WEEKLY WONDERS

Week of December 16, 2024

This week is the 20th anniversary of Computer Science Week, which is celebrated as the largest global educational celebration. Students around the world are encouraged to participate in an Hour of Coding to practice skills like decision making, problem solving, revision, & teamwork. Students at Ellis have the benefit of attending Computer Science classes on their exploration day and thus practice for much more than one hour!

Pictured above: Lower Elementary students use Osmo materials to develop code that directs a character through a forest maze complete with obstacles like trees, rivers, and lily pads. Students navigate a character around the obstacles to collect items necessary to sustain life.

In small groups, Lower and Upper Elementary work through a series of coding puzzles to develop short programs for the blue robot, Dash. Students practice a variety of sequences, conditions, loops, variables, & functions depending on their developmental level. Once students complete the series of puzzles, they are ready to write their own code in Blockly - the student version of JavaScript.

Photo by: Ms. Angie

Important Dates

December 17- Hearing/Vision Screening

December 18- Hearing/Vision Screening

December 19- PTA Potluck Staff Breakfast

December 20- FREE PJ Day for All!

December 20- Annual Holiday Sing-A-Long

December 23-January 5- Winter Break

January 6- Staff Planning Day

January 7- Students Return to School

January 9- Open House

January 11- SCCPSS Choice Program Application Window Opens

January 15- School Council Meeting

January 18- PTA Squeaky Clean Improv Night

January 20- Dr. MLK Jr. Day- No School!

January 31- Donation Dress Down Day

January 31- SCCPSS Choice Program Application Window Closes

View the SCCPSS Academic calendar at this link.

View the SCCPSS Assessment calendar at this link.

Grace & Courtesy Focus

Throughout the school year, Ellis has a school-wide focus on certain positive character traits. Each teacher may choose to highlight these "Grace & Courtesy" emphases differently, but as a school we follow a general common curriculum.

From December 16-January 17th, our school-wide Grace & Courtesy emphasis is UNITY/LOYALTY.

The language for identifying/naming UNITY/LOYALTY from the "Self-Awakened Child" series by Jonathan Wolff:

Unity

When I think that all animals, birds, bugs, plants, and people are all part of Earth's big family, I am thinking about Unity.
When I look at all the ways people who look and talk different than I do are like me, I am thinking with Unity.

Loyalty

When I choose to be your friend and I am your friend forever, no matter what happens, I am being Loyal.
When whatever I do or say helps our friendship grow closer and better and I never purposely do anything to hurt you, I am being Loyal.
When my words and actions are the same as the love and truth of my heart, I am being Loyal to myself.

Late Arrival/Early Dismissal Reminders

Families, please remember that if your student arrives to school after 8:15am, you MUST walk them into the school and sign them in at the front door.

Additionally, early dismissals will NOT be permitted after 2:15pm.

Thank you for your attention to and cooperation with these procedures.

Change in Dismissal Notice

If your student will have a change in their dismissal transportation (i.e. They will be a car rider when they are normally a walker or vice versa), we ask that you email their teacher no later than 12pm. This will help us ensure that your student is in the right dismissal location.

If you do not follow this procedure, it may take us a longer than normal to get your child to you.

We appreciate your help with keeping dismissal as smooth as possible.

Staff Appreciation Breakfast

The PTA staff appreciation committee is hosting a potluck breakfast for school staff on Thursday, December 19th, and they are requesting your help.

If you are able to donate food or supplies, please sign up at this link.

Thank you for supporting our staff!

Staff/students may wear PJs to school on this day for FREE. There is NO donation dress down day this month.

Book Fair

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supported our Scholastic Book Fair this past week. The money raised through the Book Fair supports our school library.

If your student still has money on their eWallet account, those funds can be used at the next Scholastic Book Fair or they can be used on the Scholastic website.

Purchases can still be made through the Ellis Scholastic Book Fair website until December 19th. We receive 25% of anything purchased through that site and book orders of $25+ receive FREE SHIPPING directly to your home.

Happy reading, Bobcats!

Band Accolades

On December 7th, several Ellis students attended the Georgia Music Educator's Association District One Honor Band and All-State Auditions in Rincon, Georgia. The event hosted auditions for students from Chatham, Bryan, Effingham, Liberty, McIntosh, Long, Tattnall, Evans, Toombs, Montgomery, Treutlen, Candler, Bulloch, Jenkins, and Screven Counties.

Two Ellis students were selected to represent Chatham County in District Honor Band, Oz Yakabovits and Logan Brodhead. Oz was selected for the 4th chair, which means Oz was the 4th highest scoring trumpet in the surrounding 15 counties. Logan was selected for the 5th chair, which means Logan was the 5th highest scoring saxophone in the surrounding 15 counties.

Additionally, Oz Yakabovits qualified to audition for All-State Band, which is an audition-based group that is comprised of the top middle school musicians in the state, concluding their annual event with a concert in Athens, Georgia.

CONGRATULATIONS to Oz and Logan and GOOD LUCK to Oz on All-State Band Auditions!

Save the Date: Open House!

If you have a student moving up a developmental level next school year (i.e. Kindergarten to 1st grade, 3rd grade to 4th grade, or 6th grade to 7th grade), this Open House is a great time to see an example of their new learning environment.

Additionally, if you know of anyone who is interested in having their student join our school for the 2025/2026 school year and who is planning to apply during the SCCPSS Choice Program open application window, please share this information with them.

Save the Date: 25-26 Pre-K Lottery Opening Soon

You can find more information about the SCCPSS Pre-K program and lottery on the SCCPSS website.

Boosterthon T-Shirt Survey

The Ellis PTA, through the generous donations of business partners, provides every student with a FREE t-shirt to wear during the annual Boosterthon Fun Run event (in February).

To ensure that your student gets the best size, the PTA needs parents/guardians to fill out this brief form for EACH of their students.

Thank you for your help with this.

SCCPSS Parent University

SCCPSS is hosting Parent University at Gould Elementary School on December 14th from 9:30am-1:30pm.

Free continental breakfast, lunch, and childcare is provided. If you need a ride to the event, click on this link.

PTA Night at Front Porch Improv

Front Porch Improv is hosting a squeaky clean (family friendly) improv show on January 18th at 5:30pm.

Tickets are $12 and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Ellis PTA!

The Ellis PTA wants to thank our sponsor, Tremble Productions, for making this event possible.

You can purchase tickets at this link.

PTA Membership Drive

Join the Ellis PTA at this link.

Questions?

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. You have resources available to you:

Your student's teacher
SCCPSS website
Ellis website
Fellow school community members (via "Charles Ellis Montessori Academy PTA" Facebook group- search for it and join!)