Update please use the link below. Returning families must still complete the Annual Update at the beginning of each school year.

Translation support is available by contacting the school’s front office or Willie Washington at wwashington@csdecatur.net.

Strong communication between home and school is vital to your child’s success. Here are the ways we will keep in touch: emails, newsletters, phone calls, and posting information on the school’s website and marquee. The school also has a strong presence on social media. Please follow the school on Facebook (@Talley Street Principal), Twitter (@TalleyPrincipal), and Instagram (@talleytigergram).

For the safety of our students, there will be new procedures for student arrival and dismissal for the 24-25 school year. For arrival, ALL students, including bus riders, car riders, walkers, and bike riders, will enter the building from the parking lot entrance (Entrance C). Buses will drop off students by 7:20. Parents/guardians may not enter the school parking lot until the buses have left. Parents may line up on Talley Street and enter the parking lot once the buses have left the school. School staff will greet students and make sure procedures are followed. The Talley Street entrance (Entrance A) will not be accessible during school hours, 7:00-3:00. Parents should not drop off their children anywhere along Talley Street. Any student or parent who tries to enter Entrance A will have to walk along the sidewalk and around the building to enter Entrance C. No one will be allowed to enter the Talley Street entrance (Entrance A).

For dismissal, ALL students will exit the building using the parking lot entrance (Entrance C). Dismissal times will be staggered. At 2:15, bus riders will be dismissed, followed by car riders, walkers, and bike riders. Parents/guardians of car riders who arrive before 2:00 should not enter the parking lot, but instead should line up along Talley Street. Once the buses have left, car riders may enter the parking lot. Dismissal may take longer than in the past. We appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we implement the new procedures for the safety of our students. Below are links to a video and a map that explains the latest procedures. The Talley Street entrance (Entrance A) will also not be accessible during the Meet and Greet. Everyone should enter the parking lot entrance (Entrance C).

Great News! Talley Street Upper Elementary has partnered with PickUp Patrol to help better manage our dismissal process (Traducción Española).

PickUp Patrol provides a layer of safety to our dismissal process by authorizing plan changes and automatically tracking student dismissal plans. The application reduces interruptions, speeds up dismissal time, and is administered by our own staff.

ALL plan changes will be submitted through PickUp Patrol. Please be on the lookout for a generated email from PickUp Patrol with detailed directions on setting up your account.

If you have questions, please contact Talley Street Upper Elementary at jsanangelo@csdecatur.net or support@pickuppatrol.net.

Regular attendance is crucial for your child’s academic success. If your child will be absent, please email your child’s teacher and copy the school manager, Jen SanAngelo, jsanangelo@csdecatur.net.

The school supply lists are linked here. The supply lists are simply suggestions for parents. The school will ensure that all students have the supplies that they need.

Families can apply for free or reduced price lunch. Additional information can be found on the Nutrition webpage. The school will have an area for parents to use if they wish to apply at the Meet and Greet.

The Talley Street Upper Elementary School Leadership Team (SLT) is an elected committee of Talley Street's parents/guardians, staff members, and other personnel. The SLT focuses on school governance, student achievement, and family engagement. Some of the responsibilities of this team are to:

• Serve on interview teams

• Develop, approve, and monitor the continuous school improvement planning process

• Review assessment data and use it for decision-making purposes

• Review and approve changes to its bylaws

• Recommend school needs to the CSD Board of Education during the annual budget process.

SLT members are elected to their positions except for appointed positions. Parents may attend to present an idea/concern at SLT work sessions. SLT meetings are open, and stakeholders are welcome to attend (look for dates in the Talley Street Update and on the school’s web page).

To vote in the SLT election, you must be a parent/guardian of a Talley Street Student. If you are interested in joining the SLT, please submit a candidate statement with biographical information and a paragraph explaining why you want to be an SLT member to Mr. Heaton (bheaton@csdecatur.net) by Friday, August 16, 2024. Each family will receive one vote per enrolled student. Remember that the most essential requirement of an SLT member is to have an honest desire to contribute to the educational experience and learning of all children at Talley Street Upper Elementary School.

Details:

• All candidate statements are due August 16th to Mr. Heaton.

• All candidate statements will be published in the Talley Street Update, Talley Street webpage, and on the school’s social media.

• Elections will take place on August 29th and August 30th. The school will send out a Google form on the morning of the 29th.

Talley Street has an opening for one parent representative for the 24-25 school year.

At Talley Street, we use the House System to implement CSD’s Positive Behavior Supports and Interventions (PBIS) program. All students and staff are sorted into 1 of 6 houses. The Houses are: Altruismo (House of Givers), Amistad (House of Friendship and reigning CHAMPS!), Rêveur (House of Dreamers), Nukumori (House of Kindness), Isibindi (House of Courage and 2022-2023 Champions!), and Onraka (House of Unity). Students will be sorted into their Houses on Friday, August 2 in a fun-filled day at Talley.

Culture of Belonging

Houses provide students with a culture of belonging. Throughout the year, each student’s personal accomplishments are rewarded with points that collectively count toward their House. This gives students an opportunity to be recognized and thanked by their peers daily for their individual contributions to the overall team. At other schools, achievement is sometimes seen as something that is nerdy or uncool — but at Talley, good behavior and academic successes are revered among students because they all know that students’ successes help their own House get closer and closer to winning the championship. And that culture of belonging goes beyond just the students! Parents are encouraged to become a part of their child’s House too. This helps them build bonds with other parents, including parents of upper-classmates, to whom they can reach out for advice and wisdom. The House gives them the instant community of a smaller group as an introduction to the whole school, thereby helping them to understand and feel like a part of it.

School-Wide Community

The House System uses a unique and creative cross-age group approach to building a community that will strengthen the social and academic lives of students. Traditionally, schools are split up into grades and students rarely interact with older or younger peers. In a House, students are able to interact with peers from other grade levels. With this, the older students become support systems for younger ones who are struggling or need advice — and they in turn grow as leaders themselves when they are able to pour into the younger ones in this way. This mentoring community extends to the teachers and staff as well. Every adult in the school participates in the House System because it instantly gives them an opportunity to form strong bonds with a smaller group of students in their House. Additionally, it enables a playful sense of competition with students of other Houses. This type of role modeling and mentorship, provided on a consistent basis to students as they go through each grade of the school, can be exponentially valuable to their growth!

Character Building

The House System builds character with a reward system that goes beyond something like earning a piece of candy from a candy jar for doing something good. Instead, each student’s achievements add to a collective group, making the reward communal and social. We have seen this change the way that a student perceives points over time: what may start as extrinsic motivation in the beginning turns into intrinsic motivation as the student realizes the behavioral and academic traits and ethics that are valued by their peers. Excerpts from RCA House System, Summer 2021

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

Talley Street PE

And these Instagrams:

@talleytigergram

@talleystemstagram

@talleystreetgarden

@TalleyPTO

For news from our counselors, check out their website:

Counseling Website

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