Head's Highlights

Dear Head Community,

The children did an amazing job during our Lockdown Drill this afternoon. I am so proud of them. Thank you for all you do to continue safety conversations at home. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and fun at the dance tonight. Stay dry!!!

It’s National Arts in Education Week September 8-14. Unleash your inner creativity with a submission to the 2024 Reflections Arts Contest! Local entries are due Tuesday, October 15, 2024. Click on the link below for rules, scoring criteria, applications, etc. Email Reflections chair Claire Gloeckner at reflections.heades.pta@gmail.com for more information.

https://bit.ly/47n4FU4

It's Yearbook time again! Go ahead and purchase this year's yearbook BEFORE October 31, and you'll get 10% off your purchase. You can create your custom pages at a later date, but just lock in a lower price while you can! Use this link to purchase https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1015986428003405

Also, any photos you take while you're at the school, in your student's class, or on a field trip, please send them to rdyearbook@gmail.com It's nice to include as much school fun as we can!

The Read-a-thon: Thank you to everyone who has created a Read-a-thon page and made contributions! We are already at $3100, which is close to our goal of $5000 to replace books, buy new books, robots and equipment! Thank you for your support!

Independent Reading: Since August, in our independent accelerated reading program, we have read almost 10 million words! Read on, Broncos, because reading makes you smarter! Our top 20 readers with 90,000 or more words are:

Navya Mishra

Soanni Rico

Sonia Behlmann

Kenvin Yang

Amen Dershe

Ahana Misra

Matiyas Getachew

Louis Nguyen

Lakshmi Idaikkadar

Kaylee Zhu

Miles Greer

Noor Mustafa

Shivansh Ranjan

Layla Medina

Benjamin Powell

Alayna Hossain

Ibukun Bello

Hanna Sniady

Charles Weitnauer

Matthew Mane

Please help us keep your children safe by remembering the following rules:

*Please remain in your car at all times. (If you need to get your child out of the car, please park in the gravel lot and walk your child across to the front door of the school)

*Please teach your child to unbuckle his/her seatbelt when you stop, open the door, and exit your vehicle.

*Pleaser remember the car rider line closes at 8:40. After that time, please park and walk your child to the front door.

Also.....

*The school building opens at 8:20. If you walk your child to school, please remain with him/her until the grown ups come out at 8:20. Do not leave your child unattended before 8:20.

Thank you SO much!

Attention Parents- a reminder from the cafeteria:

Parents please be mindful of the balance in your child’s account. These accounts are meant to work as a prepay system, therefore keeping charges to a minimum.

Those students with free or reduced meal status from last year must renew their application every year. Current benefits will run out on Monday, September 16th. Please do not wait until the last minute to get your application in. The application must be processed and approved by September 16th and that process can take up to 10 business days. Online applications can be accessed at gwinnett.nlappscloud.com

If you have already done this process, thank you. You can check the status of your application at admin.nlappscloud.com/StatusLookup?districtId=1626

If you allow your benefits to run out, your child’s status automatically goes to full pay and you will be responsible for any charges occurred doing the time of no benefits.

If you have questions about your student’s account, you may call Doris Brewer, Cafeteria Manager at 770-736-4512. Thank You

THIS INSTITUTION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROVIDER.

Friday, September 20 is the first GCPS Digital Learning Day. All students will learn from home, completing work assigned by their teachers. This newsletter provides you with some guidance and reminders as you prepare for DLD.

THINGS TO DO BEFORE A DIGITAL LEARNING DAY

We encourage you to make sure your child is ready for DLD before September 20th. This will make the morning of the Digital Learning Day smoother for everyone!

• Does your child know how to log in to the Student Portal?

• Has your child joined the necessary Google Classrooms?

• Most of our students have done this in their regular classroom.
• Parents cannot join a GCPS Google Classroom.
• If your child is using a home device for DLD, have they logged into their Student Portal and Google account prior to DLD?
• Have you added your child's GCPS Google account to any personal devices?
• If planning to use a tablet (iPad, Kindle, etc...) for DLD, have you downloaded all the necessary apps?
  

Digital Learning Day Guide for Families: https://www.smore.com/70u5c

Stay Connected - A Technology Guide for Head Elementary Parents: https://secure.smore.com/n/7wm9u

We are looking for families to share elements of their culture for International Night on Thursday, October 3 from 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM.

We are looking for people to represent their culture or country who will:

🌏 Perform songs or dances

🌏 Dress in traditional clothing

🌏 Cook and serve food from their culture

🌏 Read a book or tell a story

🌏 Share crafts, artwork, or create a display

If you are interested in participating, please complete this form in ParentSquare by Friday, September 27.

Please email kelly.mraz@gcpsk12.org with any questions.

62% of our Head Elementary parents have downloaded the ParentSquare app! Thank you!!

For those of you that have not set up the ParentSquare app, we encourage you to do so. This will allow you to view messages from your child's teacher right from your phone!

The ParentSquare apps are free and available in both the Apple iOS and Android stores.

Apple iOS: https://apple.co/3S6B7Vg

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3S5zgjq

Annual AKS Public Review

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) invites GCPS families, Gwinnett County residents, students, and GCPS staff members to participate in the school district’s review of the Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS) curriculum Sept. 3 through Sept. 26. The public may review proposed standards online, offering feedback on AKS that have been developed to align the curriculum with the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) and/or Georgia Performance Standards (GPS). Click here for a list of the courses with AKS under review. To review the AKS and provide feedback, please click here to begin. Comments will be accepted through Thursday Sept. 26.

Book it for the bus! The GCPS Book Mobile 5K and Fun Run will be held on Saturday, November 2, at the GCPS Instructional Support Center, located at 437 Old Peachtree Road, NW, in Suwanee.

This Book Mobile 5K and Fun Run will raise funds to purchase new books for the Book Mobile program, putting books in students’ hands. A family-friendly atmosphere before and after the race features door prizes, snacks, music, and more!

Learn more and find a link to register here: https://bit.ly/3XjEvhw

9/17 - Dogwood Pizza Night

9/18 - All Pro Dads 7:15 AM

9/20 - Digital Learning Day

9/26 - School Council - 6:00 PM

9/27 - Color Stables Dress Up Day