School Messenger
September 14, 2015
Good evening Explorers,
Happy Make It Happen Monday Explorers!
Explorers, so much is going on at East Garner. First things first, I want you to be aware of the ways that the school is sending home important information for you. The school has a Twitter account that is live on our school website homepage. The new website is now “live” and will consistently be updated. And finally, I will be sending out school messengers via the phone about every week. These messages will also be posted on the school website under Principal’s’ Message. Parents I want you to know about the learning and teaching process that happens here at school everyday. If you need support accessing our school website, the Twitter account or you are not receiving the automated phone calls please call the school. Also, parents we are tweeting out bus arrivals and dismissal times. When you follow the bus twitter account you can get notifications straight to your phone when the bus arrives at school or leaves campus. You can follow the bus account @eastgarneresbus and follow me for school wide information @eastgarneres.
This Week:
Tuesday, September 15th: PTA General Meeting at 6:30 Come out and join us in the Media Center to learn more about our PTA and the plans for the school year!
Thursday, September 17th: Join us for Open House! Open House is a time for parents to learn about the classroom procedures, curriculum expectations and our school wide expectations. PTA will be on hand to discuss their plans for the school year. There will be an opportunity for you to join the PTA as well!
Saturday, September 19th: Beautification Day 8:30-11:30 a.m. Come on out and help us spruce up our campus grounds!
Speaking of our PTA I have to share that we have hit a GOAL already in our first two weeks of school! We have over 100 PTA memberships! This is amazing Explorers. We are headed towards achieving our goals of increasing parent engagement in the school and strengthening our school to home partnerships. Mr. Joyce, our PTA President and the PTA Board members are so excited about the plans that are in place for the school this school year.
Finally, I want to address school security, carpool and bus transportation. As a reminder, all visitors to the campus must check into the main office. All meetings, classroom visits, and volunteering must be prearranged. We thank you for your support in our efforts to keep East Garner Elementary a safe environment focused on instruction with minimal interruptions to the classroom. By tomorrow afternoon, all carpool tags should have been distributed. The carpool tag must be displayed in the vehicle throughout the entire carpool dismissal time. This tag will help us call out the number to students waiting to be loaded. Please reinforce the carpool number with your child. This will help us run carpool more efficiently. Beginning this past Friday, all daycare providers will be using the Bus Loop for drop off and pick up. This change has been explained to your child. Please reinforce that students who ride with a provider to a daycare must listen for the announcement and watch the screen. Bus arrival times and departure times are being Tweeted out LIVE through the EGES Bus Twitter account. Parents, this means you can see when a bus leaves campus and/or arrives on campus to help you better meet your scheduling needs. Lastly, early sign outs are NOT permitted after 3:15 p.m. This has always been the expectation at East Garner but was not consistently reinforced. Beginning this Friday, the Front Office will close at 3:15 to allow for afternoon dismissal procedures. Early checkouts are for the occasional doctor appointment or dentist appointment. These appointments should be prearranged and parents will need to call the Front Office to notify of the early checkout prior to 3:15 p.m. I will not honor consistent early checkouts for extracurricular activities such as dance, gymnastics, football, etc. nor to avoid the carpool line. Our school is focused on preparing students to reach academic proficiency. Every minute from 9:15 until 3:45 will be used for instruction. If you have questions about this school expectation, please email me at cgraf1@wcpss.net or call me at 919-773-7404 to schedule an appointment with me to review your child’s academic performance, current strengths and needs.
That’s it Explorers! All of this information has been posted on the school website and go out on the Principal’s Desk blog. Questions? Please call the school with any questions.
My Explorer Excellence, Mrs. Graf