EC Principal Letter

Dear ANCS Elementary Families,

I hope you have had a wonderful week so far. This week we are focusing on HBCUs as part of our Black History Month celebration. If you attended an HBCU, tell your child about your experience and if you are willing and able, feel free to reach out to your child’s teachers so you can share your experience with the class. Our faculty and staff who attended an HBCU will be wearing their school t-shirt on Friday. We would love for you to send your child to school wearing a shirt from your alma mater, too!

Next week all our students will be on mid-winter break from Monday through Friday. Teachers have a workday on Monday and this is the official first day of our second round of parent-teacher conferences. Please make sure you have signed up for a conference and please take the time to put it on your calendar. This schedule is very tight for teachers and no shows can be challenging to reschedule. 

After we return from break on February 27th, we will begin to practice for having our school-wide morning meetings in person once again. After a few weeks of practice, our first in-person meeting will be on March 13th and we are hopeful that we can continue holding them all together in the auditorium for the remainder of this school year. Morning meeting will only be for students and teachers at this time. However, if your child is performing, you are welcome to come and watch. The classroom teachers will let you know when that opportunity arises. We are super excited about continuing to return to some of our pre-Covid traditions. 

Part of returning to our in-person morning meeting is that all students go to the auditorium as soon as they arrive, rather than going straight to their classroom. All students, including kindergartners and first graders, will enter through the two front main doors of the building beginning February 27th. This will help them begin to make this a routine. We will continue to have drop off and pick up remain in the same location so we do not block the crosswalks. Students will walk across the path, not on the sidewalk, to the front doors. On March 13th, students will go straight to the auditorium instead of their classroom. 

Breakfast will continue to be served from 7:30 to 7:50 each morning and students will continue to be marked tardy if they arrive at school after 8:00. Our school day starts promptly at 8:00 AM each morning.

As always, I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Wishing you well,

Lara

Lara Zelski

Lara Zelski began working at ANCS in 2001. Previously, she worked at the Howard School and taught art, Spanish, reading and math. She taught 6th, 4th, and 2nd in DeKalb County. She taught 4th and 5th grade in Decatur and then moved to Title One reading and math instruction for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. She taught 5th grade at the ANCS elementary campus for two years.