Cowan Road Elementary School

Greetings Griffin-Spalding County Schools Stakeholders, The Griffin-Spalding County School System will be closed tomorrow, Friday, January 12, 2024, due to the impending severe weather coming to our area. Our top priority is the safety of our students and staff. Tomorrow’s weather prediction for our area is at a risk level 3, which is an enhanced risk. All activities are considered canceled, this includes athletic events that were to take place, locally or out of town. No employee or student will need to report to a GSCS facility. The decision to cancel all school system operations is informed by several factors, including student transportation, operations & logistics, and staffing. Additionally, we are mindful of our community’s sensitivity to severe weather, particularly considering last year’s tornado event. Again, all GSCS operations are closed for tomorrow, Friday, January 12, 2024. We expect to return to normal operations on Tuesday, January 16th. If you have not already, please download the free GSCS app (via the Apple store or Google Play store) to stay up to date with information from the school system and your student’s school(s). Thank you and please be weather aware during this time.

Dear GSCS, Our most recent update from National Weather Service, just moments ago, confirmed that our window of greatest threat prevents us from operating morning transportation as normal or delaying our start time. There is a high likelihood of rain and wind (with strong gusts). The potential wind gusts and possible flooding in low areas during morning bus transportation time and the risks involved with students trying to catch the bus in rainy conditions, has led GSCS to make the decision to cancel school tomorrow out of an abundance of caution. No students should attend school tomorrow. GSCS School is canceled tomorrow. 12 month employees should report at 10 a.m. and all other employees will remain home. Stay safe. Thank you.

Dear GSCS, Our most recent update from National Weather Service, just moments ago, confirmed that our window of greatest threat prevents us from operating morning transportation as normal or delaying our start time. There is a high likelihood of rain and wind (with strong gusts). The potential wind gusts and possible flooding in low areas during morning bus transportation time and the risks involved with students trying to catch the bus in rainy conditions, has led GSCS to make the decision to cancel school tomorrow out of an abundance of caution. No students should attend school tomorrow. GSCS School is canceled tomorrow. 12 month employees should report at 10 a.m. and all other employees will remain home. Stay safe. Thank you.

Dear GSCS, We are closely monitoring the forecast for tomorrow morning. Severe weather is unlikely, however we expect significant early morning rainfall and high winds that could cause trees to fall. We will continue to work with EMS and National Weather Service this evening and provide any decision regarding tomorrow's operations by 9:30 p.m. As of this moment the plan is for tomorrow's school operations to continue as usual but please monitor your GSCS APP, social media, text messages or e-mail tonight. Thank You

Families, As we expect inclement weather and freezing temps during winter mornings, please be sure to follow these procedures in the morning for car drop-offs. Get in the line as normal and wait until your vehicle is at the covered portion of the entrance. Staff will be under this covered area, monitoring and assisting but may not be out in the direct rain. Have your student/s gather their belongings while you wait in line. Your student will need to open their door and exit quickly and carefully once you are at the covered area. Additionally, many students who are typically bus riders or walkers will be car riders on these mornings which means that the line will back up. Please do not send your students up the sidewalk OR create a second row of cars and send students across. These are not safe practices and jeopardize our students. Thank you for your patience and assistance in keeping our students and staff safe! #ColtsCan #BeSafeandResponsible

Congrats to these two awesome spellers, Aremontaye and Aiden! Our school runner-up and winner were each awarded a one-year subscription from Encyclopedia Britannica to their online kids research site. #ColtsCan #BeAwesomeSpellers

It's January 4: the perfect time to start (or continue) the habit of daily reading. Read for 20 minutes with your child. Look at the pics to see how many words they will have read by the end of 2024! Do you have a favorite book or series to read with your child? #ColtsCan #BeAmazingReaders

Looking forward to our students returning on Monday, January 8. Reminder: school starts at 7:45 am! #ColtsCan

Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing staff on January 3 and students on January 8!

Third grade classes went to the Alliance Theater in Atlanta to watch "Into the Burrow: a Peter Rabbit Tale". #ColtsCan

We had our school Spelling Bee last week. Each of these students won their classroom bees and competed. Our school winner (pictured 3rd from the right) is Aiden and the runner-up is Aremontaye (4th from the right). Aiden will compete in January, representing our school. #ColtsCan

During their study of the five senses, students in Ms. Stratton and Mrs. Holland’s Kindergarten classes experienced the sense of touch while blindly placing their hands and trying to determine what they were touching.

For November, we had a reading challenge for grades 2-5. Fourth grade won with the highest circulation of library books. The 2 students from each homeroom with the highest circulation each received a token for the book vending machine to help build their libraries at home. #ColtsCan

All GSCS schools & offices will be closed Dec. 18, 2023 - Jan. 2, 2024, for holiday break. GSCS staff return on Jan. 3, 2024, for professional learning & planning. Students return on Jan. 8, 2024. Happy Holidays!

This promises to be fun! There will be hidden elves at the skating rink! If you find one, hold onto it and bring it to school the next day to receive a prize! #ColtsCan

Next week is our Holiday Fun week with dress-up themes each day! No pressure, don't spend lots of $; just find something fun to fit the theme. Everything is designed in a way that you can probably find something at home to work! The QR code takes you to pre-purchase hot cocoa from the Travelin' Tom Coffee truck for Polar Express Day (this is instead of Kona Ice this month) for $3. Or...just go here: https://customer.travelintomscoffee.com/#/T87833496479 #ColtsCan

First grade students worked through a series of exercises and movements on the mats during PE with Coach Cofield. #ColtsCan

The Board of Education approved the 2024-25 school calendar at the board meeting on Dec. 5. View the approved 2024-25 GSCS School Calendar here: https://5il.co/2afnj

These 3rd-5th graders competed yesterday for GSCS Literacy Days. we are proud of them all. #ColtsCan

These four students competed for the GSCS K-2 Literacy Days yesterday. They did awesome! #ColtsCan