MVES Weekly News

Ms. Westbrook's Weekly Newsletter

May 7, 2026

Parent/Guardians should have received an invite to join ParentSquare on 4/16/23 which will be replacing Remind and IC messenger for all Hall County Schools beginning May 11, 2026. MVES community members who are not guardians will not receive ParentSquare messages. Beginning May 11, 2026, these community members will need to check this Weekly News Google Site or school website ( https://mves.hallco.org/) each Thursday for our school updates.

To keep up with the latest news and photos of your favorite Jr. Trojans, follow us on Twitter!

mves.hallco.org

SUBMIT A SAFETY TIP

To send an anonymous tip of a text or photo please send text to 678-865-6282.

To submit an anonymous tip over a phone line call 770-503-3232, or call your school principal.

For immediate threats please call 911 or complete the form below.

https://schoolsafety.hallco.org/submit-a-tip/

TO VIEW THE DISTRICT'S SAFETY WEBSITE: https://schoolsafety.hallco.org/

Dear Parents,

Congrats to our 4th and 5th grade Running Club for being named the 2nd fastest elementary school in Hall County! Our boys finished 2nd overall, and our girls finished 3rd overall.

Our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students have been working hard on their GA Milestones Assessment this week. We will complete the regular testing period tomorrow. We will continue with make-up testing throughout next week. Go Trojans!

This week, we are celebrating our remarkable staff at MVES with Staff Appreciation Week, Teacher Appreciation Week and Nurse Appreciation Week. We are thankful for each staff member at Mt. Vernon and all that our team does each day for our students, families and community. We appreciate our PTO, families and Partners in Education for helping to sponsor our staff appreciation efforts! I encourage your children to share their appreciation for their teachers by saying thank you and/or writing a note.

End of year class parties will be May 14 and 15. The schedule is below. The 5th grade Walk and Awards Program will be May 18 at 8:30 in the gym. Parent/family visitors should RSVP to their child's teacher for these celebrations by Monday, May 11 and must be on the student's Infinite Campus contact list.

All visitors must check in with ID and wear a visitor tag while at MVES. Thank you for your patience and support as we work hard to celebrate our Jr. Trojans and keep our school safe!

If you purchased a 5th grade yard sign, please come by the office to pick up your sign during school hours. We love seeing these signs in our community!

If you or a business you know would like to support MVES and the HCSD during our 2026 summer leadership retreat, we are in need of $25 gift card donations. Please let me or our front office know if you can help us with this request. Thank you for your support!

Election Day is Tuesday, May 19. Please see the ESPLOST information below.

Our office is already preparing car rider tags for the new school year. Please see the information below if your child will be a car rider at MVES for the 2026-27 school year. Thank you!

Go Trojans!

Jennifer Westbrook

Principal

Click here to view the 25-26 HCSD Calendar

Click here to view the 25-26 MVES Handbook

Wear School Spirit Colors on Fridays

MVES Parent Connection Calendar

Important Dates to Remember:

April 30-May 13 - Milestones EOG Testing (3rd-5th grade) - WEAR SPIRIT WEAR & SCHOOL COLORS!
May 4-8
- Staff Appreciation Week
- Milestones EOG Testing (3rd-5th grade)
May 8 - All library books due
May 11 and 18 - Marco's Mondays! (see below)
May 11 - 5th grade Trojan Olympics at North Hall
May 12 - NEW DATE! - MVES Alumni Senior Walk and Reception (see info below)
May 14-15 - End of year class parties (see times below)
May 15 - Patrick/Pollock end of year party at 12:30
May 18 - 5th grade Walk and Awards at 8:30
May 19 - Election Day
May 20
- Last Day of School
- Report Cards

Due to staff scheduling, safety and supervision concerns, student checkouts following special event days will not be available unless prior approved by administration. We want all of our students to enjoy these special days at school!

Milestones EOG Testing Schedule for 3rd-5th Grade:

Click here for MVES Parent Info for GA Milestones:

May menu

Due to increased costs, purchasing milk for lunch from home will be $.75 (does not include lactose free milk). Students should have money available in their MyPaymentsPlus account to purchase. Students will need a parent note to purchase lactose free milk.

Our office is already preparing new 2026-27 car rider tags! Please complete the form below to reserve your student's car rider tags!

2026-27 CAR RIDER TAG REQUEST FORM

Congrats to our April Staff Member and Teacher of the Month,

Mrs. Christin Simmons and Ms. Susan Snelling!

Thanks to our partners at Schlieman Wealth Management for sponsoring this monthly recognition for our team!

The ESPLOST North Hall cluster informational presentation, including proposed projects for the North Hall cluster, that was shared with the community at the ESPLOST informational sessions earlier in the spring are available at https://esplost.hallco.org

We are hiring!

MVES is looking for lunchroom monitors to support our Jr. Trojans in the cafeteria during lunch.

Interested candidates can apply online: https://www.applitrack.com/hallcounty/onlineapp/default.aspx?AppliTrackPostingSearch=location:%22Mount+Vernon+Elementary+School+-+0194%22

and contact jennifer.westbrook@hallco.org.

Medication Reminders from Nurse Devra Wood

Please contact Nurse Devra Wood regarding any student medical concerns or medications. Children should not deliver medications or have medications in their book bags.
Parent/Guardian must complete the HCSD medication permission form and deliver medication to the clinic in the original bottle.
For safety reasons, please do not send medications in with students.

Hall County Schools Bus App for Parents

Reminder from HCSD Transportation Dept: Nonresident students including HB251, Magnet and Tuition students, are not allowed to ride the bus to or from school unless it is a school day field trip experience. Nonresident families are required to provide transportation (car rider or MVES approved afternoon day care). Please contact the MVES front office with questions.

Car Rider Reminders

For morning drop-off, please have your student gather belongings, water bottle, etc. so he/she is prepared to exit the car quickly with all belongings READY when your car arrives at the sidewalk for drop-off.
Please remain in your car when unloading AND loading students. If you need to buckle students into car seats, please pull into the spaces next to the hill after you exit the loading area.
Please have students load/unload from the PASSENGER SIDE if possible. This saves time and is safer than having students cross between cars.
Please pull up as far as possible in the car rider line. The unloading/loading area is the entire length of the sidewalk.
A current car rider tag is required for pick up in the car rider line.
Our campus (including the car rider line) is a drug free/tobacco free campus.
It is unsafe for children to hang out of car windows or stand up through the sun roof while in line.

Frequently Asked Questions about Birthdays:

If you would like your child's class to celebrate his/her birthday at school, please communicate in advance with the teacher. Buying the class ice cream or sending in store-bought birthday treats (ex. cupcakes, donuts) can be planned ahead with the teacher. The teacher will distribute the treats at the appropriate time. We are unable to distribute invitations at school.

VISITORS & VOLUNTEERS:

Hall County Schools and MVES encourage family involvement in our schools. Parents will be invited to participate in special school and PTO events during and after school.
School visitors must have ID and be listed on the student's Infinite Campus approved contacts.
Visitors should not take/post pictures of other students.
A schedule for lunch visits will be available after Labor Day. Visitor seating will be scheduled on a limited basis due to space.
- no outside food will be permitted in the MVES cafeteria
- only 2 guests per student (unable to bring siblings from another grade)
- must have ID and be listed on IC approved contacts
- sit with their student at visitor tables
School and field trip volunteers must complete the HCSD application with volunteer modules through Checkmate (KEYWORD: HallVolunteers). https://campus.hallco.org/campus/checkMate/volunteerSignUp.jsp?appName=hall
The application will be available online and at the front office between 8:30-1:00 and 3:00-3:30. Due to district guidelines, volunteer applications and modules will be required each school year.
Following the first day of school, students arriving by car should come through the car rider line off Odum Smallwood Road. The front and front lower parking lots should only be used by buses and staff during arrival and dismissal times.
If you need to check out your child from school (we ask that you limit check-outs as much as possible), please notify the child's teacher and the front office staff in advance from a parent/guardian email address and call 770-983-1759 to confirm:
- missy.odom@hallco.org