Elementary Principal Letter
Dear ANCS Elementary Families,
We are all excited about our upcoming fall break starting next week. While students are off for the full week, teachers will enjoy a training with our Conscious Discipline consultant on Monday morning and then have time to finish parent conferences and work in their classrooms. Every time we have a break we see an uptick in students being checked out of school early on the Friday before. If you are planning to pick up your child up early on Friday, please do so before 2:00. The end of the day is a very busy time for us and adding a lot of early check outs can make it more hectic. Thank you for helping us with this.
I am sure that many of you have gotten to know and love Ms. Kim Moran over the years as one of our front desk receptionists. We have all appreciated her dedication to our school. She has made the decision to move on and next Monday will be her last day working here. Please help me in wishing her well with all her future endeavors. We are excited to welcome Ms. Wakita Jacobs who will be joining our school family as our new receptionist. She will be at the school on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Mrs. Wilke will still be here on Thursdays and Fridays. Please take some time to welcome Ms. Jacobs. She is excited to be here!
October is a busy month in the U.S.! We have a lot going on here at school, too. Here is just a taste of what is being celebrated this month.
We are still celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. This celebration is from September 15th through October 15. The Latin American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Chile all became independent of colonial rule between September 15-18. At 60.6 million, people of Hispanic origin are the largest ethnic or racial minority in the U.S. (18.5% of the total population). Georgia is one of 12 states that has a population of over 1 million Hispanic residents in 2019.
This October, celebrate Global Diversity Awareness Month and pay tribute to the diverse minds and beliefs held by all cultures around the world. We live in a multicultural society and embracing the values of various cultures only strengthens our understanding and appreciation of the world. Open your mind to new views and ideas, appreciate cultural differences, and enjoy a fresh perspective you may have been missing. It helps you become a true citizen of the world.
October is LGBT History Month In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebration of gay and lesbian history, and gathered other teachers and community leaders to support this. They selected October because of existing traditions, such as Coming Out Day (October 11) that occur during the month. If you are interested, the Atlanta Pride Festival is October 8-9 in Piedmont Park (typically held the weekend prior to National Coming Out Day).
October is also Digital Citizenship Month. We will be engaging all students in digital citizenship lessons in the library starting October 3. The focus will be the Digicit Framework: Digital Safety, Media Information & Literacy, Digital Well-being, Social Responsibility. The week after break, October 17th, we will be hiding Golden iPads with questions all over the school for students to answer! These questions will be aligned to videos students have been watching in class. Students who find the Golden iPads will get to read the question and share the answer during the morning meeting! Our students love this engaging and exciting activity.
Finally, don’t forget to add the Diversity & Equity Action Team (DEAT) farm event to your calendar. This will happen on October 25th from 6:00-7:30pm on the school farm at the elementary campus. This was a lot of fun last year. Look for additional information in the courier.
As always, I am happy to answer any questions you have. I hope you have an amazing rest of your week and a safe fall break.
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.
