Elliott Express
New email for attendance, arrival, and dismissal changes
Please email attendance.elliott@dodea.edu with any communication regarding your child's attendance or changes in arrival or dismissal. This will help to ensure that the front office receives and can respond to your message in a timely manner. Thank you for your cooperation.Â
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August  2- K-2 Sneak a Peek
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August 5- First Day of School K-2
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August 13- Early Release Day
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August 19- First Day of School Pre K
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September 2- Labor Day- No School
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Greetings Elliott Families!Â
I hope this letter finds you and your family well and enjoying the final moments of summer break. As we approach the 2024-2025 school year, I am filled with excitement and anticipation for the opportunities and experiences that lie ahead for our students.Â
Our dedicated staff has been working diligently over the summer to prepare for the upcoming year, ensuring that we continue to provide a safe, supportive, and enriching environment for all our students. We are committed to academic excellence and to fostering a community where every student feels valued and encouraged to reach their full potential.Â
One of our driving themes this year is ‘Building Bridges Together’. I want to remind you of the power of partnership and working together. My hope for this school year is increased opportunities for parents to be present in the building and strengthening partnerships within the community to allow more opportunities for our students. If you have an idea or work with a group that you think could provide an opportunity to better enrich our students’ overall experience, do not hesitate to reach out at any time. Â
There has been so much happening this summer, and one exciting update is the construction of our brand-new playground. We had five new play areas installed over the summer, complete with shade canopies and a variety of new spaces. The final inspection is scheduled for next week and we hope to have it open to the students immediately upon approval. We also fitted three new all-day Universal Pre-K classrooms, complete with outdoor play items and classroom resources. We are so excited to welcome our first group of full-day Pre-K students. Â
To help welcome students and their families back to school, we are excited to have an in-person Sneak-a-Peek on Friday, August 2nd, from 3:30-5:00 P.M. Classroom teacher assignments, transportation details, drop-off and pick-up procedures, and other first day of school information will be shared at this time. There has been a slight change to the bus and car lanes, as well as parent pick-up and drop-off procedures. Please be on the lookout for these additional details.Â
Thank you for your patience as we prepare for the beginning of school. It is our desire that everything goes smoothly and that students remain safe while they learn and grow together. For updated information, please visit our school webpage at https://elliottes.dodea.edu/ , our Facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/DodeaElliottES , or our Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/dodeaelliottes/     Â
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We are looking forward to a fantastic school year filled with learning, growth, and memorable experiences. Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child’s education.Â
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Sincerely,
Sara Phillips, Ed.S.
Principal
What is "Sneak a Peek"?
Elliott Elementary's annual Sneak a Peek will be help at Elliott Elementary on August 2, 2024 from 3:30-5:00pm.
This is an opportunity to meet your child(ren)'s teachers, see their classrooms, and get and communicate important information for the first day of school and for the remainder of the school year.Â
At this event you can expect to learn about or provide information about:
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First day of schoolÂ
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Transportation/BusÂ
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Classroom teacher assignments
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Technology and internet use expectations
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Arrival and dismissal procedures and zones
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Answers to any questions that you may have
When is a typical school day like?
Elliott Elementary's doors open at 7:50 a.m. As students enter the building they either go to breakfast in the cafeteria or they head to their designated area to chat with friends while they eagerly wait for their day to begin. Teachers pick students up and the instructional day begins at 8:10. Throughout the day students engage in captivating and differentiated learning tasks centered around math, reading, writing, social studies, science, and health, visit special area classes such as music, art, and P.E., and work with a variety of teachers both within their classrooms and within specialized areas of our school such as our library/media center and innovation lab. Students in grades K-2 visit our cafeteria for lunch while pre k students enjoy a family style meal with their classmates. Additionally, students have opportunities for snacks and to spend time on one of our fun and exciting playgrounds. Students are dismissed at 3:00 and teachers escort them to their designated dismissal area to see them off safely, ready for the next day to begin.Â
How do I contact the school to let them know that my child is out sick or that I need my child to go home a different way?
It is important to us that you are able to communicate attendance-related matters such as student absences and emergency dismissal changes in a timely manner and to everyone that needs to know. For that reason, we established attendance.elliott@dodea.edu as an email to serve as the primary channel for communication for these purposes.Â
When emailing attendance.elliott@dodea.edu with attendance notes or dismissal change requests, please include the following information:
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Your child's full name and grade
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Your name (parent/sponsor)
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Classroom teacher's name
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Specific dismissal changes for that day
Please note: in order to ensure the safety and security of all of our students, we cannot accept dismissal changes after 2:30 p.m.Â
Permanent changes to transportation or dismissal should be made by filling out the appropriate form which you can pick up in the front office or request to have sent home with your child.Â
When will I find out who my child's teacher is?
We work very hard to ensure a best fit and equitable learning environment for each student who enters our doors. For that reason, changes to class lists happen frequently and right up until the last minute. Classroom teacher assignments will be posted in front of the school just before the Sneak A Peek event which is August 2nd at 3:30 p.m.Â
How much do lunch and breakfast cost? How do I add money to my child's account?
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Breakfast is served each day in our cafeteria beginning at 7:50. The full price for a student breakfast is $2.25 and the reduced price is $0.30.
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K-2 students may pack a lunch or purchase one from the cafeteria. The full price for a student lunch is $3.25 and the reduced price is $0.40.Â
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Pre-K students must purchase a school lunch which will be served family style with their classmates.Â
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Money may be added to your child's account in one of 3 ways. First, you can pay online through the TITAN Family Portal at linqconnect.com, where you can setup recurring payments, get low balance alerts, view student's purchases, split payments across student accounts, and more. Second, you can drop payment off at our school cafeteria. Third, you can send money to school with your child in a sealed envelope (please write your child's name and the amount of money enclosed on the outside of the envelope).
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Many households qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. Households may apply for free and reduced meals beginning July 1st of every school year and must reapply every year since eligibility is only for one year.Â
To learn more about any of these points or to apply for free or reduced meals, click the button below to be taken to the School Meals page of our School Website.
Egrets Explore Space in the Star Lab
Elliott Elementary students were once again captivated by the mysterious black dome that seems to grace our stage once a year. This black dome is our Star Lab, an inflatable planetarium! Inside of this planetarium students explore the reason for night and day, hear a few fun facts about some of our planetary neighbors, and learn to pick out some key constellations from our night sky.Â
Try heading outside as a family to test your child's new knowledge. While some of the constellations that we learned about are challenging to find this time of year in South Carolina, the Big Dipper, part of Ursa Major, should be just about straight above your heads around 9pm.Â
We are so excited for the 24-25 school year!
Don't forget to let us know if you are coming!
If you have a new student, a returning student, or a current student who is withdrawing please use the button below to complete a registration form (for each child) to let us know who to expect!Â
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A Balanced Break
As we approach summer, it is important to revisit the topic of balance as it applies to technology use and the time we spend off of technology. We first visited this topic in our 12.5.24 issue of the Elliott Express. We discussed how technology can be an amazing tool for learning, working, playing, creating, and even maintaining connections. However, when we aren't intentional about balance and setting aside time for more than just screens and devices, it is easy to allow it to consume a disproportionate amount of our time. Whether we are young or old it is important to find a balance between using technology and enjoying other activities. When we unplug from technology, we can spend more quality time with our family, friends, and ourselves or discover new hobbies, skills, and interests!Â
If you created a family and making a Technology Use Pact after the December 5th issue of the Elliott Express, this may be a good time of year to revisit that pact. How is it working? Does it need to be adjusted for the summer when many families have less structured time? As a reminder, here are some considerations when making a Technology Use Pact:
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Discuss how your family's current tech use impacts your relationships. Does your tech use help you to feel closer together (maybe you play video games together or talk to Grandma who lives far way). Does someone feel like it is hurting your relationships (maybe someone feels ignored or undervalued because of someone else's tech use).Â
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Agree on times and amounts of time that are appropriate for non-academic and non-work related tech use (is it okay to use it during dinner? Before bed? etc). Â Â
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Decide on certain times throughout the week that you can enjoy unplugged time as a family. Â
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To learn more about summer meal sites near you, call 1-866-3-HUNGRY or click the link below to visit the USDA summer food site.
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