Shark Tales

Hey Shark Family!

What another jawsome week at the Shark Tank! We kicked things off celebrating Hispanic Heritage with a potluck that brought the flavors of Latin countries to the Shark Tank. Thanks to everyone who contributed—you definitely brought your A-game to the table!

The awesomeness continued with our fabulous Academic Family Night! We had over 340 families join us, and most of you stayed late to create such an engaging, fun, and interactive experience for our students and their families. From reading and language arts to math and science, you made learning exciting for everyone. It was a huge success! Families also had a chance to visit the Late Night at the Book Fair and share the love of reading. Thank you to our student volunteers from Mayde Creek High School who helped make it a success. The night was definitely one that everyone will be talking about until next year!

To top it off, admin met with our area superintendent, and she seemed really pleased with the direction our campus is heading, especially when it comes to improving student behavior and raising student achievement. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for making it all happen this week. Let’s keep the momentum going after we all rest up enjoying our Monday holiday!

You all rock!

-Admin Team

All district and campus calendars and schedules are linked in the Sea of Information

How to add the SES Outlook Calendar

School Improvement Team Walkthroughs 10/16

This week, we will welcome our School Improvement Team. They are visiting classrooms to see the great things that are happening in our classrooms! The schedule is below:

Report Card Grades Due 10/18 by 4:00 pm

Grades are due on Friday. Check to make sure that students who had a failing grade are retaught and retested. Handwriting and conduct grades need to be input as well. If you have any questions, please contact our TAC Coordinator, Suzy Nguyen.

PDR Schedule

PDRs or Professional Development Rotations are scheduled weekly on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 8:05 am to 8:35 am with primary grade levels and intermediate grade levels alternating weeks. Please make sure to be on time to our sessions as there is only 30 minutes to cover the information.

Digital Citizenship Week is this week October 14-18

During Digital Citizenship Week, teachers are to share four hands-on mini lessons created by the district's team of Classroom Technology Designers with students. These lessons will take about 10 minutes each day. All elementary staff will be enrolled in the Canvas course where they will find each day's lesson and all the information needed for the week.

10 minute lessons in Canvas: https://katyisd.instructure.com/courses/578621/pages/digital-citizenship

• Monday, October 14: Introduce Digital Citizenship Week (no lesson)
• Tuesday, October 15: Digital Footprint (wear crazy or cool socks)
• Wednesday, October 16: Media Balance (wear sports gear)
• Thursday, October 17: Cyber Kindness (wear red, pink, or hearts)
• Friday, October 18: Digital Literacy (wear a school spirit shirt)

Staff Shout-outs

If you have a staff member who deserves a shout-out, please let us know. We want to recognize all our Sharks for everything they do to make SES a great place to work and to be. Shark Shout-Out Form

Will Vaughn and Suzy Nguyen - Thank you for coordinating and planning Family Academic Night. It was an amazing experience for everyone!

Brenda Meza - You are a FIN-tastic Team Player! Thank you for volunteering to attend the LATE ARD meeting for one of my ECSE kiddos! You are the Best! -Jessica Schorr

Rebecca Key & Kristy Shoaf - Thank you for the donation of scissors to the Science Lab. -Glenda Bolling

Natalia Nieto - Thank you for always being so willing to help...ANYWHERE...ANYTIME! -Renesia Nash

Glenda Bolling - You are making science come alive! Here, lab lessons are engaging and motivating for our students at Schmalz. We are so luck to have you here! -Suzy Nguyen

Will Vaughn & Suzy Nguyen - Thank you for preparing all the materials for Academic Night. This made taking care of our students and their families so much easier. -Cassandre Calixte

Rocio Lazcano, Marfa Pargada, Monica Smith, Barbi Wolf, Araba Essel - Thank you for organizing the Hispanic Heritage Potluck. The food was delicious!

District Curriculum Canvas Links

The district is providing curriculum on a district grade level Canvas page. Once you open the list, click on the curriculum you want access to and then enroll in the Canvas (course). All content teachers are to enroll in the Canvas page for all the subjects they teach. It'll then be accessible through Katy Cloud > Canvas. Click here.

Little Miss/Mister Sunshine Award

The Sunshine Committee recognizes staff who are nominated for the Sunshine Award. If someone brought you some "sunshine" this month which could be big or little acts of kindness, we want to know. The staff member with the most nominations will receive a special "Sunshine" Award, and those nominated will be recognized at our staff meeting. Little Miss/Mister Sunshine Nomination Form Congratulations to our past winners: Ms. Denney and Ms. Richard.

Sea of Information

Please refer to the Sea of Information for any information you may need. You'll find the staff phone list, schedules, grading information, and a whole lot more!

Win the Golden Apple Award and Receive concierge service to your classroom

The PTA has set a goal of earning the National PTA's Golden Apple Award. This award is given to PTAs who have 100% staff membership. When we reach 100% staff membership (because we're going to do it!), the PTA will treat us to Travelin' Tom's coffee truck and HAND DELIVER your order to your classroom. No waiting in line 😏 So far, the Admin team, the AST/Title I team, 3rd grade team and Specials team are leading. Sign up by clicking here: JOIN PTA FORM. First department with 100% earns Sonic drinks!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Please continue to hold parent teacher conferences. Make sure to keep your conference form copies for student records at the end of the year. Parent conferences are to be completed by the end of November.

Parent & Community Volunteers

Parents may volunteer in the Workroom or become "mystery readers" in the classroom. Parents and community members may contact the school counselors or PTA for more information.

Monitoring Lunch Visitors in the Cafeteria and in the building

Parents may begin visiting with their student at lunch this week by signing up through a link on the Shark News. Cafeteria monitors may need to remind visitors to follow lunch guidelines: 1). Sit with their child at the visitor table; 2). Not have interactions with students other than their own child; 3). Only provide food for their own child; 4). Follow the Cafeteria's NO-PHONE ZONE policy; and 5). Only visit the cafeteria during their child's lunch time - no visiting the playground, recess area, or classrooms. Visitors who disregard the guidelines repeatedly may lose the privilege of having lunch with their child.

TCP Time Clock

Thank you so much for your patience with TCP. The transition has had a few hiccups but rest assured the district is working on correcting these issues. If you are unable to input an absence into TCP, please let Ana Wright and the APs now so that it can be entered. Please follow all policies and procedures for being absent.

Your House representative has information to share about all the House activities planned for the year. Bi-weekly house meetings are being planned. If you have suggestions, please give them to your House representative.

Purposefull People lessons may be accessed on the Character Strong website:

https://login.characterstrong.com/login

Username: schmalzelementary
Password: character2020

Mindfulness is also taking a moment to reflect and take the temperature of your life. Of course, we can't control those around us, but we do have control over our own actions. Let's harness this power to bring joy to our lives! Try this mindfulness body scan to feel calm all over (see below).

Here is the Community Circle video and Community Circle Questions to use as we begin building relationships with our students and forming a strong classroom community here at Schmalz.

Introduction Video to Community Circles for Students: Be sure to show this video about community circle to your students before starting.

SES Community Circle Questions: Be sure to read over the first few slides before using the questions. Click on picture above for this week's community circle questions.

GETTING ACQUAINTED: Low-Risk Community-Building Questions: The following questions are designed to have the lowest emotional risk for students. Use these questions exclusively in the beginning to build rapport and trust.

Please continue teaching the First 21 Days of the Calming Corner. As we've walked through classrooms we've seen students using them and being successful at self-regulation. If you need some assistance in successfully implementing the calming corner, please see Freda Ihediwa (PK, K, 2nd, & 4th) or Kathryn Johnson (1st, 3rd, 5th).

Staff Hours are 8:05 am to 4:05 pm. Please arrive on campus early enough to be at your duty station on time. Staff who are late will begin to receive reminder emails from admin this week.

If you plan to be absence, please make sure you input your absences as soon as you know you'll be absent. You will need to inform your Team Lead, your AP, Mrs. Fox and Ana via email.

Principal - Mrs. Fox

AP PK, KG & 3rd - Mrs. Belmarez

AP 1st & 4th - Mr. Noel

AP 2nd & 5th - Mrs. Martinez

Personal Business Requests - Complete this form and place in Ana Wright's box at least 3 business days before the absence. There is a limit to how many can be approved per day, so plan ahead.

Personal Illness & Family Illness - Please input by 6:00 am on day of absence.

Jury Duty - Please ask for a receipt of attendance. If the receipt says 8am-10am, you must come back to campus or take the remainder of the day off using your accrued time off.

School Business or Staff Development: Please complete this form and return to Ana Wright's box.

Paraprofessionals - Missed punches: Please complete the Time Correction Request as soon as you can.

Professional staff should have an Exit the Tank Early pass in their box. They were passed out Friday, August 16th. Please make sure you read and follow the instructions before you turn them in to Ana's box.

Click on Classroom Management PD blue bar above to access registration links for trainings.

Click on GEM PD Sessions blue bar above to access registration links for trainings.

Shark Store Orders are due each Thursday by 5:00 pm on the PBIS Rewards App. Please make sure you approve your student orders so that students show up under your name when the counselors run the report. The counselors will process the orders and place the items in bags and place them in your mailboxes. Teachers must return their bags to the BLUE BIN shown in the picture below after distributing the rewards to students.

• 1. Please return your big plastic bags to the blue pin. Orders will be processed by the counselors on Friday.
• 2. Please approve student purchases on the PBIS Rewards App. See video link for instructions.
• 3. When students purchase the "Be on the Announcements" Pass, you will receive a calendar invite. Please accept it so that you know which day to send the student(s) down to be on morning announcements. (If you haven't received an invite from either counselor, please let them know that your student has purchased a "Be on the Announcements" Pass so that they can send the invite.

If you missed it, check out the previous Shark Tales by clicking on the link:

• Week of October 6
• Week of September 29
• Week of September 22
• Week of September 15
• Week of September 8
• Week of September 1
• Week of August 25
• Week of August 18
• Week of August 11
• Week of August 4
• Week of July 28
• Week of July 15

If you've missed an issue of the parent newsletter, Shark News, please click below:

• Week of October 3
• Week of September 26
• Week of September 19
• Week of September 12
• Week of September 5
• Week of August 29
• Week of August 22
• Week of August 15

• Week of August 8
• Week of August 3
• Week of July 28

Stay connected with what's happening in the Shark Tank by downloading the REMIND app and texting @jeanbetty to 81010 to join the Schmalz 24-25 group. Principal Fox sends out communications using Remind for event reminders, weather emergencies, traffic updates, etc.

If you or your team are interested in writing a grant, but want to know how, or want to brainstorm some ideas, please come to the LGI for the Grant Watching Party on the days listed below. Register in Eduphoria.

Information on how to apply here!

The Sunshine Committee sponsors the Sunshine Award which recognizes staff monthly. To nominate a staff member who has brought you sunshine, please complete the Mr. Sunshine or Ms.Sunshine Nomination Form.

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The Sunshine Committee also plans staff events, and provides gifts for staff showers and meals or gifts to staff members who are ill or have lost an immediate family member.

Be entered into our Sunshine Drawing by paying your dues before September 30th. Annual dues are only $25.00 for professional staff and $15.00 for paraprofessional staff paid on the Pay N Go App or scan the QR Code to pay.

You are invited to join our PTA! Your membership dues may be bundled to include a PTA T-shirt!

PTA "My Favorite Things": PTA loves to surprise our teachers and staff. You won't want to miss out, so please fill out "My favorite things" survey.

Our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is jaw-some! This past school year, they sponsored several breakfasts and lunches for us. They also sponsored Sammy's Tip Top Holiday Shop and paid for the 5th grade end of year party, among other activities they sponsored. They have even better plans for this year. Sign-up as a member now for this school year and wear your PTA shirt proudly!

PTA Website

If you have any questions, please reach out to membership@schmalzpta.com or any of your board members for assistance!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

https://www.facebook.com/schmalzsharks/

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