Alpharetta High School

September 26 – October 28 – Gallup Poll for all Sophomores and Juniors through World

October 20 – Junior Night, 7 PM

October 21 – Big three drills – intruder, tornado, evacuation - to the stadium for the pep rally

October 21 – Fall Pep Rally & Homecoming Game

October 22 – Homecoming Dance

November 1 - Parenting 2.0 Night

November 2 - End of 12 weeks

November 3 - Load 12 week grades

November 3 - Band Cluster Concert

November 7 – AHS Professional Day

November 8 – District Teacher Work Day (Yoga at 10 AM FREE for all)

November 10 - Grade Reports disseminated

November 16 - Balance Night

November 17 - Fire Drill (end of Anchor Time)

November 21 - 25 - Thanksgiving Holidays

December 5 or 6 - Faculty Meeting

The local Smoothie King now gives 20% off for all staff members EVERY day at lunch. Just show your AHS ID. They will also bring smoothies for staff on November 8th. Please thank them for partnering with us when you drop by.

AHS has an At Work Weight Watchers group that meets at AHS every week. We are currently in our second session and are hoping to have the next session begin after Thanksgiving. We have a fun, lively group. It is a great way to share ideas, get inspired, and laugh! The only requirement is that the member must be an employee of Fulton Co Schools to qualify. We must have a minimum of 15 members to host an At Work group. Tanoni Houston is the liaison for the At Work sessions at AHS and anyone interested can let her know. Please feel free to call or email Tanoni with any questions. houstonta@fultonschools.org ; x47642

Teacher and Professional of the Year nominations are approaching! During the weeks of November 7-11 and 14-17, you will have the opportunity to nominate deserving colleagues to take part in our Teacher and Professional of the Year process. Begin thinking now about colleagues and team members who contribute in exceptional ways to our work within the AHS school and community and mark your calendars for the nomination window!

Nearpod VR: (www.nearpod.com)

Nearpod has integrated a virtual reality component to its presentation abilities! Nearpod has over 25 pre built presentations or you have the ability to create your own and insert the materials that they have available. This works for many preps, from field trips to Mayan Ruins for World History to exploring the human heart in Biology or Anatomy.

Additional VR programs include Discovery Expeditions. Simply download it to your phone, have your students download the “Expeditions” App to their phone, make sure the phone is connected to “FCS-Wifi”, and you’re off and running! Students can look all around them from inside a World War I era trench to the respiratory system.

These programs will allow the students to look all around them. Both even support google cardboard, to allow them not only to look all around them, but to do it in 3D.

All that and no pesky permission forms or approval forms to fill out!

Are you interested in learning more about school funding and budgeting? Did you know that federal contributions to public education only accounts for .07% of total revenue sources for schools?

Contact Mike Scheifflee for information and or view the budget presentation currently available on the T: drive in the Book Keepers folder scheifflee@fultonschools.org

October 21 - Big Three (hard lock down, severe weather, evacuation)

We will conduct these drills with our 6th period class in the order below and use an alternate bell schedule. We will end in the gym for our fall pep rally.

1. Hard lock down/Intruder
2. Severe Weather/Tornado - Return to room after drill
3. Evacuation to the gym

I will send out the procedures for these drills soon. Please make sure they are in your Red Emergency Folder along with your current class rosters.

We will come over the intercom and walk you and your class through each drill.

CPR/AED trained staff members:

If you are scheduled to attend a CPR/First Aid class an America Heart Association CPR/First Aid Student Workbook is available in the clinic for your review/check out.

**Open Enrollment dates are October 17th through November 4th.

If you are new to FCS, please check your paystub in advance to verify that all benefit deductions are as you expect.

Log into Employee Express, click on “Benefits and Payments,” then “Salary Statements.”

Deductions start with the Sept. 15th check, so if you don’t see them, email benefits@fultonschools.org or call 470/254-6845.

For More info go to:

www.myfultonbenefits.com

If you are not changing anything you do not need to do anything If you want flexible spending, you must go into employee express and select the amount.

Imagine bowling against your department chair or playing laser tag on a team with your department administrator!

Join us in for a staff outing on November 7th from 4 - 6 at Stars and Strikes. For $18.00 you get an hour of bowling with shoe rental, 2 pieces of pizza, unlimited soft drinks, one game of laser tag, and two hours of games.

November 7th is a AHS PD day and the November 8th is a FC work day, so you can have some fun in between! RSVP to Rebecca at perkinsr@fultonchools.org

Freshman Representatives

Girl – Anna Idichandy

Boy – Suchetas Bokil

Sophomore Representatives

Girl – Alina Johnson

Boy – Joshua Crawford

Junior Representatives

Girl – Haley Benson

Boy – Curtis McCleland

Senior Homecoming Court

Girls –

Keegan Osthoff

Heather Postier

Alexis Forrest

Tangela Marshall

Boys –

Jeb Buchanan

Noah Terrell

Jacques Crawford

Jake Medina

Anthony Hobbs 3

Zhi Zhang 4

Colin Renaldo 5

Amilia Cadet 8

Stephanie McDonald 15

Jessica Robinson 16

Teresa McGahee 19

Tom Mulroy 23

Jermaine McDowell 24

Tracylynn Wagner 25

If kids come to us from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important.

-Barbara Colorose

If retirement may be in the near future, it pays to understand how your retirement benefits really work. In an effort to provide you with some tools to prepare you to meet your financial goals and plan for your retirement, VALIC is pleased to offer an educational workshop on Social Security and your TRS Geogia Retirement. This seminar discusses the role of Social Security in retirement planning, ways to maximize benefits and the importance of leveraging other sources for retirement income to supplement Social Security benefits.

In this seminar, you will learn about:

• Your TRS Benefits
• The cost of retirement
• Social Security benefits
• Bridging a possible income gap

This seminar will be on Wednesday, November 9th from 5:30pm-7:30pm at Alpharetta High School, 3595 Webb Bridge Road, Alpharetta, GA 30005. We will be located in the Media Center. Please be prompt! This event is hosted by VALIC Financial Advisor, Joyce Krinsky, (770) 395-4706 or cell: (770) 715-7508, joyce.krinsky@valic.com.

Please click on the link below to register for each individual that will be attending:

https://my.valic.com/seminarregistration/availableseminars.aspx?regcode=FCBSAN11AA

FCS requests that our returning employees review some essential policies/training materials annually, so that there is an awareness of the serious expectations outlined in each. The list of this information is accessed and submitted electronically in order to establish a record of the training. It is not an exhaustive list. Also, when policy revisions are made or new ones created, a systemic alert is made to notify district personnel of the policy change(s). (If you are a new hire this is part of your “First 30 days” requirements; please review the instructions listed on the New Employee portal page link).

In order to complete this review,

1. Please go to www.fultonschools.org, Human Resources/Talent Department the bottom of the page

2. Click on Access Personnel Records/Forms link (at bottom right of page)

3. Log in using your FCS email address and click on Forgot Password to have the information sent to you if you don’t recall the password (it may not be your normal network password) OR to receive your initial password

4. Click on Forms tab, Start New Form and select Employee Policy Code/Review

5. Click on Start Form to begin your review

Several of the essential trainings are housed in Edivate. Edivate has recently undergone an update and how you access the trainings has changed. Watch this brief tutorial to see how to access required trainings and other trainings/courses: Edivate Basic Navigation

It is important that all read Policy GAM (Staff Rights and Responsibilities). Failure to report an arrest within the stated timeline (5 days) can result in the immediate termination of one’s employment with FCS. The electronic Notice of Employee Arrest form is on the HR portal and is to be used for submitting an official notice to the Employee Relations department.

Finally, OCTOBER 31, 2016 is the deadline for completing this review. Again, the checklist is not exhaustive, and it is expected that employees are aware of all the FCBOE policies/procedures that inform their work. Board policies, procedures, and operating guidelines are accessible via the district website.

Please contact the Technology Help Desk if you need assistance, technologyhelpdesk@fultonschools.org or 470-254-4357.

We want to create a community filled with more balanced lives. The School Governance Council proposed a solution, and the Instructional Leadership Team agreed; thus, we have declared two nights a semester during the 2016-17 school year as "Balance Days."

October 19th

November 16th

February 15th

March 15th

The nights above are Wednesday nights the week of the 17th (to celebrate the class of 2017), and on these nights there will not be any homework assigned, no assessments will occur the next day, and no AHS meetings will be scheduled.

The idea is that Raiders will go home right after school and work to create balance in their lives. Staff members and students alike will take a night off. Club sponsors and coaches and directors may hold meetings and practices and games as needed. We feel students release stress through these extracurricular activities.

Please plan to enjoy yourself and work your assessments around these dates this year.