Spring Fling

If you are interested in attending our "Spring Fling" May 5th from 6:00-8:00, please turn in your $7.00 and permission note to Ms. Hare in the front office. 

May Employee Birthdays

Happy Birthday!

Mrs. Ragland--8th
Mrs. Foy--12th
Mrs. B. Smith--12th
Ms. Phillips--26th
Mr. J. Ragland--26th

Parent Survey

Parents,

This week your child should have brought home a blue piece of paper asking you to participate in an online survey for our school. If you have already completed this survey, thank you!! If you have not, you may click the link below and participate. All answers are anonymous, and we value your honest opinion.

  Click here.

Wes Patterson

Wes Patterson, a bus driver for Ellis and the Talladega City Schools, was featured in a front-page article in the Daily Home. We are proud of him being honored for his service to the Talladega community and are thankful to him and his wife, Sandra for the great job they did painting our front curb. We appreciate you!

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Visit to Elementary Schools

12 students visited all Talladega City elementary schools Friday and spoke to 6th graders who will be enrolling at Ellis for the 2012-2013 school year. Each Ellis student represented a sport, organization, or club in which they are a member. After a brief explanation from our students, questions from the elementary students were answered by a representative.  A special "thank you" to each principal who allowed us to visit, and we look forward to having these incoming 6th graders as students at Ellis!

School Closed

March Student of the Month

March--Libby G.
I'm in the 8th grade. I believe I made "Student of the Month" because I have a good attitude, good grades, and use good manners toward everybody. Without the help of Zora Ellis teachers, I would not be able to be in this position. I have decided when I graduate from High School, I want to be a pediatrician or a surgeon. I would like to be a pediatrician because I like working with kids. I would like to be a surgeon because I think that it would be interesting.

Final Progress Report

Progress Reports will be sent home April 12th!

Tests

We will be administering the Alabama Math, Reading, and Science Assessments April 12th-18th.

Don't let this be you!

Follow these test-taking tips:

Click here.

Thanks, Mr. Lipscomb

Two of these signs can now be seen in the afternoons while buses are loading. Although the signs were purchased, Mr. Lipscomb added the "Stop" logo in the middle. These will be placed in the left-hand lane while our buses are loading in the right-hand lane. Thanks, Mr. Lipscomb for your addition!

STOP for Buses!

The following article was recently published in The Daily Home.  A special "thank you" to Aziza Jackson and Janice Keith for helping bring this to everyone's attention.

Officials concerned over disregard for school bus stop law

by Aziza Jackson

Zora Ellis assistant principal Gloria Thomas said she sees many people violating the state's school bus stop law in Talladega. Photo by Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home


Every afternoon when the bell rings, about 325 students at Zora Ellis Junior High School in Talladega happily head out to go home for the day.
Some ride school buses and others are picked up by family vehicles, but they all face the danger of other cars that speed by while the students are crossing the street.
Zora Ellis assistant principal Gloria Thomas sees it happen every day.
“I’m usually there in the road and saying, ‘Stop, stop,’ and they just drive around me,” Thomas said.
Every day at 2:45 p.m. about eight buses line up in front of the school on Elm Street, with about 70 percent of the school’s student body boarding them.
“Our buses have their warning lights red and when they turn them on the stop signs will come out,” said Wanda Cochran, transportation director for Talladega city schools.
“It’s really dangerous because kids are crossing the street. I can’t come up with anything logical for why they do it. A stop sign means stop.”
Thomas and Cochran said vehicles will fly down Elm Street, which is a one-way street, and literally throw caution to the wind.
“I would just like for parents to follow the law,” Thomas said. “I don’t want anyone punished, just made aware of the danger problem.”
The “danger problem” is outlined in “Alabama’s New School Bus Stop Law.”
However, the “new” law is not new. In fact, it has been in effect since Oct. 1, 2006.
It states that when a school bus stops for passengers, loading or unloading, all traffic from both directions must stop.
This includes two-lane roadways, four-lane roadways, four-lane roadways with a center turning lane, and two-lane roadways with a center turning lane.
It is only on a four-lane highway divided by a median that only traffic following the bus must stop.
Since Elm Street is a one-way street, all traffic following the buses must stop.
Thomas said she and principal Scott Bailey are always out with the students, and sometimes in the road, ensuring the safety of their students.
She said they sometimes receive help from city police officers who stay on patrol during the school’s dismissal and have given out numerous tickets to offenders who neglect the bus stop sign.
The first offense is a fine between $150 to $300.
The second offense is a fine between $300 and $500 plus 100 hours of community service and a 30-day driver’s license suspension.
The third offense is a fine of between $500 and $1,000 plus 200 hours of community service and a 90-day driver’s license suspension.
The fourth offense is a fine of between $1,000 and $3,000, a Class C felony, and a one-year driver’s license suspension.
“You could pay for one policeman’s salary with all the tickets they give out,” Thomas said.
She said a police officer used to be stationed at the school for dismissals every day, but since the police force has been cut, officers have been seen less frequently.
“They have been helpful even if they can’t come every day,” Thomas said. “We wouldn’t have to worry about it if everyone followed the rules.”
Cochran said the eight buses at Zora Ellis are not equipped with cameras on the stop signs, but have a camera in the interior of the bus that has helped catch a few offenders.
“We have ordered some barricades so they can’t get around the road,” Thomas said.
“They come down the road so fast. It’s not every day or constantly, but it’s often enough that one day something bad could happen.”
Thomas stressed that the school bus safety issue is not just an issue for Zora Ellis, but a city issue and an awareness problem.
“I’m a mother of three. I’m from this community. This is my home,” Thomas said.
“We don’t want the public to think that their children aren’t safe.”
For more information about Alabama’s New School Bus Stop Law, call 334-242-9730 or visit www.alsde.edu.

Cupcake Sale

Cupcakes will be on sale April 12th-13th for 75 cents each during 6th period. Help us support Cancer Awareness.

Extra Coke Products

Following our recent Coke fundraiser, the cases listed below remain and are available. If you are interested in purchasing any of these ($20/case), please inform the front office. 

• 1 case of Sprite
• 1 case of Coke
• 1 case of Mello Yello
• 1 case of orange Powerade
• 3 cases of caffeine-free diet Coke
• 2 cases of Minute Maid fruit punch

DNA Strands

Objectives of the activity:

• Describe the three basic parts of a DNA molecule
• Name the four types of nucleotide bases
• Explain the rules of base pairing for DNA

"During the ASA (Alabama Science Assessment) review, I could really tell that the students retained the information very well by how many questions they answered correctly. Using the manipulatives really helped my tactile learners." 
Ms. Webb