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Calendar At a Glance
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This Week
Monday, August 11 - First Day of School!
Monday August 11, 7:45-8:30am - Welcome Back Coffee
Next Week
Tuesday, August 19, 7:45am - Principal's Coffee
Tuesday, August 19, 9am - PTO Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, August 21, 9am or 6pm - Room Parent Meeting
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Bus Schedule Changes
Please double check your child's bus route and number on the DES website.
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From our Principal
Greetings!
Welcome back to school! It is exciting to see all our returning students and even more exciting to see so many new faces! We are looking forward to a great school year! The first week of school is a very busy time in our parking lot, so I encourage you to stay off your cell phones and hold your little ones' hands. It is very difficult to see children while you are in the driver's seat of a car. We want to keep our parking lot safe! We also request that you only cross at cross walks and that you are mindful to not block another car as you park.
On August 19 at 7:45am, we will have our first Principal's Coffee in the Media Center. We will review the standardized tests that will be administered this year, and you will have the opportunity to meet our new assistant principals. There will also be a representative from DeKalb's Testing and Accountability Department who will introduce the new Georgia Milestones Assessment. Georgia Milestones will replace the CRCT as the State's accountability test.
You will also find out more about our school's overall performance and classroom expectations when you attend Curriculum Night. Families with last names beginning with letters A-K will attend on Tuesday night, August 26, while families with last names beginning with letters L-Z will meet on Thursday night, August 28. We look forward to seeing you.
I am looking forward to a wonderful school year! Thank you for trusting us with your children.
Jennifer P. Sanders
Principal, Dunwoody Elementary School
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From the PTO Co-Presidents
We hope you all had a wonderful summer and are as excited as we are for the start of the 2014-2015 school year!
We are enthusiastic to serve as your PTO Co-Presidents for the 2014-2015 school year. We anticipate this to be a rewarding experience as we have the privilege of working with all of the wonderful Dunwoody Elementary staff and the parent volunteers. We truly live in a wonderful community. We have the unique opportunity to build up the amazing foundation our PTO  has created over the years. By joining the PTO, you will have the opportunity to work together with our teachers and administrators to continue building programs that help promote health and well being for every student. Involved parents better understand the challenges schools face and in many cases can be part of the solution. Our goal is to support the teachers and staff in their efforts to seek excellence in education. We welcome your involvement. You are an integral part of helping our children grow to be successful part of our community.
There are many ways you can get involved:
- Helping out in the cafeteria with Lunch Bunch
- Volunteering to work on our Nature Trail
- Participating in our Tour de Dunwoody family bike event
- Reaching out to local businesses about partnerships and sponsorships
- Taking pictures for the school Yearbook
- Grant Writing
There is a place for everyone to pursue their talents and passions in serving our children and local community. We challenge you to find a place where you can put your talents to work by volunteering for 10 or more hours per semester. Every effort counts, no matter how big or small.
Elementary school is a special part of your child's academic career. These are the years when you can be directly involved in the classroom and show your child the importance of his/her education. The strongest and most successful teams work together toward a common goal. We hope you will join our team!
Amanda Rountree and Jennifer Fenmore
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DES Transportation Safety Reminders
As we all prepare to send our children back to school tomorrow, we thought we would take a moment to give you a few reminders about Dunwoody Elementary School's Transportation Safety:
- Arriving early during the first week of school is always a good idea! Traffic will be thick, so plan on leaving home earlier than normal to accommodate for any delays you may encounter. You may drop your children off as early as 7:00am. The tardy bell will ring at 7:40am.
- There will be NO LEFT TURN from the east exit after 7:30am due to safety concerns. If you wish to turn left onto Womack Road after 7:30am, we ask that you exit on the west side of the parking lot where our crossing guard is present.
- For your safety and for the safety of those children who will be entering the building in the morning and exiting in the afternoon, we ask that you remain off of your cell phone any time you are in the carpool line. Carpool should be a distraction free zone for everyone.
- The Georgia Perimeter Parking lot will be open tomorrow morning. If you're not utilizing carpool, please be respectful of our neighbors and park in the GPC lot instead of on neighborhood side streets. If emergency vehicles cannot get through the streets, cars are parked on both sides of the street, or driveways are blocked, neighbors have been instructed to call the police and have the cars towed.
- We understand that it is a big transition for some students and parents during the first week of school and we welcome you to walk your child into school to help them get acclimated to their new classrooms and the building. After the first week, parents who have appointments in the building are more than welcome to park in a parking space and come into the building before 7:40am. We ask that everyone else please utilize the carpool lane and follow our transportation guidelines.
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Reminder about Lunch Visits
During August, everyone is learning new routines and procedures in school, and in the cafeteria. Parents are asked to wait until after Labor Day to visit for lunch.
Thanks!
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Welcome Back Coffee!
We have a Welcome Back Coffee open to all parents on
Monday,  August 11 , from 7:45-8:30 am in the Media Center.
This is a great opportunity to get more information about our school, sign-up for volunteer opportunities and meet other parents for a little social time before you start your day. We will also have a PTO table set up in the front hallway.
We will also have a PTO table set up in the front hallway. If you were unable to attend last Wednesday's Registration Day, you will be able to contribute to the Tiger Fund, pay Annual Dues, and sign up for the Directory.
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Registration Day was a success! Thank you to all of the families that donated to the Tiger Fund. We are well on our way to reaching our Tiger Fund goal!
The Tiger Fund will pay for the following programs this 2014-2015 school year:
- Orton Gillingham training for Kindergarten/1st grade teachers
- Field Day
- Scholarships
- Classroom Enrichment Stipend
- Digital Student Directory (free this year to all parents)
- Visiting Authors
- Bag Tags (free this year)
- Grounds Improvement
- Custodial Equipment
- Hospitality
- Honor's Day
- Cultural Arts Assemblies
- Academic Competitions
- Safe Routes to School
- Drug Awareness Programs and much, much more!
In addition to all of these wonderful programs, the PTO would like to purchase Sound Panels for both the cafeteria and gymnasium, and improve the drainage on the existing playground!
If you haven't donated to the Tiger Fund, and wish to do so, please visit dunwoodypto.com. Please remember this year, only families that donated the full Tiger Fund recommended amount of $125 will receive the Tiger Paw magnet.
In addition, we would like to thank all of the volunteers that came out to help ensure Registration Day ran smoothly. A special thanks to Jason Seitz, the PTO Technology Committee Chair, for volunteering an endless number of hours ensuring that PTO was digital on Registration Day. Thank you all for being such an important part of the PTO.
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Chess Club at Dunwoody Elementary
Championship Chess presents a systematic, fun way to build chess skills  during chess instruction and while students play. Studies show that chess improves math, reading and problem-solving and our methods connect these academic benefits to our classes. Classes include instruction as well as chess play and guided analysis.
Coach Steve Schneider has been a teacher and chess coach for over 25 years. Championship Chess teams have won local, regional, state and national tournaments. Coaches utilize the Championship Chess curriculum introducing, reinforcing and improving chess skills and strategies in the opening, middle and end game.
Day/Time: Thursdays after school from 2:35 to 3:35pm. Children must be
picked up on time.
- Dates: Fall session August 28 to October 30.
- Parents are responsible for keeping track of all dates of chess for each session. There are 3 sessions for the school year, with no breaks between sessions. For each new session, ALL chess students must register and pay before the first class of the new session. Email chess@championshipchess.net if you do not see the new registration flyer distributed via email or given to your child at the end of the fall and winter session.
- Note: For the first class we recommend sending a reminder note to your homeroom teacher to direct your child to chess after school dismissal.
- Who can play: Any student in 1st through 5th grade. Younger students are accepted only if they know how to play. Limited enrollment due to available space. There can be 2 groups: An advanced class open to all students who know how to play requires at least 10. A beginner class for non-players requires at least 8.
- Cost and Deadline: Any child registered late will not be on the roster for the first class. Fall session: EARLY registration by August 26 is $135. LATE registration after August 26 is $150.
- Registration/Payment: Online with a credit or debit card at www.championshipchess.net click "Register and Pay - School Chess Clubs". You will receive an automated email payment receipt. For payments by check, email chess@championshipchess.net for instructions.
- Family Connection and Club Achievement Cards
Every Championship Chess Club participant is a registered member of the Family Connection, our exclusive site filled with activities, videos and games that promote chess skills. Championship Chess Achievement Cards start with basic pre-chess games and progress through increasing skills. Players earn cards after completing each level.
- Saturday, September 20, Fall Kick Off Tournament www.championshipchess.net
- Sunday, October 5, GCA Quickstart Tournament www.georgiachess.org
- Sat., Nov. 8, Georgia Grade Level Championship, Creekland Middle. Play only your grade www.georgiachess.org
- FREE Chess Club: Ironman 1st & 3rd TUESDAY 6:30pm. Contact Coach Tim Brookshear 770-633-6718
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How to Send an Announcement Using Tiger Talk
Tiger Talk is the weekly e-newsletter of the Dunwoody Elementary School PTO. Every Sunday, we publish information that is pertinent to the students and parents of DES.
The submission deadline for each issue is 10pm on Tuesday.
All announcements must be brief and sent in writing as an email to Dunwoody.TigerTalk@gmail.com. Announcements will run for two weeks prior to the event or as applicable. If you have any questions about Tiger Talk, please contact the editors at Dunwoody.TigerTalk@gmail.com.
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Our school's Facebook page and Twitter account will be used to promote upcoming school events and communications. We will also allow comments from our DES community but through daily monitoring we will remove anything that is not appropriate.
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