Murdock Elementary School

Welcome to Murdock Elementary

Principal: Lynn Hamblett Asst. Principal: Donna Long


Murdock Elementary's Vision Statement: Murdock Elementary School will provide students with the foundational skills necessary to engage in Collaborative Conversations: Sharing ideas by understanding, listening, and speaking. Cobb County School District offers emergency alerts via text messaging. Please text CCSD to 84700. Messaging and data rate apply.

To help your children settle into a new school year and to reaquaint them with their routines and friends, for this reason students will be eating with their classmates throughout the month of August rather than family members. We look forward to seeing you enjoying lunch with your child beginning Tuesday, September 2nd.	On August 1st Kindergarteners and new students to Murdock will have the opportunity to take a "dry-run" bus ride to school. Buses will pick up Kindergarteners/new students and their parents at designated bus stops & times for the 2014 - 2015 school-year. Students and parents will have the opportunity to meet their driver, ride the route to school, and the return route home. The bus will NOT unload at the school If you have any questions, please contact the CCSD Transportation at 678 - 594 - 8000.

MURDOCK START TIME IS 7:50 AM!!! Your child can enter the building at 7:25 am. They will be counted as tardy if they are not in their classroom at 7:50 am when the bell rings. If your child arrives late to school, an adult needs to come in and sign them in at the front office. MURDOCK DISMISSAL TIME IS 2:25 PM!!	MESF’s Patron Program drive has officially begun! Your investment in the MESF Patron Program will support a full year of science programming, technology tools, and classroom support for YOUR Murdock student. This drive will continue until September 4th. Click here to find out how to donate.

Murdock mourns the heartbreaking and unexpected passing of our beloved past principal, Natalie Richman. Our thoughts and prayers are with her precious family and all those who loved her. Her boundless energy, enthusiasm, creativity, passion, and love for our children will forever be remembered. On May 21st, Natalie Richman unexpectedly passed away. She leaves behind a loving husband, Steven, and three beautiful children: Jason, 21, Alex,17, and Lindsay, 14. Their lives will never be the same. They have faced many challenges as a family, including Alex's cancer battle as a very young child, but they have always stood strong as a family and weathered the storm. This will be the toughest storm they have faced; it will be a heavy load for Steven to carry alone, and the goal is to raise enough to start a college fund for the children. Putting three through college will be difficult. We are absolutely heartbroken for this family: for Steven, for their three children who adore their mom, for her family who loves her dearly, and for all of us who were her friends and can never replace that kind, generous, loving woman who was always there for her children, her students, and everyone in her life. Anything helps! Thank you for your generosity. Every donation makes a difference. Click here to make a donation Click here to send a message to the Richman family.

Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade	RENEW YOUR PTA MEMBERSHIP! You can renew and pay online at http://www.murdockpta.com/join n’t wait till the fall – please renew your PTA membership today!

Murdock’s 2014 Summer Reading Program is going to be a Fizz! Boom! Read! experience! We’ve collaborated with Cobb County Public Libraries and Smyrna Public Libraries to create a fun list of book suggestions and activities that will keep children reading and growing all summer long! Details can be found at http://murdock10.typepad.com/media/ Watch for login/password information coming home with students.	Click here for the summer math packets for rising 6^th grade students. Clilck here for important information regarding rising 6th graders to Dodgen.

IMPORTANT CHANGE IN NEXT YEAR'S CALENDAR!!! 2014-2015 School Calendar Modified To Accommodate Election Day Nov. 4 The Board approved a slight modification of the 2014-2015 school year calendar. Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014 will now be a student holiday and students will attend school on President's Day, Feb. 16, 2015 (previously a scheduled holiday). When the 2014-2015 calendar was initially approved, the statewide gubernatorial election date was not included as a non-instructional day. Many Cobb County schools are used as polling locations and the calendar change will help accommodate the large voter turnout expected by the Cobb Board of Elections.	Click below to download a flyer and brochure that will tell you about registration and the necessary paperwork you will need to register your child. 2014 - 2015 Kindergarten Flyer 2014 - 2015 Kindergarten Brochure Below is a link and directions to the Kindergarten Handbook so you also have it handy: http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/curriculum/2014-15KHandbook.pdf or follow the instructions below. www.cobbk12.org site · Select Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment from the Department menu · Select Kindergarten Handbook from the toolbar on the left-side. For more information, please call Murdock's office. 770 -509-5071

Bus Drivers Needed Hourly rate of pay $14.37 Apply online at http://www.ccsdbusdriver.com/	Cobb County 4^th and 5^th grade teachers have a new tool for teacher gradebooks and parent information. Our new system, Synergy, has a ParentVUE that allows parents to view student gradebook information. In order to access this system, the following steps are required by the enrolling parent: -Complete the Acceptable Use Policy and User Agreement form in person at the school. Only the enrolling parent may complete this form. Photo identification must be provided. -Receive your individualized Activation Key -Pick up your copy of the ParentVUE Getting Started Guide

Fire Lane Changes for Schools On March 13, 2012, the Cobb County Fire Lane Ordinance was amended to include a provision for student pick-up at schools. The ordinance now allows a vehicle to be located in a fire lane for 30 minutes prior to the afternoon school end time and 30 minutes after the school end time, as long as a driver is behind the wheel. Stopping or parking a vehicle in a fire lane at any other time is prohibited, unless passengers are actively loading or unloading. Fire lanes can be identified by “No Parking Fire Lane” signage and/or curbing that is red in color. Fire lane violations currently result in a fine of $135.00.	Lunch Visitor Policy Changes To better ensure the safety of our children we have revised our lunch visitor policy. Parent(s)/Guardian(s) must send a note in the morning if their child is expecting a lunch visitor that day. Please specify the visitor’s name and relationship to your child in the letter. Lunch visitor notes will be forwarded to the front office for reference when the visitor checks in. We will apologetically deny any visitor for whom a letter has not been sent. Enrolling parent(s)/guardian(s) are always welcome to visit at lunch without a note. Parents or visitors can ONLY take their child to visitor table, no extra students. Thank you for your help and understanding as we implement this policy to better protect our children.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION! The general public will have to present a photo ID to gain access to the building through the Main Entrance. A button on the entry pad, located to the left of the front door, will have to be pushed to gain entry into the building. Click here to read more about this new policy.	A Resolution for 2014: Become a better typist using Type to Learn 4! MESF has generously purchased a wonderful typing program called Type to Learn 4. Students can practice their typing skills in a personalized and interactive manner at school and at home! With just a little practice every day, you will be on your way to typing success in 2014! Download the attachment below for instructions on downloading Type to Learn 4 at home! Download TypetoLearn4HomeDownloadInstructions If you have any questions about downloading the program, please feel free to email Heather Smith at heather.cassidy@cobbk12.org

RAD DADS If you are interested in getting involved with our RAD DAD program, please either complete the very short form at the link below. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform? By filling out the form, it will automatically input the information into a spreadsheet and we can better reach the fathers of Murdock.	Online prepayment is now available for parents to pay their student’s ASP daily fees and registration fee! You can pay for Murdock's After School Program online with a credit card through the MealPayPlus service. Register for your free account at www.mealpayplus.com if you're not already registered to pay for your student’s lunches. You'll need your student's school ID number to sign up. Please contact Murdock's After School Program with any questions at (770) 509-5071.

Support MESF by becoming a Friend of the Foundation! To download the MESF Patron Drive donation form please click here. MESF is now able to accept PayPal and Credit Card payments online at our website: www.mesf.org. If you have any questions regarding donations to the Patron Program please e-mail Miranda Austin at mesfpresident@gmail.com. We look forward to a great 2014-2015 school year ahead and appreciate your support! You can also visit us at www.mesf.org and on facebook!	2014 - 2015 Click here to download a PTA Membership Form

Lunch Prices for 2014 - 2015 Lunch ES Student - $2.15 Lunch MS Student - $2.30 Lunch HS Student - $2.40 Lunch Adult All Schools - $3.25 Lunch Reduced Price All Schools - $0.40 Milk and Fruit Juice - $0.60	Murdock is holding a class competition to see which class can collect the most "Box Tops for Education." You can also go to www.boxtops4education.com to check Murdock's earnings status, to sign up for valuable coupons for BOXTOP products, to enter sweepstakes to win bonus BOXTOPS for Murdock and to earn BOXTOPS by shopping online through the BOXTOPS Marketplace for products from some of your favorite retailers, such as GAP, Lands End, Target, Walmart and many more. The submission deadline is April 15th Questions??? leslielandau@yahoo.com

Click here for your the following forms: Dismissal Changes The Cobb County School District Bus Pass must be completed at home by a parent/guardian if a child is riding a bus that is NOT their regular bus. Bus Pass	Click here to order your yearbook --------
Carpool Procedures	For only $35 (payable to MESF) your child's name and special message will be displayed on the Murdock School Sign for one whole school week! Typical message is "Happy ___th B-day First Name, Last Initial." Please contact Angela Sanchez at MESFbirthdaymarquee@gmail.com to check availability. Thanks for your support of MESF!