Ms. Westbrook's Weekly Newsletter

December 4, 2025

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,

I hope your families enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday! Our 4th and 5th grade shared amazing Museum Night showcases before the break. Thanks to our students and teachers for all of their hard work on these performances and projects! Thanks to our parents and families for your amazing support of our students' work!

Congrats to our 4th and 5th grade Spelling Bee class and school winners! Class winners are pictured below and on Twitter. Dalton Wilbanks won 1st place in our school bee, Madison Peebles and was the runner-up. They will represent our Jr. Trojans at the district bee in January. Congrats!

Next week, on Tuesday, December 9, our students will take the MAP Growth midyear reading assessment. On Wednesday, December 10, our students will take the MAP Growth midyear math assessment. This assessment will allow us to measure midyear growth and identify areas to focus on for the remainder of the school year. Thank you for making sure students go to bed early, eat breakfast and are on time to school so that they can do their best!

Our class holiday parties will be the week of December 15. Please RSVP using the form sent by your child's teacher by December 12. Parents should RSVP using an email on your student's Infinite Campus account. Thank you for making sure you RSVP with your child's party visitor name/s. These visitors must have ID and be listed on the student's Infinite Campus approved contacts; however, they are not required to complete the volunteer application unless they plan to volunteer. Visitors and volunteers should not visit MVES if they do not feel well. The holiday party schedule is below.

We are asking families to participate in the Georgia Parent Survey again this year. This information helps contribute to our school and district improvement planning process. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey linked below.

If your family is interested in helping a family in need this holiday, please see the wonderful opportunity provided by our community partner below.

We are looking forward to seeing our K-5th grade Jr. Trojans in "Families" tomorrow morning. This will be our last "Families" time for 2025.

Go Trojans!

Jennifer Westbrook

Principal

Click here to view the 25-26 HCSD Calendar

Click here to view the 25-26 MVES Handbook

2025 MVES Spelling Bee

Congrats, Jr. Trojans!

Wear School Spirit Colors on Fridays

MVES Parent Connection Calendar

Important Dates to Remember:

December 5
- Families
- Night at The Oaks 4:00-7:30 (free holiday event - see info below)
December 9 - Reading MAP Growth
December 10 - Math MAP Growth
Week of December 15 - Holiday Parties (schedule below)
December 19
- PJ Day
- Winter STEAM Wonderland Day (see volunteer info below)
December 22 - January 2 - Winter Break
January 5 - Teacher Workday
January 6 - Students return

**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.

December 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.

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

Faith Bixler and Missy Odom!

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

DECEMBER PTO UPDATES:

Please remember to pick up your child's One and Done yard sign from the school.

If you would like to volunteer for our Winter STEAM Wonderland day, please click here. Volunteers must be approved by the school in advance of volunteering for this PTO event.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child for Christmas, you can reach out to our partner organization below for sponsor information:

YMCA Tree of Giving: rick.little@gamountainsymca.org

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) - October 16 - December 19

*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 October 16 - December 19.

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 below.

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