Changes in Fulton Schools Include New Textbooks, Later Pre-K Start Date

While you are getting ready for the first day of school in Fulton County this year, Aug. 15, don't get your pre-K bound child too excited about that date, as those students won't start for almost another month.

Students accepted into pre-kindergarten program have a longer summer break. The start date for pre-K students is Sept. 8 – approximately four weeks later than other students. But that's the only difference between the pre-K calendar and the calendar followed by K-12 students. Both share the school system’s scheduled holidays and end their school year on May 18.

To help the young students and their parents get ready, a “Pre-K Transition Day” is planned for Sept. 7 at each Fulton school offering a pre-k program. Parents and students will meet their teacher and principal, tour the building, and learn how they can get the most out of their first school year.

Another big change is the launching a mass notifications system, SchoolMessenger, in all Fulton County Schools. The program will allow schools to communicate quickly with parents through email, text messages and phone recordings in the event of an emergency, such as weather-related closings, or another urgent situation.

The program also helps school leaders send news updates and attendance notifications. Parents are asked  to update their communication preferences, which include correct phone numbers and email addresses, through their child’s school so they will receive timely notifications. Messages also can be translated into many different languages, including Spanish.

And for the students there will be a few changes, too, most noticeably new English/Language Arts Textbooks. This fall, new textbooks for English/language arts will be piloted at all grade levels. Textbook series from two different publishers are being shared with classes. The yearlong study of the materials will help school leaders determine which textbooks the district ultimately will adopt next school year. All materials will be available online and in textbook format for parents to review and provide their thoughts.