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Congratulations to Jimmy Zhang for his first place win on August 18, in Scholastic G/30 chess tournament at Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta. Jimmy Zhang won the 1st place with the perfect 3-0 score in U400 section.
8/30/2019

Calendar at a Glance

9/2 - Labor Day Holiday
9/3-9/6 - Grandparent Luncheons
9/6 - Picture Day
9/6 - Youth Cluster Night at BHS

MRS. JOHNSON'S NOTES
Dear Parents,

We had so much fun at the Back-to-School Dance. I'm sure the students slept well Friday night. Thanks to the PTA and all their hard work to put on such an amazing event. We are so thankful to have a good group of volunteers.
 
We are excited to welcome our grandparents next week for Grandparent's Luncheon. If you have a grandparent that cannot come on the designated day for your child's class, they may come any day during the week. In addition, if you have siblings on a different day, the siblings can attend all on the same day.
 
Fall pictures are Friday, September 6th. Envelopes with information about pictures went home last week. If you need another form, ask your child's teacher to send another one home.
 
I hope you join us on Friday night at Brookwood High School for youth night. If you go, there is a new clear bag policy at the stadium.
 
With Hurricane Dorian looming in Florida, please keep an eye on the weather reports. If it happens to turn towards Georgia, there may be a possibility of a severe weather day. If that is the case, we will have a Digital Learning Day. Directions are below in this newsletter.
 
Remember that there is no school on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Enjoy time with your family and friends. Don't forget to put some time into reading.

PTA NEWS AND EVENTS
Just like that, we are wrapping up the first month of school!
 
Have you joined our terrific PTA?  Keep in mind that joining PTA does not add any extra stress or responsibility to your already busy lives.  It simply allows you to support our amazing school! Membership is only $6 per year, and provides many wonderful opportunities for our students and our school! If you haven't joined the PTA for the 2019-2020 school year, you can sign up anytime on your mypaymentsplus account!  
 
We have EXCITING NEWS: Kona Ice has volunteered to treat the class in each grade with the highest PTA membership participation to a Kona Ice Party!!!
The deadline for this contest is September 20th. Right now, these are our teachers in the lead in each grade level:
Kindergarten- Hill
First Grade- Pena
Second Grade- Fenchak
Third Grade-Nocks
Fourth Grade- Richter
Fifth Grade- Neighbors
Special Education- Abad
 
If we have 100% PTA participation by September 20th, the students will get to throw water balloons at our administrators!!!
 
We will continue to update the RD Head PTA Facebook page with this information, so Like and Follow us on Facebook to get the latest news!
 
 
Grandparents and Special Friends will be celebrated at lunches next week, check your child's Friday folder and the RD Head Elementary PTA page for more information and class specific celebration times.  Grandparents will have the ability to purchase a PTA membership and spirit wear to support the school and their student!
 
Our last General Meeting was held on Curriculum night on 8/13 and 8/15. The meeting minutes, along will other PTA news are posted on the bulletin board in the front lobby of the school.  You can also review them at the link below.  

 


The proposed budget for the 2019-2020 school year, passed at our General Meeting held on Curriculum Night. 
 
Help Yearbook capture the memories of the 2019-2020 school year! Send pictures from the dance, our upcoming grandparent lunches, and any other school events in their full (or largest) resolution size to rdheadyearbook@gmail.com.
 
Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!!!
AROUND SCHOOL
From the Cafeteria:
Attention Parents a reminder from the cafeteria:  
Parents please be mindful of the balance in your child's account, these accounts are meant to work as a prepay system, therefore keeping charges to a minimum.
Those students with free or reduced meal status from last year must renew their application every year. Current benefits will run out on Monday September 16th. Please do not wait until the last minute to get your application in, the application must be processed by September 16th and that process can take up to 10 business days. Paper applications are available in the front office or the cafeteria. Online applications are a much quicker method and can be accessed at http://gwinnett.schoollunchapp.com. If you have already done either of these processes, thank you, and you can check the status of your application at http://gwinnett.schoollunchstatus.com. If you allow your benefits to run out your child's status automatically goes to full pay and you will be responsible for any charges occurred doing the time of no benefits.
If you every have questions about your student's account you may call Doris Brewer, Cafeteria Manager at 770-736-4512. Thank You
THIS INSTITUTION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROVIDER.

TRANSPORTATION
Due to the capacity of our buses, students are not permitted to ride home with friends. The only bus notes that are accepted are those that pertain to emergency childcare hardships or students who are normally car riders or daycare riders that need to take the bus home. 

RUNNING CLUB:  Please check Mr. Gusmerotti's eClass website announcement for this Running Club opportunity.  Running Club is open to 3rd - 5th grade students.  Please submit your permission form ASAP as there was a waiting list last year.  Thank you for your support.

Inclement Weather Possibility & Digital Learning Days
Due to the uncertain forecast associated with Hurricane Dorian, Gwinnett County Public Schools is monitoring the weather and assessing any possible impact to our area.

Any school closure will be communicated using SchoolMessenger, social media, the GCPS website, and local news outlets.
Directions for SchoolMessenger: https://tinyurl.com/y9cbw5mx
In the event that a school closure is necessary, the district could opt to hold a Digital Learning Day rather than using a make-up day. If the decision is made to hold a Digital Learning Day, it will be communicated as noted above, and the school and district processes for online learning will go into effect. If a decision is made to use a standard make-up day, students and staff will not be expected to access assignments online.

Please click here for more information on Digital Learning Days: https://www.heades.org/digital-learning-days
Directions for accessing the Student Portal/My eCLASS: https://tinyurl.com/y5wh5g8e (A copy is included in this week's Friday Folder.)
Parent Cheat Sheet to Digital Learning Days: https://tinyurl.com/y4dj3wcz 
(A copy is included in this week's Friday Folder.)


MEDIA CENTER
We are breaking records left and right with our AR word challenge! From August 5th - Aug 29, as a school, we have read 17,651,574 words in less than a month! If you include the summer reading challenge... we have read almost 30 million words for this school year challenge!
 
Our top reader in the school for August is 3rd grader Brielle Phillips! There are four students in the school with over a half of a million words: Brielle Phillips, Kasey Stallworth, Biniam Deneke, Owen Foley
 
All 5th grade classes have read over 1,500,000 words in the first month of school!
5th Grade
Stortz               2,071,931!!!
Lomax              1,888,241
Neighbors         1,778,775         
 
4th Grade - top 2 classes
McMillen           1,661,332
Compton          1,473,190
 
3rd Grade - top 2 classes
Mitchell             1,248,117 (they have taken over the lead!
Auten                1,211,649
 
2nd Grade - top 2 classes
Lee                   692,349
Bryant               610,286
 
1st Grade - top 2 classes
Stallworth          19,397
Ball                   12,683
 
Once K and 1st grade students reach a Fountas and Pinnell level of F, they will be trained in AR, and can join the fun!
 
The top 5 staff from 8/5-8/29 are:
Carrie Rodriguez              883,227
Maria Branch                   243,525
Doug Doblar                    137,774
Sara Snow                      123,564
Heather Alvira                 100,116
 
 
Here are the current Grade Level AR leaders from the 1st day of school through 8/29. Congratulations!          
          
     Name                                 Teacher                       # of words
   1st Grade
Annamaria Sutojo                    Stallworth                     6,780 words
Noah Teshale                           Ball                              6,480 words
Joann Skaria                            Ball                              3,014 words
 
    2nd Grade
Biniam Deneke                         Bryant                     548,688 words
Jacob Phillips                            Lee                         256,836 words
Caitlyn Pinheiro                        Lee                         213,896 words
 
3rd Grade
Brielle Phillips                           Mitchell                   674,669 words
Gavin Zhang                             Nocks                     310,034 words
Ji Zhang                                   Mitchell                   281,707 words
 
   4th Grade
Kasey Stallworth                       McMillen                    557,674 words
Zaara Likhon                            Compton                   488,651 words
Sofia Chacon                            Compton                   284,503 words
 
5th Grade
Owen Foley                              Stortz                      516,530 words new leader!
Jaze Underhill                           Stortz                      425,181 words
Caleb Meacham                        Lomax                      417,808 words

If you are interested in viewing your child's AR reading progress, click on the link below for directions. Thanks!
 


BOX TOPS ARE GOING DIGITAL  - Be sure to register with the NEW Box Top app. Choose R.D. Head as your school (friends and family can do it too! Near or far!) and scan your receipts to digitally send your Box Tops in to us.  Each Box Top is worth 10ยข for our school.  ** You may still find the old pink Box Tops on items. When you do, clip the Box Tops from the packages and send them to your child's teacher. The old box tops are still good until their expiration date!** 
Check out this video  https://youtu.be/Hh94b2BvFK4 for more details!

AROUND THE COMMUNITY