MUSTANG NEWS

Greetings Mustangs!

I hope that you are enjoying your summer! Welcome to all our new Cliftondale families! It is my pleasure to welcome you and your family to the best elementary school in South Fulton County! It’s hard to believe in a few weeks we will welcome students and families back to school! I am so excited to have students back in the building and overjoyed to be returning to Cliftondale Elementary School as the Proud Principal!

At Cliftondale, we are dedicated to fostering a culture of learning where we prioritize Excellence in Education for Each Student, Every Single Day. Our unwavering focus is on enhancing student performance and upholding academic standards for all our students, faculty, and families. Our educators put in dedicated effort to design captivating lessons that are in line with the state's educational benchmarks.

We continue to uphold a rigorous standard of academic achievement for every student, while also cultivating a safe and nurturing school environment. Our goal is to foster a positive school culture and climate that supports learning and growth. We are deeply invested in building strong partnerships with parents and the wider community to ensure comprehensive support for our students. With your collaboration and encouragement, we aim to realize our vision of academic growth and propel Cliftondale Elementary School towards continued success! Together, let's Thrive in 2025!

Kind Regards,

Mrs. Canty

JULY 2024

• July 20th 9:00 am -11:00 am School Beautification Day
• July 27th: First Day Fulton Back-2-School Pep Rally

AUGUST 2024

• August 1st: Open House 3:00 pm-5:00 pm
• August 5th: First Day of School

SEPTEMBER 2024

• September 2nd: Labor Day - School Closed/No School for Students
• September 3rd: Teacher Workday - No School for Students
• September 4th: Professional Development Day - No School for Students
• September 6th: Mustang of the Month at 8:30 am
• September 9th: Grandparents Day Brunch - Sponsored by PTA
• September 10th: Fall Picture Day
• September 13th: 4.5 Week Progress Report (Viewable in Parent Portal)
• September 24th: Annual Title I Meeting at 5:30 PM
  Curriculum Night immediately following the Title I Meeting

Provided within this newsletter is important back to school information for Fulton County Schools and Cliftondale Elementary School. These items will help you as you prepare yourself and your student(s) for the school year ahead. Please review these items at your leisure. I also encourage you to visit our school website frequently as current and upcoming school happenings will be posted there. An additional source of information is Class Dojo. Teachers will connect you to their class and our school story during open house on August 1st.

• SCHOOL HOURS are 7:40 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. Our school front office is opened 7:00 am - 3:30 pm daily.
• MORNING ARRIVAL PROCEDURES: Morning arrival for students is 7:10 am-7:40 am. Students arriving after 7:40 am will be marked tardy as the instructional daily begins promptly at 7:40 am. ** Students should not be dropped off prior to 7:10 am as we do not offer before school care.
  📌NEW❗ Visiting parents may accompany their children to class during the first two weeks of school (August 5-16, 2024) only. This measure is to ensure the safety of all students and staff. All visiting parents will be required to exit the building using the front office entrance no later than 7:35 am.
  

• BREAKFAST/LUNCH: 📌NEW❗ Breakfast and lunch are completely free for all Cliftondale students. Breakfast is available for all students 7:10 am - 7:40 am. Although breakfast and lunch are free, students may purchase extra portions or snacks. Parents should visit My Payments Plus to add money to their child's account in order for your student to purchase snacks and extra food portions. During school hours, students may not have restaurant food in any FCS cafeteria at any given time.
  

• SCHOOL FUNDS:📌 NEW ❗We are now a 100% cashless organization. All funds collected at Cliftondale ES for student activities and school sponsored events are accepted only through Fulton County Schools Online School Payments.
• SCHOOL UNIFORMS: Cliftondale remains a uniform school, and we will continue to encourage all students to wear our school uniform. Our uniform consists of a navy blue, yellow/gold, or white top with khaki or navy bottoms.
  

• DISMISSAL: Parents can check students out early anytime up until 2:00 pm. If you wish to check your student out early, please report to our front office with identification. Our students will only be released a bus rider, car rider, afterschool, or van. If your child is a car rider, you must join the car rider line. It will be long as we many of our students are car riders, and we thank you for your patience and your cooperation.
  

• BUS RIDERS/BUS STOP INFORMATION - During Open House, parents can verify their child’s bus assignment and bus stop times. All stop times are approximate times. If you have questions pertaining your child’s assigned stop or assigned bus, please contact FCS Transportation Department at 470-254-6060.

• TRANSPORTATION CHANGES: Please keep in mind that changes in transportation must be in writing and shared with your child’s homeroom teacher and the front office staff. Please do not depend on teacher e-mail or Dojo messages as some teachers do not have an opportunity to check e-mail/Dojo during the school day.
  

• BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS: Parents, family members and friends are not allowed to bring in cakes, balloon bouquets, flowers, goodie bags, gifts, pizza, or any other type of treat to celebrate a student birthday. Teachers are not allowed to celebrate birthdays in the class with a party or a snack either. Rather, parents may purchase a Smart Celebrations Package from the cafeteria. This can be done to student birthdays and/or any other classroom celebrations. Smart Celebration packets should be purchased in the cafeteria at least (2) days in advance. Please contact our Nutrition Manager, Ms. Curry at curryd1@fultonschools.org
  

Parents should visit My Payments Plus to add money to their child's account in order for your student to purchase snacks and extra food portions.

RISING 2ND GRADE PARENTS: In Fulton County Schools, all students entering 2nd grade, 7th grade, and 10th grade will be required to submit proof of residency prior to the start of their enrollment in the aforementioned grades. All proofs of residency must be provided with the parent(s)/ guardian(s) name and address.

Utility Proof- Please provide a copy of your most recent utility bill

• Electric monthly statement; OR
• Water monthly statement
  
  **Gas bills are not accepted in Fulton County Schools
  
  

Residence Proof: - Please provide a copy of (1) of the items provided below:

• Home Mortgage Bill;
• Home Sale Contract;
• current Apartment/House Lease
• Section Eight/HUD Housing Document; OR
• Current HOA Bill

**Residency verification must be completed prior to August 5, 2024. Parent/guardians may provide the (2) proofs of residency from the approved list as detailed above to our school Data Clerk, Ms. Allen at allenk3@fultonschools.org OR in-person via our front office. Please make sure to include each student's first and last names with the residency documents. Parents may review the full policy by clicking the provided link: http://go.boarddocs.com/ga/fcss/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=9TZHPX4902EC

Are you registered for your Campus Parent Portal Account? If not, REGISTER TODAY! Everything you need as a parent is contained in the parent portal. You can monitor your student's grades throughout the school year, review your child's schedule, download progress reports and report cards, update your contact information, register other students within your household, withdrawal your student and so much more! If you already have an account, you do not need to register again. New users should click the link provided to register: Parent Portal Registration

*Please note, if you DO NOT have an email address on file, you will be unable to register via the provided link. Please call the school and ask for our Data Clerk, Ms. Allen.

"Here Comes The Bus App" is a free, easy-to-use website and app that enables you to see the location of your child’s school bus on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. This way, you know when the bus is near your stop, so you can send your child out at just the right time. No more worrying about whether your child has missed the bus! If you have questions or concerns regarding your child's assigned bus or bus stop, please contact FCS Transportation Department at 470-254-6060 OR contact our supervisor:

Cheowana Henderson, Supervisor
Hendersonc1@fultonschools.org

Charisse Weigner, Special Needs Supervisor
weignerc@fultonschools.org

• The app will request a school code, which is 87428
• How do you access your student's student ID number? Parents may access their child's student ID number from the parent portal in Infinite Campus.
  
• If you add your child and the bus number or bus stop is incorrect, please contact our supervisor, Ms. Henderson
• If you add your child and their is no bus route displayed, please contact our supervisor, Ms. Henderson.

School safety remains a top priority for us in Fulton County Schools. We take maintaining a safe and secure learning environment very serious. I expect all Cliftondale students, parents and staff members act in a manner that keeps everyone safe. I strongly encourage all parents to review the Code of Conduct, and speak with your child about his/her behavior. When incidence of misconduct arise, consequences will be assigned based on the infraction as detailed within the Code of Conduct.

Principal: Mrs. Canty- cantya@fultonschools.org

Assistant Principal: Mrs. Long- longt@fultonschools.org

Curriculum Support Teacher: Yazmin Hicks- hicksz@fultonschools.org

School Counselor: TBA

Instructional Support Teacher: Dr. Shabo- shabog@fultonschools.org

Literacy Coach: Mrs. Kalista- kalista@fultonschools.org
Literacy Coach: Ms. Johnson- johnsonkr1@fultonschools.org

Math Coach: Mrs. Everett - everettba@fultonschools.org

Parent Liaison: Ms. Render- renderhh@fultonschools.org

School Social Worker: Dr. Carver- carvera@fultonschools.org