Content Area 1 
Winter Break: December 23 - January 3 _____________________________________________________________ Spelling Bee 
Congratulations to our Spelling Bee Champion, Jeetu SK, representing Ms. Manaktala's 4th grade class. "Archives" was this year's winning word. Jeetu will represent Shakerag in the Fulton County Spelling Bee on January 11, 2020 at Heards Ferry ES. We would also like to congratulate Kovid C. as our Second Finalist representing Ms. Duhe's 4th grade class. We are proud of all the participants for studying hard and supporting each other in the Spelling Bee. Congratulations to all our Spelling Bee Sharks! 
_____________________________________________________________ The Winter Season is Upon Us! Inclement Weather Form UPDATE The safety of our students is always our top priority. Below you will find the procedures we try to follow in the event of an unexpected early school closure. Should special circumstances arise needing us to change our procedures, those would be communicated with you through our mass communications system. - If the announcement to close school early is made the day prior, ALL students will be dismissed their normal way unless a change of dismissal form is provided. If a child is scheduled to stay for an afterschool program, parents should send in a change of dismissal form with their child.
- If the announcement to close school early occurs once the school day has started, all students will be dismissed following the information that is provided on this Inclement Weather Form.
- If the announcement is made to complete the school day, but all afterschool activities are canceled, all students will be sent home their normal way and any child that was supposed to stay on campus for an afterschool activity will be dismissed following the information that was provided on this Inclement Weather Form.
At the beginning of the school year, or when you enrolled your child at Shakerag, you noted how you would like for your child to be dismissed in the event Fulton County decides to close school early and/or cancel all afterschool activities once the school day has started (including the Y Afterschool Program and Tutor Shop childcare programs). This will only be used if an early school closing is announced after the school day has already started or afterschool activities are cancelled. As we get into the winter months, we would like to verify that the information we have on file is still accurate. Please complete the information below so we can verify/update our records for second semester. As a reminder, if the announcement for an early release is made the day prior, we will dismiss students to go home their normal way unless a change of dismissal form is sent in with your child. We ask that all forms
be returned no later than December 13.
CLICK HERE FOR INCLEMENT WEATHER FORM _____________________________________________________________ As we begin to prepare for winter weather, we wanted to share our Digital Learning Day Plan for this school year. If we miss school due to inclement weather, Fulton County will determine if the day will become a Digital Learning Day. Digital Learning Days are days where students will complete assignments sent by their teachers AT HOME. Should this happen, you can expect to receive an email from your child's homeroom teacher no later than 9:00 a.m. the morning of the Digital Learning Day. If your child is in Special Ed., ESOL, or EIP, those teachers will review the digital learning plan for your child's grade level and email you directly if they feel any adjustments need to be made to the grade level plan. What to expect: Students in grades K-2 should spend no more than 90 minutes working on their assignments. Students in grades 3-5 should plan to spend no more than 3 hours on their assignments. All assignments are due 5 days after our return to school unless additional time is provided by the teacher. If you have any questions about the assignments, please do not hesitate to email your child's teacher. In the spring, we will have a few Digital Learning Days due to state-wide elections. Teachers will communicate and send home assignments for these prearranged days no later than the day prior. We hope that we will not miss many days this winter season, but we want to be prepared should Mother Nature have a different plan. _____________________________________________________________ Digital Resources - "One Pager" Do you need help with digital resources your child might be using? You should have received a digital learning tools "one-pager" from your child's teacher by now that will provide you with some tips, tricks, and log-in information. If you have not received this document, please reach out to your child's teacher. This will be a great resource for our Digital Learning Days. _____________________________________________________________ Cell Phones/Other Electronic Devices - Reminder As we almost reach the middle of the school year, we wanted to remind you about one of our school policies concerning cell phones and other electronic devices. We are very fortunate to have a wide range of student devices at Shakerag to support student learning. Students do not have the need to have any external electronic devices on campus. Below you will find our school-wide policy concerning electronics and communication devices from our Family Handbook: Cell Phones/Other Electronic Devices A student shall not use, display, or turn on a pocket pager, cellular telephone or other personal electronic communication device on school property, except for middle and high school students who may use such devices on school grounds before or after the regular school day. Elementary students are prohibited from using or displaying cellular telephones on school property at any time. No such devices may be used at any time on school system operated vehicles, or during an emergency drill or evacuation. These limits on the use of personal communication devices do not apply to students whose special needs require the use of such a device to enhance speech or hearing. Students who are found with such devices in the "on" position, in use or displayed except as permitted above, shall have the device confiscated by a school administrator. Please refer to the Student Code of Conduct & Discipline Handbook for specific rules relating to the use of electronic equipment. Items such as smart watches, iPods, iPads, Kindles or other tablets, electronic games, CD players/headphones etc., should not be brought to school. These items will be collected by the teacher and the parent will be asked to pick them up. We want to thank all of our parents for helping us to reinforce this policy and ensuring that these devices do not come out during the school day or on the bus. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Erin Nusnbaum, Assistant Principal at nusnbaum@fultonschools.org. _____________________________________________________________ If you have signed up to volunteer for any of our classroom parties, you MUST complete the volunteer registration (AT LEAST 48 hours) prior to attending. Please complete this important step NOW or it might not process in time and you may not be allowed to participate. To complete the volunteer training, click here or see the detailed directions at the end of this newsletter. Please don't wait until the last minute! _____________________________________________________________ We need your help and feedback! Only 22 parents have completed the annual Georgia Parent Survey. This important survey is utilized as part of the calculation for Shakerag's annual School Climate rating. Parents may complete the survey using their personal computer, smartphones, or a tablet. Survey responses are anonymous and are submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. Please click here for the link to begin this quick survey. Thank you for helping us reflect and grow! Looking forward to another 5 Star rating for 2019-2020! _____________________________________________________________ Our school store will be open 7:10 a.m. - 7:35 a.m. in the atrium on Friday, December 13. 
Annual Shakerag Giving Tree We will be collecting
gifts for our annual Shakerag Giving Tree from Tuesday, December 3rd through
Monday, December 9th. We are collecting new, unwrapped toys for
North Fulton Community Charities to help brighten the holidays for
families in need in our community. Thank you so much for your help in
bringing joy to these less fortunate children! Please direct
questions to Shakerag.Giving.Tree@gmail.com. _____________________________________________________________ Join us at Culver's ButterBurgers and Frozen Custard Restaurant (3135 Peachtree Pkwy, Suwanee, GA 30024) for our next Spirit Nights on Tuesday, December 10 and Wednesday, December 11. They will be graciously donating 15% of sales to Shakerag patrons between 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.! Come support your school and have a meal out with the family. Each kid's meal comes with a free custard! _____________________________________________________________ Career Day - Sponsored by Foundation at Shakerag March 12 is "When I Grow Up Day" at Shakerag Elementary. The Foundation is planning Career Day for 4th and 5th grade students, and we need you! Yes, you! We are looking for parents and community professionals who can provide an engaging and relate-able presentation to the students in the following fields: Culinary Arts, Sports, Military. Also, if you have a fun unique job we would love to hear from you too. Please send an email to Eki Ehigiamusoe at eki.ehi@gmail.com. _____________________________________________________________ SCRIP Gift Card Program by the Foundation at Shakerag Making travel plans for the holiday season or looking for ways to entertain the kids during Winter Break? What about buying gifts for those who have everything? The Foundation at Shakerag has you covered. Purchase gift cards through the Foundation's SCRIP program and receive dollar for dollar value while supporting our school. Order forms were sent home. The first order due date is November 7th. Thank you for your support! Click here for Gift Card Order Form _____________________________________________________________ Don't forget to order a copy of our 2019-2020 Shakerag Elementary Yearbook for only $40.00 each. Click here to order online now, as prices will increase later in the school year! _____________________________________________________________ Registration New to Fulton County? 
Online Enrollment is quick and easy! _____________________________________________________________ 2019-2020 School Year Calendar Please click here to review the 2019-2020 school calendar for Shakerag Elementary. Our
school calendar is slightly different from the original Fulton County school
calendar. Our students will also be out on September 3, February 14,
and March 16 so our teachers can engage in additional
professional development opportunities. The Fulton County School Board approved making April 21, 2020, and May 19, 2020, "Digital Learning Days" for students while maintaining regular work days for employees. A Digital Learning Day is an opportunity for students to engage in off-site learning instead of attending school.
Since April 21 and May 19 are state-wide election days, there is high-volume participation of the public at polling stations located in our schools, and this increases the potential for security concerns. By utilizing digital learning activities, students will be able to maintain their focus on instruction even though they are not on campus. This also allows staff the opportunity to participate in high-quality professional development to deepen their knowledge and skills. Below you find a summary of the Fulton County Calendar changes, or you can click here for the updated 2019-2020 Shakerag Elementary School Calendar.
Summary of the recent calendar adjustments: - March 13, 2020 remains a teacher workday.
- March 24, 2020 (GA Presidential primary election) will be a teacher workday.
- April 21, 2020 (state-wide election) will be a student Digital Learning Day and a teacher professional development day.
- May 19, 2020 (state-wide election) will be a student Digital Learning Day and a teacher professional development day.
______________________________________________________________________________ Shakerag Volunteer Registration Visitors will need to sign-in at the front desk with a state issued photo ID to receive a printed visitor/volunteer badge throughout the day. After June 1, 2018, everyone was required to complete the volunteer registration process even if you had completed it previously. The district is working on a two-calendar year rotation. To keep in compliance with State Law and best practices, for the 2019-2020 school year, if you did not complete the volunteer registration after June 1, 2018, we will require that all persons interested in volunteering in the Fulton County School District to register by completing the online volunteer registration/application process. We recommend that you complete this process on a desktop or laptop computer, not a tablet device. The registration process can be found on the FCS District Website under Community/Partners & Volunteers. Applicants should be prepared to spend about 10-15 minutes for the training and application process. In accordance with State Law, all volunteers must be current with the Child Abuse Reporting Protocol Training before being allowed to volunteer in our schools. It is very important that volunteers enter their full legal name as it appears on their government issued ID (please do not use nicknames or "goes by" names on the application). All applicants must wait 24-48 hours after applying for application processing. If you have not completed the registration process since June 1, 2018, you will not be allowed to volunteer! Click here to begin the volunteer process ______________________________________________________________ Here Comes the Bus App "Here Comes the Bus" is a free, easy-to-use website and app that enables you to see the location of your child's school bus on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. This way, you know when the bus is near your stop. Please click here for detailed directions on how to download the app.
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