Family Knight News

Greetings LES Families,

It is my final message of the year to our wonderful LES families. As I wrap up my first year as principal of LES, I could not be more thrilled with the wonderful year I've had with you and our students. All you have to do is click the links below and browse all of our previous newsletters to see just how much we've accomplished together this year. It is very surreal.

Please allow me to pause for a moment to remind you that it is TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK! Please help us celebrate our wonderful teachers this week. You received a message this week to help us STOCK the FRIDGE for our staff. Although we did receive some participation, I know you'll agree with me that our teachers deserve so much more. I am requesting that you help me with the following this week:

Monday - Parents and students, send notes and/or emails of appreciation to our teachers. I know your kind words would mean the world to them.

Tuesday - FLOWERS, PLANTS, GREENERY ... OH MY! Send something beautiful to your child's teacher. I know this would brighten their day!

Wednesday - SNACK DAY! Bring your teacher's favorite snack(s)! If you don't know what to send, then send chocolate. Who doesn't LOVE chocolate!

Thursday - DRINK DAY! Bring your teacher's favorite drink! It could be Coke, Fanta, Lemonade, Tea, Coffee, etc. Who knows? If you don't know, send bottled water OR even a nice, pretty CUP to put a drink in!

Friday - GIFT DAY! Please send a gift of appreciation of your child's teacher. This gives you a whole week to find something. Trust me, teaching is no easy gig. They deserve a nice GIFT.

Thank you, Families, for your participation! Please don't let this week go by without celebrating your child's teacher.

Also, if you are visiting us this week for any reason, you will notice that I am also celebrating this wonderful staff of ours. Therefore, you may see or hear a GAME SHOW being played. Just know that it's all in GOOD, CLEAN FUN! So don't be alarmed.

Parents of 5th graders, please know just how much we love your children! We have very little time left with them before they end their elementary school career. I know this is a milestone for them and you. Trust me, I've met this milestone with four of my own children. I know you are proud of them. We can't wait to celebrate them. Be on the lookout for all the communication that will be coming home. We don't want you to miss a thing!

Again, LES Families, thank you for ALL YOU DO! It continues to be my honor to serve as principal of LES. I already know how great we are, and what an honor it is to be a BLACK KNIGHT. I invite all of you to see the Central Cluster spotlight at our May 16th board meeting. Our Lion King, Jr. cast is performing before the meeting. If you can't come in person, be sure to join live via the GCPS website. The meeting will begin at 7:00 pm. We will continue to make you proud!

Have a wonderful rest of the school year and a relaxing summer break! LES loves and appreciates you all!

Sincerely,

Your Proud Principal

Candace Haynes

To assist with the late disruptions and a smoother dismissal process, please note our new student checkout time. If you are checking out your child, you must arrive prior to 2:30 pm. Thank you for adhering to this important policy.

We have many photos to share! Follow our social media pages and check out our website to see more!

Only water is allowed in our classrooms. Please ensure that student water bottles only contain water. This carpet will be with us for the next 10 years or more and we want to be good stewards of what we have received.

Please ensure that you are complying with our important safety policy as stated in our Parent Handbook. It is our goal that there are no transportation mistakes. For this reason, it is important that students have only ONE mode of transportation and the tag on the backpack should reflect this. Please limit transportation changes to emergencies only. Thank you so much for your support as we work to maintain consistency in our procedures. The complete handbook is attached below should you ever need it.

Changes in Student Transportation

Transportation changes are not permissible without prior written notice from a parent/guardian. Only those listed as legal parent(s)/guardian(s) can make transportation changes. Please send a handwritten/signed note with your child if a transportation change is needed. Call the front office (770-963-1813) to verify that the note was received. To protect the safety and security of all students, transportation changes will not be accepted over the telephone, email, fax, ParentSquare, or Dojo apps. We need to verify the identity of the individual making the request. Should an extreme emergency arise, the parent/legal guardian will need to come to the front office and speak with an administrator with their identification. Emergency changes will be dealt with on a case by case basis, but by definition of an emergency, they do not happen often. Please refrain from making regular transportation changes. Students should have one form of daily transportation.

• For safety reasons, it is very important that students wear tennis shoes to school. Even when not in PE, students are playing outside daily. We have seen numerous accidents, including trips and falls in the hallway. Please save the crocs, yeezys, slides, sandals, and similar shoes for wearing outside of school.
• Head coverings such as hats, caps, hoodies, satin night caps, scarves, bandanas, etc. should not be worn to school.

Again, we ask that you only check out students for in situations that are urgent. Please do not circumvent the regular dismissal process by checking out students on a daily basis. Early checkouts disrupt classroom instruction. All students within the LES attendance zone have the option of riding the bus. If you are unable to retrieve your child from the car line, please allow your child to ride the bus.

Student drop off should take place in the rear of the school from 8:20-8:50. Please ensure your child is at school on time. Breakfast, Joyful Learning, Morning Meeting, and Morning Announcements all take place prior to 9:00 am and are immediately followed by Knight Time, which consists of academic intervention schoolwide. Please ensure our students have the best start to their day by being on time. All students within the LES attendance zone have the option of riding the bus so that they are on time to school.

Our data states that 20% of our students have chronic absenteeism. This is defined as students who are absent 10% or more of their enrolled number of days. We are actively following up with parents of students who fall into this category. This includes excused and unexcused absences. Attendance is directly aligned with academic success; a child can't learn if he or she is not in school. If your child falls in this category, please ensure that your child is at school every day unless sick and/or contagious. If you need to review our attendance policy, please see the attached handbook below.

It will be so much easier for you! Be on the lookout for information coming to you very soon from GCPS via ParentSquare!

About Us

Lawrenceville Elementary has been proud to be a PBIS school for the last several years. PBIS focuses on positive behaviors, teaching and reteaching school and classroom expectations and rewarding students with incentives. Our school expectations are taught and referred to daily so all students can be equipped to have a successful day at Lawrenceville Elementary.

Our Awesome Incentives:

• Lead Bucks: Buy rewards and admission to events throughout the school year.
• PBIS Celebration: Fun school-wide events to celebrate students for awesome behavior!

You can help!

We encourage all parents to talk with your child about the school motto and what it means to them. Ask them if they earned any Lead Bucks this week. Ask them about some of the PBIS Celebrations and how to earn it.

Did You know?

PBIS held a Silent Disco Glow Party last month! Students got to experience 3 different genres of music through headphones and had a blast dancing, singing, and switching stations through their headphones.

Parents, guardians, and those adults on student's list continue to be welcomed to join us for lunch during the child's lunch time. A gentle reminder that outside vendor food (per district policy) is not allowed for students. Please reinforce providing lunch from home or utilizing the school meal plan. All visitors should park in front and check in at the front desk.

Due to limited parking on Wednesdays, please avoid visiting for lunch on this day. Two Play 2 Learn classes are in session on Wednesdays and parking is very limited throughout the day.

Ice cream is sold daily. It is $1.00 cash only.

Classroom ice cream parties are a great way to celebrate students. Please send the money to the teacher with a note if you would like to purchase ice cream for the entire class.

Our Blueprint for the Future is available online. To see the 8-page executive summary, click here. PDFs of the comprehensive document in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese are also provided.

We encourage all families to create a MPP account. No purchase is necessary to have a MPP

account. You will be able to read and digitally sign documents and/or make necessary payments. It

is a great way for you to manage and keep track of all of your student payments and forms in one

place throughout the school year.

MyPaymentsPlus is linked directly to your school’s student information system (SIS), enabling us

to show real-time balances and invoices, and eliminating the need to call or visit your school in

search of information.

Simply create a free MyPaymentsPlus account to get started today:

https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome

May 6th-10th - Staff Appreciation Week

May 20th - 6:00 pm - 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony @ CGHS

May 21st - 5th Grade Fun Day/5th Grade Walk

May 22nd - Last Day of School

Our PTA needs some active support to help finish out this year and begin planning for next year. Are you available and interested? All help is welcomed! Please send an email to danielle.davis@gcpsk12.org if you are interested.

Vision Statement: Lawrenceville Elementary will provide the foundation for all students to become life-long learners and successful citizens.

Mission Statement: We will provide a learning environment where students strive to: Lead by Learning, Embrace Diversity, Achieve Excellence, and Demonstrate Leadership.

Motto: Today’s Learners … Tomorrow’s Leaders

Our Theme This Year: I Belong, You Belong, We Belong at Lawrenceville Elementary!

Lawrenceville Elementary School

Principal ~ Mrs. Candace Haynes

Assistant Principal ~ Mrs. Bridgett Brown

Assistant Principal ~ Mrs. Kadian Dennis-Walls

Assistant Principal ~ Mr. Kemel Roberts

Website: https://www.gcpsk12.org/LawrencevilleES
Location: 122 Gwinnett Drive, Lawrenceville, GA 30046, USA
Phone: 770-963-1813

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