Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas !!

Have fun during your holidays!!

Thank you!

Thanks to all who donated to our canned food drive. Many families will benefit from your giving spirit and generosity during this holiday season.

Come help us sort it all out!

All those cans we collected have to be sorted! GWA's night to help is Tuesday night at the Armory in Monroe.  It will begin at 5:30, but you can arrive as your schedule allows.  Last year we finished in less than 2 hours.

(It is cold in there – please bring your coat.)

Canned Food Drive

George Walton invites your family to join us and the Empty Stocking Fund for GWA night at the National Guard Armory on Tuesday, December 16^th.  

As you are aware, large barrels have been placed all around Walton County, including GWA, to collect canned goods for those in need this Christmas season.  

• Volunteers are needed to help sort and box these cans.  

We believe this is a great opportunity to not only give back to the community, but to enjoy working together with other families and students in such an important event. This will be our second year to participate and last year was a wonderful experience for those whose schedule allowed them to attend.  

With this being exam week for high school students, we hope to count on our lower school families for this event.

Thanksgiving

It's not happy people who are thankful. 

It's thankful people who are happy!

What are you thankful for?

ITBS is over!!

We are ITBS tired!!

Loyalty Fund

2014-2015 Annual Loyalty Fund Kicks Off Next Week

GWA's most important fundraiser is headed up by an awesome team of volunteers!  They will be calling on you soon to ask for your contribution.

Why do we need your support?

If you have ever researched tuitions for a school of our size in the Atlanta area (not supported by a church), you will quickly realize that our tuition is, by far, one of the lowest in the area.  The average tuition for a school of our caliber is $12,000+.

The cost per student for a public school education is over $10,000.  That is on par with what GWA parents pay for tuition, yet we expect a far more exceptional program for our children.

The tuition dollars you pay do not cover our operating expenses.

How do we maintain our level of excellence and plan for future enhancements? It takes our Annual Loyalty Fund to do it!

The Annual Loyalty Fund allows GWA to:

·       Attract and retain the best teachers.

·       Provide support staff such as school nurses and security.

·       Offer enrichment programs such as field trips and guest speakers.

·       Maintain electronic databases and programs in our Media Centers.

·       Maintain our facilities (some of our buildings are 40 years old) and our 53-acre campus.

·       Continue upgrades to technology infrastructure to support curriculum.

Why your support is vital:

Support of the Loyalty Fund helps keep tuition affordable.

It opens the door for additional funding.  The Annual Loyalty Fund report is attached to grant applications.  Grant organizations consider the percentage of parental support when determining grant awards.

5th Grade Play

5th Grade Play

101 Dalmations

Thursday 9:30 and 6:30

Curriculum Night

Parents, please join us for:

Lower School Curriculum Night
Creating Bright Futures for 45 Years

Tuesday, October 28th

5:30 - 6:50 p.m.

• Visit classrooms to see 21st Century Learning and the methods teachers are using to bring out the best in each student. 
• See our creative side through art projects and music.
• Learn about our techKnowledge initiative and how technology is being integrated into the classroom.

Ambassadors need to be in Mrs. Millians' room no later than 5:10.

Schedule:

5:30 - 6:10 p.m.  

• K4-2nd grades report to your child's classroom.

•  3rd - 5th grades rotate on your own through special classes  

     (Art, P.E., Computer, Bible, Chorus, Band).

6:10 - 6:50 p.m.  

• K4 - 2nd grades rotate on your own through special classes

    (Art, Music, P.E., Computer, Bible, Library).

• 3rd - 5th grades report to Mrs. Gunnin's classroom.

While there may be time for general questions, this event is not designed to answer individual student concerns.  This event is hosted by GWA administration, teachers, students and parents in an effort to improve communication with stakeholders and to better serve all GWA students.  Please show your support by attending this event.

For questions about Curriculum Night, please contact Curriculum Director Wanda Reagan. We look forward to seeing you next Tuesday.

Dawgs Unleashed and Fall Festival!!

The Dawgs Unleashed 5K, Fun Run and Fall Festival is ALMOST here!

If you are running in the 5K or Fun Run this Saturday - please read these important announcements.

Start line for both events is next to the tennis courts by the Nicholson Center.

·        5K starts promptly at 8:00 am.

·        Fun Run starts promptly at 9:15 am.

·        Fall Festival on campus begins at 9:00 am.

Early Check in for All Runners

You can sleep a little later and avoid long check in lines by pre-checking in this Friday.  Volunteers will be set up by the Nicholson Center from 12:00 noon until 3:45 for you to pick up your bib number and tee shirt.  We prefer to hand race bibs and shirts directly to parents of lower school students so they don't get lost. 

There will be a 15 Minute Delay for Start of the Fun Run

In order to be courteous to 5K runners and not make them wait on the Fun Run, we are going to delay our Fun Run by 15 minutes to allow us time to award prizes to 5K Runners.  The Fun Run will start promptly at 9:15 am.  In the past it has been hard to hear who the winners are because we have a large group of excited children (that is GREAT!).  We will ask our kids to sit down while we do awards so they can hear who won. Parents please help us out by encouraging your child to sit and listen.

Fun Run Runners Please Note

When you cross the finish line you will be given a card to fill out.  Prizes are awarded to runners up to age 12.  Parents, please make sure your child puts their name and gender on the card before turning it in.  Please make sure it is filled out legibly so race officials can read it to determine prizes. If you are 13 or older and want to have your "time" posted on the Active web site, please fill out your card.  If you are 13 or older and don't really care about your time, there is no need to do anything with the card.

5K Runners

Please remember that the roads will be open to traffic during our race.  We have police on hand and volunteers, but please be aware of cars and stay to the side of the road. 

You can still sign up for the 5K or Fun Run up until 30 minutes prior to the start of the race.  Tee shirts are very limited and not guaranteed.

For Lower School - Mr. Cloud has given permission for the children to wear their race shirts to school on Monday following the race provided they wear a collared shirt underneath.

Please remember to stay for our Fall Festival. We have some awesome vendors.  Many are school clubs and sports teams needing to raise money.  Your support helps them out!

In The Classroom!

Coming soon!

• ITBS Testing November 3-7

In the Classroom!

 Friday (10/10/14) is an early release day. 

• Carpool will begin at 12:30 (11:30 for K4).

• There will be NO AFTERCARE on Friday.

• Buses will run at 1:00.

 Monday (10/13/14) is a holiday!

We Have Bulldog Pride!!

Bulldog Pride!!!

We did it!!

We met our goal!

Thank you for digging deep to support GWA 

and making our school even better!!

It is so gratifying to be a part of such a wonderful family.

Plan on a relaxing long weekend in October.

We have 1/2 day Friday, October 10 and Monday, October 13 is a holiday.

Bulldogs Give 100%

Monday, September 29 is final turn in day for our techKnowledge Campaign

Yesterday there was a break in the link to make online donations to the GWA techKnowledge Campaign.  If you would like to make an online donation or share this link with family and friends to support GWA, here is the link.  We will accept donations through noon on the 29th for computing prizes and for the final total needed to get our day off from school.  The link is up all year long for continued donations to the techKnowledge program or the Annual Loyalty Fund.  Thank you.

http://10.10.10.1/Donation.php

We Have Bulldog Pride!!

Wacky Tacky Day 2014

Can we be any more Wacky or Tacky?!!

In the Classroom!

Bulldog Pride!!!!

• The techKnowledge Committee is pleased to announce that Monday’s techKnowledge turn in was over $14,000.  Because of your hard work and the support of our donors we are only $6,000 away from having a free day off from school!  We have one week to close the gap and we know that if 100% participate, we will meet our goal.  Please put forth your best effort this week to help us win the day off from school!

In the Classroom!

Bulldogs give 100%

The techKnowledge Campaign to Expand Learning Affects Every Child at GWA. 
That's why we need 100% support!

For George Walton 1:1, is not just about laptops or smart phones or fun gadgets, rather it's about changing the culture and shifting the paradigm in a way that really makes a positive difference in the learning process.
Our vision is on how we can utilize technology, not for show, but to create a learning environment that will accelerate the creative learning process to give our students an advantage in college and beyond.

Our techKnowledge initiative is geared to meet the modern challenges facing educators and developing collaborative strategies to coordinate, integrate and support the education pipeline with technology.

Our techKnowledge initiative is a systematic, multi-tiered approach created after much research. GWA has spent considerable time evaluating schools and researching best practices.  This is not just about providing a device to students.

First and most importantly we are investing in our teachers and providing the necessary training and tools.  This allows them more creative opportunities to approach curriculum.  To meet this need our Technology Department has accomplished the following:

Year One

  Create a technology steering committee of technology oriented teachers dedicated to coaching, training and mentoring other teachers. This team also explores and evaluates new techniques and technologies and helps to establish technology teaching guidelines.

  Building the needed infrastructure; GWA installed wireless campus wide and increased bandwidth.

  Hire new technology teachers and additional support staff.

  Evaluate 1:1 devices for teacher pilot program.

  Initiate a teacher pilot program.

  Creation of new technology offerings to students such as the Emerging Technology Leaders and computer programming and web design classes.


Year Two

  Teacher training for all grades over the summer to cover pertinent technologies such as Moodle, Windows 8.1, Photoshop and InDesign and Promethean:  Making the most out of Interactive White Board Technology.

  School-wide upgrade of technology in the classrooms.

  K4 - 3rd - We added interactive White Boards, LCD projection, DVD & DVR.

  4th - 12th - We added 1:1 devices for teachers, LCD projection, DVD & DVR.

  Integration of Moodle - a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create personalized learning environments.  It provides a set of learner-centric tools and collaborative-learning environment that empower both teaching and learning.

  Promote and support BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in middle and high school.
  January 2015 - Initiate 1:1 pilot program for current 9th grade.
  Continuing focus on technology classroom offerings with the addition of an AP Technology class.
  Roll out for OneNote for teacher/student note taking.
  Roll out of DyKnow for classroom management.
It takes time to integrate technology into the fabric of education.  In the fall of 2015, seventh grade and tenth grade teachers will go through a similar transformation.  The process will be repeated again in 2016 and 2017 before all middle and high school students have a school issued device.    Our point is that the device itself is one of the smallest components in this major shift in the integration of technology into the classroom.  Every student from K4 on up is already part and current beneficiary of the extensive technology plan here at GWA.

In the Classroom!

Bulldog Pride!!!!

WOW parents! 

Way to step up and show your pride in GWA. 

We beat our goal by $17,000.00 on the first turn in day!!

We've been rewarded with a dress code free day on Friday. 

Here are the guidelines:

·        Blue Jeans (No sweat pants or pajama bottoms)

·        Tee Shirts (no offensive words)

·        Skirts, dresses, shorts that meet dress code length

·        Hoodies

·        Shoes of any style

No camouflage or tank tops

• 
  

Have fun!

Let's keep it up for the remainder of our campaign. The sky's the limit!!!

Bulldogs give 100%

We can meet our goal!!

• Today is our FIRST turn in day for the TechKnowledge Campaign. 
• We will send out tickets later this week for the spin and win that will be held on Friday.  
• Our second turn in day will be NEXT Monday so keep up the good work for GWA!

In the Classroom!

Now Showing Through September!!
The BFG
 It is a delightfully humorous tale about an orphan and a giant teaming together to rid the world of trogglehumping, bogthumping giants forever!!

The author is Roald Dahl. He has written many children's classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and James and the Giant Peach. 
You might want to visit the official Roald Dahl website at:     www.roalddahl.com

Vocabulary for Chapters 1-3:
dormitory          definite
resist                glimpse
lavatory            whisked
spurt                hesitate
snatch              sprint
crouched          absolutely

Vocabulary for Chapters 4-9
rasher              enormous
desolate           idle
vast                  disgusting
peculiar            moody
strode               gruesome
rummage          frankfurter
intend               sensation
dignified            inevitably
passionate        delicious
           

In the Classroom!!

In the Classroom!

School's Out For Summer!!Congratulations to the new 6th Graders!!!

 

Happy Summer!!!

 

In the Classroom!!

 

 

Every child needs a new, unwashed, white 

T-shirt on Monday.

We're using it for graduation.

No V-neck shirts!

If the shirt is washed, the transfer won't adhere to the shirt.

 

5th Grade Graduation

• May 23,2014 in the Nicholson Center at 9:00
• Student Dress:  dress code
• Keep working on your graduation cap!
• Students will be dismissed for summer after graduation!

 

---

You are cordially invited to attend

 

Performed by the 5^th and 6^th Grade Choir Students

Friday, May 9^th at 7:00 pm

Lower School Gym

$5 Adults and $3 Students and Teachers

Lower School Library News!!

• The Lower School Library will be conducting inventory the last week of school (May 19-23).

• All books are due back to the LS Library on May 16^th.

• During the last week of school, no check-outs will be allowed. 

• Students CAN take AR tests on books from the classroom or from home.

In the Classroom!

• This week in writing we will finish our Jekyll paper. Next week we will type it.
• In Spelling we are working on the suffixes -ous, -sion, -ion, -ation. (pages 101-104 in the Spelling book)
• In Grammar we will focus on dependent and independent clauses.
• Math: dividing fractions
• Social Studies: Chapter 14 Test at the end of the week or first of next week.
• Reading: We are almost at the end of Number the Stars. We have learned how desperate the Jews were to have a safe place to live during World War ll. We have also learned how the ordinary people risked everything to help their friends and neighbors during the war. Could you be as brave as Annmarie was when she delivered the package to Uncle Henrik?
  
  

Fun at Jekyll!!

In the Classroom!

Wow! What a fabulous trip!!
Thank you to all that braved the accommodations and the GNATS to chaperone. You were outstanding!
Your humor, help, and caring ways made this trip exceptional. I think all the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned a lot as well. It was a great 3 days!
I hope you will send me pictures to post. I would love to see all of them!
Again, thank you so much !

In the Classroom!

Reminders!

·   All Jekyll money needs to be turned in no later than Friday morning (sooner if possible).

·  We leave on Wednesday, April 9. That's the week we come back from Spring Break!

 

In the Classroom

Happy St. Patrick's Day





A note from Mrs. Donaldson for
5th grade Chorus students:

The 5^th grade students need to bring kazoos by this Wednesday in preparation for the Grandparents’ Day performance.  I reminded them multiple times, but I think it is time to send the information to the parents J  I also have a couple other reminders for Friday for the parents (below).

 For Wednesday:

Here is what each student needs:

• 1 Kazoo (any color or size) – you can find at Dollar General, Wal Mart, or Party City
• Send your child’s kazoo in a ziplock bag with their name written on the bag in permanent marker

For Friday:
Students meet Mrs. Donaldson in the Nicholson Center at 8am Sharp to practice their songs.
Dress is Sunday Best. 

Band Students:
Dress is Sunday best for the Grandparent's Day concert.
 

 

Remember that Friday is an
early release day!!