Banks County Elementary School third graders had a great day as they explored the wilderness at Black Rock State Park in Clayton, GA. The view from the overlook shows the beauty of our mountain ranges. Some third graders hiked a brand new trail leading from the state park to the Foxfire museum.  Hundreds of students meandered through the winding trail crossing small waterways of cool mountain water. Other students spent time touring the homes and ways of the old Appalachian village.  It was a beautiful day to be out and a great opportunity to represent Banks County. 
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Banks County Elementary School wants to send a special thanks out to several businesses in our community for making our teachers feel so special during Teacher Appreciation Week last week. We love that you all are so willing to generously give so that our teachers are celebrated!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!


Krispy Kreme-donuts
McDonald's -breakfast
Los Cerritos-chips and salsa
Homer Drug-lunch
Zips Carwash
Jaemor-ice cream

Thank you to Lowes at Cornelia, GA for donating everything Miss Gayle Rylee's class needed to plant flowers for their mom including pots, soil, flowers, and their very own work aprons. We love our community and appreciate you for supporting our students! 

These students were the overall Leopard Buck Winners for the month of April! Leopard bucks are given out by faculty members to students who go above and beyond the behavioral expectations at BCES. Our behavior motto is, "All day every day, remember, a Leopard always ROARS!" This means that our students are Respectful, show Ownership for their actions, have a positive Attitude, are Responsible, and are Safe. 

Congratulations to Conner Morrison McNerney, Jemly Albarran, and Jackson Tullar for being a positive example for others at school! 

Allaryce Appell, in Mrs. Beasley's homeroom, is the Bus Rider of the Month for April! She won some awesome prizes for being a great example to others on the bus. Her bus driver, Mr. Randy Krumnow, won a gift card at Chick-fil-A, a free breakfast sandwich at McDonalds, and a free ice cream at Sonic! Congratulations!!

Full STEAM ahead !! 
All Aboard!  We are ready to move “Full STEAM ahead.”  BCES has received a grant from Tanger to support our STEAM lab! At BCES, we are dedicated to providing hands on real life learning opportunities for our future scientists, technology technicians, engineers, artists, and mathematicians. It is our desire to provide experiences that will foster critical and creative thinking which are vital skills as we prepare our students to be college and career ready.  We are in the planning stages of creating a Science Lab in our school building – it will be our STEAM Lab.  This lab will serve our entire population of 630+ students.  This lab is where our teachers will facilitate inquiry based lessons where our students will learn by doing, learn by asking questions and testing hypotheses, and retesting.   They will learn by trial and error and through the analysis of mistakes and successes.  They will learn as they investigate, collaborate, and explore possibilities.  By providing our students with a lab, ample time, proper materials and resources that are readily available, we are enabling our students to become the scientists, technology technicians, engineers, artists, and mathematicians needed in our competitive world.  Having a STEAM lab will spark the interests and ideas of those bold enough to dare to dream.

Banks County Elementary School was awarded the Feed My School Grant! The funds from this federally funded grant will allow our School Nutrition Director, Mrs. Stacey Morgan, and our cafeteria staff to launch a full week of farm-to-school activities at Banks County Elementary with plans of hosting  more farm-to-school events over the next couple of years.

Next week in our cafeteria, students will be able to eat food provided by local farmers. Friday will be our annual Career Day and will feature numerous local farmers. We feel very fortunate to have been awarded this grant and have the opportunity to teach our students about Georgia’s agriculture!

"The end result in the Feed My School for a Week program will be healthier Georgia students, decreased barriers in farm to school efforts and increased awareness as students learn and experience, both educationally and nutritionally, where their food comes from." - Commissioner Gary W. Black ​

Thanks to BCPS and everyone who has encouraged our students this week!