EC Principal Letter

Dear ANCS Elementary Families,

Here we are beginning our third week of school for the 2026-2027 academic year and you would think our students and teachers have been back for months! Everyone is taking care of each other, working hard to build class families and are eager to come into the building each day. Thank you to NaTasha Woody-Wideman for organizing our Ice Cream Social last Friday evening. The sunshowers couldn’t keep our school family away from each other! From the line dancing to the sweet treats, I enjoyed hanging out with many of you to celebrate our first two weeks of school together. We have a few upcoming events on the calendar:

• PTCA Meeting: I hope to see you at our first PTCA meeting tonight from 6:30pm-7:30pm at the Elementary Campus. Come out and learn about how you can get involved! As a first year teacher at ANCS many years ago (2006 ;) I was amazed by how many parents and caregivers devoted their time to helping our school thrive. Of course we are in a different time and many of us might be stretched thin, but I encourage you to work with another ANCS family to come together and volunteer in a way that works for you. Remember, try not to compare your volunteerism with someone else’s. Do what works for you and your family!
• Curriculum Night: We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our Curriculum Night on August 26th from 4:15pm-6:30pm. The schedule for the evening was designed to allow families with students in more than one grade level to attend each grade level’s discussion. Additionally, it provides time for everyone to meet the Related Arts & Support Teachers. If you only have one student at ANCS, you only need to attend one of the classroom sessions after the Related Arts and Support Services session in the auditorium. 
  • The schedule is as follows:
    • 4:15pm-5:00pm Related Arts and support services in auditorium
    • 5:00pm-5:45pm classroom session one
    • 5:45pm-6:30pm classroom session two
  • Curriculum night is for parents and guardians only. Free childcare is available. Our after school program will close at 4:00pm to allow teachers time to prepare for the evening and to ensure all classrooms are available for the evening. Childcare for the evening will run from 4:05pm-6:45pm to allow parents time to get to classroom sessions on time. Childcare is only available for ANCS students and their siblings (age 4 and up). Register here.
  • This night is a time for you to meet all the related arts teachers and hear about what students do in these classes. You will have a chance to meet the counselor, our Academic Assistance teachers and our Instructional Technology Specialist and learn more about what they do here at school. This night also provides parents/caregivers the opportunity to hear directly from your child’s teachers to learn more about the work in which your child will be involved throughout the year. Teachers will give an overview of the curriculum along with some of the expectations for the grade level as a whole. 
  • Please note that curriculum night is not a time to meet one-on-one with your child’s teachers or ask specific questions pertaining to your individual student. This is not a time for a conference. As always, you should feel free to contact your child’s teachers with questions you may have regarding curriculum or classroom activities. If you desire a conference, please schedule another time to meet. 
  • Our parent-teacher conference window opens on September 16th, so that time is coming soon and teachers will be sending a sign up in the very near future. This year’s conference window is a lot shorter with a limited time of 3 days for teachers to complete conferences. Be on the lookout for those dates from your child’s teachers. 

You might have noticed that I am leaving the car drop off line before 8:00am. We started having our school-wide morning meetings last week and that means that I will need to head inside each morning around 7:57am so we can begin our meetings right at 8:00am. All of our students should be in the auditorium and sitting with their class before 8:00am so they can be on time for school and ready to begin our school wide morning meeting. This is a unifying and shared experience that helps us start our day in a positive and fun way. We ask that you help us uphold our expectations when you join us for morning meetings. Please silence your cell phone and engage in all the meeting has to offer. The music alone should move you to sing, clap or dance along!  If you arrive at school after 8:00am, you will need to park and walk your child into the building so you can sign them in at the front desk. 

Last week we introduced our first Guiding Principle: We come to school and every class prepared to learn and do our best. This week we introduced our second principle: We respect each other, our surroundings and ourselves. Each week we will introduce another ANCS Guiding Principle until we have discussed all five. Please take a moment at home to talk with your child about what the Guiding Principles mean to them.

Each week we learn a new song during our morning meeting. Ms. Wawerna led our first song, A Brand New Day from “The Wiz.” This is the song the faculty and staff sang to our community at the beginning of this year’s Open House. It was so beautiful and moving to hear our students and families singing this song together. In the future, classes will sign up to lead a new song each week. We understand that morning meeting doesn’t fit into everyone’s schedule, but if you are able we invite you to join us for one morning meeting that your child’s class is signed up to lead us in song. Classroom teachers will keep you informed about when that is happening. 

Additionally, we have explained to our students that one of the best parts of morning meeting is when students are actively participating. Each day we like to have a student lead the school in the Pledge and The Wolfpack Chant. If your child would like to do either one of these and knows all the words by heart, they can let the teachers know and they will get them signed up. Students also have the opportunity to perform during morning meeting. Some examples of student performances are playing a musical instrument, singing, sharing a poem, telling a joke, etc. Students who wish to perform in morning meeting need to audition with myself, Ms. Wawerna or Ms. Greer. Once a student has auditioned and is ready, we will sign them up on the calendar. You will be informed of the day this is happening so you can plan to come into the building to watch if you are able.

Additional Friendly Reminders:

• You are welcome to join your child for lunch beginning the week of September 7th. We ask that you wait for the first six weeks of school to pass so students are secure in all routines and expectations before guests join the class. Please let your child’s classroom teachers know that you will be coming for lunch prior to the lunch period. If you decide to visit for lunch we ask that you bring your visit to a close once the lunch period is over. 
• Arrival: When dropping off your child using the car line, please ensure that they exit the car on the passenger side closest to the sidewalk and allow us to open the door for you. It is unsafe to get your child out on the driver’s side as we have many speeding cars that come up the hill on Grant Street. Additionally, when you get out of your car to let your child out, it slows the car line down. Thank you for helping us uphold our arrival procedures and keep the car line safe and moving quickly. 
• Bike Bus: Remember that Fridays are our Bike Bus days (weather permitting). Woot! This has become a quite popular mode of transportation to arrive at school. If you are unable to join the Bike Bus and are walking or coming through the car line, please allow for enough time in the mornings, to ensure your child makes it inside prior to 8:00am.

Thank you so much for all the support you all have given as we are getting this school year underway. Your partnership means the world to us! As always, I am happy to answer any questions you may have. 

Sincerely,

Nicole 

Nicole King

In 2017, Nicole King returned to ANCS as a 1st Grade Teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Agnes Scott College (2005) and a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (2012). Before her return to ANCS, she taught at Trinity School in Atlanta for 5 years (2012-2017), Billingsville Elementary School in Charlotte for 3 years (2009-2012), and Neighborhood Charter School as a 1st Grade Teacher (2006-2009).