MVES Weekly News

Ms. Westbrook's Weekly Newsletter

January 8, 2026

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

To receive school-wide text alerts for special events, text @hc-mves to 81010.

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,

We are off to a strong start in 2026 at MVES! We have been celebrating our students' growth in literacy and math with MAP Marvels this week. Report cards will be sent home today along with midyear MAP reports. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you have questions about your child's reports.

Before the break, our classes enjoyed a fun STEAM Wonderland Day sponsored by our PTO and connections/media team! You can see pictures from the event on our December Twitter posts.

We are looking forward to seeing our school "Families" tomorrow morning for our January meeting.

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:

January 8 - Report Cards and MAP Reports go home
January 9 - Families
January 14 - HCSD Spelling Bee
January 19 - MLK Holiday (no school for staff or students)
January 23 - HCSD Technology Competition
January 26 - February 13 - One School One Book

Upcoming Yearbook Deadline:

February 27 - last day to order a 2025-26 school yearbook

January 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.

**2025-26 Georgia School Climate Survey for Families**

MVES will take the Georgia School Climate Survey this year. Each parent or guardian is invited to take the family version to answer questions about the current school or schools you have a child or children attending. If two or more children attend the same school, please only complete one survey for that school.

The survey measures what you think about how the school engages with families. Answers are not linked to names in any way. When typing answers, please do not give names or information that you don’t want to share with this school. Data will be shared with school leaders to help improve the school and will be published on the GaDOE website.

Please help by sharing your honest opinion on this 22-question survey. To take the parent survey, please click this link.

**Georgia School Climate Survey for 3rd-5th Grade Students**

Our 3rd-5th grade students will take the Georgia School Climate Survey in connections this month. Please contact bethany.nix@hallco.org if you have questions about the survey.

2025-26 Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students)!

We are changing things up a little bit this school year. We will have different dates available for different grade levels. Thursday dates will be for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Friday dates will be for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. If you have kids that overlap on two different date/grade level preferences - it's okay, just pick a date and you will still get to see all of your kids :). Before signing up to be a Watch DOG, you must complete the volunteer application by following this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yk7UX64rMYA_oLGUHUAphIV9Aed3XvhSPyMOQcS3Q3Q/edit?usp=sharing

WATCH DOG Sign Up Genius Link:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4FA5AC2EA4F94-60503360-mves

Please reach out to Mrs. Nix with any questions at Bethany.nix@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.

Save the Date for your 2025-26 Calendars:

February 26 - K & 3rd Grade Museum Night
March 12 - 1st & 2nd Grade Museum Night
March 16 - Harlem Wizards at NHHS

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

AND

- marisa.chester@hallco.org

LUNCH VISITOR SCHEDULE (see *visitor guidelines above) - January - March

*Volunteer applications are not required for lunch visitors.

Please review the available slots below, and click on the button to sign up.

Here is the link to the lunch visitor schedule for January 6 - March 31.

MVES is excited to welcome our parents/guardians for lunch with your students! ALL lunch visitors will be required to have a reservation due to very limited seating. Visitors are limited to signing up for only 1 time during the dates above.

For the safety of students, please note the following:

· For your child’s lunch visit, 1 or 2 adults (must have ID and be on student IC contact list) may join the same reservation (no school-age siblings; younger children should be in lap or stroller to help with limited seating).

· Siblings from other grade levels cannot be combined into the same reservation, but a parent can sign up 1 time during these dates for each child.

· Outside food will not be allowed to be brought into the MVES cafeteria (HCSD guideline).

· Lunch visitors will eat in the visitor seating area located outside the office, across from the learning commons.

· Lunch visitors will meet their child in the hall as his/her class goes to lunch and sign-out in the office after the lunch period ends (student will rejoin his/her class at the end of the lunch time).

· Visitors may purchase lunch in the cafeteria for $5.10 each (cash or check).

· Lunch visitors may have lunch with your child only. Other students cannot join your lunch visit.

Exact lunch times for each homeroom class may be viewed HERE.

Please contact our front office with questions. We look forward to seeing you at MVES!

We appreciate our 2025-26 MVES Partners in Education!

1st Response Roofing

American Family Homes

Anchor Real Estate Advisors

BCI

BGW Dental Group

Big Peach Running Co - Braselton

Causey Orthodontics