Relay for Life

Thank you so much to all of you who participated in the Relay for Life at RHS this weekend, either through donations or by walking with the student and/or teacher team. I am proud to share that we are more than half-way to our goal of $2000. While the walk is over, the battle to cure cancer has not ended. We are still accepting donations to our team site and will be doing so for the remainder of the school year, should you choose to donate: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/titanscare.

Super Titan! 

Nilay Dixit racked up 3 match wins at this past weekend's USTA Level 4 James Creek Spring Championships.  He is now ranked at 148 (out of 582) in the latest USTA Georgia 14u Boys rankings.  Follow link to view Nilay's standing:   Nilay Dixit 2015 Tournament Record 

Congrats to Mr. Gamba! 

He has been accepted to present a session on teaching rhythm at next year's Midwest Clinic in Chicago: Rhythm, Rhythm, Rhythm: Teaching the Most Important Thing in Music. Strategies for the Instrumental Classroom.  The Midwest Clinic is the largest music education conference in the world!  His presentation will revolve around techniques he developed while teaching here at EPMS and will feature his book Rhythmic Projections: Rhythm Exercises for Building Mastery.  The book is widely in use in the Atlanta area and has been gaining wider acceptance since being picked up by international publisher Ludwig Masters.

Seven Brave Titans! 

On May 29-31, our Titans will be competing in the Special Olympics State Games at Emory University.  These students will be training hard for the track and field competitions.  The seven Titans representing Elkins Pointe are Bennett Key; Drew Casa; Achin Chugh; Joey Newton; Brooks Taylor; Michael Astorga; and Mason Coleman.  We will also be sending 19 athletes to the Fulton County Local Special Olympics Track and Field event at Tri-Cities High School on Friday, May 8th. 

Congratulations Mrs. Smith!

And last but certainly not least, please join me in congratulating teacher Mrs. A.J. Smith, who has accepted a position as administrative assistant at Sweetapple Elementary School next year! For those of you who know Mrs. Smith, you know that she has been a cornerstone for our school and will be missed by us all. Personally, I am excited to see what she will do as she takes her first step into an official leadership capacity, and I know that all of us are so very proud of her. And yes, I told Mr. Allison that he owes me BIG TIME!

After today, the English/Language Arts and writing portion of the test is complete. The only students testing tomorrow will be students who need to make up a test. Wednesday, testing resumes for the entire school. We are confident that we have prepared our Titans to show their best on the test and excited to show the community what we can do. Things to remember about testing:

• Your child recently received a letter with details about how to access practice assessments online, with details about logging in to OAS (Georgia's Online Assessment System). Click hereto see what that letter looked like, in addition to viewing the Start Up Guide  for the program. Due to the significant changes to the assessment, we strongly recommend that all parents take the time to log in with their child at least practice one assessment to see what they look like.

• Expect more rigorous test questions that require a deeper level of critical thinking, drawing connections between different reading passages, and open-ended questions as well. Because the test questions are far more than multiple choice on the new test, we anticipate that scoring will take much longer, and results may not be available until the middle of Fall semester.

•  Because of online testing, students will test in either the morning or the afternoon. Make sure your child brings a healthy lunch to school each day to keep their energy up for afternoon testing.

• The testing window lasts for two weeks because some of the students take an online version of the test, and computer lab space is limited. Because of this, the county allots two days for each subject test. Note that student groups testing online will be TAG, ESOL, and Special Education. Our schedule is tentatively set to hold all testing on the first day of each subject, allowing for one "regular" day between each test. We hope this will allow for students to rest, study, and recuperate each time - in addition to handle make ups.

• 4/22 - 4/23 - Math Sections 1 & 2
• 4/24 - Make Up Day
• 4/27 - 4/28 - Science Sections 1 & 2
• 4/29 - 4/30 - Social Studies Sections 1&2
• 5/1 - Make Up Day
• Click here for a more detailed testing schedule, including class periods for the afternoon of each testing day. Note that student groups are testing at different times due to the requirements for online testing, so be sure to read carefully for your child's student group and view the schedule accordingly.  

Local School Governance Council

If you are interested in running for a position on the School Governance Council, please complete and submit a Candidate Declaration Form.  Forms can be found at the school's front office or on the district website .  Please note that the forms are accessed at the bottom right corner, and there is a separate link for parents vs. teachers. Remember that the deadline to declare your candidacy is April 28th, next week!

Early Release Days 2015-2016

Our Early Release Dates have been approved! We worked hard to pair our dates with holidays and workdays to maximize time for our families. Don't forget that the first half of every one of these dates will be an Authentic Learning Day, packed with activities in the local community to bring learning to life! Our dates will be September 4th; October 8th; November 20th; February 11th; March 9th; & April 1st . Our tentative release time will be 12:55pm. This may flex by 5 or 10 minutes pending transportation schedule. Would you like to learn more about the requests for flexibility next year? Visit http://school.fultonschools.org/ms/elkinspointe/Pages/LSGCHome.aspx where all LSGC information is available, including the proposals and details for flexibility at the bottom of the page.

Immunization Requirements

Changes to Immunization Requirements, believe it or not, it's time to start thinking about next year!  Click here to learn about Immunization requirements for new students. Also, note that Information Day will be on August 5th next year.

Accelerated Math opportunity! 

Any student who plans to attend Elkins Pointe (2015-16) is eligible to take the Acceleration test for math.  The test is on May 16th (Saturday) at 9a.m., in the cafeteria. Bring number 2 pencils, a bottle of water, and a light snack. Calculators are not allowed.  There are two tests: you must score an 80% or above on the first test to qualify for the second test.  Tests are scored electronically, so if you do not qualify for the second test, you will be allowed to call your parents for a ride home.  A second opportunity will be offered on August 3rd, for students who did not qualify.