August Newsletter

Dear Families,

I hope everyone had a great summer break. It is hard to believe we are already back and into a new school year.

We have some new teachers and staff this year and we also had some teachers and staff to retire or leave our school. The changes are as follows: Brittany Guffey is teaching first grade taking Ms. Mindy Sidwell’s place. Rena Scott is teaching computers and P.E. taking Ms. Danielle Sells’ place. Ms. Sells is teaching first grade this year. Ashley Cook is teaching P.E. taking Mr. Matt Walker’s place. Sally Pendergrass is teaching third grade taking Ms. Virginia Myers’ place. Ms. Myers retired. Ashley Walton is our school nurse taking Ms. Shawnia Rich’s place. Kim Anderson is the kindergarten assistant.

Pickett County K-8 is participating again this year in the Twin Lakes Telephone Directory Recycling Campaign. The only Twin Lakes Telephone Directory that will not be accepted is the 2011 directory. The classroom that collects the most books will receive $100.00 and a pizza party. The school will receive 50 cents for every book collected. We appreciate your help in collecting the directories. The collection period will end on September 15th.

Pickett County K-8 will start our school-wide cookie dough fundraiser on Friday, August 26th. The cookie dough sales will end on Monday, September 12th. We greatly appreciate all efforts by the students and their families to help make this a successful fundraiser. The money raised benefits all grades and classes by providing funds for toner, repairs, and maintenance on all school copy machines at the K-8.

The local U.S. Cellular store is participating in an effort to help us hopefully receive as much as $150,000.00 for the K-8. Between September 9th and October 6th, anyone 18 years or older can visit the U.S. Cellular store at 8500 Hwy. 111 in Byrdstown and ask an associate for a code to vote for their favorite school at uscellular.com. Each online voting code gives people the opportunity to vote once daily until the campaign ends. The voting cards will feature a peel-off that gives thousands of lucky supporters a chance to cast two votes a day or be one of 18 people to win one year of free U.S. Cellular wireless service. In addition, 2,000 randomly-selected voters will be awarded a $25 U.S. Cellular debit card simply for supporting their school. A total of 18 schools will be awarded prizes. The school with the most votes will receive $150,000.00 with the 17 runner-up schools receiving $50,000.00 each. No purchase is necessary and you do not have to be a U.S. Cellular customer to vote. The local U.S. Cellular store will be giving extra incentives to help with participation. Please look for additional information to follow later. We would really appreciate all efforts to help us be the number one school or at least one of the 17 runners up.

As the new school begins, teachers, staff and administration are focusing on academic standards and the belief that we are responsible for growing our students academically. Therefore, it is extremely important that students are not absent, tardy, or leave early on a regular basis. With the pace of instruction we must adhere to in today’s classrooms, students will get behind very quickly if any class attendance time is lost. Student absences, student tardiness, and students leaving early will be monitored very heavily this year resulting in parent conversations with me or Ms. Garrett to discuss ways to eliminate the issue. Remember, students are allowed a maximum of 5 parent notes per semester and 5 unexcused absences per semester will result in a petition to court.

The PEACE Program will have a kick-off informational dinner for parents on Thursday, Sept. 1st at 6:00 p.m. Please look for additional information in the near future. The PEACE Program and Afterschool will begin on Tuesday, September 6th.

Important dates to remember:

Aug. 25—Boy Scout Rep. grades 1-6-2:00 p.m.

Aug. 26—Cookie Dough Sales kick-off

Aug. 29—Boy Scout Meeting-6:00 p.m. in cafeteria

Aug. 30—Health Screenings grades K, 2, 4, 6, & 8

Sept. 1—PEACE Program dinner-6:00 p.m.

Sept. 5—NO SCHOOL-Labor Day

Sept. 6—PEACE and Afterschool Begins

Sept. 9—Progress Reports Go Home

Kenny Tompkins, Principal