PTA VP Community Gina Coffas

Morningside Elementary strives to be an inclusive community that actively cultivates and supports respectful relationships among our students, parents, caregivers, teachers, staff and administration. This year we will continue to focus on building and strengthening our school's culture through engagement, collaboration and activism - both within our local neighborhoods and across the APS district. 

Community Initiatives:

No Place For Hate

No Place for Hate is an APS district-wide initiative designed to rally our school (and all others in the district) around the goal of creating a welcoming community committed to stopping all forms of bias and bullying. Through initiatives like Hands Across a Community, where Yehimi Cambron, a local artist, worked with all elementary kids across the Midtown Cluster to create a mural representing each child with their handprint to live in all 5 elementary schools, No Place For Hate, brings students together in a meaningful way. While this is a school counselor-lead initiative, the PTA supports No Place For Hate through multiple initiatives throughout the year.

For questions about No Place for Hate, contact Robin Edwards.

Room Parents and Social Chairs

Continuing efforts to support our teachers in the classroom, Room Parents assist with the instructional needs of an individual class and act as liaison between the teacher and parents within a class. They support and help recognize your child’s teacher in a variety of ways: assist filling class-based needs/roles as determined by the teacher, coordinate teacher birthday celebrations and holiday/end-of-year gift collections, Teacher Appreciation Week, etc. Room parents help communicate information to parents, as received from your teacher and/or the PTA. This year there will be one room parent and one social chair per class. They can share and divide the role in any way that works best for them. In addition to teacher support and communication, they will plan activities within the class that provide students and parents the opportunity to connect, get to know each other better, learn from each other, and celebrate together (e.g., winter break and end-of-year parties).  

For questions about Room Parents contact Tiffany Torbert.

Teacher Appreciation
The Teacher Appreciation committee works throughout the year to celebrate and support our teachers. Typically, they would provide monthly breakfasts and/or lunches at school during the year. However, this year the Teacher Appreciation committee will focus on providing small gifts whenever possible. Their efforts culminate in Teacher Appreciation week, usually celebrated in May, with a host of ways to recognize all the exceptional work our teachers have done this year.    

For questions about Teacher Appreciation contact Denise Lippert & Vicky Clifton. 

Community Service/Dolphins Do Good
The PTA will organize service projects with the goal of giving back to our Morningside Elementary community and our larger Atlanta Public School community. We plan to look for opportunities to build relationships among homeroom classrooms and grade-level groups. As there are opportunities to get involved, look for announcements and links in the Digital Dolphin, the MES Facebook page and from your Room Parents.   

For questions about Community Service contact Lorraine Hatch and Stephanie Hanley.