The Titan Times: Week 26

Titan Families,

This week, we are excited to celebrate National School Counselor Appreciation Week! We are incredibly fortunate to have Ms. Shannon Zepeda as our school counselor. She is a vital member of our school community, providing invaluable support and guidance to our students, families, and staff. Ms. Zepeda's dedication, compassion, and expertise make a real difference in the lives of our children, and we want to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude for all that she does. Please join us this week in showing Ms. Zepeda how much we appreciate her!

Following our Counselor Appreciation Week, we will be observing Kindness Week next week. We will be engaging students in various lessons and activities focused on kindness, empathy, and respect. To add a bit of fun, we'll also have some special dress-up days throughout the week (details below!). We encourage everyone to participate and show their commitment to creating a kind and caring school environment.

We believe that celebrating our counselor and promoting kindness are essential to fostering a positive and supportive learning community for all our students. We hope everyone will join us in recognizing Ms. Zepeda this week and participating in the various kindness initiatives next week. Together, we can make a difference!

As always, should you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out. Let's make it a great first week of February together!

Take care and lead well,

Dr. Amy Sharp, RPE Principal

Ms. Lacy Olmstead, RPE Assistant Principal

• 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- see each day's theme below
• 14th: River Place Business Fair Hosted by 5th Grade (see info below)
• 17th Presidents' Day- No School for Students
• 19th: PTA meeting 6 PM at cafeteria- see info in PTA News section- Sure to be a GREAT one!

SAVE THE DATE:

• March 11, 2025 4th grade performance
• 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
• April 29, 2025 1st grade performance
• May 6-8th Spring Book Fair and Teacher Appreciation Week
• May 8, 2025 Talent Show
• May 9, 2025 Field Day
• May 16, 2025 Kinder performance
• May 22, 2025 5th Grade Crossing Over Ceremony at 8 AM in the MPR

By following the below guidelines, we can work together to ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for all students and staff. Thank you for your support in keeping our school community well!

Cold and Flu Season is Here

To help keep our school community healthy, it is crucial to keep your child home if they are experiencing symptoms of illness.

When should your child stay home?
If your child has any of the following symptoms, they must stay home and be symptom-free for at least 24 hours without the use of medication before returning to school:

• Fever of 100.0°F or higher
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

How does the 24-hour rule work?
For example, if a student has a 101.0°F fever at 12:00 PM and takes Tylenol, the fever may temporarily go down. However, the 24-hour symptom-free period starts when the medication has fully worn off and they remain fever-free on their own. If the fever was still gone at 6:00 PM when the medicine wore off, they could return after 6:00 PM the next day if no fever returns.

Other important ways to prevent the spread of illness:

• Encourage frequent hand washing or sanitizing, especially before and after eating.
• Teach children to cover their coughs and sneezes with a tissue or their elbow.
• Partner with our school community by keeping sick students home to prevent the spread of germs to classmates and staff.

Friendly Reminder

📝 When a student is absent, parents or guardians should submit any

necessary documentation as soon as possible; recommended within 48 hours of the absence.

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.

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!

Come hear what the PTA has planned for the spring.

And in honor of American Heart Month come hear Ryan Moore of Moore CPR and Heart Screening and Dr. David Revere, cardiologist, speak about the importance of heart health and CPR in the community.

Babysitters will be on hand so bring your kids. They can play in the hallway while we meet in the cafeteria.

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