Welcome Briarlake Parents!
Our goal as the PTA is to strengthen our school community and work together to advocate for the success of every child. We are here to support students and families and hope you will feel welcome and willing to participate, in order to help us accomplish our goals.
We have gathered information that we hope will be helpful to you as you begin another great year at Briarlake. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at briarlakepta@gmail.com with any questions!
ABOUT US
Located in Decatur, Dekalb County, Georgia. Briarlake has enriched and educated Pre-K through 5th-grade students since 1956.
We are a small, neighborhood school with a wonderful staff supported by our parents and the community.
Our PTA organizes events and activities throughout the year. We hope all of our families will find ways to be involved and participate.
ADDRESS
Briarlake Elementary School
3590 Lavista Rd
Decatur, GA 30033
Phone: (678) 874-2502 Clinic: (678) 874-2507
Late Arrival:
If a student arrives after 7:40am, parents must use the QR code located on the A-Frame Sidewalk sign at the portico to sign the student in. Once the front office has received and verified the information, the office staff will unlock the door for your child, and they will proceed to their class. Please do not leave until your child is safely inside the building.
A student arriving after a medical or dental appointment will follow the same procedure.
Early Dismissal:
Should it become necessary for a child to leave school early, a parent or guardian must use the QR code located on the A-Frame Sidewalk sign at the portico to sign the student out. The adult checking the student out must have the yellow Dismissal Card, be listed on the Student Information Card or in Infinite Campus and show proper identification to the office staff. The child will be called to the front and dismissed by the office staff.
No one will be checked out early after 1:45pm.
Carpool Directions:
Enter the driveway at the Briarlake field entrance. Jim Harbuck Drive is for bus and daycare vans only. NO LEFT TURNS into driveway during arrival or dismissal times. Use both lanes. Do not leave gaps between vehicles. Be mindful of the bus traffic. Patrols and duty staff will assist students with opening car doors. Do not get out of your vehicle. Carefully, proceed to the left lane to exit the school grounds. When exiting the driveway at Lavista Road, please make two lanes to exit---left and right.
Carpool Arrival:
Vehicles with students in grades 3-5 will proceed to the right to unload at the front entrance of the school. Pre-K (PK) through 2nd will move to the left, around the 3-5 unloading area and unload at the lower grade entrance near the end of the driveway.
Stop 1---Portico Area---Students in grades 3-5 will exit vehicles at the front entrance of the building near the portico. If vehicle has PK-2 students, proceed to Stop 2.
Stop 2---Beaver Stop---Students in grades PK-2 will exit vehicles near the end of the driveway, close to the PK & Kindergarten rooms.
Carpool Dismissal:
Vehicles must stop and wait at the top of the double driveway until "waved up" by staff to pull cars forward to the "STOP" cone. All vehicles must display the Yellow Dismissal signs until students are in the vehicle. If you do not have a sign, you will have to park in the lower lot until duty staff can contact the office to verify your identity. Students in grades 3-5 will be picked up at the school entrance, near the portico. Students in PK-2 will be picked up near the end of the driveway close to the PK & Kindergarten rooms.
Stop 1---Portico Area---Students in grades 3-5 will exit the building and go to their cars when called. If vehicle will also pick up PK-2 students, proceed to Stop 2.
Stop 2---Beaver Stop---Students in grades PK-2 will exit the building at the PK & Kindergarten rooms when called.
Carpool Safety Rules:
- Please alternate lanes when entering the drop off/pickup area.
- No Cell Phones. Distracted driving is unsafe, especially when picking up or dropping off our children.
- Left turns into the driveway to the lower parking lot are PROHIBITED at all times.
- Please use Cedar Canyon Drive to Briarlake Rd. if you are coming from Lavista Rd (see map).
- Slow down and come to a COMPLETE STOP at the 4-way stop at Cedar Canyon and Woodland Park Dr.
- Please only release children beyond the clearance of the trailers into the hands of staff members and student Safety Patrols. Pull all the way up to the farthest available student patrol or staff.
- Parents please do not exit your car in the carpool drop off lane. If you need to help your child out of the car, please park in an appropriate space and walk to the front door of the school.
- If you park on Cedar Canyon, please only park on the Briarlake (NE) side of the road, as cars parked on both sides of the street can impede traffic.
- Get to school early! Avoid traffic and a tardy by arriving early. There is no traffic between 7:00 and 7:15 am.
Reminders: Please have your yellow Dismissal Card displayed for dismissal. Drive slowly through the school driveway. No cell phones in carpool line. Remain in your vehicle. If you have school business, please park and come in. Do not part along the sidewalk in front of the school.
BRIARLAKE COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS FOR 2022-2023
Weekly PTA Email Blast:
Get all the latest Briarlake news and calendar updates! Whether or not you decide to become a member of Briarlake PTA (we hope you will!), you definitely want to sign up for the weekly Briarlake PTA Email Blasts and occasional time-sensitive reminders and updates. This is one of the school's main channels of communication for sharing information about everything that is happening at Briarlake. Don't miss out on these important updates! PTA Members will be automatically added or you can sign up under the "for PARENTS" tab on this website.
¡Obtenga las últimas noticias y actualizaciones del calendario de Briarlake! Ya sea que decidas o no convertirte en miembro de la PTA de Briarlake (¡esperamos que lo hagas!), definitivamente querrás suscribirte a las ráfagas de correo electrónico semanales de la PTA de Briarlake y recordatorios y actualizaciones ocasionales urgentes. Este es uno de los principales canales de comunicación de la escuela para compartir información sobre todo lo que sucede en Briarlake. ¡No te pierdas estas importantes actualizaciones! Los miembros de la PTA se agregarán automáticamente o puede registrarse en la pestaña "for PARENTS" en este sitio web.
School Messenger:
Both Briarlake and Dekalb County School District Administration use School Messenger to send important school and district announcements and alerts. School Messenger uses contact information from the Parent Portal in Infinite Campus to communicate with families via email, text, and phone, and all parents/guardians are automatically enrolled. In order to avoid duplicate messages and redundancy, Briarlake administration plans to limit the use of School Messenger to urgent or official communications. Other important and timely information will be communicated through PTA Email Blasts and REMIND.
Tanto Briarlake como la Administración del Distrito Escolar del Condado de Dekalb usan School Messenger para enviar avisos y alertas importantes de la escuela y el distrito. School Messenger utiliza la información de contacto del Portal para padres en Infinite Campus para comunicarse con las familias por correo electrónico, mensaje de texto y teléfono, y todos los padres/tutores se inscriben automáticamente. Para evitar la duplicación de mensajes y la redundancia, la administración de Briarlake planea limitar el uso de School Messenger a comunicaciones urgentes u oficiales. Se comunicará otra información importante y oportuna a través de Email Blasts de la PTA y REMIND.
REMIND:
SMS Text Updates and Reminders from the school and PTA will be sent via REMIND. You can download the REMIND App or text the following "class codes" to 81010 to subscribe to text message updates. Messages are also available on desktop at rmd.at.
Las actualizaciones de texto SMS y los recordatorios de la escuela y la PTA se enviarán a través de REMIND. Puede descargar la aplicación REMIND o enviar un mensaje de texto con los siguientes "códigos de clase" al 81010 para suscribirse a las actualizaciones de mensajes de texto. Los mensajes también están disponibles en el escritorio en rmd.at.
Class Codes:
- After School Extended Day Care Program (ASEDP) - Text @a8a67 to 81010
- Updates regarding school bus delays and/or changes - Text @busdis to 81010
- Updates, reminders, and alerts for Pre-K - Text @besptapk to 81010
- Updates, reminders, and alerts for Kindergarten - Text @besptak to 81010
- Updates, reminders, and alerts for 1st Grade - Text @bespta1st to 81010
- Updates, reminders, and alerts for 2nd Grade - Text @bespta2nd to 81010
- Updates, reminders, and alerts for 3rd Grade - Text @bespta3rd to 81010
- Updates, reminders, and alerts for 4th Grade - Text @bespta4th to 81010
- Updates, reminders, and alerts for 5th Grade - Text @bespta5th to 81010
- Occasional requests and updates for PTA volunteer opportunities - Text @helpbespta to 81010
- Actualizaciones, recordatorios y alertas en español: envíe un mensaje de texto con @besespanol al 81010
Please keep in mind that while some messages will be grade-specific, updates or urgent alerts for the whole school will be sent to each of the grade-level class codes, so you may receive the same message more than once within a short period of time if you sign up for multiple class codes. This is, in part, because each class code is limited to 150 subscribers under the free version of this app.
Classroom Communication:
Each teacher may choose from several options for regular communication with students and families, including email, Google Classroom, Seesaw, Class Dojo, etc. These preferences will be communicated to parents directly by individual teachers at the beginning of the school year.
Cada maestro puede elegir entre varias opciones para la comunicación regular con los estudiantes y las familias, incluido el correo electrónico, Google Classroom, Seesaw, Class Dojo, etc. Estas preferencias serán comunicadas a los padres directamente por maestros individuales al comienzo del año escolar.