August 2023: Chestatee
Welcome back!
A Letter From Dr. Tennies, Our Principal
Welcome Families! We are excited to partner with you as your child begins a new school year at Chestatee. I would like to start by expressing gratitude for all the hard work that it takes to begin something as important as the 2023-2024 school year.
Thank you for coming out on August 1st to Chestatee. Open House was wonderful. It was great to see students and families walking the halls to meet their teachers. Big smiles and connections abound! I feel like our eagles are back in the nest.
Thank you staff. The building looked so inviting. The classrooms were ready for students due to a lot of hard work and effort from the staff. Custodians and café workers prepared their areas. Teachers prepared classrooms and are ready for lessons to begin. It’s time to SOAR!
Thank you to our School Resource Officer and the District Safety Office for assisting our preparations in starting a new school year. Along with Officer Angie, we have local deputies visiting the campus when in the area. All school building doors are locked. When visitors press the button for entrance into the school, our receptionist admits them. Visitors must have a photo ID to enter the building. Our Raptor System, standard in all Forsyth County Schools, alerts us to anyone who should not be admitted to the school. Our students and staff participate in monthly safety drills which are required by the state. Safety is always our top priority.
Thank you to our amazing PTO for their commitment to the Chestatee students and families. Our PTO has done so much for the school in the last year thanks to community support. We have classroom storage, updated GAGA Ball pits, spruced up outdoor classrooms and gardens, and teacher grants for classroom materials. The PTO continues to work their magic in connecting with families and has a full schedule of planned activities for the year. Together we are Chestatee!
I am honored to serve as the principal of our school and look forward to working with your children.
Sincerely,
Dr. Polly Tennies
Principal
Important Reminders
Morning Car Line
Safety is always our priority. Carline Changes for this year:
- All cars entering the parking lot after 7:00 will need to turn right and go through carline.
- Families needing to park will travel through carline before parking.
- We begin carline at 7:00 AM and close carline at 7:37.
- Cars arriving after 7:37 will park.
- We have 37 minutes allowed for drop-off in comparison to 30 minutes at other schools.
- School starts at 7:40.
- Safety is our priority.
- Please remember to send in your child’s excuse within 5 days.
- Families can send up to 10 notes from home for absences before doctor notes are required.
- On email excuses to the teacher, it’s easy to add Ms. Stacey (Sholbrook@forsyth.k12.ga.us) to make sure she gets the excuse.
- Any time you go to see the doctor, please ask for a school excuse. If you forget, contact the doctor and ask them to email or fax the excuse. Fax: 770-781-2281.
- Georgia law requires the school to send attendance letters after 5 or more unexcused absences.
- If your child is checking out from the clinic, the absence is excused.
- When you check your child in/ out on Checkmate, the absence will be unexcused. Please provide a medical excuse if you'd like the absence excused.
New to Chestatee....
Game Changers
Our fifth graders have already been helping so much with the Game Changers program! From getting little ones to class these first few days to helping at Open House, what a difference these kids are making. There will be more and more leadership roles as we get into our routine. Thank you, Game Changers!
Officer Angie is working to train our Game Changers on safety patrol. These students will help in the hallways, cafeteria, and carline. They will also raise the flag each morning.
School Pay
School Pay is a new program we will use for all payments EXCEPT meals. My Payments Plus will still be used for cafeteria accounts. Click here.
So Much to Celebrate Starting with a Great Open House!
First Day of School
Car Line Fun
Leadership Retreat
Rock Designs
Bus Roundup for Kindergarten
A Round of Applause, Please....
Thank you to Steve Honn from our Safety Department for coming to help us get our carline running when school started. We appreciated this so much!
Congratulations to Kim Sarfaty for receiving the Gale Samuels Classroom Project Grant this summer! Kim travelled to Jekyll Island to present to each county's Teacher of the Year.
Monthly High Flyer Ceremonies will be Coming Back!
You may be wondering what a High Flyer Ceremony is! Each month, we will recognize 2 students from each class who have done an amazing job exhibiting the Chestatee Way! Students will receive a special invitation for their families. We will meet in the cafeteria together. We love celebrating the positives in students! We have had these virtually the last two years, and so we have been so excited to have our ceremonies again this year!
Positive Office Referrals
Students can be written up by a teacher for a Positive Office Referral. Dr. Tennies
Teacher and Staff Member of the Month Nominations
What's Coming up at the T?
Important Dates this Month!
Domino's Fundraiser: August 4-18
Curriculum Night/ Academic Parent Teacher Teams
We staggered times for each grade level to help with parking, childcare, and families with siblings.
K-2 August 31
3-5 September 7
Room Parent Breakfast
September 7 at 9:00 AM
Curriculum Night/ Academic Parent Teacher Teams
We will stagger times for each grade level.
K-2 August 31
5:00 Kinder
5:30 First
6:00 Second
3-5 September 7
5:00 Third
5:30 Fourth
6:00 Fifth
Meeting 2- January 25: Virtual (K-5)
Meeting 3- April 25: Virtual (K-5)
What are Academic Parent Teacher Teams? APTT is a class meeting to share a skill, data on the skill for each child and ways to practice at home. It’s a great opportunity to connect, engage and be involved in your child’s learning.
Our PTO is a Great Way to Get Involved!
Our PTO board members raise money to help teachers and our school.
You can support our PTO through our fundraisers, Spirit Nights, events, and spirit wear.
Our Boosterthon Fundraiser will begin in September, and the fun run event will be 9/21.
There are no membership dues this year.
Contact our PTO at chestateeelementarypto@gmail.com any time!
Coming Soon.... An Online Spirit Wear Shop!
A Note from Nurse Kristen
Dear Families,
The main reasons for keeping your child at home are as follows:
- If he/she is too sick to be comfortable at school
- If he/she will spread a contagious illness/disease to another child
Remember: Students must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications before returning to school. Students must also be vomiting and diarrhea free for 24 hours before returning to school.
Kristen Knottek, BSN, RN
School Nurse
Chestatee Elementary
770-887-2341 ext. 722151
f41520@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Our Communi-T-y is the BEST!
First Redeemer Church
Thank you to the members of First Redeemer Church for donating 400 bookbags with supplies!
Thank you to the Piedmont Group of Atlanta
We appreciate a Chick-fil-A lunch from our friends at the Piedmont Group of Atlanta.
Bagwell Insurance- the Marc and Jackie Shirley Delivered Snacks
Snacks kept our stamina up during Open House! Thank you, Bagwell Insurance!
Our Friends at Mathnasium Actively Support the T!
One East Community Corner!
Interested in Orchestra Club for Next Year?
Interested in joining Orchestra? Use these links!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Is-Gn-LhW3Y5kNZKVvt1u-u6crbiuObw/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PqMwv7lSfNqrPQ-vvwbbFAw6F2URIVlV/view?usp=drive_link
Community Corner and Resources
If you are looking to volunteer this year, we would love to have you! Please watch the mandated reporter video (10 minutes) and sign off on the confidentiality form. Click here for everything you need. https://docs.google.com/document/d/11sucZ7O2QGJMRh5Vr9UwvOpr7UpaRIaCLc8HklX8vjQ/edit?usp=sharing
Meg Killingsworth will take these signed forms in the office.
Do You Have 30 Minutes a Week to Change a Child's Life? Be a Mentor!
Do you or someone you know have 30 minutes a week to make the difference of a lifetime? Mentors are positive adults the spend time with one student each week building relationships and confidence in the child's life. Please contact Robin Mitchell at rmitchell@forsyth.k12.ga.us or ext. 722455 to discuss the possibilities.
Research confirms that quality mentoring relationships have powerful positive effects on young people in a variety of personal, academic, and professional situations. Mentoring leads to better attendance, academic learning, self-confidence, and higher graduation rates.
Watchdog Dads
Watchdog Dads
Calling all male role models! Watchdog Dads are welcome at the T!
Our WatchDOG (Dads of Great Students) is an awesome program where positive role models come and spend the day with us! From car line to the morning news to visiting classrooms, our guys will have a blast helping us at the school.
There are two ways to help:
#1- Wear a WD shirt (we have one to borrow if needed), and help on car line by smiling, greeting kids, and helping them get out of the car.
#2-Wear a WD shirt and spend the day with us! You'll visit the carline, the school news, your child's class, Pathways classes, lunch and recess. You'll be busy and tired at the end of the day!
Click here for all the information!
Questions? Contact Meg Killingsworth
770-887-2341 ext. 723002
A Few Words From our Family Engagement Coordinator
Dear Families,
Wow, Families! All I can say is WOW! We shared last spring about the importance of reading and doing some learning over the summer to beat the “summer slide.” From what we are seeing, our families listened! It has been AMAZING! All summer, we received pictures of students reading and learning at home. This week, reading logs, summer workbooks and summer practice have been coming in steadily. We have a box filled with proof of students working, and we are super proud!
Right now, we are gathering students work. We have a Summer Learning Celebration planned for Monday, August 21 at 1:30. Hint: Kids will need their dancing shoes! More details will be coming!
It was so good to see our families back for Open House. We are off to an amazing start. It’s great to be back at the T.
See you soon,
Meg
Meg Killingsworth
770-887-2341 ext. 723002
Summer Learning was Impressive!
If your child completed a summer workbook, reading log, or other summer work, read below!
We will be celebrating our summer learners in a few weeks! Please have your child return the work with their name and this year's teacher written on it. Meg is collecting everything in the front office. We are very proud!
Thanks to the Bookmobile from the Forsyth County Public Library for Encouraging Reading!
We had two great visits from the Bookmobile. Families could come check out books, use the computer, play games and connect with others!
Don't Forget....
Box Tops/ Soup Labels
The procedure will be changing in the near future (we will keep you posted!)
For now, keep filling out your Box Top Sheets and turn them in to Ms. Donna in the front office.
Kroger and Publix will donate money too...
Publix Partners with Chestatee also. You only need to put your phone number in as you checkout. Publix will donate a certain percentage of their profits to Chestatee from your purchase!
We love our Partners in Education!
Chestatee Elementary School
Email: chestateees@gmail.com
Website: http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/site/default.aspx?domainid=260
Location: 6945 Keith Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA, United States
Phone: 770-887-2341
Facebook: facebook.com/ChestateeES
Twitter: @chestateees