Dear Alcova Community,

As we close out the semester and reflect on the past 12 months, it's hard to believe an entire year has passed since I joined the Alcova family as your principal. Time has flown by, filled with countless opportunities for learning, collaboration, and growth. I enjoy my time each day as I continue building relationships with individual students and families. I am proud of our continued growth and progress as a school community and appreciate all of the support you have provided me during my first year.

We have a short two weeks in December. We will focus on closing out learning with our district assessments during the first week. For the second week, we will host our holiday parties and have holiday spirit week for the students to join in the celebrations.

District Assessments-

Students in 1st-5th grade will participate in District Assessments during the week of December 4-8. The middle-of-year district assessments will assess all standards taught thus far. The assessments will start promptly each morning at 8:30 am. Students who arrive after the start of the assessment will take the assessment during a makeup session without their class. We are asking for parent help with on-time arrival each day. We encourage you to place your child on the school bus as it arrives on time daily. Please also remember that the car rider line opens at 7:35 daily!

Holiday Spritweek

We are excited about our holiday parties that will take place in December. Each teacher or room parent will communicate the classroom party's needs.

If you would like to attend, please bring your ID to the front lobby to check-in.

● All check-ins will be at the front lobby, where you will receive a guest badge.

● If you would like to check out your student, please indicate this at check-in.

● If checking out a student, you will be given an orange checkout pass.

● At the end of the party, have the classroom teacher initial the pass and then turn it in at the front office as you exit the building.

Please see the schedule below for your student's grade-level party time.

The Georgia Parent Survey is designed to give parents an opportunity to share input with the Georgia Department of Education. It contains 24 questions. Parents may complete the survey using a personal computer, smartphone, or tablet. Parents that do not have access to the Internet, should contact their child’s school to arrange to complete the survey at the school. (Schools can also include specific dates/times/rooms that will be available for parents to complete

the survey at the school.) The data parents provide by completing this survey will be used as part of the calculation of the School Climate Star Rating. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. Individual data results from the Georgia Parent Survey will not be available to system or school personnel or the public and will not be posted online. Please provide your voice for Gwinnett County Public Schools by clicking HERE and completing the survey.

Parent Survey Link: https://gshs.gadoe.org/Pages/parent.aspx

The Department of Special Education and Psychological Services host "Behavior Strategies to Support Your Child" on Tuesday, December 5th for all parents of students receiving special education services in Gwinnett County Public Schools.

The Zoom registration links are below for your information.

Registration link for the 10:00 am session:

https://forms.gle/ay7wFvF6zMBoqa6h6

OR

6:00pm – 7:30 pm Session – Zoom

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Registration link for the 6:00 pm session:

https://gcpsk12-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAqc-2urT4jE9Pb6zB8fFjvggXchheoWM77

Want to learn more about our Play 2 Learn program? Fill out the form below and our Early Learning teacher will contact you.

https://forms.office.com/r/KHrt3ELTpR

Do you want to celebrate your student's teacher year-round? Click here to learn how.

Let your child's teacher know you appreciate them. We will post your shout-out on the school monitors. Link for shout out

https://sites.google.com/g.gcpsk12.org/alcova-pbis-august2023?usp=sharing

We are so excited to announce that Alcova Elementary has been recognized as a PBIS Distinguished School for the 2022-23 school year! PBIS focuses on implementing evidence-based behavioral practices that supports the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral supports of all students. Our school wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is called SOAR. SOAR stands for Scholar, Ownership, Attitude, and Respect.

Thank you to our teachers and staff for their hard work and commitment to teaching and encouraging our students to SOAR.

The lost and found rack is located by the media center in the side hallway. Jewelry, purses and items of value will be sent to Ms. Benjamin at the front atrium. Should items not be claimed, these items will be given to charitable organizations. Lost and Found will be cleaned out weekly.

Would you like to be more involved in the school? Sign up to be a volunteer and receive weekly opportunities to enrich the lives of our students.

https://tinyurl.com/yf44h9ee

Click here or scan the QR Code in the flyer to see the list of available teachers.

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 Chicka Pop Kettle Corn
• Welch’s Fruit Snacks

These items are Ala Carte for $1.00

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!

Follow us on Twitter!

Alcova Elementary School PTA | Facebook

Alcova PTA Instagram- @AlcovaPTA

Alcova PTA Twitter- @AlcovaPTA

Also on ClassDoJo!

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

All parents/guardians, Please click here to visit MyPaymentsPlus.com to sign off on required orientation agreements for all students. Visit our website for helpful directions on setting up an account.

Please remember school hours are from 8:15am -2:45pm. Students may enter at 7:45am and car riders will begin dismissal at 2:40pm. Starting this year, announcements will begin 8:10am, so that instruction may begin promptly at 8:15am. Thanks in advance for getting your children here on time ready to learn.

Parents,

If you have a emergency transportation change request you must email 978.transportation@gcpsk12.org for the change to be processed. Please use this email only for "day of" emergency changes, where you were not able to send a note in with your student. Change request 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.