The Titan Times: Week 25

Titan Families,

Can you believe that January is nearly over! With that comes next month's many planned themes and events on campus.

Get ready for a fun and exciting day at our upcoming Business Fair Market Day! On Friday, February 14th, through the day in the 5th grade hallway and science lab our amazing 5th-grade Titans will be showcasing their entrepreneurial spirit by hosting a vibrant market right here on campus.

Here's what you can expect:

• Student-Run Businesses: Our 5th-grade students have been diligently working on their business plans, developing unique products and services for our Titan community.
• Shopping Spree: Come prepared to shop! Students will be accepting coins and dollar bills. We will have change available, but we kindly request that you refrain from using larger bills than $5.
• Supporting Our Young Entrepreneurs: This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our young entrepreneurs and support their learning experiences. It will help fund their upcoming promotion events.

This Market Day is a cherished tradition that we are thrilled to bring back to our campus. It provides our students with valuable real-world experiences in areas like:

• Business planning and development
• Marketing and sales
• Customer service
• Financial literacy

We encourage everyone to support our 5th-grade students at this exciting event!

That is it for now as we start to wrap up the month of January. I hope to see our Titan Community out at the Vandegrift Football parade on Saturday! It's sure to be a celebratory and thrilling event! As always, should you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out. We are here to serve.

Take care and lead well,

Dr. Amy Sharp, RPE Principal

Ms. Lacy Olmstead, RPE Assistant Principal

• 28th: Titan Time Assembly at 2 PM
• 30th: 3rd Grade Field Trip to Ballet Austin

February: Black History Month

• 1st: Viper Parade at 10 AM (see info below)
• 3rd: 100th Day of School
• 3rd-7th National School Counselor Appreciation Week
• 10th-14th Kindness Week
• 14th: River Place Business Fair Hosted by 5th Grade (see info below)
• 17th Presidents' Day- No School for Students

SAVE THE DATE:

• March 26, 2025 Career Day (during school hours) and STEAM Night at 5:30 PM
• April 12, 2025 PTA Spring Fundraiser Gala at 7 PM at River Place Country Club
• STAAR Testing Dates- Closed Campus (No Visitors)
• April 15th Grades 3-5 Reading and Language Arts (RLA) Testing
• April 16th & 17th Grades 3-5 RLA Make-up Testing Days
• April 23rd Grade 5 Science
• April 24th & 25th Science Make-up Testing Days
• April 29th: Grade 5 Math Testing
• April 30th: Grades 3 & 4 Math Testing and Grade 5 Math Make-up Testing Day
• May 1st: Grades 3 & 4 Math Make-up Testing Day (5th Grade YMCA Field Trip)
• May 2nd: Grades 3-5 Math Make-up Testing Day
• May 6-8th Spring Book Fair and Teacher Appreciation Week
• May 22, 2025 5th Grade Crossing Over Ceremony at 8 AM in the MPR

The Texas Rising Stars concert is a fantastic way to celebrate the talent of young musicians, showcasing the winners of the Butler School of Music’s String Concerto Competition. With the Austin Civic Orchestra and the string department at the University of Texas at Austin collaborating for the 11th time, it’s sure to be a memorable evening.

Key details:

• When: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025 at 7:30 pm.
• Where: Bates Recital Hall, the University of Texas at Austin.
• Tickets: Free but reserving in advance is recommended. Tickets will also be available at the door.

This concert reflects a commitment to making classical music accessible and supporting rising talent.

• The Abduction from the Seraglio: Overture by W.A. Mozart
• Violin Concerto in A Major, Op. 8, Allegro Moderato by Mieczysław Karłowicz, Zichuan (Kevin) Wang, Violin
• Guitar Concerto No. 1, Allegretto by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Aytahn Benavi, Guitar
• Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 26, Allegro con fermezza by Aram Khachaturian, Yida An, Violin
• Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, Andante comodo (1962 version) by William Walton, Jason Sheng-Chieh Lan, Viola
• Symphony No. 2, op. 17 by Piotr IIyich Tchaikovsky
  • Andante sostenuto – Allegro vivo
  • Andantino marziale, quasi moderato
  • Scherzo: Allegro molto vivace
  • Finale: Moderato assai – Allegro vivo

This is the information that our district is sharing regarding this topic from our district administrative offices. We encourage you to read the information and FAQs regarding how we will support our diverse Leander ISD community. Here is the link for more information.

Cedar Park High School's award-winning broadcast program is hosting an elementary broadcast camp on Monday, Feb. 17 from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Broadcast students will lead and help the kids make a newscast by the end of the day!

Details:

• Monday, Feb. 17 (Staff PD Day) 8 to 11:30 a.m.
• 3rd-5th graders
• Snacks Included
• Cost is $50

Parents can click here to register.

As our Titans start to add layers of clothing, please be sure you are labeling jackets and all other winter gear. Our collection of coats from December is already large, and we want to be sure our Titans stay warm with the winter clothing you purchased for them. Thank you!

Ms. Olmstead and I hope you are all staying warm as the weather cools. As a reminder, we have a collection of lost and found items, including jackets, lunch boxes, and water bottles. Please check with your child to see if they are missing anything.

Did you know there are valuable resources available for families in Special Programs? Check out the Special Programs Parent Advisory Council Resources to find this month’s family socials, learning opportunities, and more. It’s a quick way to stay connected, informed, and supported. Thank you!

Consider becoming a:

• Volunteer: https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/MTc6ZW4tVVM=#
• Substitute: https://www.applitrack.com/leander/onlineapp/jobpostings/view.asp?internaltransferform.Url&category=&category=11+-+Substitute

Ms. Zoe Ashton is excited to share that a few Titans made the cast for the Four Points Middle School Falcon Theatre spring production "Shrek the Musical JR." The performances are April 10th-12th at 6:30pm.

All Falcon Theatre information can be found on this website, and she will be posting about the musical often on the Falcon Theatre instagram (@fpmsfalcontheatre).

THE CAST:

• Little Ogre/ Dwarf: Lorenzo C. 5th grade (River Place Elementary).

• Baby Bear: Lilliana Annas, 4th grade (Grandview Hills Elementary).

• Young Fiona: Renee C, 4th grade (River Place Elementary).

• Knight 1: Wesley S, 5th grade (River Place Elementary).

• Knight 3: Logan F, 5th grade (River Place Elementary).

• Dragon: Indie Knutson-Ho, 8th grade.

• Blind Mice: Hadlee M 5th grade (River Place Elementary)

We are so excited to combine two excellent programs into one great focus for our Titans. We are using Leander ISD's Ethical Principles (Culture of Caring) and Leander ISD’s Graduate Profile to make our Titan Community leadership and learning focus come to life.

What are we doing as a campus community?

Each month, we will have a new focus and will introduce Titan Excellence during our Titan Time Assembly. Then at the end of each month our teachers will choose two students from their homeroom that have exemplified these qualities through learning and leading. We will celebrate these students at our end of the month, Titan Time Assembly.

Why the change?

We want to effectively integrate important values into our school culture and provide students with regular opportunities to be celebrated for their achievements. This approach should encourage positive behavior and a strong sense of community among our Titans. Our hope is that the monthly focus and the recognition at the end of each month will help keep students engaged and motivated throughout the year.

How can you help?

We encourage you to support this effort by talking about these things at home with your Titan(s), too.

Parent Referral window for 2025/2026 QUEST is open now through March 1st.

QUEST is Leander ISD Gifted and Talented Program. QUEST is a pull out program where students have the opportunity to investigate topics of interest to them in greater depth and complexity. Students expand their academic abilities to apply critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, and research skills through individual and group projects, studies and problem-solving units.

For more information please visit the QUEST/Allison Solberg and here.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Dr. Amy Sharp at amy.sharp@leanderisd.org Thank you!

Join PTA TODAY because increasing our membership, even by one, makes it possible to:

• Get funds to teachers to supplement classroom needs.
• Connect with teachers, parents, and administration to voice needs for our school and our Titans.
• Fund library technology, guest speakers, playground equipment.
• Help plan community activities such as Fall Fest, Apex Fun Run, Book Fair, Mentoring
• programs, Field Day, Career Day & STEAM Night.
• Support Teacher and Staff Appreciation.

Myths Debunked!

• PTA does NOT require mandatory meetings or volunteer hours.
• PTA is NOT just for stay-at-home parents or for those who want to take on a large leadership role.

PTA is-

• for ANYONE who wants to be a bit more connected to teachers, principals and the Titan community. In sum, there is no wrong or right way to be in PTA!
• something that takes 5 minutes to join and if you join now your $10 membership will enter you in a monthly raffle for gift cards, free water bottles, and MORE!
• easy to join! ----------> https://riverplacepta.membershiptoolkit.com

While we deeply appreciate your effort in ensuring your Titan's SDM is updated throughout the school year to include exceptions, we kindly ask that you contact the office via email to get a bus pass written for any Titan that doesn't typically ride the bus to ensure that your Titan is able to safely board the bus with no issue when their SDM exception is Bus Rider. Best practice would be to register your Titan for the bus using this link if these exceptions are planned for an occurrence of at least once a week. For your Titans who do typically ride the bus, please ensure that you have registered your Titan for the bus using this link. Moving forward, students will not be allowed to ride the bus in any capacity unless they've been registered or have contacted the office for a bus pass. If you have any questions, please contact the front office. Thank you!

Families interested in being a part of the Free/Reduced lunch Program need to reapply each year. Please use this link to apply for the 24-25 school year if you haven't already done so. Also, if you are needing assistance with food for your student(s) for the weekend, you may use this google form to sign up for the Backpack Program. Your Titan(s) would receive a bag of food/snacks that they can put in their backpacks to take home each Friday. Please reach out to our school counselor if you have any questions.

Administration was informed that families cannot put a limit on a student's account through My School Bucks as thought. Families will need to fill out this form to detail the snack limit and return it to the cafeteria manager, valorie.rameriez@leanderisd.org at your earliest convenience. Please let us know if you need this in print form, and we will work with you to provide it.

Here are our Titan Community Communication Tools-

• River Place Elementary School Website
• Twitter Account
• PTA Facebook Page
• Remind App for River Place Insiders

Email: ContactTeacher@leanderisd.org
Website: https://riverplace.leanderisd.org/
Location: 6500 Sitio Del Rio Blvd, Austin, TX 78730, USA
Phone: 512-570-6911
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiverPlaceElementaryPTA/
X (formally known as Twitter): @RiverPlaceTitan

Instagram: @riverplace_elem