Jamie Miller
- Oct 22, 2023
- 5 min read

ACS Weekly Newsletter 10/22/23

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear ACS Families and Staff,

We loved seeing all of the Fall Break fun on our Coyote Pack Facebook page! Thank you for sharing those moments with our community.

We are back in the swing of things, and our students and staff had a busy week last week. Our 3rd, 4th, and 6th graders completed NC Check-Ins (benchmark assessments) in reading and math. Everyone is also busy preparing for upcoming Project Celebrations. The dates for the celebrations are included below. We hope to see you there!

I want to thank those who volunteered this past week and are planning to volunteer in the weeks ahead. When all stakeholders are involved in the education of our children, their learning experience and academic success are positively impacted.

Please be sure to read the important dates and information included in this newsletter so you can stay on top of upcoming events and activities.

Best,

Jamie Miller

IMPORTANT DATES:

October 30-November 8 - Boosterthon Fundraiser and Spirit Weeks (details coming soon)

NC Check-ins (more information below):

Tuesday, October 24 - Grade 5 Reading
Wednesday, October 25 - Grade 5 Earth Science
Thursday, October 26 - Grade 5 Math

November 8 - FUN RUN! (details coming soon)

November 17: Picture Day (rescheduled due to construction delays).

Project Celebration Dates:

Kindergarten: 10/31 at 11:00
1st: 10/26 at 1:00 (previously 1:30)
2nd: 11/3 at 1:30
3rd: 11/2 at 1:30
4th: 11/7 at 1:30
5th: 11/3 at 11:00
6th: 11/7 at 11:00

FOOD PANTRY

Mrs. Kellie, who runs our Food Pantry, has a few requests for those who are able to contribute. You can drop items off in the front office. Thank you!

Breakfast items- cereal, breakfast bars, fruit cups, oatmeal
Thanksgiving items- boxes of dressing, canned veggies, and fruits
Ziplock bags- sandwich and gallon-size

Grades 3-6 NC Check-Ins (NCCI) after Fall Break

NC Check-Ins (NCCI) are interim assessments that are aligned to North Carolina grade-level content standards (for reading and mathematics) and North Carolina Essential Standards (for science).

The main purpose of NC Check-Ins is to provide students, teachers, and parents with immediate in-depth action data and a reliable estimate of students’ current performance on selected subsets of content standards. Students in grade 3-6 will take these short classroom assessments up to three times throughout the school year to provide you, your student, and their teachers with information about your student’s understanding of content areas. This will help you and your student’s teacher understand what he or she knows and can do so additional instruction can be provided.

Our first round of NCCI’s will take place after Fall Break, according to the following schedule:

Tuesday, October 24 - Grade 5 Reading
Wednesday, October 25 - Grade 5 Earth Science
Thursday, October 26 - Grade 5 Math

These are ways for you to help your child do their best:

Please make sure your child gets a solid night of rest.
Please make sure your child eats a nutritious breakfast before coming to school.
Please arrive on time and even a few minutes early, so your child can get settled and not be hurried or stressed upon arriving at school in the morning.
Remind your child to simply do their best.

4th Grade Fall RtA - THIS WEEK

A subset of our 4th graders will take the Fall Read to Achieve Assessment on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. Parents/Guardians of these students should have received a hard copy letter before Fall break and a letter by email on October 3.

If you have questions about the NC Check-Ins or the fall RtA assessment, please reach out to your child’s teacher, or you may contact our Testing Coordinator, Leslie Jewell, at ljewell@alamancecommunityschool.net.

VOLUNTEERING

Volunteerism at our school is a way for you, parents and guardians, to learn more about ACS, engage in a positive way with your child’s teachers, and witness firsthand the hard work and dedication that all our staff - teachers, assistants, support staff, and administrators demonstrate each and every day.

It is also a way to support your student and other students by assisting with workstations or a small group, helping with clerical tasks or lunch, and/or something as simple as reading a book to the class. You do not have to be an educator to volunteer, and everyone is welcome! Please click on the ACS Volunteer Form Link below to find ways that you can volunteer to help support our school! https://forms.gle/6iPiTAYNhm14BezV6

ATHLETICS

As we grow our athletics program, we decided that cheerleading will be open to 5th and 6th grade students for THIS YEAR ONLY. It will be structured more like a cheer clinic with a culminating event at the end of the winter season. An interest meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 25, at 5:00. A link will be sent to 5th and 6th-grade families in a separate email. You can also find it on the Events Calendar on our website.

Athletics Fundraiser:

HELP! We still have around 200 Attractions books that have not been returned! Please return those ASAP. Books that aren't returned mean less profit, which will greatly impact our Athletics fundraising efforts. Please check your child's bookbag, the car, and around the house to see if you have an Attractions book that needs to be returned.

PTO NEWS

We all know Coyotes are fans of Texas Roadhouse! Let’s get ready for a fun gift card presale

fundraiser hosted by ACS PTO. Pre-purchase gift cards for you, your family, and your friends!

We will collect orders and payments from Monday, October 23rd, through Friday, November 3rd.
Payments will need to be made in cash or checks made payable to Alamance Community School PTO.
A $30 gift card purchase will earn you a $5 coupon to use on your next meal purchase.
There are also prizes for top sellers!
Gift cards should arrive prior to Thanksgiving break so you can have them in hand in enough time to gift them and/or use them for the holiday season.
You can even use them at our school fundraiser nights! This is always such a fun and exciting fundraiser for our school!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our October Zaxby's Night dinner fundraiser--we earned $260 thanks to all of you! Congratulations to Mrs. Frank's 5th grade class, who won this month's grade-level competition!

October Events

Monday 10/23 Texas Roadhouse Gift Card fundraiser kickoff
Monday 10/30 Skate Night (6:00-8:00 at RollABout Skating Center)

NOW HIRING FOR THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR

If you or someone you know would be a good fit for ACS, please apply through our website under the ‘Employment’ tab (see link below) and email a resume to Jamie Miller at jmiller@alamancecommunityschool.net

LINK TO APPLICATION