Dear Parents,

Happy New Year!  Our students haven’t missed a beat since coming back from winter break. We spent January crowning Drew Cothran as our 4^th Annual Spelling Bee Champ, recognizing our Most Improved Students for second quarter, and celebrating the 100^th day of school collecting items for those in need in our community.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our PTA for their continued support. Proceeds from this year’s fundraiser have helped to purchase additional leveled books for our book room and more instructional technology for our classrooms. Over the past four years, we have partnered with PTA to purchase over 1170 titles for our bookroom (approximately 7000 books) and to outfit 18 classrooms with Mimio technology that turns ordinary classroom whiteboards into interactive whiteboards. Every student at Trip Elementary will also benefit from additional musical instruments purchased for our music program with PTA fundraiser proceeds.

Our students in grades 1-5 took the Gwinnett County benchmark assessments before leaving for the winter break. During January, we reviewed those results as a school and are pleased that our students are performing above the Gwinnett County average on those tests, and are performing on par with our other cluster schools. Thank you for continuing to make your child’s learning a priority!

Early release conferences are coming up at the end of February. Be looking for information to come home with your student. Don’t miss this opportunity to sit down with your child’s teacher to discuss their progress, what we are doing at school to ensure they reach their full potential, and how you can support that effort at home.

Our 7 Habits of Happy Kids initiative is still in full swing. We just wrapped up our January habit and will be launching February’s habit – Synergize – next week. This school-wide effort seems to be paying off. Our discipline data indicates that students at Trip Elementary are practicing the habits we have focused on this year, and are making better choices. We are so proud of our Rams!

Don’t forget that Friday, February 17^th, and Monday, February 20^th are slated to be student holidays – provided we don’t experience inclement weather that causes school to close sometime before then. We have been fortunate to have escaped bad weather to this point, but as you know, weather in Georgia can be unpredictable.

We look forward to continuing to partner with you in your child’s education. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
Marci Sledge
Principal