Volume 14 Issue 31 April 25, 2014

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Alpharetta Elementary Eagle Wings Newsletter

192 Mayfield Road, Alpharetta, GA 30009 | 770.740.7015

Principal's Message

Dear Families, This has been a busy week for us. As you know, our third, fourth, and fifth grade students are in the middle of the CRCT. The boys and girls all report they feel confident in their work thus far. We have one more day of testing. Thank you for respecting our testing process and limiting your visits to the school until after 12:00 p.m. and not coming for lunch. I understand the inconvenience for some, but it truly helps our testing process. I have wonderful news to share. This week the Georgia Department of Education released the CCRPI (College and Career Ready Performance Index) scores for schools across the state. The CCRPI is Georgia's statewide accountability system. It was implemented last year to replace the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measurement, after the U.S. Department of Education granted Georgia's waiver from NCLB in 2012. The CCRPI measures schools and school districts on an easy-to-understand 100-point scale, helping parents and the public to better understand how schools are performing in a more comprehensive manner than the pass/fail system previously in place under AYP. This year we scored 93.5, surpassing the state average of 75.8 and the county average of 77.5. Our score is based on data collected during the 2012-13 school year and increased 7.6 points over our previous score of 85.9. I am extremely proud of the dedicated hard work of our students, staff, and community. This is a tremendous accomplishment for AES! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Adam.

Calendar of Events

April 22-28

CRCT

3rd-5th Grades

April 26

X-treme Gaming & Hudson Grille

April 28

Zaxby's

April 30

AES PTO 2014 Art Contest Deadline for

In This Issue

AES Spring Registration

Book Fair Fiesta

Birthday Book Club

AYFA Fall 2014 Tackle and Flag Football and Cheerleading

PTO General Meeting - Recap

Alpharetta Day of Service

AES PTO Spring Gift Card Fundraiser

AES PTO 1st Annual

Entries

April 30-May 1

AES Spring Registration - New Enrollees Grades K-5

May 1

Write Night

6-7pm

May 1

Family Night at the Book Fair

Media Center

5:30-7:30pm

May 1-7

AES Spring Book Fair

Media Center

Daily 8am-3pm

May 2

Wahsega Field Trip-4th Grade

May 3

Bagel Boys

May 5-9

Box Top Contest

May 5-11

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt Week

May 6

AES Chorus Musical-Cafeteria

6:30pm-7pm

May 6

AES PTO 2014 Art Show

May 7

Bike to School Day

May 8

Chick-Fil-A Night

May 9

Ms. Vickye's Cookout

May 14

Box Tops

Submissions Due

May 15

Field Day

Grades K-2

May 16

Field Day

Grades 3-5

May 19

Zaxby's

May 22

Class Parties

May 23

5th Grade Graduation

Art Contest

Family Nights

Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Georgia Cyber Safety

24th Annual Taste of Alpharetta - Road Closures

2014 Cambridge Lady Bears - Fastpitch Softball Camp

8th Annual "It's Just Hair" Cut-a-thon

Quick Links

Fulton County Schools

AES Website

Last Day of School

AES

AES Spring Registration 2014-2015 Wednesday, April 30 & Thursday, May 1, 2014 Grades K-5 IF YOUR CHILD IS ALREADY ENROLLED IN FULTON COUNTY SCHOOLS: Your child will bring a survey form home to be completed and returned to school. (The survey was sent home Friday, April 18th) IF YOUR CHILD IS NOT PRESENTLY ENROLLED IN FULTON COUNTY SCHOOLS - You may enroll on the following dates and times: Wednesday, April 30 - 8 am - 4pm Thursday, May 1 - 8am - 7pm You should bring the following documents:

Official State Birth Certificate

Georgia State Immunization Form (3231)

Georgia State Hearing, Vision & Dental Screening Form (3300)

Child's Social Security Number (Optional)

Affidavit of Residency with 2 proofs of Residence (utility bill, lease contract, etc.)

PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!

Book Fair Fiesta!

Mark your calendars to come and celebrate our Spring Book Fair where books and reading are the best! Our Spring Book Fair will be taking place Thursday, May 1st through Wednesday, May 7th. The Book Fair will be open daily, 8 AM through 3 PM. We will host our Family Night on Thursday, May 1 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. We will have extended hours on Wednesday, May 6th, from 4 pm until 1/2 after the Chorus Concert ends. When you visit the Book Fair, remember to look for your child's classroom Wish List and see how you can help build your child's classroom library. Watch for the Book Fair flyers and additional information coming home soon. Hope to see you there!

Birthday Book Club!

The following students celebrated their birthdays by participating in the Media Center's Birthday Book Club. Each student picked a book of their choice and got a bookplate with their name and birthday placed in the front of the book, as well as receiving a birthday

pencil, a bookmark and a sweet treat! Happy birthday! Birthdays: October Addison Rocco - Summers April Sophia Rocco - Keys May Mia Taylor - Ludwig Erin Cook - Hadid Abigail Laderoute - Lott Nico Sanchez - Peagler Jay Hackett - Rhodes Keira Phelan - Silverio Aiden Sebusch - Silverio Gaby Sanchez - Morgan June Mia Silverio - Dahunsi Ella Franke - Rhodes Jane Campbell - Silverio Caroline Davis - Burns Lauren MacKenzie - Haight July Tyler Norfleet - Eineker Danielle Hackett - Morgan Drew Walser - Morgan Adam Laderoute - Summers Grace Przysiecki - Summers

PTO

Fall 2014 Tackle and Flag Football and Cheerleading (K - 8th grade) REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!!! AES's newest Business Partner.........Alpharetta Youth Football Association ("AYFA") where safety comes first, is proud to be considered the premier community youth sports partner for over 40 years in the communities surrounding Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell, Johns Creek and more. AYFA has made a vigorous commitment to player safety, football skill development, life lessons and big fun! AYFA is a proud partner of USA Football's Heads Up Tackling initiative and is a national leader in concussion awareness, baseline testing and proper tackling techniques. Register now before May 31 to avoid late fees.

Home field for AYFA is Alpharetta's North Park located at 13450 Cogburn Rd. Alpharetta, GA. North Park is home to 2 state of the art synthetic Astro - Play Turf Fields which are safer (softer) and faster playing surfaces. AYFA rules and guidelines guarantees your child a starting position on their team no matter their skill level and focuses on development through repetition, participation and positive reinforcement. Scholarships are available for children who qualify (contact Ms. Walker or Christina Franke for more information). Register online now and avoid late fees: http://www.alpharettayouthfootball.com/Registration/Default.asp?n=47849&org=alpharettayouthfootball.com Or; For more information about AYFA: http://www.alpharettayouthfootball.com/Page.asp?n=47853&org=alpharettayouthfootball.com

PTO General Meeting - Recap Thank you to everyone who came out to last week's General PTO meeting. Mr. Maroney gave a school update including: discussion over the importance of the CCRPI scores which were released last week, the Charter System and what changes will be affecting AES in this new environment, as well as changes pertaining to the Common Core and Continuous Achievement for the next few years. The PTO outlined how our classes spent the $8,000 of Spring mini-grants and our recent purchase of 60 iPad mini tablets as part of our Spotlight on Technology initiative. We also voted on and approved the 2014-15 Executive PTO Board: Co-President: Rob Rocco Co-President: Open Secretary: Sunny Kane Treasurer: Paula Lauderoute VP-Community Relations: Gina Kellis VP-Special Events: Vicky Sanchez VP-Student Enrichment: Jacque Sandiford VP-Ways & Means: Lynn Campbell Thank you to these parents for choosing to get involved and help make AES a great place to go to school for all of your children! We still need some more parents so that we can continue to offer the following programs......... many of these jobs can be done on a flexible schedule and don't require a huge time commitment! Please consider volunteering your time to get involved: Critical PTO Jobs that are still open for the 2014-15 school year: Co-President - This is a position that carries a two year commitment/term that spearheads the Executive Board and guides how our PTO supports & interacts with AES and our school Administration. This job is similar to owning your own business because you were many hats: work with finances and set the Budget, market our school to local business, write communications, design and add content to the website, decide and help execute on Fundraisers and school events. Lots of fun working with a great group of volunteers and weekly interaction with school Administration.

Business Partners - Looking for a few more people to work with local businesses and secure financial support for Friday Folders, web site & Directory ads, and set up/plan/execute AES Family Nights with local restaurants. Sign new businesses and manage existing relationships. If you can write an email and make a phone call, this is a great job for you! Partner Logistics - Help us get organized for Family Nights (approx. 2 per month) at local eating establishments...... pick up advertising materials from the partner (car pool signs, banners, stickers, handouts, etc.), make sure a handout goes home in Friday Folders the week before the event, make sure Eagle Wings advertises the event the week before, deliver the sign-in book, bring the tattoos or entertainment the day of the event, and make sure the day of the event we send out a Constant Contact message to all AES families and the kids get stickers highlighting the event, etc. Teacher Appreciation Coordinator - Plan & organize this wonderful program that lets our teachers & staff know that we appreciate everything that they do for our students. This is a big PTO jobs with monthly events. We need one Chief and a few good Indians to help out.....so this would be a fun job for a group of parents to do together! Fundraiser Chair - Help with messaging, communications & planning to help take our major Events to the next level. We are specifically looking for parents with previous corporate fundraising/marketing experience. Fifth Grade Projects - Coordinate and manage the trips, projects and fundraisers for 5th grade, including Rock Eagle, the dance, bake sales, Legacy project and the Promotion Ceremony. This is another big job because of the multiple events throughout the school year......so this would be a fun job for a group of parents to do together! Grounds - Do you have a green thumb and want to help AES look beautiful throughout the year.......then this job is for you! Coordinate the planting of flower gardens, keep the front of the school looking beautiful and our greenery under control! 4th Grade Book Club Coordinator - Starting in October and running for 4 months (through March) work with other parent volunteers to run the 4th grade Book Club by helping to distribute books and lead discussions, and help make the discussion meetings fun and engaging!

Alpharetta Day of Service Next Saturday, May 3rd from 9am - 12pm the City of Alpharetta has organized the Alpharetta Day of Service. A large group of volunteer are getting together to help various local non-profits and schools. A group is coming to Alpharetta Elementary BUT we would love some more parents to come help paint, landscape and garden around the front of the school. Come spread mulch and pine straw .... bring your rake, gardening gloves, wheel-barrow. It should be a morning of fun and we appreciate you helping beautify our school.

Teacher Appreciation Committee The Teacher Appreciation Committee will be treating the AES staff to a festive Cinco De Mayo luncheon catered by On The Border on Tuesday, May 6th. Look out for the volunteer spot to sign-up for volunteer opportunities. Deanna Francis

Teacher Appreciation Chair

AES PTO Spring Gift Card Fundraiser The Spring gift card fundraiser is here! Purchase gift cards at face value from the PTO and the PTO makes a percentage on your purchase at no expense to you. Gift cards are great for end of the year teacher gifts, graduates, Mother's Day (5/11) and Father's Day (6/15) or thank you's for coworkers and clients. Or, purchase gift cards for every day expenditures such as gas, groceries, movies and dining out.

Please note, the $5 Starbucks gift cards ARE AVAILABLE again! Sorry for the confusion. You can simply write them in on the back of the order form that was sent home via your student. Orders are due Wednesday, April 30th and will be delivered via your student by Tuesday, May 6th. Go to http://alpharettaelementarypto.org/committees/soft-fundraising/ to download an updated order form with the $5 Starbucks cards, to view the master gift cards lists by category or alphabetically or for more details.

AES PTO 1st Annual Art Contest! 2014 Theme: "My Favorite Thing" Sharpen those pencils, put on that smock, grab those paint brushes and create an original work of art! Deadline for entries is Wednesday, April 30th and the Art Show will be held May 6th. Attached is the flyer and contest rules for the Art Contest. This information is also being sent home with your student today.

Family Nights

April Family Nights: April 26th - X-treme Gaming & Hudson Grille April 28th - Zaxby's May Family Nights: May 3rd - Bagel Boys May 5th - 11th - Menchie's Frozen Yogurt week May 8th - Chick-fil-A Come see the very talented A.E.S. Chorus. Which class will win a chicken nugget party & have the cow in their classroom for a week? Which teachers will be there? Why these wonderful teachers; Ms. Urquhart, Ms. McCarthy, Ms. Thomas, Ms. Phipps, Ms. Spernak, & Ms. Summers. May 19th - Zaxby's A note from Out of the Box Art Studio: They still have some beautiful art work that has not been picked up. Please be sure to stop by and collect your child's art work. Thank you. Please remember to check out our website for a list of all our fantastic partners and the latest information: www.alpharettaelementarypto.org

Community

Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Georgia Cyber Safety Initiative

April 27 - Norhwestern MS - 2-4pm April 29 - Cambridge HS - 7-9pm Join us for an eye opening presentation about our youth and the technology they have at their fingertips. Please click on the attached flyer for further information, dates and times.

24th Annual Taste of Alpharetta Thursday, May 8, 5-10pm Please see attached document for Important Road Closure Information.

2014 Cambridge Lady Bears - Fastpitch Softball Camp All rising 2nd graders through rising 9th graders June 3-5 9am-12pm The Cambridge Lady Bears Fastpitch coaches and Sweet 16 team members are excited to invite all rising 2nd graders through rising 9th graders to their summer skills camp. Attendees will increase their knowledge of the game of softball while improving their skills in a fun learning atmosphere. Campers will be grouped by age / skill level. Instruction will cover: batting, fielding, throwing, base-running, pitching, catching and sliding. Please complete the attached registration form to secure your spot.

8th Annual "It's Just Hair" Cut-a-thon Do you have long hair? Please consider donating your locks for the 8th Annual "It's Just Hair" Cut-a-thon to benefit Locks of Love and children with long-term medical hair loss. Most of the children who benefit have lost their hair due to an autoimmune disease called Alopecia Areata, a highly unpredictable disease that can cause hair loss in patches or total hair loss including eyebrows and eyelashes. The cut-a-thon will take place on Monday, May 19, 2014 in Alpharetta. Hair must be at least ten inches and cuts and styles are complimentary. Please contact Diane Cooley to register or for more information at itsjusthair@gmail.com or 678.521.5639.