The Sylvan Sunday Swoop

Back to School Edition

Welcome to the 2024-2025 School Year!

Greetings Sylvan Blue Jay Families!

The countdown is on! We are 3 weeks away from the first day of school! We are so excited for our Blue Jay students to return to our building. This year, together, we will soar UP to our unlimited potential using all of our wonderful skills, abilities, and strategies that we already have in our learning toolbox!

This Thursday, we have an exciting opportunity happening on campus from 9-12. Campus Clean-Up Day will be a great opportunity for the Sylvan Community to come together and make our campus an even more beautiful place for when our students return!

Let's get excited for a phenomenal year of learning, leadership, and collaboration as we soar UP to our Unlimited Potential!

#BlueJaysSoarUP

#SylvanisourHappyNest

💙Welcome to The Nest!💙

We would like to recognize a few of our newest Blue Jays that will be joining us for the 24-25 school year!

Addison Teachey, PE Teacher

Mr. Teachey is excited to join Sylvan Elementary this school year while also serving Highland Elementary. In his previous ten years of experience he has taught at both Highland Elementary and Newlin Elementary.

Michelle Royster, Pre-K Teacher

Michelle Royster is coming to Sylvan to join our team as a Pre-K teacher for the 2024-2025 school year! Ms. Royster has had 8 years of experience working within ABSS. Ms. Royster began her journey with ABSS as a volunteer and bus driver in 2015 and since then went on to become a teacher assistant for multiple years, and now for the past two years as a Pre-K teacher! Ms. Royster shares a passion for creating a nurturing and supportive learning environment for students to thrive. She is thrilled to be a Blue Jay!

Maggie Cobb, 2nd Grade Teacher

Ms. Cobb is a recent graduate of UNCG! This is my first year teaching! I’m excited for this new adventure and stage in my life!

Lauren Fox, School Social Worker

Hello Sylvan Community! My name is Mrs. Fox and I am excited to be joining the Sylvan family as your new school social worker. I joined ABSS last fall as the school social worker at Highland Elementary. This year I will server both Highland and Sylvan. I come with 12 years of experience as a school social worker, serving both elementary and middle schools in guilford county schools prior to joining ABSS last fall.

Michelle Reel, Instructional Assistant

After years of being a Blue Jay parent, I'm excited to be a part of Sylvan Elementary as an Instructional Assistant. I look forward to being a part of such a kind and caring staff.

Kate Gunther, Art Teacher

I am excited to be teaching art at Sylvan/Pleasant Grove after 2 years of teaching art at Turrentine Middle School. I am a Long Island Native and for 20 years prior to teaching I was a hairstylist and business owner. I graduated summa cum laude from North Carolina Central University in 2017 with a degree in Studio Art. I have also studied natural cosmetic formulation and I create my own hair, skincare, and apothecary products in my home lab. I enjoy painting, sculpting, ceramics, diy home improvement, caring for feral cats, and I live on coffee.

📝School Supply Lists📝

Click the links below to access the supply list for each grade level.

📆Important Dates📆

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Come out and meet your principals, Mrs. Hamilton and Mr. Moore, from 4-6! We will be out at the picnic tables.

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Join us for Meet the Teacher for 1st-5th Grade Students from 4-6! Sunset Slush will be on campus with their tasty summer treats!

Monday, August 26, 2024

We will see you for the first day of school!

Kindergarten Information

Kindergarten Meet the Teacher will be Wednesday, August 28, 2024 from 4-6.

💡Reminders💡

Reminders:

School begins at 7:50 a.m. for ALL students Pre-K-5. If you arrive after 7:50, you must park and walk in with your students to sign them in before they can go to class.
School ends at 2:35 p.m.
If you are signing your students out early (before 2:15 p.m.), you must go inside the front office and check them out. If you arrive early, but after 2:15 p.m., to sign your child out, you must wait until the dismissal announcements are made at 2:35 p.m. We appreciate your cooperation with this matter!
Breakfast will stop being served at 9:00 am.
If you need to change your child's afternoon transportation, please email Mrs. Moon (kristine_moon@abss.k12.nc.us) AND Mrs. Whitesell (shirley_whitesell@abss.k12.nc.us) before 2:00 p.m. Teachers cannot check and respond to messages and emails throughout the day when they are teaching. Please do not expect an immediate response from your child's teacher during instructional hours. Office hours for teachers begin after 3:00 p.m.
Families may come to eat lunch with your students. Please reach out to your child's teacher 24 hours in advance to let them know you are coming so they can plan for seating. Remember: NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK MAY BE BROUGHT IN. Upon arrival, please sign in at the front office and get a visitor's tag.

✅School Improvement Goal✅

One of our school improvement goals this year will be to increase our average daily attendance to 94% or higher. While we know life can be hectic, we want to emphasize the importance of students being on time, being present, and ready to learn.

Students who are chronically absent--meaning they miss at least 15 days of school in a year--are at serious risk of falling behind in school. Missing a day of school here and there may not seem like much but absences add up!

When a student misses 2 days a month:

they will miss 20 days a year.
they will miss 30 hours or more of math over the school year.
they will miss 60 hours or more of reading and writing over the school year.
they will miss over 1 year of school by graduation.

When a student misses 4 days a month:

they will miss 40 days a year.
they will miss 60 hours or more of math over the school year.
they will miss 120 hours of more of reading & writing over the school year.
they will miss over 2 years of school by graduation.

Lateness=Lost Learning

Students who are late or tardy are also greatly affected too. Every minute counts!

5 minutes late each day = 3 days lost!
10 minutes late each day = 6.5 days lost!
15 minutes late each day = 10 days lost!
20 minutes late each day = 13 days lost!
30 minutes late each day = 19 days lost!

We want our families to know that we are here for you as partners in your child's education and we are here to support their success. We feel strongly that their success starts with their attendance. This school year we will be implementing the attendance flowchart below to notify and work with families when we are concerned about attendance. We are here to help, so please do not hesitate to reach out!

Community Assistance Resources

Backpack Giveaway

On Saturday, August 10th from 10am to 1pm we are giving away Free Backpacks full of school supplies to every child in attendance. We believe that every child should have the opportunity to start the school year with new school supplies and our goal is to help provide this for them. Parents can register at eastsidebaptist.net/backpacks

The also will have Efland Fire Department and Mebane Police Department on site for the children to meet and greet. Inflatables for the kids to play on and a Free Hot Dog lunch for the families.