SHE DID IT! Georgia's Teacher of the Year!
As a proud principal I share with you some historic news. On Saturday, May 19th, the Georgia Department of Education announced the 2019 Georgia Teacher of the Year, and for the first time ever it was awarded to a Fulton County teacher, Barnwell's very own Allison Kerley Townsend!
With 159 counties in Georgia, employing over 114,000 teachers, for Allison to be named the Georgia Teacher of the Year is an incredible accomplishment! She is without a doubt an amazing teacher and colleague, as she inspires, challenges, and loves her children and teammates, helping bring out the best in each and every one of us. However, Mrs. Townsend will also be the first to tell you that she didn't win this award alone – that her success is only possible because of the help, encouragement and inspiration of her school family.
Thank you parents and our team for embracing, supporting and helping inspire Mrs. Kerley Townsend and our efforts to help transform teaching and learning at Barnwell. I am incredibly proud of her and know that she will represent the entire Barnwell community and all of Fulton County excellently as the 2019 State Teacher of the Year!
Please join me in congratulating Barnwell's own Mrs. Kerley Townsend for this incredible honor. Go Bears!
Mrs. Kerley is pictured below with Area Superintendent Cliff Jones, left, Principal Martin Neuhaus and State School Superintendent Richard Woods, right.
Thanks for an AWESOME Year!
Wow, it's hard to believe that our year is almost over! On behalf of all of us at Barnwell, thank you for sending us such wonderful children each day! It is truly an honor and privilege to be able to work with all our Barnwell Bears each day - they are simply amazing!
We hope everyone has a safe and fun summer! If you are traveling or taking a vacation, we'd love you to send us a postcard from wherever you visit. We'll put all the postcards up on a bulletin board before school starts back up to see the places our bears have visited over the summer.
Summer Software Access: Students currently
enrolled in Grades K-3 will have access to iRead and i-Ready Math throughout the summer.
Students currently enrolled in Grades 4 and 5 will have access to i-Ready
Reading and Math. Fulton County also provides information to MyOn, a resource
that provides free access to thousands of digital texts, and the Fulton County
Schools Summer Reading lists.
K-3:
iRead Summer 2018 User Guide.pdf
4-5:i-Ready Summer 2018 User Guide ELA and Math.pdf
All:Free Summer Reading Resource-My On.pdf
Fulton County Survey (SP2022)
Our school district needs all parents to take a few minutes to complete a survey to help the district determine if it is meeting targets related to Strategic Plan 2022. The FCS staff is answering a separate set of questions related to both your experiences with Fulton County as well as at Barnwell.
The SP2022 survey takes just a few minutes and is available until June 8: SP2022 Family Survey (https://bit.ly/2wsKpmd)
We appreciate your time and are excited to learn your perceptions of how things are going and identify some areas where we can continue to grow.
Welcome to Barnwell!
Do you know that we have students attending Barnwell that have families from all over the world? Our PTA 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:
Sensory Garden
Our Barnwell Foundation Sensory Garden is taking shape! After being "home" to several portable classrooms for the last 28 years the front left side of our school is now starting to take shape. Each "wing" of the Sensory Garden will provide different plants and structures to help students experience the different senses.
If you'd like to purchase a brick to help us finish our Sensory Garden (outdoor musical instruments, container pots and perennials) download the engraved brick form here: www.barnwellfoundation.org/goals/sensory-garden/buy-an-engraved-brick/.
Phase II of our side rennovation project (next year) will be to replace the adjacent playground!
PTA National School of Excellenc
e!
Our PTA has been recognized as a 2017-19 National PTA School of Excellence! This is one of the highest awards any PTA can earn - only 143 schools in the country (only 16 in Georgia) were recognized as National Schools of Excellence!
We are very proud and appreciative of our PTA for working each day, hand in hand with our staff, to enhance the quality of our student experience.
Barnwell's 2017-18 Teacher of the Year!
We are proud of Mrs. Weaver, 4th grade teacher, for being our 2017-18 Teacher of the Year! Mrs. Weaver is an amazing teacher and teacher leader, helping ensure all our 4th grade students are learning and growing each day.
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 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.
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.