Eagle Wings

Greetings Eagle Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed their fall break & short week of school! Last week our staff participated in professional development in the area of math, learning how to play some awesome games that will be showcased at our Math Festival this week. Our Eagles came back ready to learn and enjoyed a movie & popcorn as part of our school reward for meeting our Eagle Dash goal.

Fulton County School's Annual Parent Survey is now available. The information that you provide helps not only FCS, but AES plan for what our students, community & staff need. Last year we had 50% parent participation--we'd love to see more for this year! Click here for the link.

Yours in partnership,

Ms. Crawford

October:

21 – PK Vision Screening

22 – Math Night @5pm in cafeteria

24 – Kindergarten Field Trip

25 -- Vision Screening (1st, 3rd, 5th grade)

28-1 -- Red Ribbon Week

31 -- Book Character Dress Up & Parade

November:

1 - Picture Re-takes

4 - 5th grade field trip

5 – Election Day (Work Day-no students)

8 – Movie Night on front field

11 – Veteran’s Day Breakfast @7am in cafeteria

20 - Thanksgiving Feast (PK, 2nd 4th, AU)

21 - Thanksgiving Feast (K, 1st, 3rd, 5th, MOID)

25-29 - Thanksgiving Break

This is Ms. Aysh's 4th year at AES. She is a former Special Education teacher in the areas of Pre-K and Interrelated Resource who has working in both Gwinnett & Fulton County Schools. She;s an avid reader and spending time with her family.

Here are some of her major duties & responsibilities:

• Special Education administrator
• Participates and leads student evaluations
• Special Education school transportation liaison

If you have questions or concerns regarding any of the areas listed above, please reach out to Ms. Aysh directly. Her email is: ayshc@fultonschools.org

In an effort to continue to keep the safety of our students and staff as our top priority, I wanted to take a moment to remind our school community of the following processes we already have in place:

• Ringing the bell (now located on the right side of doors) when needing to come to the front office
• Having your ID on you and prepared to show prior to entering the building
• Please note, if you do not have your ID, you will not be allowed to enter the building
• Not holding the front door open for others
• Checking in and out at the front office
• Exiting the building through the front doors only

Report any safety concerns

Safety in Fulton Schools - Fulton County School System

Please reach out to Ms. Silverman, AP, (silvermanj@fultonschools.org) with any questions regarding safety in our building.

Students can substitute up to 5 absences per semester (a max of 10 per year) with a remote learning day by meeting the remote learning participation benchmarks listed in FCS policy. This would result in the student being counted as present for the day(s) they participate remotely.

• To be marked present, work must be submitted within 2 days of absence.
• Students may not use a remote learning day on a test day.
• Parent/guardian or student must notify teacher in advance to the start of the instructional day to utilize the participation benchmark rule.
• Schools will make their best effort to provide instruction given early notice.
• For security reasons, students who are out of the country may not participate in remote learning.

Please reach out to your child's teacher directly to start this process. You can click here for more information.

Click here for link to 2024-25 AES Family Handbook

A few important reminders about morning arrival:

• No left turn is allowed onto Mayfield between 7:10 and 7:40 a.m. Please adhere to the posted signs and traffic laws.
• Carpool ends at 7:35 a.m. If you arrive after 7:35 a.m., you will have to park and walk your child in the front door. If the bell rings during this time, you'll need to sign your child in on the Checkmate system outside the front door.

Transportation Changes:

Transportation changes should be provided to your child's teacher on the "Notes from Home" pad you received in your red folder during open house. Please keep in mind that changes in transportation must be in writing and EMAILED to the front office (toppint@fultonschools.org).

Early Pick-Up:

When picking up your student early for appointments, you will need to present your driver’s license for safety and security. Early checkout will end at 1:30 pm.

AES Family Handbook:

CLICK HERE to access our Family Handbook and take a moment review some of the practices we adhere to here at AES. By doing so, that helps all of us be (and stay) on the same page!

We know mornings can be hectic and lunch or other items can get left behind. Don't worry! There is a cart outside the front door where you can drop things off. Please put your child's name, teacher and grade and items will be brought in daily by 10:30 a.m.

The new 2024-2025 Student Code of Conduct is available on the Fulton County Schools website. Click Here for quick access. Ensure that you and your Eagle review this important document.

The Fulton County Schools Code of Conduct is now ready for parents to review and sign in Infinite Campus. Families need to complete their digital attestation through the Parent Portal by accessing the documents tagged "NEEDS ATTENTION."

Here is a (link) with instructions on how to complete the Acknowledgment of Receipt Form. All parents and students (over 10 years old) MUST sign this form found within their INFINITE CAMPUS PARENT/STUDENT PORTAL ACCOUNT.

Please check your child's meal balance in their mypaymentplus account. Students will negative balances need to be paid as soon as possible.

Reach out to our cafeteria manager, Ms. Blyther (blyther@fultonschools.org) with any questions.

PTO now has their own newsletter. Be sure to click on the link and read all about the great things PTO does to help AES!

https://secure.smore.com/n/fwzqd

The Fulton County Board of Education met on Thursday, October 17, 2024 for its regularly scheduled work session at the South Learning Center. The full agenda is available online via BoardDocs. Meetings are streamed live on the FCS homepage, with recordings available within 48 hours.

Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Mike Looney announced that October is National Principal Appreciation Month by extending his heartfelt gratitude to all principals for Inspiring the minds of our students and giving their all every day. He went on to express how principals exemplify the district’s values: teamwork, integrity, and accountability. Their ability to maintain high ethical standards and take responsibility for achieving the best outcomes for their students is reflected in every decision they make as they lead the district’s mission to educate every student to be a responsible and productive citizen. He also noted that October is National Bullying Prevention Month, while October 23-31 is Red Ribbon Week, which brings awareness to living a drug-free life.

Milestones Update
Chief Academic Officer Brannon Gaskins shared exciting news about students' Georgia Milestones math assessment performance, based on the new Georgia Standards of Excellence for Mathematics, where Fulton County Schools (FCS) increased proficiency and exceeded state growth in 2024. Mr. Gaskins proudly announced that these results are the highest the district has seen on the Georgia Milestones Assessment System’s (GMAS) assessments in math, surpassing even our pre-pandemic performance.

This remarkable progress and recovery from the pandemic are reflected in our students' annual Milestones growth scores, also known as student growth percentiles. Across the state, approximately 65% of students achieve typical or high growth annually. Fulton County, however, exceeds this trend at every level, meeting typical or high growth. Click here for a detailed look at the results.

Annual Perception Survey
Director of Program Evaluation Amanda Swerdlow shared results from the most recent Annual Perception Survey, held during the second half of the 2023-24 school year. Results showed positive participation among students, school staff, and parents since FCS began administering the survey in 2021, with 83,495 respondents.

The presentation detailed both positive highlights as well as areas of opportunity. Among other high points, results indicate that a majority of respondents hold positive opinions about staff, administrators, and leadership support. Also, parents are generally more willing to recommend the district to their family and friends. Conversely, areas of opportunity include the need to enhance leadership trust and communication in district decision-making. In that regard, the perception of how the district clearly communicates the way it makes decisions also fell from the previous administration.

Parents are encouraged to participate in this year’s Annual Parent Perception Survey, which is anonymous and confidential. The survey will remain open from October 16 through November 22. Click here to participate in the survey. Click here to see the full presentation.

New Operating Guidelines Regarding Magnet Programs
The Board approved Operating Guideline IJ: Programs, Pilots, Research and Evaluation, in which revisions define different district- and school-based programs, outline processes to start and stop different programs, specify expectations for schools regarding credentialing, and outline measures of student success. It is important to note that this operating guideline reclassifies and redefines magnet programming in FCS. All existing schools with magnets and those interested in pursuing magnet programming in the future will now be required to submit programming requests through the Value-Added Flexibility Process, earn programmatic certification, and demonstrate student success based on the type of magnet offered. To review the new operating guideline, please click here.

New Hires & Promotions
The following individual was approved for a new position at the Board meeting:
Benjamin Hopkins | Executive Director, Facilities & Maintenance

Board Recognitions
Each month the Board recognizes outstanding students, staff, and schools honored at the state, national, or international level. Honorees must have placed first at the regional or state level or be among the top finishers at the national or international level.

• Congratulations to Executive Director of Procurement Angela Young and the FCS Contracting team for winning a 2024 Procurement Award.

• Congratulations to Tabitha Stanley-Rollins on being named Georgia Bus Driver of the Year.

2024-25 Community Meetings with Board Members
Each member of the Board sponsors a monthly meeting open to all members of the community. The sessions provide an opportunity for direct contact with community members and give Board members a chance to listen to local issues and concerns. Click here to see the meeting schedules of all Board members.