Open House

Thursday, July 30, 2026

All NEW and RETURNING students and families, Pre-K through 5th grade

9am-12pm

Families are welcome to drop in at any time during this window. Please note: the busiest time tends to be around 9am. We recommend coming later if you are able.

ALL FAMILIES must create or reactivate their account on Vanderlyn’s MEMBERSHIP TOOLKIT prior to the Meet & Greet event on July 30!! Please see the details, below.

Registration Checklist

1. REQUIRED! Online DCSD Registration: Prior to July 30, 2026

New DCSD Families should register through the New Student Registration Application
Returning DCSD Families should complete the Current Student / Online Verification Application.
If you are being asked for a GUID, please email Mr. Clayton at robert_clayton@dekalbschoolsga.org and he can assist.

2. REQUIRED! Vanderlyn PTO Registration*

To complete your PTO Registration, go to our PTO website to create or reactivate your online account and update your family and directory information. We MUST have this in order to best serve your student this school year for events like field day, field trips, and class activities.
Complete your online forms by clicking on “My Account” > “My Account and Online Forms” to fill out the Open Forms (Annual Fund Donation, Student Fees, and PTO Membership) and purchase your student’s items with a credit card.
Student Fees help us best support and show appreciation for our faculty and staff throughout the school year.
Subscribe to the Viking Views weekly newsletter and the Vanderlyn PTO calendar.
OPTIONAL: Order your Fall Spirit Wear online.

*Please note: PTO Registration does not require you to become a member of the PTO. While membership is optional (and recommended), completing the online PTO Registration form is REQUIRED.*

3. OPTIONAL (but recommended): Complete and bring in additional forms

(found under Parent Resources)

Dismissal Agreement
Permissions and Privacy Form,
Bus Rider Agreement

REASONS Why YOU should complete this Registration Checklist ***BEFORE*** arriving at Meet & Greet on July 30, 2026:

If your DCSD Online Registration AND your Vanderlyn PTO Registration have not been completed by July 30, your child will not receive his or her classroom assignment at Meet & Greet.
If you have to complete these steps when you arrive at Vanderlyn, you will be directed to the Media Center where there are a limited number of computers for you to use.
Don’t count on using your smartphone to access online registration forms while you are on Vanderlyn’s campus; cellular service is extremely slow!

Students may bring their school supplies to Meet & Greet or on the first day of school.

Questions? Contact Jeanne Walters or Emilee Stone at vanderlynelemPTO@gmail.com. For more updates and communication from Vanderlyn PTO, don’t forget to follow us on social media.

To find up to date information on the DCSD Student Assignment Project (SAP) please click here or find the link under parent resources.

School supply list can be found here.

Vanderlyn Elementary school supplies are now ready to order. Get the exact supplies your teacher requested in one beautiful box, all in just a few clicks. The school receives $ for each box purchased. Last day to order is July 8th!
Order your kit now.

Rising 6th Grade Summer Bridge

Mark Your Calendars! The Summer Bridge event for incoming 6th grade students to Peachtree Middle School will be held on:

Wednesday, July 22 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.

Principal Heutel will host a Parent Coffee from 10:00 -10:30 am.

This is a great opportunity for your incoming student to become familiar with the building, meet other students, and prepare for the start of the school year!

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Team

Students who will be in the 4th or 5th grade next year can start preparing now for the October tryouts for Vanderlyn’s Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Team. Following tryouts, the team meets once a week after school, day TBA. The Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is a fun, quiz-bowl type competition. At the Bowl, students strive to "buzz" in and correctly answer questions about the current year's elementary Georgia Children's Book Award nominees faster than the opposing teams. For more information, click on this link. Questions? Email gail_pansini@dekalbschoolsga.org

Opportunities for Rising 4th and 5th grade students

Students in rising 4th and 5th grades are encouraged to consider applying in the fall to be either morning Library Aides or members of the Vanderlyn News Crew. Students who have accepted the opportunity to join safety patrol will not be eligible.

Library aides are asked to commit to a minimum of 2 mornings per week (7:00-7:30). They will help assist in the operation of the library through manning the circulation desk, shelving books, assisting with special projects, keeping the library presentable, etc.

Vanderlyn News Crew members meet daily from 7:00 to 7:30. Our news crew writes scripts and films news episodes that are shared with the school.

Applications will be available in August.

Questions? Email gail_pansini@dekalbschoolsga.org

Parking Decals for the 2025-2026 School Year

We recognize parking can oftentimes be a challenge when visiting campus. This year, to better manage our parking lots and limit use by individuals not affiliated with Vanderlyn, we’ll be distributing parking decals like the one shown above.

These decals should be placed in the bottom corner of the driver’s side windshield and will help us ensure that parking remains available for teachers, staff, and parents throughout the year. You can pick up your decal in the front office with Ms. Gillett. Please limit to 2 per family. All other visitors can pick up a temporary tag from the front office when visiting campus.

If your business is interested in becoming an Annual Sponsor or you would like to learn more, please contact us at vanderlynannualfund@gmail.com

In October 2024 Dekalb County Schools announced a process, the Student Assignment Project, to comprehensively evaluate its approach to assigning students to schools, including school boundaries, use of existing buildings, and the process for assigning students to specialty schools (i.e. magnet, IB, language). In addition to a thorough review of available data including current and projected attendance levels, the District has hosted a series of meetings to share what they are doing and solicit input from the community. All meeting recordings and notes are available at this link. The Student Assignment Project will culminate in Winter or Spring of 2026 with a report of recommendations that will be presented to the Board of Education for consideration. The district is asking parents to review notes and be proactive with any feedback and comments before formal recommendations are formed. You can reach the SAP committee to give feedback via the website at: https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/sap/contact/.

Your help is needed! Please consider volunteering your time and joining one of our PTO Committees (click here for descriptions of each!). To learn more about how you can get involved or for information about chairing a committee, please reach out to vanderlynelempto@gmail.com.

Download the App now! Add a grade level when you scan your receipts. The App will show which grade level has earned the most BoxTops for Vanderlyn.

Connect your BoxTops account to your Walmart account by 8/31/24 and earn and additional 50 points for Vanderlyn.

Curious how Vanderlyn is performing?

Moving to Dunwoody and want to know how schools compare?

Statewide Assessments. Check out Dekalb County’s new Data Dashboard available at https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/data-dashboards/accountability-reports/. This Dashboard includes information from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA). The GOSA provides school reports for all public elementary, middle, and high schools in Georgia. These reports include information such as:

performance on statewide assessments,
make-up of the school’s student body, and
graduation rate for high schools.

These reports also include each school’s College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). CCRPI is a comprehensive school improvement, accountability, and communication platform that measures college and career readiness for all Georgia public school students.

Click here for Vanderlyn’s latest CCRPI. In the area of Content Mastery, Vanderlyn earned a perfect score of 100.

State Level Awards. In 2023, Vanderlyn earned the Literacy Leader distinction from the Georgia Department of Education for outstanding reading achievement, with Vanderlyn students achieving 96% mastery in Reading on the Georgia Milestones assessment. Our school has consistently been recognized by the Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement as a High Performing School, including winning the Platinum Award in the Highest Performing category in both 2011 and 2015. Vanderlyn was named a 2011 Georgia School of Excellence by the State School Superintendent, placing Vanderlyn in the top 10% of schools in the state.

STEM Certification. Vanderlyn is AdvancED STEM and Cognia certified. We have completed this arduous process twice!

Family and Community Involvement. Our families and local community are integral to Vanderlyn's success. Vanderlyn celebrates annual events such as STEM Career Day, National STEM Day, PBL Showcase, Passport to the World, Vocabulary Hat Parade, Art Showcase, as well as musical and dance performances. VanderDash, our largest school-community event, annually raises over $20,000, and has funded teacher training and improvements to the school, including playground updates, mobile computer carts, laptops and grade level tablets, our outdoor Courtyard Classroom, media center & staff lounge upgrades and flexible student seating.

Student Competitions. Our students regularly win accolades in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, state-level Science Olympiad, Econ Games, DCSD Technology Fair, and Math Olympiad.

Safety and Security: The safety and well-being of students is Vanderlyn's top priority. Vanderlyn has received an average score of 100 on our Annual Safe School Audits.

Mobile App Directory and Calendar

PTO members can access the school directory and calendar from the Membership Toolkit App. This App is currently available for free in the Apple and Google stores.
You can toggle between up to 4 organizations you belong to using Membership Toolkit.
Subscribe to the calendar by clicking on the menu bar (top left) > gear icon (settings) > Manage Subscriptions

Website Directory and Calendar

PTO members can access the school directory HERE. To update your family’s account and publishing preferences for the Directory, click HERE.
Add important school dates to your personal calendar (Google or Mac Calendar). To subscribe to the calendar, click HERE > subscribe to “Vanderlyn Elementary PTO - Dekalb County SD, GA Calendars”.

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