The FAST Flyer

Mark your calendars for the second annual Holiday Jubilee scheduled for December 8th during the school day in the Innovation Hall. The theme this year is "A Season of Peace and Joy." Students will be performing songs with messages of peace and joy as well as sharing a couple of their favorite songs from music class. Mr. Hendry will be sending out more details about the exact schedule, dress code, and a sign up for a few volunteers after Thanksgiving break. We looking forward to celebrating music, peace, and joy at FAST!

During the month of November, kindergarten students learned about letter sounds in their reading block, the history of Thanksgiving during social studies, and what it means to be grateful in SEL. Each student was assigned a letter sound and asked to identify something they are grateful for that starts with the sound. On Tuesday they held a gratitude parade. Each student dressed as the thing they are grateful for. This creative cross-curricular activity was adorable. Special thanks to the kindergarten team for putting it together and to the kindergarten parents for hitting it out of the park with the costumes.

The annual FAST Technology fair will be held on December 1 from 9-11am in the Innovation Hall at FAST. This event is the precursor to the Fulton County Technology Competition. FAST students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their projects prior to competing at the county level. We welcome our parents to attend to see the variety of projects our students are working on.

On Thursday morning we held both soft lockdown and hard lockdown drills. The state requires these drills be done periodically to ensure that both staff and students are prepared to react in the unlikely event of an emergency on campus. The students all did very well during the drills following directions and remaining silent as needed.

We want to give a shout out to 7th grade students Adam Hussain and William Beach who took home the top prize for their City Finals as the 2023 ALTA U-12 Junior Champions. We know how hard they worked to achieve this victory. Congratulations to them both!

If you didn't catch the inaugural FAST's Got Talent, you can watch the video on the school Facebook page where it was livestreamed. We are forever impressed by our students and this occasion was no exception. Middle schoolers showed off their talents with a variety of dance styles, guitar playing, singing and art. Students in grades 1-8 enjoyed the show and grades 6-8 voted for their favorites. The final count was very close as it was clearly tough to choose a favorite. With the final votes counted, we are proud to announce the winners of this year's middle school talent show.

1st place: 8th grade Cameron Lanzo

2nd place: 7th grade Ethan Fowlkes

3rd place: 6th grade Barrett Rixey

Congratulations to the winners and to all of the contestants for putting on a great show!

Our girls' volleyball team ended the season on a high note with their first win of the year. The progress these athletes made throughout the season was evident in the win. We are so proud of them all!

On Wednesday, the PTO hosted the first staff chili cook off. With nine different types of chili to vote on, teachers and staff had a lot to taste. Congratulations to Ms. Jones on the win. She will spend the year showing off the trophy in her classroom! Shout out to the four-way tie for second place goes to Ms. Casal, Mr. Ray, Ms. Zasio, and Ms. Abramson.

6th graders Naitik Koshti and Maximillian Montesinos participated in the GASTC programming challenge conducted by ACTE on Nov 11, 2023. Ms. Ushakumari was their teacher sponsor as they competed against more than 80 students from other schools in the area. While they did not place in this competition, we are incredibly proud of their efforts.

From all of us here at FAST, we wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the break, and we will see you back at school on November 27.

Library Volunteers Needed!

Library Volunteers are also needed. Please email library@fastk8.org if you would like to be added to the library volunteer email list.

Spirit wear sales are currently open. You may order spirit wear through Membership Toolkit until December 16. Orders will be delivered in January. https://fastk8pto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/235904

To preview your child(ren)'s picture from picture day,, you can log in to Jostens at https://shop.jostenspix.com/login and reference your student's id number and the information below. Pictures will be shipped directly to your home.

Jostens reference information:

• FULTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCE & TECH
• Event Code: FE103523

The school day begins at 7:40am Monday-Friday. All students are expected to be in their classroom ready to start the day by 7:40am. Please allow for enough time to navigate carpool for your student to get to class on time. All students arriving after 7:40 are considered tardy. If you arrive any time after 8am, you are required to sign your child in at the front office.

All students are expected to be in proper uniform every day. Repeat violations of uniform code will result in a call from the front office with a request to bring the appropriate clothing for the student. FAST uniform includes FAST logo polo or spirit wear, khaki or navy bottoms (or black for middle school). Shirts without the FAST logo are not considered proper uniform.

Do you love FAST? Tell your friends! Applications for the 2024-25 school year will open on January 1, 2024 and tours for prospective families are already scheduled. During these informational tours, parents will learn about our curriculum, find out what sets FAST apart from traditional schools, and tour our campus. Tour spots can be reserved at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4BADAA2CA1F8C70-fast

All questions or concerns you have regarding your student should first be directed to their teacher. Please allow up to 48 hours for a response. If the teacher is unable to provide resolution, you should contact the Assistant Principal for your child's grade. On the off chance that you still have not been able to reach a resolution after contacting the teacher and the AP, you can contact Principal Mary Miller at mary.miller@fastk8.org. Our communication and escalation policy can be found on our website.

While under the auspices of Fulton County Schools, we are governed by our own governing board. Sending your issues directly to Fulton County rather than following the FAST communication chain will cause a delayed response as they will only defer to FAST and forward the issue back to us to address.

FAST is a smoke-free environment. Whether you are in the building, in your car, or anywhere else on campus please refrain from smoking or vaping at all times.

We cannot release students for early dismissal after 2:40pm Monday-Thursday and 1:40pm on Friday as this is too disruptive to our afternoon dismissal process and end of day activities. If you are picking up your child after those times, you must go through the carpool lane which begins at 3:15pm. As a matter of student safety, all students leaving before the end of the school day must be signed out in the front office by an authorized person. Please do not call or text your students for early dismissal. Students are not permitted to have their cell phones during school hours.

Please keep these times in mind when scheduling afternoon appointments and plan accordingly.

Please remember to send your child to school with lunch every day or order through Ordo at ordo.com. Ordo orders must be placed by midnight on Friday for the following week. Lunches must be nut free and ready-to-eat (we cannot microwave lunches).

As a reminder, all visitors - including parents - must check in at the front desk in Innovation Hall upon arrival. No one is permitted to enter Student Hall without having first checked in at the front desk. Parents are not permitted to walk their student to their classroom. We have staff available during morning drop-off to ensure students are attended to.

FAST leverages various means of communications to keep our families up to date with what is happening at school. Since most people are on social media, we post to different platforms to keep you up to date. If you aren't already following us, check us out on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Nov. 17-24: Thanksgiving Break

Dec. 1: FAST Tech Fair

Dec. 4-6: MAP Assessments

Dec. 8: Holiday Jubilee

Dec. 13-14: Class winter parties

Dec. 18-29: Winter Break

A printable version of the 2023-24 school calendar can be found HERE

To keep up to date with the most recent information available from our district offices, please click on the image below.

Email: info@fastk8.org
Website: www.fastk8.org
Location: 11365 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA, USA
Phone: 678-321-1100
Facebook: facebook.com/FASTK8.School/
Twitter: @fastk8charter

The FAST Flyer is the electronic newsletter at FAST. Feedback is always welcome. If you have any questions, please call the school (678-321-1100) or email the FAST Communications Director at marie.emerson@fastk8.org.