ACS Weekly Newsletter 5/12/24

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear ACS Families,

We had an incredible week at ACS! We celebrated Staff Appreciation Week, held Project Celebrations for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, hosted our 2nd annual Coyote Connections night, and performed our 1st musical! Be sure to check out the pictures in this week's newsletter from this week's festivities.

Coming up this week, our 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders will participate in state mandated End of Grade testing. There are plenty of details specific to EOG testing below. If you have a student who will be taking EOGs this week, please read that information carefully.

I want to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all of the ACS mothers! I hope your day is as special as you!

Jamie Miller

Principal

Project Celebrations (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades)

IMPORTANT DATES:

May 16: 1st Grade Field Trip

May 23: Field Day

May 24: Last Day of School for students (11:45 dismissal)

PROJECT CELEBRATION DATES:

May 20: 6th grade at 1:00
May 21: 4th grade at 1:00
May 22: Kindergarten at 10:00 and 5th grade at 11:00

TESTING DATES:

EOGs (scroll down for full EOG information)
- Tues. May 14: 3rd - 6th Grade Reading
- Wed. May 15: 5th Grade Science
- Thurs. May 16: 3rd - 6th Grade Math

SPECIAL THANKS and RECOGNITIONS

We want to take a moment to recognize some very special people at ACS. Several ACS staff members were nominated by their colleagues for the following honors: Teacher of the Year, Young Educator of the Year, and Teacher Assistant of the Year. The honors go to...

Taylor Lewis, ACS Teacher of the Year
Jacqueline Vila, ACS Young Educator of the Year
Stephanie Lucas, ACS Teacher Assistant of the Year

We would also like to recognize Alex Welgehausen and Carson Mooring for the success of The Lion King Kids, ACS's first musical! They worked incredibly hard to pull off a delightful musical theatre experience for students. We are also grateful for the set contributions from students in Ms. Kellie's set design class and for the commitment of students and their families to help bring the show to life. The musical was dedicated to Angela Daulton, who helped with the musical before her passing. She was passionate about theatre and ensuring young students had access to opportunities to participate in these kinds of experiences.

Congratulations to Carina Klingelsmith! Carina recently completed her student teaching with Mrs. McVey's 3rd grade class and graduated on Saturday from Liberty University. We are excited that she will be teaching 3rd grade at ACS in the upcoming school year.

Thank you to our PTO for all of the wonderful treats you provided last week for Staff Appreciation Week! We are grateful for your support!

FIELD DAY

Field day will take place on Thursday, May 23. Times for grade levels are listed below. Volunteers and donations are needed to make this day a success. Check out the Signup Genius link for ways you can help.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904044BA4A723A6FE3-49350570-volunteers#/

K - 8:45-9:30

1- 9:40-10:25

2 - 10:35-11:20

3 - 11:30-12:15

4- 12:25-1:10

5th and 6th - 1:20-2:05

STUDENT SERVICES (Mr. Tribotte and Mrs. Gittens)

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

“Mental health is wealth, especially during Mental Health Awareness Month, which is celebrated in May. The stigma around mental health and treatment has long existed, even though this has started to change. Still, people hesitate to seek help or even talk about it with their loved ones for fear of being judged and facing unnecessary backlash. Simple logic dictates that if we are hurt anywhere, we must seek treatment to get better. This applies to both our mental- and physical well-being.” -National Today

Please read the May is Mental Health Awareness Month document to learn ways that you & your family can take part in ending mental health bias and discrimination, and help build a healthy nation that celebrates children's strengths.

Phone Check/Safety Reminder - Please check your student’s(s’) phones. It's a good idea to check deleted items in photos/videos and to look through their social media accounts. Make sure they know everyone they are chatting with and that they are using kind words to reduce cyberbullying and protect student social/emotional health! Student safety is our priority.

ATHLETICS

Families, if you have a rising 6th or 7th grader that wishes to participate in ACS athletics for the 24-25 school year, a physical examination form is required for tryouts and participation. Exams can be scheduled with your primary care physician, or local minute clinics.

GENESIS (Evelyn Kreiley)

Kindergarten Prep Camp Registration is Now Open!

This week, 4th graders participated in fun-filled EOG review activities.

END OF GRADE TESTING (EOG) INFORMATION (GRADES 3 - 6)

Dear 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Grade Coyote Caregivers - As part of federal and state legislation, each school year North Carolina students are required to take state tests, including EOGs. The North Carolina End-of-Grade Tests are designed to measure student performance on the goals, objectives, and grade-level competencies specified in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. We are excited to see the growth our students have made during the 2023-2024 school year.

We are sharing this information now, so that you can plan accordingly. Students need to arrive on time each day and even a few minutes early, so your child can get settled and not be hurried or stressed upon arriving at school on the morning of assessment. Assessments will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. each day! Please note: If testing has begun for the day and if we do not have any extra test administrators to administer the EOG to late students, we may request that the parent take the student home for the day and they will need to take the test on the make-up day.

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

Please make sure your child gets a solid night of rest the night before an assessment.
Please make sure your child eats a nutritious breakfast before coming to school.
Students should bring a snack and a filled water bottle to school on assessment days, in addition to their lunch and other items needed for school.
Remind your child they are ready for this, to do their best, and they will do an amazing job!

Our 3rd - 6th grade students will participate in End of Grade Testing at the end of May, according to the following schedule.

Date	Grade Levels	Assessment
Tuesday, May 14	3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th	Reading EOG
Wednesday, May 15	5th	Science EOG
Thursday, May 16	3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th	Math EOG

Attendance for EOGs is extremely important. However, we will have make-up EOGs for those students who were not at school on their designated EOG testing day. Designated Make up dates are:

Wednesday, May 15 for 3rd, 4th & 6th grade Reading makeups
Friday, May 17 for 3rd - 6th grade Math makeups
Monday, May 20 for 5th grade Science makeups
Tuesday, May 21 for 5th grade Reading makeups

If you have questions or concerns about the EOGs, you may reach out to your child’s teacher or please contact Catherine Quick, K-5 Curriculum Director, at cquick@alamancecommunityschool.net or Leslie Jewell, Student Information and Testing Coordinator, at ljewell@alamancecommunityschool.net.

*The Board approved the 2024-2025 calendar in November. It can be found on our website and is included here as well.

Rising 7th Graders: Required Immunizations

Students entering 7th grade are required to have one dose of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccine and one dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine for individuals who have not already received those vaccines. Please contact your student’s health care provider or the local health department if your child needs those vaccines.

Parents/guardians of students enrolled in 7th grade will be required to provide an updated current proof of vaccination (i.e., Certificate of Immunization from the NC Immunization registry) on or before the first day of school, August 13, 2024.

If proof of vaccination is not provided within 30 calendar days of the first day of school, your child will be excluded from school until a current shot record is provided, as required by law.

Please DO NOT send your immunization certificate to school at this time. You will be asked to provide this later this spring, during our re-enrollment process for current students.

For more information on required immunizations in NC, please visit: https://immunization.dph.ncdhhs.gov/family/nc_immnz_requirements.htm

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR 2024-2025

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 Leslie Paynter: lpaynter@alamancecommunityschool.net

LINK TO APPLICATION