Friday, September 21: Deadline to register for the ITBS; Deadline to order school photos; Reps from Atlanta Band Center in lunchroom, 3:30 – 4:30 pm; Kirkwood Wine Stroll (visit FSA pouring station!), 7:00 – 10:00pm
Saturday, September 22: East Decatur Greenway Clean Up Day, 9:00am-12:00pm
Sunday, September 23: Pancake Brunch at Atlanta Friends Meeting House, 11:15am
Friday, September 28: FSPATA Meeting, 8:15-9:00am
Sunday, September 30: Fall Fest, 3:00 – 6:00pm
Friday, October 5: Coffee With Friends, 8:00am
Thursday, October 11: Parent Basketball Meeting, 5:30pm
Sunday, October 14:Atlanta Pride Parade, FSA and Atlanta Friends Meeting March 12:00 pm
Monday, October 15:ITBS Practice Test, 3:30pm; Deadline for Childcare Registration for Quaker Ed Night
Wednesday, October 17:ITBS Testing 3rd – 8th Grade
Wednesday, October 17:Quaker Education Night, 6:00 – 7:30pm in CMR
Thursday, October 18: ITBS Testing 3rd – 8th Grade
Friday, October 19: Staff Development Day, NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
FSA Calendar
(click icon)
Come one, come all! FSA Fall Fest is our autumn celebration! Join us for old fashioned games, Waman (and other teachers) in the dunk tank, food trucks, music and fun. Open to the community, so invite your friends! $10 per family in advance, $15 per family at the door. Tickets include all games. To volunteer to help, click here.
Your Auction To Do List
FSA’s Auction is quickly approaching on November 10, so don’t forget to:
Donate your gifts cards, wine, or cash.
Ask friends and families to donate a vacation home or “money can’t buy” experience or item.
Sponsor (Ask you company to underwrite an auction expense. Contact your Auction Co-Clerks for more information).
Volunteer your time.
Attend the auction and bring a friend or two.
To learn more about FSA’s Annual Benefit Auction, click here…
Thank you for making this year’s auction a success!
The wonderful photographer Lindsey Lingenfelter writes:
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to photograph your beautiful children! I have your photos ready for proofing/ordering. I hope you are as pleased with them as I am!
On Friday evening, September 21, from 7-10:00pm, FSA will have a pouring station at the Kirkwood Wine Stroll! Our station will be at the Kirkwood Car Wash, whose proprietor, FSA dad Stuart Brady, promises to include Karaoke at the Car Wash as an extra incentive to turn out for this family-friendly event. Tickets — $40 through September 15, then $50 until the event — buy you wine, beer, food, music and a whole lot of fun! For more information, visit kirkwoodwinestroll.com.
Supporting Financial Aid at FSA Is as Easy as Apogee123!
It is so simple to bring more financial aid dollars to FSA without spending an extra dime. If you pay income taxes to the state of Georgia, you can redirect all or part of what you owe to a pot of financial aid money designated for FSA. To learn more about the program, the allowed tax credit amounts and how to participate, just go to the Apogee Scholarship Fund website by clicking hereand fill out your application for a tax credit. The deadline for applying is December 15, 2018. Once your application is approved in January, you’ll have 60 days to pay the money to Apogee. Then when you file your 2019 state income tax return, the money you would have owed to the state is now a tax credit that has gone to support diversity at The Friends School of Atlanta. Last year we raised $133,000 for financial aid through this program. To date we’ve raised $29,350 from 14 participants. Thanks to our friends for these funds! Think what we can raise if you participate, too! Our goal this year is $150,000! For more information, contact Nancy Bent, Director of Advancement, at [email protected]anta.org; 404-373-8746 x8135. Thanks!
4-H Cloverleaf Club at FSA
Want to get involved in a leadership service club at FSA? FSA is pleased to announce the start of a 4-H Cloverleaf Cub. 4-H is a youth development program that seeks to build leadership skills, public speaking skills, citizenship and community service. 4-H is exploring, discovering, encouraging, challenging, and of course having fun! The 4-H Club is a branch of the University of Georgia and UGA Extension Dekalb County. The FSA Cloverleaf Club is open to all 4th-6th grade students. Club meetings will be held the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month in Room 302, 3:45-4:45pm. There are no fees to join 4-H. The Club Volunteer Sponsor is FSA parent, Erica Stevens, PhD. Erica has more than 20 years of experience in youth development, having worked with Tennessee Extension Service, Big Brothers/ Big Sisters and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. If you’d like to help or need more information please contact Erica at [email protected].
The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) will be offered in the fall only this year. FSA offers parents the option to register their 3rd through 8th grade students for the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. ITBS testing will occur on October 17 and 18. Registration forms and payments are due by September 21. We are not able to accommodate registrations after that date. For information about registration this fall, please click ITBS Registrationor get a copy at the front desk desk.
East Decatur Greenway Workday September 22
Save the Date! Join Trees Atlanta and the Decatur community for a volunteer workday at East Decatur Greenway, FSA’s partner in environmental education just next door!
What: Trees Atlanta is part of an exciting new restoration project at East Decatur Greenway and needs your help to control invasive plant species present in the greenspace! We will be saving trees from kudzu and working to remove Chinese privet choking out the understory.
When: Saturday, September 22, 2018, 9:00am-12:00pm
Where: East Decatur Greenway next door to FSA
Info: Kevin Mink, Forest Restoration Manager, Trees Atlanta [email protected]: 570-856-2314
Important Details: It is important to arrive on time in order to see our demonstration. Please wear long pants made from a natural fiber, such as denim (no athletic wear), closed-toed shoes or boots, and clothes that can get dirty. Bring drinking water in a reusable container. No one-time-use plastic bottles, please. Projects happen rain or shine, so please check the weather beforehand and come prepared. Trees Atlanta will provide all necessary tools and instruction. East Decatur Greenway will provide refreshments.
Thank you for helping us care for Atlanta’s urban forest. We look forward to working with you!
Quaker Life Pancake Brunch for All
(Volunteer Opportunity for MS Students)
To support the financial aid at FSA and to connect FSA families and members of Atlanta Friends Meeting, the Quaker Life Committee holds a yearly pancake brunch at the Altanta Friends Meetinghouse. This year the breakfast is Sunday, Sept. 23, starting at 11:15am, immediately following Meeting for Worship. The Meetinghouse is located 701 W Howard Avenue, at the corner of Adair Street, in Decatur. You are also welcome to attend Meeting for Worship, which begins at 10:00am.
Prices are as follows: Families: $15; Adults: $7; Children 4 – 14 – $4; Children 3 and younger – free.
There are two ways middle school students can support the effort and earn community service hours:
MS students can bake muffins before the weekend and drop them at school on Friday, September 21, with Elsie Santway, Director of Finance, whose office is on the first floor. Or students can drop the muffins off at the Meetinghouse on the Sunday of the event.
MS students can also get community service hours for serving, setting up or cleaning up at the event. (They must get a community service slip completed.) Students can help with the breakfast from 9:30am–12pm.
MS students, let Laura James know if you plan to help!
Following the brunch, all are invited to a forum planned by Quakers for Racial Equality and Green Friends, starting at 11:45am at the Meetinghouse. Come learn how climate change is causing growing numbers of refugees and displaced peoples around the world, including Atlanta. Green Friends and Quakers for Racial Equality will be hosting a presentation and discussion of the issue with Ted Terry, Executive Director of the Georgia Sierra Club and Mayor of Clarkston.
SSAT Opportunity for 8th Grade Students
FSA will host the SSAT (Secondary School Admissions Test) on our campus for interested 8th grade students on November 10. We also offer a prep class for SSAT test-taking strategies beginning October 4. The deadline to register for the Prep Class is September 11, and the deadline to register for the test is October 26. Please click link for details and an FAQ about who should take the SSAT.
Looking for Volunteers for a School Fair
The Friends School of Atlanta has been invited to participate in the Bright Horizons Admissions Fair for families that are looking for educational opportunities beyond preschool. The event will be held on Saturday, September 29, from 9:30am to 12:30pm. We need two volunteers to represent FSA at this event. We will equip you with everything you need to set up the FSA table and talk to prospective families. To volunteer, sign up here. Questions? Email Alvanita Hope-Negron, Director of Admissions, [email protected]org.
Updated Information for FSA Wind Ensemble (Band)
We are excited to announce the start of the FSA Wind Ensemble (also known as band) for 4th – 8th grade students! The instruments will include flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and percussion. No previous musical experience or music reading is required, though experienced students are also welcome. The ensemble will be directed by Chris Willoughby. Representatives from Atlanta Band Center will be at the school on Friday, September 21, 3:30 – 4:30 pm, in the lunchroom to discuss instrument rentals or purchases. For more information, please click the Wind Ensemble Information Sheet..
Publix Partners Gives Back (No Key Fob Needed!)
If you shop at Publix, a percentage of your purchase will be donated back to FSA. You no longer need a key fob for scanning. Just go to the website for Publix Partners, sign up for the program indicating you’d like the money to go to FSA, then enter you phone number each time you shop in the PIN Pad during check out. It’s that easy! Thanks for participating!
Date Change for Spirit Week
Please note, the date for Spirit Week has been moved from November 5 to February 4. Watch the LQN for more details on this week of fun and zany themes closer to the day.
Coffee Donations for FSPATA Meetings
A big thank you to Oakhurst coffee shop Kavarna for donating the coffee for the next FSPATA meeting, taking place on Friday, September 28, from 8:15-9:00am. Huge thanks also to Ebrik Coffee Room on East College Avenue in Decatur, who will be donating coffee for the October FSPATA meeting. FSPATA meets on the last Friday of every month.
First Meeting of the Diversity, Equity and Justice Committee
All are welcome to join in our first DEJ meeting on Thursday, October 4, at 8:15 – 9:30 am in the lunchroom. Topic for discussion to be announced. To submit a topic for consideration, please email Waman at [email protected]friendsschoolatlanta.org.
Also, come to the DEJ Book Club! We will be discussing Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston. From the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, this book interviews and relates the true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade who was abducted from Africa on the last “Black Cargo” ship to arrive in the United States.
Or, you might be intrigued by Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. This novel, set in 18th Century Ghana, recounts the tale of two half-sisters born in different villages under different circumstances. The story follows the sisters on their very different paths through multiple generations and several continents.
Sponsored by FSPATA and DEJ, interested readers will meet at noon on Sunday, October 28, at Twain’s Restaurant in downtown Decatur to discuss the books. Feel free to read either book or both. Take notes or don’t. Enjoy some provocative reading and look forward to some riveting conversation about these works during the school year.
How Billing for Aftercare, Clubs and Incidentals Works
AFTERCARE FEES: Aftercare attendance is charged at $15 per day (or $12 per day for families receiving financial aid). If your student attends aftercare following an aftercare club then the daily charge is reduced to $7.50 per day (or $6 per day for families receiving financial aid). Charges are determined using the sign-in and sign-out sheets managed by aftercare staff and are billed weekly. Aftercare ends promptly at 6:00pm. Students who are picked up after 6:00pm will have a late fee of $10 added to bill.
AFTER SCHOOL CLUB FEES: Club charges will be added to your billing account once the clubs you have signed up for are confirmed. Payment is due within 30 days of the charge date and late fees will apply for charges that remain unpaid after 30 days.
WEEKLY STATEMENTS: On Friday of each week an updated statement is added to your NetClassroom account including all non-SMART plan charges (all SMART payments must be made directly to SMART). Payment is expected within 30 days of the charge date on your statement. Any charges not paid in full within 30 days of the charge date will accrue late fees. A five percent (5%) late fee will be added for payments received more than five (5) days after the due date. Payments more than thirty days (30 days) in arrears will be charged an additional 1.75% (annual percentage rate of 21%).
PAYMENTS: We prefer that you make payment through your NetClassroom account. NetClassroom accepts payments by electronic check (no charge to you) or by debit or credit card (a convenience fee of about 3% is added). The bill pay option will be available on the Netclassroom account for the parent who is designated as the primary payer for each student. Other parents receiving statements will not have the bill pay option. This is a designation within our system and can be changed by contacting Elsie Santway.
(Please note, those wishing to make a philanthropic gift to FSA should use the Online Donation form at the bottom of this newsletter. It can also be accessed on the website.)
Questions or concerns about your billing account or a request to work out a payment plan can be addressed to Elsie Santway at [email protected]friendsschoolatlanta.org.
Meal Train for Kenny’s Family
Middle school teacher Kenny Rochester and his wife, Atira, have welcomed their baby girl, Reina, much earlier than expected. Please sign up to make a meal for their family as they adjust. All instructions are located on the meal train website, https://mealtrain.com/201m5m. Questions? Email Anna Knipfer, [email protected]latlanta.org.
FSA Seeks After Care Teacher and Substitute Teachers
Please consider if you, or someone you know, would be interested in becoming an Aftercare Teacher at FSA. For more information and next steps, see the job description.
FSA is also seeking to expand its list of substitute teacherswith caring teachers who will step into that special role as a substitute when FSA faculty are out on planned or unplanned leave. A love of children and experience with elementary and/or middle school aged students is a big plus. Anyone interested in learning more should email their resume and professional references to [email protected]tlanta.org.
News from the Wider Community
All submitted newsletter items that are not directly related to the life of FSA are listed in News from the Wider Community. Be sure to take a look. There are many interesting events and opportunities covered that you will want to know about!
Billing Statement Information
Be sure to check NetClassroom for your weekly FSA billing statement!
Contact Elsie Santway, Director of Finance, with any questions or concerns about your statement.
