Briarlake
Elementary School PTA
September
1, 2010
Fourth week of
school |
| Hello
Beavers |
|
Thank you to our devoted teachers, staff and
administration for planning and implementing one great
Curriculum Night! Thanks to Ellen Kersh, who helped sell
Beaver-Spirit items, and our other Committee chairs for
welcoming new families and providing volunteer opportunities
to them.
- Labor Day Holidays/furlough days--Friday, 9/3 and
Monday, 9/6 Enjoy your long weekend!
- Great American orders are due TOMORROW (9/2)
- Picture Day was all smiles thanks to: Nicole Spiro,
chairwoman, Angela Spain, Debbie Gerstle, Carolyn Hansen,
Stephanie Byrne, Heidi Carpenter and all our smiling
beavers!
- The Science Club needs 2-liter soda bottles.
Please collect and place in the marked box in the front
lobby. Thanks!
- Don't forget our "Quick Links" to the left
What's
new? Check out all the details
below.
- ELPC-Interim Superintendent presents: "State
of the System"
- Ice Cream Social: "Sprinkled with Spirit"
- Parent Assistant--eSIS
- Excused absence reminder
- Campus Beautification update
- Car Pool Reminder
- Annual Fall Festival is on the way
- T-shirts for sale--show your Beaver spirit!
- Briarlake ES Foundation start-up news
- Reflections Deadline is October 6. Get started
today!
- Advertise in the Student Directory
- Community News and Enrichment
Opportunities
| |
|
| PTA
Officers |
Co-Presidents: Laurie Hobbs &
Vanessa Erens VP Programs: Heidi Carpenter
& Elesha Mavrommatis
VP Fundraising: Michele Lindner
& Pat Schaefer
Treasurer: Heather
Leahy
Secretary: Trish
McElfresh |
| Dates to
Remember |
September
Friday, 9/3 and Monday,
9/6
No School-Labor Day holiday
Friday, Sept. 10
Beaver Bulletin deadline
Tuesday, Sept. 14
PTA Ice Cream Social
Thursday, Sept. 16
Spirit Day and Night
Wear spiritwear, walk to school and eat
together at Chick-fil-A
Tuesday, Sept 21
International Peace Day
Off-site PTA meeting
Rigby home
7 pm
|
| Reminders |
BOX
TOPS
Continue clipping Box
Tops. Look for Box Tops on many different
products, not just food. Bring them to
school!
School Store Hours
Open Tuesdays, Wednesdays
and Fridays before school--7:35-8:00 a.m.
Volunteers needed! Contact Ellen Kersh to
help.
Entry to School
After the summer's break-in,
the county installed a new front door entry system. This
new system is a bit tricky.
To obtain entry when the
front doors are locked, you must push the bell-button on
the LEFT of the double doors, await confirmation from
the office by speaker, listen for a click,& then
quickly open the LEFT door.
The office staff does not
have a remote-door- opener any more, so please be
patient.
Your Local Dish
Network
Your Local Dish Network will donate
$50 to Briarlake for every new account
opened. The donation will be made in
your name and benefit our playground fund! Just
click here for more details and make sure to tell them
you are with Briarlake! What a great way to see
your favorite programs and benefit Briarlake at the same
time.
| |
|
| Quote of the
Week |
"Never let
the fear of striking out get in your way"...
~Babe
Ruth |
| Great American
fundraiser |
 Let's hear some
quacking...
Great
American orders are due tomorrow, Thursday,
September 2nd!
Thank you in advance for
helping to support our PTA !
-
Please remember to make out one
check (made payable to Briarlake PTA) for your entire
order.
-
Please include your prize
information and your bonus item if you sold 10 items
or more.
-
Additional catalogs and order forms
can be found in the school office.
-
Orders will go home with your child
on Friday, October 15th. Your
participation is greatly appreciated!
Michele
Lindner and Pat Schaefer
Great American Chairpersons
And a big "QUACK" to Michele
and Pat, for a wonderful job! Thank you ladies for
all your hard
work! |
| Playground |
It's
official...our playground has been properly introduced
to our community. Many Briarlake families,
community residents and two School Board members, Paul
Womack and Zepora Roberts, joined the playground
committee, Sarah Cook, chair; Dr. Culbreath and lots of
Briarlake beavers, Saturday morning for the official
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. We were proud to have
been featured in the AJC and will be featured in the
DeKalb Neighbor soon. Read the AJC article here .
Again, our new playground is great,
but it's the greatness behind the people that
make our school special! Thank
YOU! |
 Campus
Beautification |
Wow! Have you
seen how beautiful our campus is?
I'm not sure most Briarlake
families know how much time, sweat, energy and
fun goes into a Campus Work Day. This family
member didn't...
Having never attended a campus work day
before, I was pleasantly surprised to see the enthusiasm
and smiles as folks, and I mean parents and students
(even kindergartners), worked together clipping,
lopping, raking, clearing, spreading, planting
and weeding. And had FUN
together!
Many areas of the campus received
special attention this weekend from our Campus
Beautification crew. The front door gardens,
butterfly garden, day lily garden, sign gardens,
cafeteria picnic area, garden between the 4th and 5th
grade wing and the gym, the bird garden, the Science
Club plots, the art patio, the classroom plots and the
Benator Memorial Garden ALL look amazing thanks to the
hard work of our parents and teachers
I'd like to recognize the folks that
spent their Saturday morning working so that we all can
enjoy a beautiful campus.
They are:
The Cook family, the Byrne family, the
Maddox family, the Van Horn family, the Leahy
family, the Erens family, the McKellar family, the Hobbs
family, the Vastakis family, the Stratigos family, the
Duderstadt/Iskander family, the Spivack
family, the Heege family, Mr. Nicholas Muniz,
Bridgette and Milo Clifton, Andy Hooper, Dan Monro,
John, Martin and Aaron Gerstle, Sophia Smith and Justin
Lyons, Mrs. Elliott, Mrs. Moody, Mrs. Spencer and Ms.
DeFrancis. Our master gardeners put the kids to
work making beautiful tiled garden signs for the Janice
Benator garden--to be installed soon!
A family I'd like to highlight is the
McKellar family. Laura McKellar, mom to Katy,
mentioned that this year is their family's "swan
song", as they have been at Briarlake for 16
years. Katy is in the 5th grade this year, and as
Mrs. McKellar put it, "this is it, for us". Thank
you McKellar family for 16 years of beautifying our
campus!
Also a special thank you to Mr. Muniz,
dad to Magali. Our front flower beds have never
looked better!
And to Frankie Vastakis and Dan Monro,
who worked all day installing shade sails to keep us
cool on the patio--you guys are wonderful!
It really does take a village.
If we inadvertently left someone
off this list, please let the PTA know. We tried
very hard to include
everyone. | | |
|
| Ice Cream
Social |
|
Here's the Scoop!
"Sprinkled with
Spirit" - Briarlake's Ice Cream Social
will be held Tues.,
Sept. 14 at 6pm in the cafeteria!
Show your school
spirit and come ready to eat ice cream.
*The class with
the most spirited kids will win a prize!
See you
there!
|
| ELPC--"State of the
System" |
|
The first ELPC meeting of the
year is scheduled for September 15, 2010 at Oak
Grove Elementary School. The topic is "State of the System"
with Ramona Tyson, Interim Superintendent of DeKalb School
System.
Please make plans to
attend.
|
| Excused
Absences |
Religious
Holidays:
Georgia law
states that religious holidays are "excused absences". Please
send a note to school prior to a religious holiday your family
may celebrate during the 2010-2011 school year. We strive to
mark religious holiday absences before they occur in hopes to
alleviate the automated phone calls generated by the county as
our families celebrate their special
holidays.
Thank you Office
Queens! |
| Beaver
Spirit |
Calling all adult Beavers... "Spirit
Wear is available in adult sizes"
If you would like to purchase a t-shirt and
can't make it in to the school store before school, simply
write on a piece of paper which shirt you want, how many and
which size, and send it in to the office in an envelope marked
"t-shirts" with a check, made out to the Briarlake
PTA. We'll send the shirt home with your
child. Additionally, order forms will go home in
folders this week.
Let's all show our Beaver Spirit at the Ice
Cream Social on September 14 @ 6pm.
Shirts available are:
Green Short sleeve t-shirts-$10
White Long Sleeve t-shirts-$12
White Embroidered
polos-$16 |
| Briarlake ES
Foundation |
Briarlake is going to have its own
Foundation! Yeah!
Michelle Decker and
Stephanie Byrne have been working hard over the summer to lay
the groundwork for a great organization to support our
school. The Briarlake Foundation is a non-profit
corporation dedicated to seeking and acquiring funds for
Briarlake's students. These funds will be used for great
things for our students. It's an actual private company
and that takes time to form. We have lots of paperwork
to get through before we can actually operate but it's in work
and things are moving along. We will be posting more
information and updates as they occur from links off the PTA
site and from this blast. Please watch for these.
If you have any questions please contact:
Michelle Decker 404-320-1750 DeckerM1@bellsouth.net or
Stephanie
Byrne 404-728-0584 SLByrne@bellsouth.net
|
| eSIS--Parent
Assistance |
Parent
Assistant (PA) is a secure, web-based
student access information application for parents, guardians,
and students. Access and data is secure in that users can view
only that information for which they are authorized.
Additionally, with the entire district having one SIS parent
portal, parents will be able to see data for every child in
any school level. Features & Benefits ·
Ability to check student information 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week · Ability to view a variety of student information
such as attendance and discipline · Increased sense of
ownership and responsibility for personal progress through
viewing of homework assignments and due dates, grades, and
test scores · Improved communications with the
school and with students! · Ability to ensure basic
demographic data is up to-date ~ view information such as
address and telephone, emergency contacts and
more.
If you want to be able to track your student's grades and
attendance, you will have to sign up for the
program. You will need the student numbers,
the DeKalb Student Number and the GTID Number, that
are available from your child's homeroom
teacher.
|
| Fall
Festival |
Volunteer for the Fabulous Fall
Festival!
Briarlake's Annual Fall Festival is on
Saturday, October 16th, from 11am to 4
pm.
Returning Briarlake parents know
that the festival is a fun day for the whole family and part
of the fun is helping with it.
The children love that
you're helping.
The school loves that
you're helping.
You love that you're
helping.
Plus - if
you're new to Briarlake, this is a great way to get to know
other families. We provide many activities for the
children, including games, food, crafts, inflatables, a zip
line, a Haunted House, and more! So we need 150+
volunteers to make this event run smoothly and
successfully.
The link below provides an easy and
convenient way to volunteer. Click to choose your shift
time and activity - there's something for everyone!
Click here for
spreadsheet.
Thanks to Angela Pilcher and Carolyn
Hansen, our returning Fall Festival
chairwomen. |
| Reflections--"Together
We Can"... |
"Together We Can!" is the
Reflections Theme for this year!
Reflections
is a cultural arts contest that is sponsored by the National
PTA. It is open to all Briarlake students who may enter
in any of the five categories: Literature, Visual
Arts, Musical Composition, Photography, and Dance &
Film/Video Production. There will be a box in the front office
where students can drop off their entries. The deadline
is OCTOBER 6, 2010. For more information, entry forms
and rules go to the Georgia
PTA website, Reflections.
Thanks
Holly Brass and Whitney
Blackmore! |
| Student Directory
Advertising Opportunities |
Briarlake
Elementary is offering a wonderful opportunity to promote
family and local businesses within the Briarlake school
community.
We invite
all businesses, as well as Briarlake family businesses, to
advertise in our 2010-2011 Student Directory to be published
this fall. We have so much talent and resources within our
community, this is a great way to make that known. Advertising
in the Student Directory offers just a one-time advertising
cost with a yearlong period of frequent and widespread
exposure!
Ad
sizes and pricing are listed below.
Business Card Size/ 3 ½ x 2 ¼
inches
$25.00
4 in. wide x 5 in.
tall
$50.00
8 in. wide x 5 in.
tall
$100.00*
*Depending on the number of Advertisers and
space available, the ad size may/may not be
available.
If
you are interested in placing an ad, please contact Melissa Forster-Green, 404-329-1497
We
look forward to working with you.
|
| Green
Team News |
Go Green Tip
of the Week
Conserve energy. Take advantage of
the sunlight while we have it. Leave the lights off
during the day in rooms where natural sunlight is
enough. Turn off the lights (and TV and other
appliances) when leaving a room. Recycling Helpers
Needed!
The Go Green paper recycling team needs several
4th and 5th Graders who are in aftercare during the week to
help us collect the school's paper bins and cart them down to
the recycling dumpster. Regular volunteers will receive
recognition at the end of the year. Please email Brigitte Clifton with the names of children
who are willing to help. The Go Green Team Needs
More Members! If you care about preserving our
natural world and helping create a sustainable future for our
children, there's a place for you on the Go Green Team.
Whether you regularly have a few hours to lend, just want to
keep abreast of the team's efforts, or fall somewhere i  n between, contact Susan
Duderstadt to be added to our email list and learn about
our needs, activities, and monthly meetings.
Thank you
Green Team!
|
| Car Pool Request |
|
Please continue to display your student name sign
until your child is safely in your car. We have many
staff members helping with dismissal and seeing the name
helps the staff get your child to your car. Also, please
remember to line up on the left side of the driveway until
about 2:20, this keeps the right lane open for folks who have
parked on the Briarlake field to get out. Thanks for
the
help.
|
| Communitiy
News |
DeKalb County Days
The DeKalb County Public Schools Foundation
(website) has just set the date of October 9,
2010 to host DeKalb Days at Georgia
Tech. Please take advantage of an opportunity
to go to the Tech-Virginia game at a very reduced price. The
money received by the Foundation will go into the leadership
fund. Contact Sara Neeley for additional
information. Sara L. Neeley Business Relations,
DeKalb County School System DeKalb County Public Schools
Foundation, Inc. 1701 Mt. Industrial Blvd., Stone
Mountain, GA
30083 678-875-2032 |
| DeKalb
County - Board of Education News |
The DeKalb
County School System has launched a new web site home
page. To view, click
here. It is a "work in progress" and it will take
time to get all of the pages changed over to the new
format. The DeKalb Board of Education (BOE) has
created an online tool for stakeholders
to provide feedback on policies and procedures that
they are considering for approval or revision.
To view pending policies, click
here. |
| Emory-LaVista Parent
Council comes to Briarlake |
|
Mark your calendars now for October 20 at 8:45
a.m. Briarlake will host the October ELPC meeting.
For anyone who has never attended an ELPC meeting, this is a
great opportunity to get involved! Let's all attend
and show our Beaver
Pride! | |
Laurie Hobbs and Vanessa Erens, PTA
Co-Presidents
Briarlake Elementary
PTA | |
| |
