The Home Stretch, Welcome to May!!

Dear Parents and Community Members: As I think about the week since we last spoke, I’m reflective of the great work that we’ve accomplished this year and the work we continue to improve on as we make our way to the summer months. One thing that I’m excited about is Morris Brandon’s application to become a Common Sense Media School. Below is an excerpt from a piece that Program Administrator Dwight Hutson wrote as to what digital citizenship is and how it affects our students:

We teach our children about the people we can rely on and trust in our real-world communities but what lessons do we teach them about the digital world? Digital citizenship can be considerably more complicated than the real world so we have to prepare our children on how to navigate through this world safely and circumspectly.

In order to walk with wisdom in the virtual world, students must learn to:

1. Maintain an outstanding digital footprint
2. Keep their private information private
3. Determine which sources are trustworthy

Read more about digital citizenship and the work we are doing at Brandon, led by Mr. Hutson and team, here.

As the week continues to role on, I want to circle back and, of course, talk about all of the great things that happened since we last spoke!!

• 80s night at the Morris Brandon auction was a HUGE success! I loved seeing all of the teachers and parents dressed in their best 80s gear. The DJ was rocking, the food was superb and I have to give a special shout-out to our auction chairs April Marable and Julie Van Balen for their hard work in organizing this amazing event. Parents- THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your donations and to our teachers for donating so much of your teacher time!
• Our Girls on the Run program wrapped up with a 5k of their own! The girls rocked it out on Saturday with their club sponsors Jill Stansbury, Stephanie Windle, Marlee Maneri, Allison Mckinley and Aujeanette Brown. This was a fantastic experience for our girls, who also created blankets for an animal shelter as their service project. So cool!
• Ms. Rinkowski’s 5th graders participated in their mock trial at the Fulton County Courthouse. The students were amazing, bringing home several awards for their hard work and dedication to this program. They met District Attorney Paul Howard and took away many career lessons that are sure to produce the next wave of Brandon law-makers.
• Our Kindergarten DLI classes participated in a Saturday FLAG Spoken Languages Competition. The students walked away with all Superior Ratings. Thanks to Ms. Halliday and Ms. Estrada for organizing and supporting our students!
• And, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to Ms. McKinley’s 4th grade class that raised close to $400 for the Haiti Deaf Academy, proving that Morris Brandon students truly do care about our world and the communities that lie within.

A lot is in store for this week and next as we make our way into the testing season at the Main Campus only. Our students and teachers are more than prepared to tackle the upcoming Georgia Milestone Assessment. Even our PC students and staff are involved, bringing over snacks and goodies for our MC teachers! I enjoyed my time talking to our parents last week in the final Principal Coffee Talk of the year as we reviewed the assessment, expectations, and schedule for the testing weeks ahead. Please remember that the Main Campus will be on an adjusted schedule (except for makeup days) and that there will be no lunch visitation during this time. Visitors are welcome to enter the building but cannot pass the school clerk’s desk. I look forward to all that is to come in the pending weeks as we look to put a strong finish to an even stronger school year.

Until next time,
Jay