EC Principal Letter
Dear ANCS Elementary Families,
We are all excited about Run With The Wolves this weekend. Even if you are not a runner, you can walk and if you don’t want to do that, you can come out to cheer everyone on and enjoy some time with the ANCS community. It’s a fun event celebrating movement and fitness. Many thanks to Coach Daniel and parent volunteer, Matt Underwood, for all their hard work leading the efforts getting this organized. I hope to see you there!
I want to give a huge thank you to Annette Wawerna for directing our chorus this year and to Susan Taylor and Lesley Wood, along with our amazing parent volunteers Ashlyn Kress and Druniece Jackson for supporting her with that effort. We had a very large and active chorus this year and these women put in a lot of hours making all of it work.
The last day of school is just four weeks away and there are lots of things to do as we wrap this year up on a positive note. Please remember that we have an 11:30am dismissal on the last day of school and there is no after school on the last day of school. Please make sure you have a plan to pick your child up at 11:30 on the last day and that you have communicated that plan with your child’s teachers.
We will have an extended morning meeting on the last day of school. This is the meeting where we honor our teachers and staff that are leaving at the end of this year. We also recognize students with perfect attendance and give out running awards. Our fifth graders will also sing a song on the last day. It’s a lot of fun and lasts about 30 minutes. I just wanted you to be prepared if you plan to attend morning meeting on the last day of school.
Dismissal on the last day will be very busy. We have a plan to make it less overwhelming for our students and are relying on each of you to help. Here are our last-day-of-school guidelines and procedures. Please make a note of these so you can have a plan in place.
- Make sure you know your dismissal number. We will not dismiss students without a number.
- In addition to communicating with your child’s teachers, make sure your child knows what the plan is for the last day. Will they walk home on their own, be a car rider, or get picked up as a walker? Will someone else be picking them up? Knowing this will help to alleviate any nervousness about getting home on the last day.
- Please leave your dogs/pets at home on this day. The front yard will be very crowded with parents/guardians and we don’t want to add to the chaos. Plus, we have quite a few students who are afraid of dogs.
- We will have designated pick up sections on the front yard for K & 1st, 2nd & 3rd and 4th & 5th. Each section will have a sign and a staff member to take your child’s dismissal number.
- If you have more than one student, go to the section of the younger student. The older child will meet you there. We will discuss this with all students during morning meeting the last week of school.
- Kindergarten and first grade students will exit the building through the doors by the library, 2nd and 3rd grade students will exit the building through the front doors and 4th and 5th grade students will exit the building through the Pavillion Street doors. This will help with the flow of students leaving the building.
- All students who walk home independently will exit the building through the Pavillion Street doors.
- Once you connect with your student(s), please leave the grounds. We love the community, but we are trying to dismiss 395 students quickly and safely and the less crowded the yard is, the better.
Thank you in advance for helping us have a safe and smooth dismissal on the last day. We appreciate all you do to support our school family.
As always, I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Have a happy remainder of your week.
Wishing you well,
Lara
Lara Zelski
Lara Zelski began working at ANCS in 2007. 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.
