ELKMONT WEATHER TODAY

The rain yesterday split and went around the Hilltop.  Today, storms are floating down from Tennessee once again. We have a good chance that rain will fall before lunch.

WEEK BY WEATHERTRENDS 
This week we start off with another building 4-day heat-wave primarily for the Central U.S. with 90F-100F temps. Nationally this first week of August is the hottest in 4 years. National rainfall is near average and similar to the past couple years. A cool front will push the heat-dome down toward the weekend for a couple day cool down. Very likely we get our 5th named storm of the season (Earl) that should stay in the Caribbean before making landfall in Cancun Mexico area.

ELKMONT WEATHER TODAY

The official forecast says that there is a 30% chance of rain.  However, Hill Spirit thinks that us on the Hilltop have a better chance than the tv channels are predicting.

There are storms floating down from the northwest (southern Illinois and Missouri) again today.  Some are already in western Tennessee.  Look for rain this afternoon.

BARRY'S CORNER - LIVING IN ELKMONT

Year 24 starts today! Hard to believe. The kids become a part of you over all of the years. Like a lot of educators, there is not a day that goes by that I don't run into former students. Memories always flood in when I see them and usually a smile creeps up on my face. 

Teaching and coaching really has defined who I am and how I am perceived. Can't imagine never being Coach Pugh. For some I know it is a career they strive for all of their lives. For me it was a realization after starting college that I wanted to work with kids and hopefully teach them to enjoy physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. I have worked with the best...taught the best...coached the best and watched as some tough kids achieved and became their best. 

Not many careers are this rewarding. Kids are the most honest, kindest, most real, non-judging, important people around. So glad I get to surround myself with them daily. Every day is not perfect and every day is very different but one thing remains. Relationships and love for the job keep teachers and coaches pushing and nudging to create productive citizens! God bless all of my friends and fellow educators as this new year begins! You are all special!

WE LOVE OUR TEACHERS

So glad our teachers enjoyed their breakfast this morning. Thank you so much to all of our parents for your support. Thank you to our local restaurant Gin House for the yummy bacon eggs and sausage. We definitely could not have done it without you.

Peggie Walts

PTO President

OPEN HOUSE

August 2 - New Gym @ 5:30 pm - 7 pm 

*Assembly first in new gym....visit teacher/classroom immediately following. Kindergarten parents can bring money for supplies.

Information tables 
*Youth Volleyball Signups
*New Visitor Check- In System 
*PTO 
*Mandatory DPI Presentation for parents whose children receive MacBooks. You can pay their DPI fee as well. 


 
You can pick up a supply bundle at the PTO table in the New Gym; information packets will be available as well. Stop by and meet our PTO leaders. They would love to meet you. Link to their facebook page

EXCELLENCE MEANS A NEW JOHN DEERE MOWER

The Alabama Farmers Federation’s Young Farmers proved the future of agriculture is in good hands as they competed in statewide events at the 44th Commodity Producers Conference in Mobile July 30.
 

Ben and Heather Maples of Elkmont in Limestone County beat out 10 competitors in the Excellence in Agriculture contest. As the winner, the Maples will receive a John Deere zero-turn mower sponsored by Dow AgroSciences and a computer package from CCS/Valcom Wireless.

Excellence in Agriculture contestants are young people in agriculture earning no more than half their income from production agriculture. The competition included an application, 15-minute presentation and 10-minute question-and-answer session.

MARY CAROLYN COX - OBITUARY

Mary Carolyn Cox, age 63, of Athens passed away on Saturday, July 30, 2016 at Athens Limestone Hospital. Ms. Cox was born on December 11, 1952 in Arkansas to Floyd and Cora Lee Baker Cox.

Preceded in death by her father, and several grandparents.

Ms. Cox is survived by her mother, Cora Cox; three brothers, Ray Cox (Pam) of Elkmont, Carlos Cox (Julie), and Lloyd Cox (Angie) of Athens; two sisters, Kay Holman (Donnie) of Toney, and Betty Jones of Athens; several nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.

Services for Ms. Cox will be Monday, August 1, 2016 at Limestone Chapel Funeral Home with Tammie Johnson officiating. The family will receive visitors from 12:00-1:45 at the Chapel. Burial will be in Reunion Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Chris Hughes, Chuck Whitney, Austin Hughes, Gage Hughes, Matthew Todd, and Jake Johnson.

Ms. Cox was a member of Grace Full Gospel Church of Athens, Alabama.

ELKMONT WEATHER TODAY

Isolated storms could pop up with the afternoon heat.  Any storms should fade away this evening with a few clouds hanging on tonight. 

WeatherTrends:
We'll need to watch the tropics as activity historically becomes exponentially more active as we get into middle August. The Gulf of Mexico is very warm and per NOAA the water heat energy is at levels not seen since 2005.

MORE INFO TO KNOW FOR THE UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR

Here is the latest regarding Attendance, Make Up Work, and New Grading Scale (or return to the "back in the day old grading scale).

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES
Absences lacking the appropriate supporting documentation will be deemed UNEXCUSED. Supporting documentation will not be accepted after 3 school days upon the student's return to school. Excessive unexcused absences from school, may result in a loss of academic credit and, or a referral to legal authorities.
**For students of driving age, excessive unexcused absences, including check-ins and check-outs, will result in suspension of driving privileges.
5th unexcused absence will result in SUSPENSION of driving privileges for 9 weeks.
8th unexcused absence will result in SUSPENSION of driving privileges for 18 weeks.
The student whose absence is unexcused is NOT entitled to make up the graded work they missed. If the daily or test grade is recorded on the day of the absence, the student whose absence is unexcused, receives a ZERO for the grade. If no grade is recorded for other students, no grade will be recorded for the student who is absent.

MAKE-UP WORK
Students have three school days to bring in a written excuse for an absence, when they return to school.

FOR GRADES K - 5
For either excused or unexcused absences, Teachers will make available any missed work to students and or parents. It should be completed by the student and returned to the teacher by the end of the 5th school day following the absence. All work will be accepted, graded, and the grade earned posted into the gradebook.

FOR GRADES 6 - 12
EXCUSED ABSENCES:
It is the responsibility of the student to contact the teacher to arrange for all make up work. Students are permitted 5 school days to complete and submit their make up work. Work is due before the end of the 5th day. Submitted work is accepted, graded and posted into the gradebook. Unsubmitted work will earn a 0%.

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES:
The student whose absence is unexcused is NOT entitled to make up graded work missed. If a daily or test grade is recorded on the day of the absence, the student receives a ZERO for a grade. If no grade is recorded for other students, no grade will be recorded for the student who was absent.

NEW GRADING SCALE
The new grading scale is as follows:
90 - 100  A Excellent
80 - 89   B Good
70 - 79   C Average
60 - 69   D Poor/Unsatisfactory
0 - 59     F Failure
I           Incomplete

A NEW YEAR WITH PRINCIPAL TRIBBLE

When Garth Garris retired during the winter of 2016 as Elkmont's High School principal, Bill Tribble, was selected to join our Hilltop family.  We met him in an interview (Meet Elkmont's New Principal) when he took over the helm in March.  He said he wanted to observe how the school worked those few months before school was out before anything was changed.  He wanted to improve what was needed and to leave in place what didn't need fixed. 

It is now time to start a new school year and Hill Spirit dropped in to visit Mr Tribble last week to hear what is new for this school year.

The first item on the list is using the data collected to improve instruction.  Many times all this information is gathered, put on an Excel sheet or turned into the state but not used at the school level. Mr. Tribble thinks that these stats can shine a light on what areas need to be changed and what  only needs a little fine tuning to make our school better.

A new department is being rolled out this year, "The Business Academy".  Elkmont hasn't had a business teacher for several years but one has been hired.  She is in charge of developing the programs.  The Academy will be rolled out this year with eighth graders taking the Career Prep course.  Ninth graders will be exposed to Personal Finance. Hopefully, Dave Ramsey principles will be part of that course. Additional courses will be added to include 10-12 grade in the next few years.

Another change will be the check-in/out procedure.  It will be a computerized system and parents will be able to access it at home. Walking in to the office and having Miss Gina take care of visitor passes, and signing kids in or out is gone.  Primary goals are safety and making the process easier for parents.  

The new process will be:
1. Picture id (such as a driver's license) will be scanned to come on campus.
2. Visitor's pass with that picture will be printed out.
3. Unlimited amount of family/friends can be listed as contacts.
4. Changes to your child's information can be done from home 24/7.

Elkmont has been classified as a Title One school and will be given additional funds.  A federal grant will be paying for free breakfast for all students.  Breakfast will be served in the classrooms for Pre K thru 5 grade.

Items of note:
*Mac Books will be provided for grades 3-8.  Parents will need to receive DPI training before laptops are assigned.  One part of Open House, scheduled for August 2, is this DPI  training.

*Morning Drop Off 
Please don't open the car door and drop your child off at the Ag building parking lot or in the road around the school.  With so many cars, safety is an issue. Entry points for car riders (any age student)  is the kindergarten building and the new gym/elementary school entrance.

*Mark your calendar on September 6 @ 6 pm for the first PTO meeting.