SPARK Bus Changes - Updated Routes

Transportation let us know they would be modifying SPARK routes beginning on Monday, October 20th.  

Drivers had letters to pass out on Friday, October 10th.  Letters can be found here: https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/Page/70982 

We will sticker students that arrive by bus on the morning of October 20th so we can capture their new bus number.  We will also update bag tags.  Codes for joining Remind with your new route information are below:

• Remind Codes

  • Route 3010: @SPARKE3010

  • Route 3012: @SPARKE3012

  • Route 3013: @SPARKE3013

  • Route 3015: @SPARKE3015

  • Route 110: @SPARKE110

  • Route 117: @SPARKE117

Bus routes and updated stop locations/times can be found by typing in your address here: http://aps-edulog.apsk12.org/livewebsa/webquery/ 

SAVE the DATE! - Thanksgiving Luncheons

Please save the date for SPARK”s Annual Thanksgiving Luncheons!  Dates for each grade level are below.  Times can be found here.  Families that plan to attend and eat an adult meal should purchase their meal through MySchoolBucks no later than Friday, October 31.  The link for purchase is here!  

• 11/18 - K & 3rd

• 11/19 - 1st & 4th

• 11/20 - PK, 2nd & 5th 

APS Child Find Program

Does your child need support with development, hearing, vision, or speech? CLICK HERE to learn more about the APS Child Find Program.

One Fair Judges Needed — Come See Learning in Action!
Do you love seeing student projects come to life? Lend your expertise as a judge at SPARK’s One Fair. You will chat with students about their ideas in science, technology, engineering, and social studies and help us celebrate their hard work.

• When: Friday, December 5, 2025, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

• Fill out this form if interested.

Red Ribbon Week: 

October 20th - 24th 

Join in on the daily spirit days to celebrate making healthy choices!

• 🧍‍♂️Monday: Shine Bright with Healthy Choices - Wear gold or bright colors in honor of Diwali. 

• ✌️Tuesday: Decades Day - Healthy choices never go out of style

• 🏋️Wednesday: Wellness Day - Dress in SPARK Fun Run shirt or SPARK STEAM shirt.

• ❤️Thursday: Kindness Counts Day - Wear a shirt with a positive or uplifting message 

• 🐩Friday: 50’s Style Day - Rock around the clock with timeless healthy habits 

Dismissal Changes

If your child has a permanent change, their permanent bag tag should be updated.  For example, now that clubs have started and they are in Art Club every Monday, their permanent bag tag needs to reflect this.  For dismissal changes, email your child’s teacher and Mrs. Taylor at Odette.Taylor@atlanta.k12.ga.us. All dismissal changes must be requested before 12:00 PM each day. 

Yearbook

The 2025-2026 Yearbook is here! 5th Grade Ads due November 1. Don’t miss out on the memories, laughs, and all the SPARK magic!

CLICK HERE to order

Garden Lights & Makers Market

Please save the date for SPARK’s annual Garden Lights and Makers Market!  Sign ups for student vendors will be available soon!

• Grades PK-2: December 10, 5:30pm

• Grades 3-5: December 11, 5:30pm

Volunteer Opportunities 

CLICK HERE to learn about volunteer opportunities at SPARK and how to obtain your volunteer clearance! From volunteering at SPARK Community Events to volunteering in the SPARK Media Center/Library - there’s an opportunity for everyone! 

Absent?

If your child is absent, please send your written excuse to Mrs. Taylor and your child’s teacher so that it can be properly recorded.  

Dear SPARK Families,

Welcome back from Fall Break! Whether your adventures took you to Italy learning to make pasta, to Orlando visiting Mario and the celebrity mouse family, or you enjoyed a relaxing week close to home, we hope you had the chance to rest, reconnect, and recharge as we prepare for the second half of the first semester.

There is so much happening in the coming weeks. First, our students in grades one through five will complete a WriteScore activity this week. WriteScore provides writing tasks designed to mirror what students will encounter on their end-of-grade assessments in grades three through five. We administer these tasks twice a year, once in October and again in March. While they may look like a test, they are primarily a way for teachers to gather data about how students transfer their daily writing skills into a structured, assessment-like format. Please remind your child that this is not for a grade but rather an opportunity to show what they have learned and what they still need to grow in. We will reinforce this message at school as well and ensure that the tasks are administered in a calm, supportive, and developmentally appropriate way.

On Wednesday, the Georgia Department of Education will visit SPARK for our STEAM pre-certification review. While we are already STEM certified through the accrediting body Cognia, our next goal is to obtain STEAM certification through the state. This is a prestigious and rare honor currently held by only 22 schools across Georgia. It represents our continued commitment to providing students with hands-on, interdisciplinary learning experiences that connect to our community.

Our schoolwide Project-Based Learning task focuses on addressing food insecurity in our local area. Some of the ways students support these efforts are exploring ways to attract pollinators to a rooftop garden suited for our hardiness zone, learning how beneficial bugs can protect plants in place of pesticides, and even fundraising for organizations such as Intown Cares that support individuals experiencing homelessness and food insecurity right in our community. We are incredibly proud of the work our students, teachers, and community partners, including many of our own parents, are doing. We are eager to share this work with the state and receive valuable feedback to further strengthen our programming and continue building a learning environment where students thrive well beyond their elementary years.

If you are not scheduled to be in the building on Wednesday, there are still many ways to show your support. Please have your Dragon wear their SPARK Fun Run shirt or a SPARK STEAM shirt so that our halls are filled with a sea of green SPARK pride. You can also ask your child to tell you about their favorite STEAM project and how they can apply what they learned to other areas of their life. While our displays and projects are impressive, our students’ ability to share their learning in their own words is what truly tells the story. We appreciate your support in helping them do just that. If you would like to learn more about state STEAM-certified schools, please click here for additional resources.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your incredible support during our Fun Run fundraiser before the break. Thanks to your generosity, we not only met our goal of raising $31,000—we exceeded it by over $11,000 for a total of just over $42,000! This is a tremendous help for our school. As you know, our district-funded budget allows us to secure staff who keep class sizes small and provide robust programming in both STEAM and the arts. The additional resources funded by our PTO ensure that every student has access to personalized learning experiences that help them grow and succeed. Mrs. Pruett and I were proudly painted by our own little Picassos to celebrate this achievement, and we could not have asked for a more joyful way to end such a successful event. Seeing our students and staff have fun while supporting their school is always a win in our book!

Book Character Day at SPARK is approaching quickly!  All students and staff are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favorite book character!  If you have the book to bring with you, that is great, although not a requirement.  It will be a festive walk to school day so we can show off our costumes on our stroll in.  Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st grade parents are invited to join us at arrival in the gymnasium for our  Book Character Costume Parade that steps off at 7:50am.  As a reminder, we ask anyone coming in costume this day to leave any mask that obscures their vision or any pretend weapons or bulky props at home.  This helps us stay safe and keep learning while bringing the fun into our building!  

Finally, it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner. We would love for families to join us for our Thanksgiving luncheons. If you plan to enjoy the meal prepared by our amazing cafeteria team, Mrs. Davis, Ms. Hardeman, and Ms. Cody, please use the link in the news section above to pre-purchase your meal no later than October 31. Parents and guests must pre-purchase, while students may buy their lunch on the day of the event.

We are so grateful for your partnership and continued support of our SPARK community.

With Gratitude,

Dr. Jennifer Toney