Cartersville Elementary School

Welcome April! We hope everyone enjoyed a safe and restful Spring Break! Thank you to our families for a wonderful March. We ended March with our Bartow Advocates fundraiser and were able to raise over $18,000! Thank you, CES families. We were also able to open our School Store for our students! (Pictures below.) Thank you for your generous support of our students and community.

As we head into April and the end of the school year, please remember student attendance is important, especially as we begin final preparations for state testing at the end of the month. GMAS testing begins April 28th and will continue through May 5th, with make-up testing scheduled for May 6-9. Our students have prepared all year for this, and we look forward to celebrating their growth and success! We look forward to finishing strong in April and early May so we can celebrate this year's journey with some fun at the end of the school year!

~Mrs. Bryant

NOTE: As you make plans to attend our end-of-year events such as field days, 5th Grade Walk, and end-of-year parties, please double check the dates below, as some of them have changed since our beginning-of-year flyer (which is also updated below).

Please see the year-at-a-glance calendar below provided at Open House with important dates for this school year. While we anticipate these dates to remain the same, please note changes could occur throughout the school year. Please be sure to reference the CES Monthly Newsletters with the most up-to-date information.

*Calendar last updated: April 7, 2025

· Our school day is from 7:40-2:40. Doors open at 7:15 each morning.

· Early checkouts are not permitted after 2:10 pm for student safety.

· Please remember to send in a written and signed note for all transportation changes.

· All visitors must come through the main office and bring a photo ID to sign in.

· If your child is absent from school, a note must be turned in within 3 days of the absence. You may e-mail doctor's excuse notes to Sabrina McWhorter at smcwhorter2@cartersvilleschools.org

· All medications requiring administration at school must be brought to the school by a parent or guardian.

· No outside food or drink may be ordered and sent to the school for students; however, parents may bring food with them for a lunch visit with their child in our cafeteria.

· Be sure to check your child's grade frequently on Infinite Campus, once available. Progress reports will go home at 9-weeks, and report cards will be issued each semester.

· We kindly request all families picking their students up in cars, use the car rider line each afternoon. Car tags are available in the front office. This is for the supervision and safety of our students.

April 1st - Purple Rain Singers rehearsal

April 1st - Art Club - Group 3

April 1st - Advocates Movie Day $ due

April 1st - Advocates student envelopes due

April 1st - District ESOL Family Night!

April 2nd - GA Power In-house field trip - 5th grade

April 2nd - Special Olympics

April 3rd - Art Club - Group 4

April 3rd - GA Power In-house field trip - 5th grade

April 4th - Last day before spring break!

April 7-11 - Spring Break!

April 15th - PTC meeting

April 15th - Art Club - Group 1

April 15th - Purple Rain Singers rehearsal

April 16th - Ice Cream/Prize wheel for Advocates fundraiser

April 17th - Art Club - Group 2

April 17th - Purple Rain Singers rehearsal

April 18th - Advocates Top 10 fundraiser field trip

April 21st - Tech Club

April 21st - Board meeting at CMS

April 22nd - Purple Rain Singers rehearsal

April 22nd - Art Club - Group 3

April 24th - NEHS meeting

April 24th - Art Club - Group 4

April 24th - Purple Rain Singers rehearsal

April 25th - NEHS field trip to Pre-K

April 25th - 5th Grade to CMS to see Frozen the Musical

April 28th - GMAS - ELA Section 1

April 28th - SGC meeting

April 29th - GMAS - ELA Section 2

April 29th - Purple Rain Singers rehearsal

April 29th -Art Club - Group 1

April 30th - GMAS - ELA Section 3

May 1st - GMAS Math Section 1

May 1st - Art Club - Group 2

May 1st - Purple Rain Singers rehearsal

May 2nd - GMAS Math Section 2

Important Upcoming Dates!

May 14th - 5th Grade Field Day

May 15th - 4th Grade Field Day

May 19th - 4th Grade End-of-year Class Parties

May 20th - 5th Grade Walk and End-of-year Class Parties

May 21st - Last Day of School (Half-day for students)

We would love to hear from you! Cartersville Elementary School has a specific Family Engagement Plan and Parent/School compact, which are both reviewed annually. We would love your feedback to better support our families, students, and community as a whole. Please visit the CES Family Engagement website to review the Family Engagement Plan and Parent/School Compact at: Family Engagement / Compact & Parent/Family Engagement Policy.

After reviewing both documents, please complete our survey at: https://forms.office.com/r/RTPmZvbK33

If you have any questions about either document or any issues completing the survey, please reach out to Mrs. Bryant at bbryant@cartersvilleschools.org.

Please mark your calendars for the following spring testing dates for Cartersville Elementary School:

GMAS testing -

April 28th - GMAS ELA Section 1

April 29th - GMAS ELA Section 2

April 30th - GMAS ELAS Section 3

May 1st - GMAS Math Section 1

May 2nd - GMAS Math Section 2

May 5th - GMAS Science (Sections 1 & 2) - 5th grade only

*If you would like to review the online tools students will use on the Georgia Milestones End-of-Grade assessments, you can visit http://www.gaexperienceonline.com/. Note the Georgia Experience Online site is set up by grade bands and items do not necessarily represent the specific grade-level content that students learn daily in their classrooms. The primary purpose is to let students experience, firsthand, the functionality of the online testing platform.

If you have any questions about GMAS testing, please contact our testing coordinator, Gary Morris, at gmorris@cartersvilleschools.org.

*We know this can be an anxious time for students, so please help us remind them they have been preparing for this all year. We simply ask they do their best! You can help us from home by:

• Being in attendance and on-time to school each testing day.
• Making sure your child receives a good night's sleep before each test.
• Encouraging them to simply do their best.
• Eating a healthy breakfast each morning. (Breakfast is available at school each day and will be free for all students on their testing days!)

As warmer weather approaches, students and families will be spending more time outdoors. While fresh air and outdoor play are great for health, it's important to be aware of the potential risk posed by ticks. These tiny arachnids can carry diseases, making it essential to understand how to prevent tick bites and what to do if one occurs. Ticks are small, parasitic insects that attach to the skin and feed on blood. See the attached document below for more information about how to stay healthy and prevent tick bites this spring. By staying informed and taking precautions, we can enjoy the outdoors safely while reducing the risk of tick-borne illnesses. If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your healthcare provider.

For more information on tickborne illnesses and tick identification, go to the following website: https://dph.georgia.gov/epidemiology/zvbd/tbd

Stay safe and healthy,

Marcie Garrett, RN, BSN

Cartersville Elementary School Nurse

Our CES Field Days for 2025 will be held at Dellinger Park on the following dates:

5th Grade - Wednesday, May 14th

4th Grade - Thursday, May 15th

*Alternate date if needed: May 16th

Please make sure students wear comfortable tennis shoes, wear sunscreen, and bring a water bottle for the event. Parents are invited to join us at Dellinger park for the event! Snow cones will be available for $2! Look for pre-pay sheets as the event gets closer!

Please see the information below and download the registration form if your child would like to participate in summer basketball camp.

Registration Link

Our STEAM team would love your help collecting supplies to add to our STEAM lab! If you can collect some of the items below, like toilet and paper towels rolls, cereal boxes, magazines, etc., we would love to take them off your hands! Or if you have items you're not using and could donate, like twist ties, sponges, ping pong balls etc., we would love those as well! You can send them in at any time, as our students will be consistently using this space.

We would love to have you join our PTC program! There are multiple ways to be involved and support our school, and we'd love for you to be part! Our next PTC meeting is April 15th! There will be lots of opportunities to help with our end of year activities such as Teacher Appreciation Week, field days, end-of-year parties, and more! Please check the GroupMe and sign up to volunteer when you can!

*Please reach out to 770-891-2203 if you are interested in sponsorship opportunities!

If you have not completed this step already, please complete the Annual Information Update inside the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. You will not be able to access schedules, grades, or attendance information until this step is complete. See the image below with instructions.

Payments for school nutrition accounts can be set up and accessed at www.myschoolbucks.com. Please remember to check your student's lunch balance and pay or replenish funds as needed. You can also fill out your free/reduced lunch form on MySchoolApps - Home Page. The school nutrition website and additional information can be found at https://www.cartersvilleschools.org/domain/63. If you have any questions about balances or charges or free/reduced meals you may contact Christina Nichols at cnichols@cartersvilleschools.org.

The April lunch menu can be found at: Cartersville Elementary School - MealViewer Schools

Each month we will share the Capturing Kids' Hearts Newsletter for the month. Attached are the English and Spanish parent newsletters highlighting Perseverance- our focus for April.

This month we are challenging students to work hard and stay determined. We are partnering with you to acknowledge your child’s achievement of goals- big and small! By helping your child develop perseverance now, you can prepare them to learn from their future failures and work hard to achieve future successes. This month, look for opportunities to teach and model the power of perseverance!

Please visit the link below to learn how to access this voluntary opportunity.

K-12 Student Accident Insurance (kandkinsurance.com)

Our students use Clever to house most of their academic resources and this portal can be accessed from home! Attached below are instructions for how to access your child’s Clever homepage.

Email: bbryant@cartersvilleschools.org
Website: https://www.cartersvilleschools.org/ces
Location: 340 Old Mill Road, Cartersville, GA, USA
Phone: 770-382-0983