Comets,

Thanks for a great first 5 days of school!! It's been a wonderful start to the year! During these first few weeks, all Silver City staff focus on teaching our Comet Way expectations - Being Respectful, Responsible, and Having Integrity. It is critical we focus on these expectations school-wide so that we communicate a clear, consistent message to all students.

Please take a minute to read through all the sections of this newsletter as it is the primary way that our school communicates key information to our families. Some of the important topics covered in this edition of The Comet Connection are:

• Upcoming Events at "The City"
• Cub Scouts Registration Night - August 13
• K-5 Universal Screening of Students
• From the Front Office
• Summer Bingo Boards
• Final Call for Shuttle Shirts
• Free and Reduced Lunch Support
• News from the Silver City Cafe
• Student Release Passes for the Bus
• Important Links to Know
• Comet Kingdom
• How to Become a Club Publix Member at Matt Towne Center!!
• Upcoming Dates to Know
• 2023-2024 Silver City Partners In Education
• PTO News
• Join the PTO!
• North United News
• "The Source" at North Forsyth High School
• 2024 North Forsyth Football Themes
• Community Events
• Check out any community camps or activities coming up!

The Silver City administration looks forward to serving you and your family this year and supporting your child's educational journey. We are, as follows:

Mr. Mike Sloop - Principal

Ms. Maleah Dickman - K-2 Assistant Principal

Ms. Shelley McCannon - 3-5 Assistant Principal

Ms. Jessica Scott - Assistant Administrator

Pack 811, the cub scout pack we sponsor, will be hosting a Cub Scouts Registration Night on Tuesday, August 13, from 6:30-8:00pm. We hope to see you next Tuesday to find out more about scouting and how it can benefit your child(ren)!

You should have received a messenger from Forsyth County Schools on August 2, sharing about the Universal Screening that we will be conducting three times per year for all elementary students in the District. The purpose is to gather data to monitor academic progress in reading and math for each child over the course of the year. Classroom teachers provide strong instruction daily, working with both large and small groups of students during the designated content time. Our school team will use the screening data to deliver supportive instruction for students to ensure they are on track to develop strong reading and math skills. We have just begun the first round of screening, which will run from now until August 23.

As the messenger (included below) indicated, we will keep you informed of the results of the universal screening and instructional plans to support your child’s literacy development.

At the end of last year, Ms. Andrews passed out summer bingo boards to encourage reading over the summer. If you "took the challenge" and completed your summer bingo board, please turn them in to your homeroom teacher or Ms. Andrews by Friday, August 16.

Thank you for reading this summer!

The 24-25 SCES Shuttle Shirt will be used for shuttle meetings, Galactic Games, field trips and SCES Field Day. The shirt will be a specific color based on the shuttle of which your child’s homeroom is part. Our SCES teachers all belong to different shuttles, which meet monthly for character education and student recognition.

The shirts are $15 and the last available day to order is FRIDAY, Aug. 9

on the School Pay website (www.schoolpay.com)

OR via cash or check (payable to SCES) sent in to your child's HR teacher.

The order will official close at 11:45pm on Friday, August 9.

If you need any support paying for a shirt for your child, please contact one of our grade level counselors - Ms. Restrepo (K-2) or Ms. Narvil (3-5).

Order your child's shuttle shirt today!

We encourage you to take a minute to apply for Free and Reduced Lunch if that would help your family this year. This is a great resource to provide lunch and breakfast meals to your child(ren) throughout the school year. Use this link or the enclosed QR code to apply and begin utilizing this important resource.

The application for Free and Reduced meals can be completed online or our cafe staff and counselors have paper applications, as well, if needed. Online applications are processed much faster, so we highly encourage families to use the digital application at https://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/page/399.

Forsyth County Food and Nutrition Services has switched to a new software system this year...MySchoolBucks. This software will be used to add funds to your child's lunch account this year, but you can also send in cash or check. To setup an account for your student, please visit the MySchoolBucks website by clicking here.

We are happy to announce that meal prices this year will remain the same as last year, which is $1.70 for breakfast and $3.00 for lunch at elementary schools. Guest prices, when parents join their child for lunch and choose to buy a meal, will be $5.00 this year.

If you prefer, you can still send in cash or check (payable to SCES) to add money to your lunch account.

Turning Off "Extras"

Did you know that if you wanted to turn off the ability for your child to get "extras" in the lunch line, you can email Ms. Lisa Lopez, our cafeteria manager, about doing that? Reach out to Ms. Lopez via email and she can let you know what "extras" you can turn off and how to do it.

REMINDER...You must have a Student Release Pass to receive any student off the bus with a RED or YELLOW bus tag (if no older sibling is present). This is entirely to ensure the safety of our students.

You may print or take a screenshot of each of your children's Student Release Passes by going into Parent Portal and clicking on "More" and then the "Transportation" tab.

These are important documents that govern some of the policies and procedures in our district and at Silver City Elementary School. These documents can easily be found on our website, as well.

• 24-25 FCS Code of Conduct
• 24-25 FCS Family Engagement and Student Handbook
• 24-25 SCES Handbook Addendum - this contains important school specific information that is not covered in the "FCS Family Engagement and Student Handbook".
• Silver City's 24-25 Student Handbook - Top 12 - this is a synopsis of the 12 most important things administration wants you to know from the SCES Handbook Addendum.

These are electronic versions of some of the files you received in your Open House packet:

• Birthday Ice Cream Orders - an easy, fun way to celebrate your child's birthday with their class
• Car Rider Procedures - it is essential that all parents/guardians who participate in our AM or PM car rider line review these procedures each year to ensure a safe, efficient car rider process

Thank you for taking the time to peruse these resources!

If you plan to use the after-school program run through our school, Comet Kingdom, you must complete the application and pay the registration fee before your child can participate. Feel free to email Ms. Bice-Samples or Ms. Shrauger at this email address if you have questions!

Comet Kingdom Application

We wanted to let you know how much becoming a member of Club Publix helps our school each quarter. If you are a Club Publix member, shop at Publix (the one at Matt Towne Center is so close), and put in your phone number each time you check out, then you could be contributing directly to our school if you have set-up your account as indicated below.

For the 2024-25 school year, because of those of you who shop there and are Club Publix members, Publix donated $3019 to our school that we can use to support our students and families. This is an incredible amount and SUCH AN EASY FUNDRAISER for us! So, if you haven't already, please make sure to join Club Publix, designate Silver City Elementary as the beneficiary of your funds, and start shopping!

• Friday, August 9 - Shuttle Shirt Orders Due
• Tuesday, August 13 - Cub Scout Registration Night (6:30pm)
• Friday, August 30 - 1st Galactic Games, PTO Fall Fundraiser Kick-off, and Early Release Day (dismissal at 12:30pm)
• Monday, September 2 - LABOR DAY
• Thursday, September 12 - Fall Picture Day
• Friday, September 13 - PTO Fall Fundraiser ENDS
• September 23-27 - FALL BREAK
• Friday, October 11 - PTO Movie Night
• Friday, October 18 - K-12 ONLINE LEARNING DAY and Parent Conferences
• Monday, October 21 - STUDENT HOLIDAY (Teacher Professional Learning Day)

If you are interested in becoming a Partner in Education for the 2024-25 school year, please reach out to Mike Sloop to find out more information. We are so grateful for all the ways our community supports the work that we do! You are incredible at supporting our staff, students, and families and we appreciate you so much!

Here are links to our fantastic Extended, Diamond, Platinum, and Silver Partners:

Extended Partners

• One Door

Diamond Partners

• Mingledorff's

Platinum Partners

• Dojo - North Forsyth/Dawson
• Publix
• Raising Kindness, LLC

Thank you for your continued support!

Our Silver City PTO is extremely invested in our school and serving and supporting all of our families. Everything they do helps to create a sense of belonging and connectedness within our school community, so we encourage you to join! Each year, nearly 100 percent of our staff members join the PTO, because we know how much they support all that our school does.

To find out more about membership, please visit the PTO website at silvercityes.ptboard.com.

They also have lots of great spirit wear available from hair bows to t-shirts and sweatshirts. Check it out and support the Silver City PTO!!

If you have not heard about "The Source" at North Forsyth High School, it is a great resource for students and families at all North United schools. It is housed at the high school, but it offers weekly groceries that you can "order" and pick-up from the school. Orders are due by 8:00am each Tuesday and are available for pick-up between 2:00-8:00pm on Thursdays.

"The Source" offers items like pasta and sauce, canned fruits and vegetables, macaroni and cheese, soup, oatmeal/grits, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, etc. They also offer fruits, dairy items, and toiletries, as available.

If this resource will support your family, please use the order forms below to utilize it:

• English- https://tinyurl.com/TheSourceOrder
• Spanish - https://tinyurl.com/TheSourceEsp

If you have any questions at all, please contact one of our Silver City counselors - Ms. Narvil or Ms. Restrepo.

Let's join in the fun and show some Raider Spirit by participating (when we can) in the football theme days on Fridays throughout the football season.

Website: forsyth.k12.ga.us/silvercity
Location: 6200 Dahlonega Highway, Cumming, Ga 30028
Phone: 678-965-5020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SilverCityES