Back To School Night, PTA and Lots of Updates

Upcoming Calendar

August 12, 2021

This Week

Monday, August 9

Week of August 16

Thursday, August 19

Back To School Night

Week of August 23

MES Upcoming Events

Back To School Night - Thursday, August 19

Due to concerns with physical distancing, Back To School Night will be held in a Virtual Format. This event will be a chance for you to meet new staff, hear from the MES Foundation and MES PTA, receive the latest updates, and more importantly meet with teachers that your child works with from across our school!

General Sessions

5 - 6 pm:

To start, we will hold two general sessions separated by alphabet (Zoom capacity limitations) as follows:

Student last names A-M: 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Student last names N-Z: 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Zoom Details:

Both of these sessions will be accessed at this link

Meeting ID: 838 9655 7394
Passcode: 7FPxNM
One tap mobile: +19292056099,,83896557394#,,,,*768038# US (New York)

NOTE: Please have your full name on your Zoom prior to logging in. We can only admit participants with full names for security purposes!

When you are not in the general session noted above, you may join Zoom sessions with non-homeroom teachers from across the building (Specials, Spanish, ESL, etc).

**Teachers will send specific Zoom links directly to families for all teacher sessions.

Student last names N-Z: 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Student last names A-M: 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Homeroom Teacher Sessions

6 - 7:30 pm (timing dependent on grade)

Next, following the schedule below, families will log into their student’s homeroom teacher’s Zoom links - provided by the teachers individually. Homeroom session times are separated by grade levels to accommodate families with multiple students in multiple grade levels as follows:

Kindergarten & 1^st Grade: 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM

2^nd & 3^rd Grade: 6:30 PM – 7:00 PM

4^th & 5^th Grade: 7:00 PM – 7:30 PM

MES News

Walkers Pad Pick-Up Instructions - Update!

We thank you for your patience as we have made some adjustments from Day One to our dismissal process. Buses and carpool have now been set and are working very well! We have made one slight adjustment to the walkers pad, which was communicated out through a school-wide message yesterday. We can no longer have cars park at the curb on Virginia Avenue to ensure safety of our families.

4th and 5th Grade - Students who are walkers in grades 4&5 will be released to the sidewalk on Virginia Avenue whether or not they are announced. If you are at school to pickup your older walker child, please be prepared to meet on the sidewalk.

K-3rd Grade - If you have a child in K-3, please be prepared with your app in hand to retrieve these younger students at the designated area at the top of the stairs.

If you have a combination of students in 4&5 with younger students in K-3, please tell your older student where to meet you after you pick up your younger student from the top of the stairs.

Lunch Update

We began on Day One with Grades 3-5 students eating lunch in the cafeteria in a 6 ft spaced out layout at the tables. However, due to physical distancing concerns in the cafeteria, it became apparent that we were not going to be able to maintain the 6 ft distancing with an entire grade level eating in the cafe at once. All students are now eating in classrooms and we will continue this model at this time. We hope to create a lunch plan later this first semester that will accommodate students in the cafeteria, while ensuring proper physical distancing!

COVID-19 Surveillance Testing at MES

Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is continuing its effort to keep everyone in our schools and buildings safe by making COVID-19 Surveillance Testing available to all students and staff. COVID-19 Surveillance Testing is an antigen rapid test that detects the presence of COVID-19 even in individuals who may be asymptomatic. The benefits of surveillance testing include allowing APS to test, receive test results (within 24 hours) and notify individuals of a clinically significant reading before coming to school or work. To enroll fill out the consent form here or visit the MES site.

Viral Solutions began surveillance testing this past Monday and tested 278 students and 29 staff members. Principal Sofianos communicated to families on Monday afternoon with notification of two positive cases through this opt-in surveillance testing. This is an “antigen” test and Nurse Petty encourages families with positive cases to confirm that result through a “PCR” test. Students whose parents complete the opt-in form will be escorted by staff members to one of four locations around the building that are in close proximity to their classes by grade level. Our goal is for students to be out of class no more than a few minutes, and we will continue to make improvements to the surveillance testing process as more students opt into the program.

When: Monday mornings at MES

Who: Students and staff members who complete and turn in a consent form (see above)

By Whom: A vendor called Viral Solutions

What: A swab of the lower nostrils that is very minimally invasive (this is not a deep nasal swab)

Recess Update

We are in the process of evaluating our recess zones with the teachers and will provide an update in next week’s Digital Dolphin for any adjustments that are being made to our zone system. Right now our students play in separate zones. Masks continue to be optional outdoors, with that being a family decision. We have provided every student with a mask lanyard if they choose to take masks off outdoors.

Are you on the MES Dolphin Community Facebook Page?

The MES Dolphin Community Facebook page is where you'll find the latest announcements and school information. It's also the perfect place to ask that question that you haven't been able to find an answer to - guaranteed another parent has the same question and someone has the answer! Follow us on Facebook, answer the screening questions and start interacting with our community of amazing MES families!

Become a Dolphin Donor

Morningside Elementary School Dolphin Donors Program welcomes corporations, local and small businesses and other friends of our community to partner with us as Dolphin Donors! Your support of our school helps us to provide the best learning experience for our children. Funds received by the MES PTA from our Dolphin Donors will go into the MES PTA General Fund, which provides direct support to the school! Donors enjoy many benefits! We hope you will join us as we strive to strengthen our school and provide great opportunities for all MES students. To become a Dolphin Donor please visit our page on the square store or for more information email.

Join the PTA

The MES PTA is planning an exciting slate of fun and enriching activities for our students, families and larger MES community for the 2021-2022 school year and will need your help to bring those plans to fruition. The PTA is a dynamic organization of caregivers and staff dedicated to making every child’s potential a reality and is a contributing factor to the success of our school very year. PTA membership must be renewed on an annual basis and we rely on our members and volunteers to meet our yearly goals. Membership is $10 per person for teachers and parents and $5 for non-certified paraprofessionals employed at MES. Visit the MES Store to purchase your 2021-2022 PTA Membership today and stay tuned for information on our Fall membership meeting. Questions - Matt Fox

Get Involved in PTA:

Open MES PTA Chair and Committee Positions

We have so many fun MES traditions coming back this year (Halloween, Variety Show) and need some awesome parents to lead the charge (or join a committee) to bring these community-favorite events back! Please see below for a list of available PTA roles and how to get involved!

Chair Positions (please email the PTA Exec member below if interested)

Halloween - Coordinate this community event featuring games, rides, food, a 5th grade Haunted House and more! (Can have a co-chair!) Email Marla Johnson for more info.

Variety Show - Lead a team to bring one of Morningside's favorite events to the stage again this year! Contact Jen Lieb for more info.

School Spirit Chair - Organize school-wide activities that strengthen our community with fun ideas that keep our students, parents and staff excited throughout the year. Email Marla Johnson for more info.

Earth Week Chair - Design and implement environmental-themed programming for teachers and students around Earth's biggest day! Email Sintra Constant for more info.

Procurement Chair - Responsible for sourcing and purchasing of items requested by Administration and Teachers that are provided by PTA. Items are typically purchased using our PTA account through Amazon whenever possible, but occasionally it’s necessary to find other sources. Email Carisa Quinn for more info.

Committee Opportunities - Please visit Membership Toolkit to Volunteer for any of the below committees.

Halloween
Variety Show
Social Chairs
No Place for Hate
Community Service

Important 2021/2022 Yearbook Information!

ORDER YEARBOOKS! Now is the time to order your student's 2021-2022 Yearbook. The current price of $35 will be available until September 7. Order yearbooks at JostensYearbooks.com.

5TH GRADE YEARBOOK ADS! Fifth Grade Families - Order your Congratulatory Ad Today! The Deadline to purchase and create ads is November 8!

SEND PHOTOS! Send photos from First Day of School and Rising Kindergarten Camp to [email protected].

All information can be found on the Morningside Yearbook Page

Update the MES Family Directory

If you haven't already done so, please log into our MES Family Directory (powered by Membership Toolkit) and update your information to include your child's new homeroom teacher. If parents do this, we will have pre-populated class lists, complete with contact information for fellow families as it is easy to sort by grade and homeroom teacher once the information is populated in this tool. It is also important for you to update your information in this tool at the beginning of the school year if you wish to continue receiving the Digital Dolphin newsletter.

Classroom Role Sign-Ups

Sign-up for classroom roles on Membership Toolkit under Volunteer. You can access this via the app or website. Each classroom will have 2 room parents and 1 yearbook liaison.

Room Parent: Act as liaison between the teacher and parents within the class. Support and help recognize your child's teacher in a variety of ways, assist filling class-based needs/roles as determine by the teacher, coordinate teacher birthday celebrations and holiday/end-of-year gift collections, help execute teacher appreciation week activities, etc. Communicate information to parents, as received from your teacher and /or the PTA. Will receive assistance and guidance from Room Parent Chairs and Teacher Appreciation Week Chairs. There will be 2 per classroom this school year and you can divide and share the role as best suits your needs, also recruiting help as needed from other class parents.

Yearbook Liaison: Responsible for gathering and submitting photos to yearbook chairs for class events and grade level activities or field trips.

Daily HealthCheck Questionnaire

HealthCheck is a COVID-19 screening tool available as a mobile app and website. All

parents are required to complete the daily health screening through the app as required

by APS. Parents and guardians will utilize HealthCheck to answer a handful of COVID-

19 symptom questions before being permitted to enter the school building. After

answering those questions, you will receive a green/red color status indicating your

student's level of risk based on your responses. Please visit our HealthCheck page on

the MES website for FAQ’s, communication letters, and information on registering for

the app.

Reminder - No Idling In Carpool Line

A reminder as we head into the first week of school and particularly long carpool lines that MES has a No Idling Policy. Did you know that an idling vehicle emits 20x more pollution than one traveling at 30 mph? Vehicle exhaust is harmful to everyone’s health, but it especially affects children because their lungs are still developing. Please support MES's No Idling Policy by turning off your engine if you will be idling for more than 30 seconds while waiting to pick your child up from school.