Talley Street Update

Dear Talley Street Community,

At Tuesday night's BOE meeting, Talley Street will be spotlighted. The school spotlight is towards the beginning of the meeting. One of our 5th grade students, Sacha Twemlow, produced the video. I want to publicly thank Sacha for his work. He did a great job! If you haven't already done so, please take some time to complete the surveys for the accreditation visit. The links are below. The deadline is December 11th. More information on the school's reopening plan should be released later this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday break!

Billy

Talley Street Climate and Culture Parent Survey

Talley Street Community Engagement Survey

Join Superintendent Dr. Dude for a conversation on the status of the District’s reopening plans and initiatives. Also, the community will have an opportunity to ask questions via our new thoughtexhange tool which will be used to submit questions and rank previously asked questions. These questions will drive Dr. Dude's town hall topics and the link to thoughtexchange will be available under the announcements section of our CSD home (www.csdecatur.net) page 24 hours prior to the town hall. (Please see attached information sheet or this youtube link to learn more about thoughtexchange: https://youtu.be/a1Z-CAONdGo.)

Thursday, December 10 | 5:30 p.m.

On the evening of Monday, November 30, the final report from the CSD COVID-19 Stakeholder Planning Committee (CSPC) was sent out via email. This report will advise the school district on its response and plans related to COVID-19. This committee is not a decision-making body, instead, their role was to make recommendations for consideration by the CSD administrative team and/or Board of Education. CSD leaders will use this report as a major source of information for their deliberations regarding what the next phase of pandemic-learning looks like in CSD. This report is not “the plan” for what comes next; that will come from the administrative team in the next week or so.

More information about the committee can be found at https://www.csdecatur.net/cspc. There you can read more about this committee, find their meeting minutes, their list of members and subcommittee, and their final recommendations once they are published here: https://www.csdecatur.net/cspc.

As a reminder, there will be no meal deliveries during the Holiday Break from, Monday, December 15 through Tuesday, January 5, 2020.

Looking for a way to take action and do good in December? Join CSD and www.ActionforHappiness.org for #DoGoodDecember! Below is a calendar of how you can share kindness all month long! This initiative asks us all to look beyond our differences and help each other and they remind us that every act of kindness matters.

The Talley Media Center will be hosting a virtual book fair with Little Shop of Stories from December 7-11! See the flyer below. This is perfect timing for holiday shopping! Because it's virtual, remember that you can use this code for any Little Shop order, including books for other age groups and pre-orders. Thank you for your participation!

Click on the link below to access the Apex Counseling December Newsletter. This month's theme is positive thinking and goal-setting!

Please join us in January for the next The Myths of Racism and Beyond: Personal and Community Reflections, sponsored by the DEI Committee.

Whether you are a social justice champion or wrestling with these topics for the first time, this workshop will help all of us deepen our understanding of racism and strengthen our commitment to action.

Through independent individual reflections in a personal journal and group sessions reflecting as a community once a month, our Talley Street Upper Elementary community will examine the power of race and discuss its impact across racial lines. Everyone is invited to provide their voice, perspective, and experiences with the power of race.

The series will cover the article “The 10 Myths White People Believe About Racism,” with a paired bite-sized reading and short racial equity video assigned each month. It will include time for independent individual reflections through a personal journal and time for community reflections during group discussions once a month.

The remaining Community Reflections will be Thursdays from8-9 PM on Zoom on the following dates:

Jan 21

Feb 25

Mar 18

Apr 22

May 13

If you are unable to attend all sessions, you can work through the personal reflections asynchronously and join the community reflections as you can.

To participate, please fill out this google form. Email Charlie Copp with any questions. Charlie is a CSD parent and will help facilitate the series along with fellow Talley parent Elliott Robinson.

Your Talley 2020-21 Yearbook Committee is working on a great yearbook for this year - despite our unusual circumstances! We need your input on the best way to do student portraits. Please take a minute to fill out this survey. As always, email any questions or comments to yearbook@talleypto.org.

Join us for an introductory, informative session on Renfroe Middle School for Black Families.

Wednesday, December 9, at 7:00 PM

JOIN ZOOM MEETING:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86517348192?pwd=blpYM0JQb0xlcjZGeVpoQk9YRHlUQT09 Meeting ID: 865 1734 8192

Passcode: 991437

For more information, see the flyer below.

The 2020 Decatur Holiday Marketplace will be virtual this year and held from November 27th at 8 am through December 11th at 5 pm! We are so excited to carry on the tradition of this wonderful community event which is in its 29th year. In light of the current COVID pandemic, we have decided to make this year's event virtual. During this time, all of the artists' sites will be available for shopping online and will be conveniently located on our www.clairemontpta.org website. A description of the shop and owners along with a few wonderful photos of their craft will be available to preview. If the artist is able to ship their wares after purchase, they will do so, and if not, for our local customers, we will have a special pick up day at the school on December 12th from 10-12. Meaning Clairemont is bringing the marketplace straight to your house! To shop Clairemont's Holiday Marketplace, just visit www.clairemontpta.org.

DEF has a brand new look – we just launched our new website! We hope you’ll go to www.decatureducationfoundation.org and check it out! And while you’re there, you can support Decatur students with a year-end donation!

Special Year-End Promotion from DEF Partner Mathnasium: Now until the end of the year, Mathnasium is offering a great deal: For every new Decatur family that registers with Mathnasium using the code DEF_Math until 12-31-20, Mathnasium will provide a free assessment and waive the $149 registration fee! And for every 10 families who enroll, Mathnasium will offer an additional DEF scholarship for a Decatur student in need! Click here to schedule your free online assessment. Your participation can help another child in the community – what a gift during this season of giving!

Here is the easy link from our page... https://www.facebook.com/DecaturPreventionInitiative/posts/1811158929060273

The Parents Network is hosting another virtual Part 2: Parents Under Pressure speaker event on December 7 at 7:00 pm.

A continuing conversation with Dr. Jeannine Jannot.

This month, we move from a webinar format to an interactive meeting so we can all speak up and share.

Dealing with family stress continues to be a top concern for us all. Let's work together to find new ways to cope and thrive.

We encourage participants to make connections and share resources as we explore the following together:

• Coping with parenting stress in pandemic conditions
• Managing your own self-care (physical and emotional)
• Balancing work, school, and other life demands (time management, organization, time management, energy management, boundaries, sleep)
• Identifying when someone needs an extra helping hand, and where to turn when help is needed.

For more details, visit https://www.decaturparents.net/events/speaker-series/pt2-parents-under-pressure.

Amazon Smile

We're now on Amazon Smile! Log into www.smile.amazon.com and log into your Amazon

account, then select Talley Street Upper Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, then save and the PTO will start getting quarterly deposits!

One important tip - you MUST be logged in via smile.amazon.com while shopping for us to

receive any funds.

Kroger Community Rewards

We are set up to receive funds from Kroger. From your account screens, select Community

Rewards and search for “Talley Street Upper Elementary School PTO." Select it and then you

should be all set. Every time you use your Kroger card, the PTO will benefit!

Box Tops

Box Tops have gone digital! Download the app, Box Tops for Education. Enter your

information, select Talley St., scan receipts and done! We will no longer be collecting paper box

tops. If you have any issues using the app, you can submit (via the app) the item not being

recognized on your receipt for credit.

Publix Partners

Looking for an easy way to support Talley Street PTO?

Who knew Passive Fundraising could be SO easy!! You don' need the key chain card anymore.

Follow the easy instructions on the link:

http://www.corporate.publix.com/community/corporate-campaigns/publix-partners

We’re set up as: Talley Street Upper Elementary School – Decatur, GA

www.csdecatur.net/opening - a repository for all documents, announcements, and communications about how CSD is handling the 2020-2021 school year.

www.csdecatur.net/nutrition - How to order meals

www.csdecatur.net/transportation
www.csdecatur.net/bustracker - How to sign up for the new Predictable Ryde Bus tracking app used for meal delivery, soon for the Fly-brary, mobile book delivery and when in-person learning resumes to track students on their buses
https://virtual.csdecatur.net/tech-help (how parents and staff can put in a tech support request)

https://virtual.csdecatur.net/students - classroom login information

https://virtual.csdecatur.net/parents - Virtual Learning Handbooks

You can find more information on the following Facebook pages:

Talley Street Principal

Talley Street Upper Elementary School PTO

Talley Street Upper Elementary School Parents

Talley Street Artists

For news in the Media Center and from our school counselors, check out their websites:

Media Center Website

Counseling Website

For more about the Talley Street PTO, visit their website here: https://talleypto.org/

Speaker: Tim Wise
Thursday, Dec. 3 • 6-7:30 p.m.

Tim Wise is among the most prominent antiracist writers and educators in the United States. He has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on more than 1,000 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the country. He has trained corporate, government, entertainment, media, law enforcement, military and medical industry professionals on methods for dismantling racism in their institutions.

Visit decaturga.com/speakerseries to register and view recordings of past speakers.

Welcome to the 2020 Decatur Holiday Marketplace at Clairemont Elementary! We are so excited to carry on the tradition of this wonderful community event which is in its 29th year. In light of the current COVID pandemic, we have decided to make this year's event virtual. The dates for our virtual marketplace will be November 27th at 8 am through December 11th at 5 pm. During this time, all of our artists' sites will be available for shopping online and will be conveniently located right here on our clairemontpta.org website. A description of the shop and owners along with a few wonderful photos of their craft will be available to preview. If the artist is able to ship their wares after purchase, they will do so, and if not, for our local customers, we will have a special pick up day at the school on December 12th from 10-12. We are bringing the marketplace straight to your house!