Dear Parents and Students:

Welcome to Barber Middle School: The GEM of Acworth, Where learning is Genuine, Engaging, and
Meaningful! We are very excited to open our doors for the new school year as we focus on increasing
student achievement in all content areas and decreasing achievement gaps among subgroups. Our staff
has been AMAZING as they have planned and prepared for our students to return. There are some
changes and reminders bulleted below that I hope will help you as you prepare in your own homes for
the opening of the school year:
Students may be dropped off at school as early as 8:00 AM. The building is NOT open before
8:00, and there is no supervision.
Students who arrive between 8:00 AM and 8:55 will report to Lab #1 for study hall/online
computer time.
If your child is absent from school, PLEASE send a written excuse OR email it to our Pupil
Personnel Clerk, April.Middleton@cobbk12.org . Students are expected to turn in hand-written
excuses to their THIRD PERIOD teacher.
FOR A PLANNED early dismissal, you may send an email notifying the Pupil Personnel Clerk,
April.Middleton@cobbk12.org . If you need to check your child out unexpectedly, visit the
Attendance Office. To protect the operations of the school at the end of the school day, we
request that you coordinate check-outs before 3:45.
If your child needs to get permission to ride home on a different bus, we MUST have a written
note from you. You may send it via email to our Pupil Personnel Clerk,
April.Middleton@cobbk12.org . For security records, we keep the original notes on file and
provide your child with a standard bus pass as the ticket for the alternate bus.
SECURITY: Our building is equipped with a keyless entry system. When you visit the school,
please ring the bell and wait for the front office personnel to allow you entry. There is no access
from the main lobby into the instructional wing of the building. You must check in at the office,
get a visitors badge, and be allowed access into the building.
OFFICE HOURS: The front office is open from 8:15-4:45 daily. Our office personnel are in the
building and available to assist you and take your phone calls during these hours. Please be
aware that the start of the day can sometimes be hectic in a middle school. Additionally,
administrators have very specific responsibilities to secure substitutes; receive and monitor
students and various before school programs; and conduct meetings with faculty and staff. If
you have a pressing need and cannot immediately meet with an administrator, the clerical
staff will work with you to coordinate a time as soon as possible for the appropriate person to
assist you.
WE DO NOT HAVE HOMEROOMS in the master schedule this year. Students are allowed in the
instructional wing (from busses, from Lab #1, etc.) at 8:55 each day. They are to immediately
report to their FIRST PERIOD CLASS. The 1
st
period teacher will provide any and all passes for
students to leave the classroom for any reason. Students will have from 8:55 until 9:10 to eat
breakfast and handle any other matters of business before instruction begins in first period.