Summer Hours
Barnwell staff will be at school daily from 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM during the summer. We are open for student registration every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Since our summer staff is very limited, please call ahead (470-254-4960) to let us know you are coming (or if you would like to register on a different day/time) so we don't miss you if we are in another part of the building.
Congratulations Ms. Kerley!
Barnwell's own Allison Kerley is Fulton County's 2017 Teacher of the Year! We have 8,000 teachers in Fulton County working in 105 schools – for our own Ms. Kerley to win this recognition is incredible! This is an amazing accomplishment for her and our Barnwell family – her success is our success and I'm proud she's part of our school family!
William Yeat's famously said, "Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire". That's what Ms. Kerley does each day for her students – she ignites their curiosity and passion, helping them find their purpose and own their learning. Dr. Rose, our Superintendent, asked one of her students during the surprise announcement what one thing she likes best about Ms. Kerley, and the student responded "There's not one thing, it's everything, that makes her great!".
Thank you Allison for leading the way for us and all of Fulton County – we're proud of you! Check out this 30 second video of Allison being surprised by Dr. Rose to announce our Fulton County Teacher of the Year: http://bit.ly/kerleytoty.
2017-18 School Year
We look forward to seeing all our new and returning students at our Open House on August 3rd from 8:30 - 11:30 AM. While here you will be able to meet your child's teacher, join our amazing PTA (don't wait, visit www.barnwellpta.org and join now!), deposit funds into your child's breakfast/lunch account, sign up for after-school activities and meet our team!
Please car pool or walk if possible as parking is limited! School begins on August 7th
Click here for our suggested school supply list and bring with you to Open House.
PTA News
What a PAWSitively awesome Barnwell year it has been! Whether you joined the PTA, you volunteered, or simply encouraged your child to participate in events, you made Barnwell a better place. Thank you!
Please check out the video, http://bit.ly/ptapartnership, to see some of the great things our PTA accomplished this year.
Please also visit our PTA website (www.barnwellpta.org) to get involved. We need all our parents to partner with us to make next year our best year ever!
We hope that all our students and families have a fun and safe summer - make sure you make time each day to keep reading! We wish our 5th grade students continued success at middle school next year and look forward to seeing our returning students at our Open House on August 3rd.
Summer Reading Challenge
The best way to be prepared for next year is to keep reading all summer! Students that don't continue to read over the summer lose skills and often struggle when school starts back up in August. We challenge all Barnwell students to read 10 or more books this summer - that's just 15-30 minutes a day! Visit http://fcssummerreading.weebly.com/ to learn more about this Summer Challenge and for suggestions on GREAT books to read!
Barnwell 2017-18 Amended Calendar
Our SGC recently approved providing our staff with three Professional Learning Days for the 2017-2018 school year (amending our regular Fulton County calendar). During these days our staff will be working on our Strategic Plan initiatives, including learning how to incorporate more Project-Based Learning opportunities for our students. Please plan accordingly as students will not have school on the following days next year:
September 1, 2017 (Barnwell students only)
October 5, 2017 (all Johns Creek Cluster schools)
March 8, 2018 (all Johns Creek Cluster schools)
We appreciate the support of our community in helping our staff improve our instructional practices to better meet the needs of our students.
Fulton County Strategic Plan
Fulton County's new strategic plan will serve as a guide and a focus for our work as a district and community for the next five years. It will help ensure that all stakeholders in the community – from the School Board, to staff, to principals, to teachers, to students, parents and community members – are working toward a shared set of goals and priorities.
Members of the Board of Education have worked closely with the Superintendent to identify a goal that articulates what should be true for FCS's graduates and a set of focus areas that will help us achieve that goal. You can hear more about those here.
Visit www.1Fulton.org/ to learn more.
Welcome to Barnwell!
Do you know that we have students attending Barnwell that have families from all over the world? Our PTA has worked hard this year to welcome all our families to our wonderful school and has created the following "welcome" guides in multiple languages to make it a little easier to learn about our school and to get involved.
Click on the following links for each language of our PTA Important Information guide:
What is Personalized Learning?
The concept of personalized learning means utilizing various strategies and having flexible pacing of instruction to help each child learn. Students have ownership of their learning and are able to demonstrate mastery in multiple ways. Our focus this year is on creating independence in our students, utilizing technology and choice activities to allow teachers to meet with students in small groups, providing direct, personalized instruction for each child. We are focusing on the concepts of Varied Strategies, Co-Planning Learning, and Just-in-Time Instruction (click here for our Instructional Model).
Have questions? Please ask! Start with your child's teacher or reach out directly to our Personalized Learning Coach, Daniel Hodge at hodgedv@fultonschools.org. We are excited about this new direction and appreciate your input and support as we move from a traditional approach (where the teacher is the center of learning) to a student-centered approach (where the student is the center of learning). Visit here to see what our personalized learning path looks like or here to see a video our 2nd and 3rd graders did based on the Mannequin Challenge.
Volunteer Requirements
Do you want to be a mystery reader? Would you like to help out in your child's classroom? We welcome all parents to come volunteer and be a part of your child's school experience at Barnwell. Per Fulton County policy, ALL parents that want to volunteer MUST complete the mandatory training each year or they will not be allowed to volunteer in classrooms!
Lately, we have had to turn many parents away as they haven't completed this training this year - which is heartbreaking for everyone! Please don't let this happen to you - visit the FCS site directly to complete the required informational training at least 72 hours prior to volunteering:
http://www.fultonschools.org/en/divisions/sup/comm/Pages/partnersvolunteers.aspx
Digital Citizenship Certification
Barnwell is a Common Sense Certified School! This certification recognizes our efforts in teaching digital literacy and citizenship to our students from Common Sense Education, part of a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.
We are one of the more than 100,000 schools across the country that use Common Sense Education's groundbreaking education resources. As a result, our students are better equipped to navigate the digital world and use devices for learning.
Lunch Visits/Birthday Celebrations
Any parent wanting to celebrate their child's birthday with the class is welcome to come to the cafeteria to purchase a frozen treat or cookies from our cafeteria and hand out to the class during lunch.
Per Fulton County policy, no outside food of any kind is permitted for distribution to students in classrooms or the cafeteria (while you are welcome to provide your own child with any treat to celebrate a special occasion, no store-bought or homemade cupcakes, cookie cakes, etc. are allowed for class distribution). Parents wanting to celebrate with their child must order in advance (see flyer included in Open House papers for details or click on the Flyer/Order Form) and hand out during lunch.
Please note that teachers/school staff will not be handing out birthday treats in the cafeteria or classroom.