Titan Talk

Issue 22

February 8, 2013

Hello, Titans!

This week has been full of music, rising 6th grade parents, community members visiting for Career Day, and even Hoops for Heart today. I so enjoyed speaking with our rising 6th grade parents at the coffee Tuesday morning. They asked great questions, and they walked out excited to become Titans - just as we expected!

Things to Celebrate:

Please join me in celebrating all of our Employee and Teacher of the Year Nominees. All of these candidates were nominated by their peers for their hard work and dedication to students:

Marjorie Araujo	Miyuki Johnson	Anu Krishna
Jennifer Okiyama	AJ Smith	Cathy Washington
Lisa Boyce	Karen Jones	Martha Lightcap
Lindsay Resnick	Daphne Tatum	Susannah Zaugg
Liz Cote	Elliot Kinberg	Joanne Martin
Katherine Rozei	James Tongue	Shawn Smith
Brian Mitchell	Lesia Griffin	Emily Gill
Lizzie McDuffie	Christine Vicente	Denise Lewis
Isabel Lopez	Ida Ward	Lesia Griffin
Beth Christel	Terri Greenberg	Lawrence Williams
Ellen Walsh	Susan L'Estrange	Ainara Sorozabal
Edith Woodruff	Anne Sexton

On Friday February 1st, the Teacher of the Year Selection Committee interviewed and observed our three finalists: James Tongue, Miyuki Johnson, and A.J. Smith. We are pleased to announce that our Teacher of the Year is Mrs. A.J. Smith, and our Employee of the Year is Mrs. Christine Vicente. Both of these lovely ladies give 110% every day and devote themselves to providing the best possible education for your children. We are so proud to recognize them!
Our Orchestra Pre-Festival Concert was spectacular on Tuesday night, and we look forward to reporting great news after Orchestra and Chorus go to their Large Group Performance Evaluations next week. Good luck, Titans, not that you need it!
We are pleased to announce that 14 of our EPMS teachers will take part in the Best Foot Forward, a national research study on the use of video technology in classroom observations. The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University is working with Fulton County Teachers in this research effort, and we are proud that our teachers have opted to participate.
On Saturday, February 2nd, Fulton County held its annual Linguapalooza World Languages competition. Over 300 of the best middle school world language students from across the county were interviewed in the language they are studying by judges from other schools. Congratulations, Félicitations, Felicitaciones and おめでとう to the EPMS students who participated. Click here to learn about all of our students who received honors.
We are excited to report that our very own Ms. Lindsay Resnick is one of the top 3 finalists for Special Education Teacher of the Year in Georgia! The program and recognition is sponsored by enAble of Georgia, Inc. Ms. Resnick will be honored at the Dare to Dream Silver Edition Gala on March 2nd at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel. The overall winner will be announced at this event. EPMS had more teachers nominated for this award than any other school in the state! To learn more, visit their website at http://www.enablega.org/
We have an excellent brochure to share the news about EPMS. Take a look by clicking here, and please share this with your neighbors and potential parents so that they can see all that is great about EPMS.

Things to Know:

Scoliosis forms will come home on the 11th through 6th and 8th grade advisements. Remember, if you do not want your child screened, you need to return these forms to the advisement teacher prior to screenings on the 19th. Please send them to the advisement teacher, not the front office.
Attention 7th grade parents! The 7th grade Game Night and Social is coming on Friday, March 1st at 7:15pm until 9pm in the gym. Students can listen to music while they play basketball, ping pong, Wii games, or just eat dinner & hang out with their friends. Tickets are $5 and include a Chick-fil-a sandwich, soda or water & a bag of chips. Concessions will be open so bring extra money for candy and treats. Ticket sales start Friday Feb. 22nd at 7:45am and will be sold every morning and during lunch thru Thursday, Feb. 28th.
Remember that the 7th grade field trip forms and the $35 payment for the Georgia Aquarium field trip are due by February 14th. Have you seen the form? If not, ask your child to bring one home or pick it up in the office. 7th grade teachers will email them home this week as well.
Remember that the first progress reports for the semester come home on February 13th. Please be sure to look for them.

We would like to extend an invitation to the Hispanic/Latino families at our school to participate in an exciting event entitled "Latino College and STEM Fair", which is part of the Georgia Tech GoSTEM Initiative. The event will be held on Saturday, March 30, 2013 at the Georgia Tech campus. Reservation deadline: February 15. RSVP now at www.gostem.gatech.edu/LatinoCollegeSTEMFairRegistration. Click here for more information on the event.

BRING THE WORLD INTO YOUR HOME: Up with People in North Atlanta -- March 11 to March 18: Up with People is a non-profit global education program that brings the world together through service and music; from March 11 to March 18, 2013 the cast of 120 students and staff from 20 different countries will be in the North Fulton County Area! This international group is currently seeking families to host these dynamic young people for one week. Students are between the ages of 17 to 29, have graduated from high school, and all speak conversational English. Click here to see the flyer with more details. If you are interested in hosting please contact advance team member, Anna Schwed at (425) 890-7439 or aschwed@upwithpeople.org.

Did You Know?

Our teachers continue to seek new ways to challenge your children. We are excited about our two days of staff development with Cambridge Education on February 28th and March 1st. Teachers will participate in ½ day workshops where they will study different questioning strategies to yield more critical thinking and innovation in the classroom. As promised in our mission, we are differentiating for both rigor and remediation.

Your partner in education,