Dear Parents,

On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 9:45 a.m., we will conduct a scheduled practice hard lockdown drill at Alcova Elementary. During the drill, we will not allow anyone into the building, even if using the doorbell at the front of the school. Additionally, we will have several School Resource Officers to assist in the drill. They will provide us with valuable feedback in any areas where they feel we could make improvements. To prepare our students for this PRACTICE lockdown, we will share additional information with students during morning announcements.

At Alcova, we have an extensive safety plan in place.

Visitors:

As many of you know, all exterior doors are locked during the school day. For guests to gain access to our building, they must enter the vestibule in the front of the school. At the entrance, guests are asked to provide us with information about the nature of their visit. Picture identification is required and is processed through our RAPTOR system. Door cameras are tied to several computers within the building for additional monitoring.

School Resource Officers-(SRO)-

We have School Resource Officers (SRO) who visit our school frequently. They work closely with our staff to monitor our building and assist us with planning strategies for keeping our students and staff safe.

Centegix Crisis Alert System-

Our school is also equipped with a Centegix Crisis Alert System. Staff wear the alert badges around campus throughout the day. This system allows staff to discreetly call for help and provides first responders with precise location details.

Preparedness Drills-

Finally, we conduct monthly preparedness drills for both weather and safety purposes. Our students and staff have been trained throughout the year on what to do should an emergency occur.

The most important thing we have at Alcova is our outstanding and alert staff. We teach our students that if they see something…they should alert a staff member. Please reinforce this with your child at home. Everyone in this building has a role in keeping our school safe so that our focus can remain on teaching and learning.

Sincerely,

Jacquetta Baldwin

Upcoming Events

• Sept 20, Digital Learning Day

• Sept 26, Fall Picture Day (class & individual student)

• Sept 26, 5:00-8:00 pm Sparkles Skate Night

Thank you to all the grandparents who joined their grandchildren for morning snack. 💗Please click on the link below to access the pictures.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_9Pk3NpElwk4_Dh5Q0-_Dko3gEhk0rcF?usp=sharing

PTA's fall fundraiser starts on Monday, September 16th, and runs through Friday, September 20th, at 10:30 am.

https://popup.doublegood.com/s/m741syr4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12JQMyYpwy5FHbZVKJNTXpOKpMtfstAfR/view

🎉 Join Us for Skate Night! 🛼

📅 Date: September 26th 📍 Location: Sparkles at 1104 Grayson Hwy Lawrenceville, GA

💲 Cost: $7.00 per skater 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Non-skating teachers/parents are FREE!

• Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) invites all members of the community to come “Book it for the Bus” on Saturday, November 2, 2024, at the J. Alvin Wilbanks Instructional Support Center (ISC). This Book Mobile 5K and Fun Run will raise funds to purchase new books for the Book Mobile program, putting books in students’ hands.
• The Book Mobile 5K raises funds to put books in kids' hands. Our goal is to promote the love of reading for all.

• Join us for a fantastic morning full of music, door prizes, awards, snacks and of course, the run.

• End of race raffle prizes for 5K runners only.
• Chick-fil-A will sell biscuits and juice at the 5K for $5 with proceeds benefitting the Book Mobile program.
• Leashed dogs and strollers are welcome!

https://www.bookmobile5k.com/Race/Register/?raceId=154591

https://www.falconsflagfootball.com/

On Friday's students can purchase ice cream at the beginning of lunch for $1 exact cash.

Please remember school hours are from 8:15 am -2:45 pm. Students may enter at 7:45 am and car riders will begin dismissal at 2:40 pm. Announcements will begin at 8:10 am, so instruction may start promptly at 8:15 am. Students are encouraged to ride the bus daily to ensure a timely arrival to school. Thanks in advance for getting your children here on time and ready to learn.

We will continue to use Parent Square this school year for weekly school and district communication, individual messages with staff, and school-wide alerts. We encourage everyone to download the app and reflect on how and when you would like to receive Parent Square messages. You can customize your notifications in the settings.

Parents/guardians will visit Parent Square to sign off on required orientation agreements and Title I Plan & Promise for all students. Documents for the 24-25 school will be available in the app starting July 22.

Please login to your ParentVUE account (this is the same account used to register your child). This website/app will contain important information all year long.

Beginning July 31st you will be able to log on to ParentVUE, select your student and click 'Class Schedule', then choose 'First Semester' to view your child's 24-25 school year teachers. While you are there, select 'Student Info' to view bus route information and update any contacts and phone numbers.

NOTE: In March 2024, GCPS consolidated the Parent Portal and ParentVUE. If you have not done so already, you must reset your ParentVUE password by clicking 'forgot password'. Please continue to use your email as your username.

*** Please DO NOT create a new ParentVUE account. Visit the district website for detailed information on how to manage your current account.

• All information about the ParentVUE - https://www.gcpsk12.org/Page/26854

We will use MyPayments Plus this year for parents to add money to their child's lunch account, pay for field trips, club fees, order birthday wishes, and more. Parents can make annual contributions towards the clinic, PBIS, our All Pro Dads club, and more. Click below to access the MyPayments plus website and create your account. You will need your child's student number to create an account. You can access your child's student number and more via Parent Vue.

New Smart Snack Compliant Ala Carte items to include:

• Lay’s Baked Potato Crisps
• Doritos Reduced Fat Tortilla Chips
• Whole Grain-Rich Rice Krispies Treats
• Angie’s Boom Chick a Pop Kettle Corn
• Welch’s Fruit Snacks

These items are Ala Carte for $1.00

https://sfnd.io/alcovabirthday

https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome

Don't forget to follow us on Social Media. See what exciting things are going on at Alcova.

Follow us on Facebook!

Follow us on Instagram!

Alcova Elementary School PTA | Facebook

Alcova PTA Instagram- @AlcovaPTA

Each day we strive to dismiss students with a safe organized process to ultimately ensure the safety of each student. In order to keep our procedures accurate and maintain appropriate processes to ensure the safe release of our students, all check outs in the front office must be completed before 2:15pm and all transportation changes must be made in writing with the front office by the parent by 1:00pm. Thank you for helping us keep our students safe.

Safety Procedures

Alcova is committed to ensuring its schools are safe. We take a very proactive approach to ensuring the safety of students, staff members, and campus visitors. We would like to share information with you about our district safety procedures that are implemented at Alcova.

https://www.gcpsk12.org/Page/24293

Parents,

Teachers are engaged with their students and have limited access to emails and Parent Square throughout the day. If you have an emergency transportation change request, you must email 978.transportation@gcpsk12.org to process the change. Please use this email only for "day of" emergency changes, where you did not send a note in with your student. Change requests must be received no later than 1:30 pm to guarantee the change request will be processed.

Just a Reminder: The Car Rider Lane will close at 8:15 am. All students arriving after 8:15, must check in at the front office with the parent. Please do not drop your child off if the doors are closed.