Principal's Corner WELCOME BACK LIVSEY LEOPARDS! Thank you Bank of North Georgia for all that you do to support the students of Livsey School! Congratulation to Mrs. Adrianne Rorie! Livsey's 2011 TEACHER OF THE YEAR! AWARDS DAY!- Friday, January 13, 2012 Parents, please know that not every child earns an award on Awards Day.  Children who will be walking across the stage to receive an award will receive an invitation to bring home to their parents.  If you do not get an invitation, that means your child will not be walking across the stage for an award.  Please direct any questions you might have to your child's teacher. PreK Lottery The PreK Lottery for Livsey will be held on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.  Parents can register their child on that day only, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  The lottery will take place at about 1:15 p.m.  Parents must live in the Livsey attendance area for their child to register in our PreK lottery.  Parents must bring the following when registering on April 17th: Child's original birth certificate Proof of residency Child's SS # Parent photo ID Parents- if you have a change in the way your child goes home in the afternoon, please either write us a note that morning, or call BEFORE 2:00 p.m. to allow us sufficient time to get the message to the teacher/child. School Holidays for the 2011-2012 school year Please take your vacations during these times only! (Monday, Aug. 8- First Day of School) Monday, Sept. 5- Labor Day Friday, Oct. 7 & Monday, Oct. 10- Work Calendar Reduction Day & Columbus Day Monday, Nov. 21- Friday, Nov. 25- Thanksgiving Holiday Monday, Dec. 19-Tuesday, Jan. 3- Winter Holidays (Students return to school on Wednesday, Jan. 4) Monday, Jan. 16- Dr. M. L. King, Jr. Birthday Friday, Feb. 17 & Monday, Feb. 20- Work Calendar Reduction Day & Presidents' Day Friday, March 9- School Closed- Holiday Monday, April 2- Friday, April 6- Spring Break (Thursday, May 24- Last Day of School) At the elementary age, the wearing of makeup is a cause of distraction and therefore no makeup is permitted to be worn at school.  The only exception is for actresses participating in scheduled theatrical performances and dress rehearsals, and the wearing of this makeup should only be applied after school hours.  Any student wearing makeup at school will be asked to wash it off.  This includes bright shades of lip gloss. Parents of students in the trailers, we need your cooperation.  Please do not walk up to the trailers and knock on the door to delivery forgotten items to your child after 8:00 a.m.  This interrupts instruction for all the students when you do this.  Please bring any forgotten items to the front office and we promise to deliver it to your child.  Also, if your child is late (after 8:00), please do not drop them off at the trailer to knock on the door and go in.  You must bring your child into the office for a tardy pass and to sign your child in.  If your child arrives at the trailer after 8:00 without a tardy pass, the teacher has to send them back into the office anyway to have them sign in, so please bring your child to the front office to begin with.  Thank you! We have had  cars broken into in our parking lot in broad daylight!  This has happened before, in both parking lots.  Please do not leave any valuables in plain sight in your car! Don't Get a Parking TICKET! Due to the extreme danger presented to drivers and pedestrians when cars are parked on both sides of Livsey Road, the Dept. of Transportation has put up NO PARKING signs on the residential side of Livsey Road across from the school.  The NO PARKING restriction is in effect during morning drop off and afternoon dismissal (the exact times are listed on the signs)!  If you park on the residential side of the road and then walk to pick up your child at the flagpole, you are risking a parking ticket and fine!  It is just my humble suggestion that if you drive to Livsey and park to pick up your child in the afternoon, you might want to reconsider and start using the carpool to pick up your child. Livsey is SILVER! The Governor's Office of Student Achievement's 2009 Single Statewide Accountability System Awards have been announced  and Livsey has once again received recognition for our outstanding academic performance.  We were awarded the Silver Award for Highest Percentage of Students Meeting and Exceeding Standards for the 2008-2009 school year.  Previous awards were: 2004-2005- Gold Award 2005-2006- Platinum Award 2006-2007- Gold Award 2007-2008- Gold Award 2007 Georgia School of Excellence 2008 NCLB Blue Ribbon School Award 2008-2009- Silver Award Congratulations to Livsey's students, staff, parents, and community for teaming together to make these accomplishments possible. CONGRATULATIONS LIVSEY! Parent Assistant is "Live"! Parents of elementary students can now access DeKalb County Schools’ online Parent Assistant.  The Parent Assistant page is your launching point for reviewing your child's academic progress and attendance history. The Parent Assistant will provide parents with their child’s daily attendance at school and grade history.  Teachers will be expected to post grades on the Parent Assistant each Friday.  If a test/assignment was given on a Friday, then the teacher will post those grades by the following Friday.  This will give parents information on their child’s progress in school in a timely manner. PASS (Parent and Student Access) registration page at http://eportal.dekalb.k12.ga.us/default.aspx eSIS Parent Assistant application at http://esispa.dekalb.k12.ga.us Instructional videos demonstrating how to log on to Parent Assistant Access http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~it/esispa       Reminder: DOGS ON CAMPUS: For the safety of our children, dogs are not permitted on the Livsey School campus. Even the most gentle dog may bite uncharacteristically if startled, not feeling well, if another dog approaches it, or if a child accidentally steps on its paw or tail. Even if on a leash or in the owner’s arm, dogs are not permitted on our campus. Thank you for your cooperation. Volunteer Tutors Needed! We REALLY need your help!  If you have any time during the school day that you can volunteer and lend a helping hand to our struggling Leopards, we'd all be ever so grateful.  If you have a neighbor that you know has extra time, or if you can make an announcement at church or work, we have students who really need help in math and reading/writing.  Please let Dr. Castelle know if you or someone you know can be of help.  Thanks! Livsey is Awarded SRTS Infrastructure Project Funding! On Thursday, May 21, 2009, the State Transportation Board approved the recommended Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Infrastructure projects. The top scoring project from each Congressional District was selected for funding.  Out of 65 applications, only 13 were funded.  Livsey Elementary School was the recipient of this funding for District 4. Community leaders, parents and schools across the U.S. are using Safe Routes to School programs to enable and encourage more children to safely walk and bicycle to school. Livsey Elementary School, championed by parent Jane Tanner, teamed with PEDS and DeKalb DOT to submit an application to the Georgia Dept. of Transportation for the federally funded infrastructure project.  Work on this application started in April 2007.  The approved project, with an estimated cost of $313,714.51 includes: Install bulbouts at the intersection of Livsey Rd. and Livsey Woods Drive in front of the school with a bike pass through to define parking areas verses travel lanes and to shorten pedestrian paths. Install two speed radar signs on Chamblee Tucker Rd. to assist in speed control. Install sidewalk from Kelly Cofer Park (4259 North Park Drive) to Chamblee Tucker Rd.   Install a raised crosswalk on North Park Drive near Angie Drive. Replace speed table at the mid-block crosswalk in Livsey Rd. with a true raised crosswalk. Upgrade traffic signal at the intersection of Chamblee Tucker Rd. at Livsey Rd. to include countdown pedestrian signal heads, a left turn signal (if warranted), and the ability for advanced walk timing. Five minutes of  quiet/ lights out policy:   Students spend so much of their lunch time socializing, that many of them forget to eat any lunch.  We saw that numerous students were throwing away entire lunches, and then would be tired or cranky later in the afternoon, unable to concentrate in their classes.  In an effort to assist our students in getting some nutrition during lunch time to “feed their bodies, feed their bones, and feed their minds” (for those of you who have been at lunch when I am on lunch duty, this song will sound familiar), we turn out the lights on the hour and half hour for five short minutes.  During this time, students are not to be talking or whispering.  They are to spend those short five minutes eating their lunches.  After the five minutes, the lights go back on and the socializing can continue.  We ask that if you are having lunch with your child and the lights go out for the five minutes, that you support our efforts in making sure our students are well nourished and refrain from talking with your child and/or other children at the table. Calls from the County Office regarding absences: When your child is absent, and we haven't received a phone call or email from you that morning, your child is marked on our computer system as having an unexcused absence until either a phone call, email, or note is received in the office explaining the absence.  Also, if your child is absent for an unexcused reason (family vacation, etc.), your child is marked on our computer system as having an unexcused absence.  DeKalb County Schools links with the computer system, and then automatically calls with a recorded message every home in which a child is marked as having an unexcused absence. ATTENDANCE: The DeKalb County School calendar for the 2011-2012 school year can be found on the county's website at:  www.dekalb.k12.ga.us.  Please make note of vacation days and please schedule your vacations during these times and not during regular school days.  Please remember that one of the criteria of making AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) is student attendance.  We can have the highest test scores in the state, but if our students do not meet the attendance criteria, we will be put on the Needs Improvement list. Parent Pick-up for Walkers: Students who walk home meet their parents at the flagpole.  If it is raining or wet outside, walkers can be picked up in the front hallway right by the entrance doors.