Chesnut wins Northside Hospital GRANT - $1500
Chesnut has won a grant from our Partner in Education, Northside Hospital. Valued at $1500, Northside's generous support of our school will allow us to purchase digital microscopes for the 3-4-5 grades -- these scopes are high school quality and can interface with the Promethean boards in the classrooms. Students will be able to take digital photographs of whatever is on their slide, which can later be included in reports, Powerpoints, and other electronic formats. Students in grades K-1-2 will be receiving Eyeclops microscopes -- age-appropriate scopes that will show kids the wonder of magnification! This will be a wonderful boost to the science curriculum in the school, and lots of fun to use for our students and teachers. Thank you, Northside Hospital!
Fundraising News!
The official Friends of Chesnut Fall fundraiser challenge has concluded. Including the last-minute donations made just before December 31st (about $800), the "Fill the Jar" change (about $50) and all collected amounts from the classroom challenge, our community has raised almost $9500, or just shy of half our goal. Thank you to all the families who participated in this fundraising -- Classroom challenge final winners will be announced this week so that teachers and students can receive their thank-you awards!
We are looking forward to finishing our fundraising this year with a BANG at the Spring Fling event. This is the biggest, most ambitious fundraising event Chesnut has ever organized, and it will be a fabulous, family-friendly event at the Sandy Springs Funhouse on March 16th. Activities at the Funhouse include:
- 2-story indoor climbing structure
- arcade games
- bouncy house
- laser tag (or a laser obstacle course for younger kids, uses game tokens)
- dinner to purchase from Mad Italian or the Funhouse
- dessert to purchase from Yogli Mogli
- and more!
There will be a silent auction (catalog will be published soon), a live auction event (Principal for a Day?!), and the ever-popular classroom projects made by our own children and their teachers. Click here to view a slide show of the classroom projects that will be available at the event!
You can also go all out and let your kids show their school spirit by purchasing the approved Spirit Wear shirt of the Spring Fling. This tee is only $10 and includes many of the ideas our kids submitted for what THEY would do with $1000 for our school. (Giant water slide, anyone?) This tee can be proudly worn on any casual Friday throughout the rest of the year.
Buy your tickets now so you won't be late for the date! Tickets start at just $3, and adults are free, so everyone can attend! Click here to print the Spring Fling 2012 Ticket/Tee Order Form.
Hurry! Tee order forms due no later than February 22! Ticket order forms due no later than March 9!
Chesnut wins Farm-to-School GRANT - $2300
This year at Chesnut's Field Day in May, Chesnut students and staff will have a healthy snack, and meet the farmer who grew it and the chef who baked it! Georgia Organics has awarded Chesnut Charter Elementary a 2012 Farm to School Grant for $2,300 to run a Simulated Farmers Market with Chef Demo on Field Day. This grant is funded by a contract with the DeKalb County Board of Health “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” Obesity initiative which aims to create a healthier community. They are working closely with DeKalb County Schools Nutrition Department to support their existing Local Harvest of the Month program -- click here to read how Chesnut students have been participating in this program by promoting Georgia-grown food in our own cafeteria.
On Field Day, classes will rotate through the simulated farmer's market, tasting pizzas baked on-site, topped with seasonal produce from a local farmer and Chesnut's own vegetable garden. Once students have sampled the different pizzas, they will “shop” at the farmer’s stand, where the grant will allow each student to take home (free of charge) one serving of the featured produce in a reusable shopping bag, along with a pizza recipe, the Dekalb County Wellness Policy, and information about local farmer's markets and pick-your-own farms. Chesnut Ecology Club students from all grade levels will help the farmer run the stand when their class visits, sharing with their classmates what they have learned about how the seasonal produce was grown, why it’s nutritious, and why eating locally matters.
For more information, or to get involved with farm-to-school activities at Chesnut, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Strings Club starting NOW!
Interested in learning a string instrument? 5th, 4th, and 3rd Graders are invited to join the Chesnut Strings Club. No prior experience with instruments or music reading is required! (Upper grades will have preference, since space is limited.) The club will meet on Tuesdays after school until 3:45. The first meeting will be on Tuesday, February 21. If you are interested, please contact Lori Hummel at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or Heather Chlup at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call 770-936-0966 for more information.
Heather has 15 years of experience in general classroom teaching, violin teaching, performing and orchestral and choral conducting. She holds a K-5 Certificate in Elementary Education and is a member of the American String Teacher’s Association. Her skills and experience as an educator and performer extend to three continents (Australia, the UK and the United States), including membership in the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra, Edinburgh Philharmonic Orchestra (Scotland) and the Dekalb Symphony Orchestra. She has taught elementary through high school orchestras for over a decade and currently operates her own private teaching studio in Dunwoody.
Please note that joining the club is free, but students will need to purchase a music book and rent, buy, or borrow an instrument.
Instruments can be rented anywhere, but two local places are:
Estimated cost per month to rent an instrument is $25.99 (plus 5.99 insurance, optional) for violin or viola, or $39.99 (plus $5.99 insurance, optional) for cello.
Chesnut Wins KaBOOM Grant
Chesnut has been awarded a $750 grant through the "Let's Play, Dr. Pepper, Snapple, and KaBOOM!" program. Chesnut won based on our demonstrated ability to maintain and 'spruce up' our KaBOOM playground over the years since its installation in 2007 -- thanks to the dedicated work of PTA volunteers Andrew Hirst and Mona Henderson, caring for the playground has been on a 3-month regular rotation through the Clean and Beautiful program at our school. Many thanks to Andrew, Mona, and all the students, parents, and teachers who've ever worked on a C+B... your involvement showed KaBOOM that we were dedicated to our school and helped to earn this award!
If you would like more detail and some great before-and-after photos of the playground, click here to read the KaBOOM playground grant application Nov 2011.
Drawing Competition open to All Georgia Kids
Hey kids, do you like birds and love to draw or paint? Georgia’s seventh annual Youth Birding Competition is offering a T-shirt Art Contest for resident children and teens. Many famous ornithologists were bird artists when they were young, so perhaps you could be the next John James Audubon, Roger Tory Peterson or David Allen Sibley! Submissions must be received by March 5, 2012, 4 p.m.
A winner will be picked from each of the following age categories: primary (pre-K-2nd), elementary (3rd-5th), middle school (6th-8th) and high
school. One winner will be awarded the grand prize - their artwork will appear on the 2012 Youth Birding Competition T-shirt and they’ll receive a $100 gift card to Michaels. The three other winners will each receive a $50 Michaels gift card, redeemable for art supplies.
If you have any questions, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Fundraiser Progress as of Jan. 31
Our Partners in Education
