August News & Events
SPOTLIGHT
PTA General Body Meeting
Teacher Feature
Ms. Gomes is our featured teacher for the month of August. She has been instrumental in starting our Courtyard Garden at Drew. She and her team are doing awesome things. Workshops are being planned to introduce parents to harvesting herbs for medicinal and culinary uses. Thanks to Ms. Gomes, the herbs in the garden are thriving. Volunteers are needed on August 10th to assist in maintaining the garden. Be sure to click the buttons below to view the garden catalog and to sign up to receive information from Ms. Gomes about the garden and garden work days.
Spotlight On A PTA Volunteer
ERIN ELLIS
Erin Ellis is our featured PTA volunteer for the month of August. Erin, the parent of two Elementary Academy children, has been active in Drew’s PTA since 2011. From coordinating the lost and found, working on the teacher appreciation committee, to being a room parent—Erin does it all! Erin, your PTA appreciates you! Look for exciting work from Erin this year as she co-chairs our Room Parent Committee!
PTA Meetings are held the 3rd Thursday of each month in the Theater/Peforming Arts Center of the Junior/Senior Academy campus. Become a member and let your voice be heard!
(Meetings will be held in the auditorium of the Jr./Sr. Academy)
A PTA is only as strong as its volunteers. Your involvement in Drew’s PTA helps contribute to the success of our school. JOIN US!
New PTA Partnerships
The Drew Charter PTA is excited to welcome the East Lake Healthy Connections (ELHC) team to Drew this year. The PTA and ELHC look forward to bringing Drew parents several programs in each academy in the upcoming school year directed at helping parents raise healthy, happy Drew students! For more information about the ELHC program or to ask a health care related question, contact Angela Franklin, ELHC Program Manager at 404-373-6561 X 5640 or afranklin@eastlakefoundation.org.
27
August
PTA Principal's Coffee & Parent Learning Workshop
Please join the PTA Parent Resources Committee for the 2014-2015 Principal’s Coffees and Parent Learning Workshops for grades Pre-K through 5. The PTA hosts these events to provide parents with school and PTA updates and learning workshops to help parents discover what and how their children are learning and how to reinforce those lessons at home. When parents and schools work together, students succeed!
The PTA is excited to announce that this year, the PTA Communications Committee will video the Parent Learning Workshops and post them on its new PTA website so that parents unable to attend the live events can also experience the workshops at their convenience.
All Elementary Academy Workshops are held in the Elementary Academy Media Center unless otherwise noted.
The Drew PTA is again partnering with Georgia Safe Routes to School in the 2014-2015 school year to empower our community, making walking and bicycling to school a safe and routine activity. Safe Routes to School programs are sustained efforts by our parents, school, community leaders and local, state, and federal governments to improve the health and well-being of Drew students by enabling and encouraging them to walk and bicycle to school while improving the quality of our environment and the livability of our communities.
This year, the Drew PTA Parent Resources Committee and Georgia Safe Routes to School are planning 4 school-wide Walk/Bike-to -School days to heighten awareness of the walkability and bike-ability of our community. Dates for the 2014-2015 Walk / Bike-to-School Days are: August 13, October 8, March 4, and May 6. Look for information regarding routes for walking school buses and bike trains as well as special activities and guests the week before each event.
In addition to participating in Walk/Bike-to-School days, the PTA Parent Resources Committee and Georgia Safe Routes to School hope to complete both a Student Travel Tally and an online Parent Survey this year. The Student Travel Tally includes gathering and analyzing student travel mode data for Drew Charter students that will be provided to the Georgia Department of Transportation to be used when considering projects. The online Parent Survey will be used to determine what factors affect whether our Drew parents allow their students to walk or bike to school and the perceived presence or absence of key safety-related conditions along routes to Drew.
For more information or to help plan these events, contact Maggie Stewart, Drew PTA Secretary, at maggiels@bellsouth.net
Garden Work Day
10
August
Ms. Gomes invites you to come out and help tidy up the garden. We will begin at 8am but you are welcom to join when you can.
21
August
Letter From The Co-Presidents
Welcome Back Drew Families!
What an exciting year this will be for our children, the Drew Faculty, Staff, and parents! Your 2014-15 Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has been busy since you elected us last spring with the summer soap box derby, school supplies pre-orders, and JA Orientations to name a few. The school year promises to be just as enriching as our previous years. Also, look forward to our newest activities, a Spring Auction, and a 5K with the Athletic Booster Club.
Many of these activities that serve our Drew Parents, Teachers, Staff, and Children are not be possible without your participation. So, become a PTA member if you have not done so already! Over 250 of you have already joined the PTA. It's not too late; rather, save a few dollars by joining before our first PTA meeting on August 21st. More information is available through our new PTA website at www.drewcharterschoolpta.com
Karleen James and Nisha Botchwey