We are looking forward to welcoming the community for the final walk through at the primary school this afternoon from 1:30 - 5:00 pm. Please park and enter through the front doors or between the wings.
Due to the snow on Friday, some surplus sale items have not been picked up yet! Those rooms have been clearly marked with caution tape. Please do not go in those rooms.
If you see items that you would like in non marked rooms, please check with a school employee, but you will most likely be able to take those items with you. We ask that you consider making a donation to the school for these items. Items that are available to take with you are, chairs, desks, tables, files cabinets, white boards, bulletin boards, clocks, etc.
The community will have an opportunity to have a final walkthrough of Oglethorpe County Primary School, the former Consolidated School, on Sunday, January 12 from 1:30 - 5:00 pm.
This will be the last day to order a commemorative brick. If you ordered a legacy t-shirt you can pick it up that day. We have some additional t-shirts that will be sold on a first come basis.
Greetings and Happy New Year!
We are so excited to welcome our pre-k through 5th grade students into phase 1 of our new elementary school. A lot of hard work has gone into getting it ready for their first day in the new building on Friday, January 10th.
Open House will be staggered today, Tuesday, January 7th, and Wednesday, January 8th. Please see the attachment for the details. The open house days are an opportunity for parents and guardians to have a chance to see the new school. This is not an open house for the community. That will take place when the entire project is completed in May.
Please note that teachers have worked very hard to get all their items moved from their old classroom to the new building. They are still in the process of setting up their rooms. Again, the purpose of the open house is to see the school, understand the layout, and see your child’s classroom. Please don’t expect everything to be in place. Teachers still have three workdays before students come. It will not be your typical open house – you will see moving boxes in the hallway and in classrooms. You might see furniture in the hallway, even a ladder or two as we complete the last few punch list items. We appreciate your patience with all of this.
Speaking of patience. This will be the new word for 2025! We will all need lots of it. Parking will be a hassle. Car rider will take a lot of getting used to, and yes, there will be long lines at first as we learn new routines and make adjustments. Please grant us grace. I promise we will be doing our very best. It will not be perfect the first few days. I am sure there are some of you who will have figured out a much better way to do it. We do welcome your feedback, but we would prefer it in the form of a constructive email, rather than a bashing on Facebook. I reiterate - I promise we are doing our best, and we have worked tirelessly over the Christmas break to make sure this transition goes smoothly – will it be perfect? – NO, but we all will need lots of patience to get through it together.
Some reminders from a previous email:
Early check-out ends at 1:45
Car rider line will not open until 2:00 p.m.
Drop off in the morning will be at 7:30
There is temporary visitor parking in the old elementary school bus circle. This can only be used during the hours of 8:15 – 1:45. You will then need to use the connecting sidewalk and enter through the front of the school.
If you need to come to the school outside of these hours, you will need to park at the old elementary school, and walk around the school, and follow the sidewalk to the front of the building.
Please know – the parking situation and the car rider situation will be this way for the remainder of the school year. YES – this is a HUGE inconvenience, but it will be nice when it is finished!
A map with an explanation is attached to this. Car riders drop off in the morning is different to pick up. All drop off is in the same location; however, pick up is different for pre-k -2 than it is for 3rd – 5th. Older siblings will pick up younger siblings and go to the 3rd – 5th grade pick-up if you have students in that grade band. As you look over the map, please hit reply or send your questions to blevine@oglethorpe.k12.ga.us. This will allow us to compile a list and send them out as one “Frequently Asked Questions” document.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of parking, we will not be able to have visitors in the building on Friday. Please remember to drop off medication during open house. We will also have people available in the car rider line who can take medicine if you need to drop it off on Friday.
For those who are not able to make it on Tuesday or Wednesday to open house, we will open the school on Saturday from 10:00 am – noon. Teachers will not be there, but it will give you a chance to see the school.
Phase 2 of the new school will begin on January 13th. After that date, we will not have access to the Primary School. We are inviting the community to come and say a final farewell to the Primary School from 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Sunday January 12th. Any item not marked sold may be taken as a remembrance. An American flag will be given to the first 50 people walking through the building. Those who ordered commemorative shirts can pick them up on Sunday. We will have a few extra for sale, too. Sunday will be the last day to order a commemorative brick to be placed in the pavilion.
We are looking forward to seeing you at Open House over the next few days.
Beverley Levine
PK-5th grade students return to school on Friday.
We look forward to seeing our families at our January Open Houses for the new Oglethorpe County Elementary School!
With the year winding down, you only have 11 more days to steer your state income tax dollars towards Oglethorpe County School System instead of sending it to Atlanta. Watch this short video, as our own board member, Jake Willcox, explains how easy it is easy complete the process for the Peach Education Tax Credit: https://ceonews-video.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/video/video-files/AthensCEO-01-18-24-Wilcox%201.mp4. Remember, in order to be able to take this off your 2024 taxes, you must have applied by December 31st.
Also, just a reminder, if you are a business looking for a last minute tax deductible write off, the school is connected to the Athens Area Community Foundation. All donations are tax deductible. Simply click the link below, or visit the Oglethorpe County website and click the donate button in the top right hand corner.
https://athensareacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4762.
Oglethorpe County is having a surplus sale of items from the Primary School that were not moved to the new school! The auction will be conducted online beginning January 1st, 2025. The items can be viewed at https://tinyurl.com/b7ybavp5. Scroll down to see the photos of the items available. Most items are being sold by the classroom. The school will host an opportunity to inspect the items in person on Friday, December 20th from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm and from Saturday, December 21st from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. This will take place at the primary school at 300 Comer Road, Lexington, GA, 30648. Please park in the front of the school, and enter through the front doors. No items will be sold, they can only be viewed.
Examples of items in the surplus sale include, desks, chairs, file cabinets, smart boards, white boards, projectors, computers, rugs, storage shelves, buses, trucks, and books.
The online auction will run from January 1st through January 7th, with the bidding closing at 10:00 am. Items can be picked up on January 8th, 9th, and 11th between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm.
A final walk through of the school will take place on Sunday, January 12th from 2:00 – 5:00 pm. This is open to all as a final goodbye.
A day to be remembered!
Be sure to plan ahead for our Holiday Dress Days that will begin on Friday!
Progress Reports are coming home today!
Be sure to register for Virtual Family STEM Night!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdMmy-U2hzwQn2zczva4Q30QdE-esti-65TnxpcFidh4Bco3w/viewform
Concessions at OCES on Friday!
PTO Meeting
Friday, November 15th @ 8:00am
Veterans Day Program
Friday, November 8th @ 11:00am
Fall Festival: October 24th
5:00-7:00pm
Our amazing Teachers of the Year were recognized at the Board of Education meeting last night.
Congrats to Adriane Echols (Primary School, Leanne Carter (Elementary School), Jill Barnes (Middle School), and Erin Bunch (High School) on being selected as the Teacher of the Year at their respective schools.
Oglethorpe County Schools will be operating on a regular schedule tomorrow, but CLOSED ON FRIDAY!
All after-school activities including ASPIRE have been canceled for Thursday.
We are following GEMA and Homeland Security’s recommendations.
We are continuing to watch and assess the weather closely and will make the best decision for our students and staff, always keeping safety in mind!
Our thoughts are with Barrow County!
Students in Grades K-3 will take the MAP Reading Fluency screener during the month of September.
Concessions during Patriot Games at OCPS and OCES tomorrow!
