! D. H. Stanton Elementary970 Martin StreetAtlanta, GA 30315

(404) 802-4200

August, 2013 Parent Newsletter“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Student Work Folders:This year, please be sure to check your child’s backpack every Tuesday for our Panther Paw Packets. All homework packets and notices home will be sent home on Tuesday. If your child says that he or she does not have homework, please check with the teacher. We send homework packets home every Monday. Teachers are also in the process of updating their classroom websites to provide you with the latest information about classroom activities. Homework information will be provided on the classroom websites as well. We will continue to implement the Georgia Common Core Performance Standards and use data to inform instruction and decision making. Additionally, we will continue to our implementation of “The Leader in Me”.

We would like to invite you to become an active participant in your child’s education.   We at D. H. Stanton, believe that the most effective education for your child comes from a partnership between the home and the school.   Many opportunities exist for you to become involved in your child’s education and we invite you, as parents, to take advantage of these opportunities throughout the school year.

All of us at D. H. Stanton are very proud of our school, students, staff, parents and community.   We strive to provide our students with a well-rounded and meaningful educational experience geared to each child’s learning potential.  We are all looking forward to a happy and successful school year. We are looking forward to seeing you for our upcoming PTA/Curriculum Night on September 17, 2013 at 5:30. Come out for the PTA meeting, meet the staff at D. H. Stanton; and immediately after the meeting, you will get a chance to visit the classrooms, and learn from teachers and students what is being taught in the classrooms.

Thank you for your continued support.  I am always available to talk with parents and students and to help as needed to ensure the success of our students, please do not hesitate to call or stop to meet with me.

We look forward to you becoming an integral part of our school and together we can provide a positive and exciting experience for your child.

Sincerely,

Dr. Clara Taylor, Principal

Greetings Parents and Guardians:

We welcome you and your child to the 2013-2014 school year here at D. H. Stanton Elementary School.   The excitement is in the air with our staff and students for a new beginning. We welcome several new staff members to the D. H. Stanton Family and we are happy to see our returning staff.What’s new this year?Dual Immersion:The major initiative is the implementation of the Dual Immersion Program, with Spanish being our language of choice at the Kindergarten level. Select Kindergarten students will have an opportunity to learn all their subjects, from math to  reading and vocabulary, both in Spanish and English this year. Safety:In an effort to keep all students safe, we have instituted several changes at D. H. Stanton. I am sure that we all share the same concern about safety for all students. For security reasons, we are asking parents not to walk students to the classroom or to enter the instructional areas.  Please stop at the main office for assistance. We have new procedures in place for volunteering and classroom visitation. Please call the school or stop by the main office for more information.School UniformsAll students are expected to wear school uniforms: khaki, navy blue or black pants, and white or red golf/polo shirts. Students are expected to dress in a manner that is consistent with the basic educational mission of the Atlanta Public Schools. School uniforms should be worn Monday through Thursday. If you need assistance with uniforms, please contact your child’s teacher or Ms. Raines (Parent Liaison). On Friday, students are allowed a free dress day; however, the attire must meet the guidelines of the dress code as set forth by APS. We do not want your child to miss out on participating during our Dojo celebrations.

Student Agendas:We are excited about a new method to help improve our students with organization, hall passes, and home school communication. We have purchased student agendas for grades K-5. These agendas are like textbooks and cost. So, if they are lost or damaged, the replacement cost is $10.00.

Dear D.H. Stanton Parents,

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year. We are very excited to have you and your children as part of the D.H. Stanton Family. Every staff member has worked very hard to prepare for the return of our wonderful students and to get our school started with perfection. We have set very high expectations and made plans to guarantee that every student at D.H. Stanton will be safe and successful this school year.

Student academic success is the main goal of every staff member at D.H. Stanton Elementary. We believe that every student will learn to the highest level and we are prepared to offer more time and support to every student that needs it. I ask for your continued support and participation in this effort by sending your child to school every day on time, encouraging your child to read at least 30 minutes every evening, monitoring your childʼs homework, and asking your child to share what they learned at school each day.

We are encouraging our children to make good choices, be proactive in their decision making, and problem solvers with their peers. We reward our students with Class DoJo points and hold monthly celebrations with our students. On August 30th, our students went to the movies at D.H. Stanton as our first DoJo Celebration of the year. The student were able to choose from several movies, enjoy time with friends and enjoy a great movie in class with popcorn and pop.

FROM THE DESK OF THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Safety is critical part of our school plan and we have had to make make a great deal of decisions and adjustments to ensure we have a secure facility. One our newest features is a student number system for dismissal. Every student that leaves with an adult in a car or walking will need a number card to be released from the school. If you have not done so. please make sure you pick up your number from our VISTA Community Partners. The deadline to begin number system dismissal is quickly approaching.

I am wishing all our students and parents an exciting and successful 2013-14 school year.

Yours In education,

Thomas Ford, Asst. Principal

Welcome  to  Preschool!!  Department  of  Special  education

We are excited to have your child in our class. We are going to have an amazing year. Here at D. H. Stanton Elementary. Our classroom is located on the first floor. Ms. Jones and I have so many creative lessons planned for our class. In life comes change and change is another word for progression. We are looking forward to student’s progress and amazing learning opportunities; so again welcome to Preschool.

Please remember to send the following items to school with your child:

1 box, 24ct, Crayola1 Large Book Bag (Please label1 Marker, Classic Colors, 1 box of tissue, KleenexItems in Book bag on a daily basis1 Change of Clothes3 Pair of underwear/pull-ups 1 sweater or jacket 1 inch three ring binder1 packet of copy paper

Ms. Githieya/Ms. Jones

KindergartenWe are off to a fantastic start in Kindergarten for the 2012-2013 school year!!! We are studying many topics in kindergarten for the month of September. In Reading/Language Arts, we are studying rhyming words, capital and lowercase letters, sight words, writing first and last names, making predictions and print concepts. In Math, we are studying calendar skills (days of week, months of the year, etc) and numbers (counting, writing and recognizing numbers up to 10). In Science, we are studying living and non- living things. In Social Studies, we are studying American Cultural. The Dual Immersion ProgramThe Dual Immersion Program is a pilot program for our young students. The aim is to expose students to a secondary language early on and provide a strong foundation in both the target language (Spanish), as well as traditional, academic content. Select Kindergarten students will have an opportunity to learn all their subjects, from math and science to reading and social studies, in both English and Spanish. The children are taught by Minerva Guerrero in Spanish and Michael Tanner in English.Reminders Our school is a uniform school. Please have your child to wear the school uniform each day. The uniform consists of red, black or white tops and khaki, navy or black bottoms. Please check your child’s homework folder each day for correspondence and homework. Please assist your child with recognizing sight words and completing homework assignments. If you have not sent supplies, please send supplies for your child.Helpful Websites Reading/Language Arts: www.starfall.comMath: www.pbskids.org and www.sesamestreet.comTeacher Contact Information:Dr. Freeman- sfreeman@atlanta.k12.ga.usMs. Dixon- andixon@atlanta.k12.ga.usMr. Tanner - mktanner@atlanta.k12.ga.usMs. Guerrero- minerveous@yahoo.com

First Grade

Greetings Fantastic First Graders and Family,

Current Content:English Language Arts – Consonants and Short Vowels

Social Studies – Family Traditions & CultureScience – Making Observations using the 5 Senses

Math – Place ValueReading – Fairy Tales Elements (Characters, Plot, Conflict and Solution)

Spelling – short a sound wordsSuggested Stories:

CinderellaThree Little Pigs

Jack and the BeanstalkWonderful Websiteswww.pbskids.orgwww.starfall.com

www.eduplace.com/kids/mwwww.aaamath.com

www.abcya.com Educationally,

Ms. Ellis, Ms. Orlando, & Mrs. Welch

Second Grade

Gree$ngs  and  welcome  to  another  school  year!  

The  second  grade  team  is  looking  forward  to  preparing  students  for  the  rigors  of  the  second  grade  curriculum  and  beyond.  We  have  recently  completed  benchmark  tes$ng  in  the  areas  of  reading  and  mathema$cs.  Look  for  informa$on  on  your  student's  performance  and  ways  that  you  can  support  them  at  home.  Addi$onally,  we  are  also  using  the  Moby  Max  website  in  our  classrooms  (www.mobymax.com).  This  website  supports  the  second  grade  common  core  curriculum  and  can  be  accessed  from  home.  Login  informa$on  can  be  obtained  from  your  child's  teacher.  We  are  beginning  this  school  year  learning  about  Readers  and  Writers  Workshop.  Students  will  be  publishing  personal  narra$ves  and  exploring  the  wri$ng  process.  The  first  unit  in  mathema$cs  begins  with  place  value.  In  science,  we  will  be  exploring  life  cycles  and  in  social  studies,  we  are  studying  the  regions  of  Georgia.

Ms.  Drigger,  Mr.  Railey,  &  Ms.  Walker

Third Grade

Welcome to third grade! We are excited about the 2013-2014 school year. Our focus this year is to build lifelong learners. Third grade students will learn about place value and rounding in mathematics, sentence structure in language arts, Georgia habitats in science, and the foundation of The United States in Social Studies.

Students will have homework every Monday through Thursday. Remember to read with or listen to your child read everyday.

Third Grade Students of the MonthMr. Brown - Keimya ThompsonMs. Ward - Camʼran WalkerDr. Smith - Kamille Williams

The Third Grade Team,

Mr. Brown, Ms. Ward, & Dr. Smith

Fourth Grade

Fourth grade is an academic year that brings more complex math facts for students to learn. According to an article in Scholastic, "Preparing for 4th Grade," students in fourth grade learn about multiplying with two- and three-digit numbers, they begin working with fractions. They become more proficient at solving math problems. We will focus more on the student’s ability to articulate, defend, and support their processes for finding answers. Teachers have the most success when they use stimulating and engaging games as a means of educating fourth-graders on complex math lessons. We will begin the year with the following information in Reading we will be focusing on Informational Text. In Math, we are focusing on place value and estimation. Social Studies the focus lesson is Native Americans, and in Science the focus is Ecosystem.

Mr. Bradford & Ms. May

Fifth Grade

Hello  Amazing  FiOh  Grade  Parents  and  Family,

Current  Content:  

English  Language  Arts-­‐  Interjec$ons,  preposi$ons,  and  conjunc$ons

Social  Studies-­‐Civil  War

Science-­‐  Plant  and  Animal  Cells

Mathema$cs-­‐Order  of  Opera$ons,  Numbers  and  word  expressions

Reading-­‐  Realis$c  Non-­‐fic$on  text  

Vocabulary-­‐  Review  vocabulary  from  all  core  subjects

Wonderful  Websites:

Cellsalive.com  

Funbrain.com                

Mathplayground.com

Socialstudiesforkids.com

Funschool.kaboose.com

Thankfully,  

Korrey  Walford,  Fanta  Helton

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PTA MEETING - OPEN HOUSE

September 17, 2013 @ 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

First Fundraiser: Dominos Pizza

Seeking Volunteers, & PTA Secretary Position AvailablePlease Contact:

Vice President, Darlene McKnight @ 404-964-4129Treasurer, LaKenya Todd @ 678-508-4811

August  27,    2013

PARENT  RIGHT-­‐TO-­‐KNOW  LETTER

Dear  Parent(s)/Guardian(s):    

At  D.H.  Stanton,  we  are  very  proud  of  our  teachers,  their  accomplishments,  and  we  feel  they  are  prepared  to  give  your  children  a  high-­‐quality  education.    As  a  Title  I  school,  we  must  meet  all  Federal  regulations  related  to  teacher  qualiLication  as  deLined  by  state  law.    These  regulations  allow  you  to  learn  more  about  your  child’s  teacher  and  request  important  information  regarding  their  training  and  credentials.    At  any  time  you  may  ask:    

• Whether  the  teacher  met  state  qualiLications  and  certiLication  requirements  for  the  grade  level  and  subjects  he/she  is  teaching

• Whether  the  teacher  received  an  emergency  or  conditional  certiLicate  through  which  state  qualiLications  were  waived,  and  

• What  undergraduate  or  graduate  degrees  the  teacher  holds,  including  graduate  certiLicates  and  additional  degrees,  and  major(s)  or  area(s)  of  concentration.    

You  may  also  ask  whether    your  child  received  help  from  a  paraprofessional.    If  you  child  received  this  assistance,  we  can  provide  you  with  information  about  the  paraprofessional’s  qualiLications  as  well.    

Our  staff  is  committed  to  helping  your  child  develop  the  academic  knowledge  and  critical  thinking  he/she  needs  to  succeed  in  school  and  beyond.    That  commitment  includes  making  sure  that  all  of  our  teachers  and  paraprofessionals  are  highly-­‐skilled.    

If  you  have  any  questions  about  your  child’s  assignment  to  a  teacher  or  paraprofessional,  please  contact  Dr.  Clara  Taylor  at  D.H.  Stanton  (404)  802-­‐4200  or  email  her  at  cptaylor@atlantapublicschools.us.

Sincerely,

Siobhan  Raines  

Parent  Liaison,  D.H.  Stanton