In Focus @ GWA

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Email: info@gwa.com
Website: www.gwa.com
Phone: (678) 635-3800
Facebook: facebook.com/GeorgeWaltonAcademy/
Twitter: @georgewalton

May 14: Virtual Info. Session with Dr. Dolan @ 6 p.m. (see below)

May 15: Last Day of School

May 15: Summer Camp Registration Begins

May 18 -22: K3 - 11 End-of-Year Pick Up and Drop Off (scheduled)

May 29: Deadline to Order LS Pre-pack (see below)

Bulldog Friends,

Happy last week of school! I sure have missed seeing everyone on campus and I've also missed the normalcy of our day-to-day school routine. That being said, based on your feedback, I truly believe that GWA went above and beyond most people’s expectations for digital learning and certainly was able to move further than most schools in academic learning during our days off campus.

Our enrollment is tracking exactly where we were this time last year and re-enrollment is at an all-time high. With the class-size limits that GWA has implemented for the fall, some grades have already reached capacity and we are accepting “wait list” inquiries only. Please be sure you have completed your enrollment contract to retain your spot for 2020-2021.

We have "virtual visit" videos available on our website and encourage you to continue letting your friends know that great things are happening at GWA and they can check us out online. They are also encouraged to call or email us for more information. We have been creative in setting up online meetings for them to learn more about our school and even visit virtually with current students and parents to get an "insider's look" at the GWA experience!

It truly is a GREAT time to be (and become!) a bulldog.

Happy summer – see you in August!

Cari

As we roll out the Back to Campus Update for the 2020-2021 school year, we have several tools available for you to learn more:

1. OVERVIEW

For an outline of the update, please click on this image:

2. ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Dr. Dolan has been leading parent and faculty meetings to present the Back to Campus update and tonight's meeting at 6 p.m. will be offered virtually (see link below). For optimal viewing, we recommend you view the meeting from a desktop or laptop computer instead of a phone. At the end of the session, please use the meeting's online chat feature to submit any questions you may have.

Please check your email tomorrow for GWA Summer Camps information. Matt Reynolds will send this out at 8 p.m. It will include details about the changes to our summer camp program as well as the sign up link for all camps. Spaces will be limited.

We’ve been inspired by the many ways the GWA community has pulled together during this unprecedented time in history. Thank you for encouraging and supporting our students, teachers, staff, and one another. It’s never been more apparent that the George Walton Academy community is truly special.

We understand the uncertainty and challenges our families are facing at this time. While school life has been different over the past few months, the dedicated support of our community has allowed the GWA experience to continue despite the current situation.

The Annual Loyalty Fund remains our most important source of revenue beyond tuition and bridges the gap between tuition and the school’s operating costs. In light of the current global situation, we anticipate that some of our families may be in need of short-term financial aid. Your gift will go a long way in ensuring the GWA experience isn’t lost because of a temporary financial disruption for a current family. If you have not made your 2019-2020 gift and are able to do so, please consider participating and increasing opportunities across our school community. The deadline to give to our 2019-2020 Annual Loyalty Fund is June 30, 2020. All gifts postmarked by that date will be allocated accordingly.

Thank you for making GWA Stronger than Ever!

You should have received an email with information and instructions for end-of-year drop off and pick up. To limit the number of people on campus, please use the link below to select a date and time to come on campus if you have not already done so. We encourage you to wear a mask and practice social distancing while on campus.

The link for K3 - 11th graders is https://forms.gle/aA8NL24L5DpbGwpE8

Families only need to select one time slot to come to campus. If you did not receive the original message with all the details, please email Jeanie Beach at jbeach@gwa.com.

By Liz Jones, Yearbook Advisor

The senior class dedicated the 2020 yearbook to latin teacher Cortney Pickens! Congratulations Miss Pickens! Please enjoy the GWA virtual yearbook presentation (above). The presentation includes yearbook staff introductions, the presentation of the yearbook dedication, and the annual end of the year slideshow video with a special ending for the class of 2020.

VIRTUAL YEARBOOK SIGNING

Go to http://www.gwa.com/campus-life/yearbook.cfm for instructions on how to set up your own pages that you can share and have your friends sign. You can print them out when they are finished to keep in your yearbook!

YEARBOOK DISTRIBUTION

The publishing company has been closed, but is now working through a backlog of remaining yearbook pages and our last few pages will hopefully be on press soon! As soon as we get a delivery date, I will be in touch with you all about distribution. If you are unsure about whether or not you ordered a book, feel free to email me at ljones@gwa.com. You can also email me if you’d like to be put on the waiting list to buy a yearbook (we have already sold the extra books we ordered, but the publishing company usually sends us some overruns that we can sell).

PHOTO INFO

If you have spring sports pictures or lower school spring portraits that you ordered, please make sure to pick them up during your end of the year drop off/pick up sign up time! We have them at the school and ready to be distributed. Lower school pictures will be with the stuff in your classroom and middle/upper school spring sports photos will be in the cafeteria!

Students and Parents,

As we wrap up the 50th Anniversary of George Walton Academy and all that it means to us, we would like to invite our high school students to participate in a collective Time Capsule project to be opened in the years to come.

Just as those who have come before us have done, we would like to leave something behind for our future George Walton students and families to see to be able to experience what George Walton was like in 2020 and some of the things that were important to our students today.

Examples of items that students could contribute could include but are not limited to:

• Academic, Athletic, or Club memorabilia
• Examples of student art
• Hand-written letters about their experiences
• Pictures/Albums
• Old iPhone or other important technology (obviously something you don’t need anymore)

We are asking students who wish to participate to bring their item to the front office during the week of May 18-22 when they come to turn in school owned items and pick up their belongings.

Any questions or concerns, please contact Matt Reynolds at mreynolds@gwa.com

Please access the appropriate links below for middle and high school supply lists, lower school pre-pack online ordering and summer work.

• Click HERE for a list of lower school summer activities for rising K5 through rising fifth grade scholars.

• Parents can pre-order lower school student school supplies for fall starting today (5/14/2020). Visit https://dawgshop.square.site for prices and the list of prepackaged supplies. This link is also found on gwa.com. Prepaid orders may be placed until May 29, 2020 and will be delivered to students in their homeroom on the first day of school.

• Click HERE for middle and high school supply lists and summer reading.

All of the lists will be available in ParentsWeb under Resource Documents throughout the summer. For questions regarding lower school, please contact Jenny Duke and for middle and high school, please contact Femke Côté.

Our upper school fine arts teachers invite you to view our new virtual art gallery! Impressive works are featured from the following classes: Art II, Art III, Honors and Independent Art, Winter Term Impressionism, AP Art and AP Photography.

Distance learning has taken us down many new paths and provided us opportunities to experiment with our art and materials. Ms. Sims middle school art students were tasked with creating artwork depicting animals, people, landscapes or abstract designs using materials they foraged from outside and around their homes. Students used leaves, rocks, seeds, flowers and anything else they could find to create interesting works of art. This project required tremendous creativity and the results are amazing!

Congratulations to our senior track and field athletes. Coach Whitley will share his senior recognition video on social media soon. We wish all the best to Landen Johnson, Brody Lindsey, Thomas Jones, Benton Doster, J. Paul Ivey, and Jacob Dally.

Relay For Life is the largest fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Through donations, the Society provides service and programs for cancer patients and their families. While a lot of things have been placed on pause, ACS is not pausing, and never will. The organization will continue to offer caring support for cancer patients in ways that keep everyone safe and ensure nobody has to face cancer alone. Please mark your calendars to save the date for August 14. We will keep you updated every month as the event approaches. For more information contact Elizabeth McDonel at emcdonel@gwa.com

Today's In Focus is proudly co-sponsored by Ginn Motors. Interested in advertising through our Corporate Partnership program? Contact Jeanie Beach at jbeach@gwa.com or call 678-635-3812.

Today's In Focus is proudly co-sponsored by Element Funding. Interested in advertising through our Corporate Partnership program? Contact Jeanie Beach at jbeach@gwa.com or call 678-635-3812.