The Titan Times: Week 14

Titan Families,

We are nearly done with October and have completed the first nine weeks of the school year already! Please join me in thanking our PTA for hosting a fantastic fall fest for our campus community. We were not sure it would come to fruition with the traffic in our area; however, we were able to pull off a great event.

Last week, we also shared report cards to your Home Access Center (HAC). If you need help accessing your HAC to view your student's report card please see the HAC-Guide. If this is the first time you have logged in, you will log in with the email address you registered your child with, and the password Riverplace1. You will be prompted to change the passwords upon your first log in. Please reach out to the front office if you have any questions.

There is so much ahead in October AND November, and thankfully, it's starting to feel like fall. Be sure to plan to join us, volunteer, and/or contribute in all of the upcoming fun detailed in our newsletter. We look forward to engaging with you as the school year moves along. As always, should you have any questions, please feel free to call our campus, and a member of our wonderful office team will be more than happy to support you or direct you to someone who can.

Take care and lead well,

Dr. Amy Sharp

Proud RPE Principal

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

The October Special Programs family newsletter is here! You'll find information about our October 25th Family Workshop Conference, disability awareness, Leander Lazers, SELF 18+ and community resources.

• 21st- 25th: National School Bus Safety Week: Transportation, Crossing Guards
• 24th: Wildflower Stomp with homeroom classes
• The annual Wildflower Stomp will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24. If you're able, please sign up for an open time slot with your child's class, or feel free to join us for any time you have available! All volunteers must be approved with LISD. MAKE SURE YOU ARE A LISD VOLUNTEER HERE. After checking in with the front office, please join us in the garden.
  
• 28th- November 1st: Red Ribbon Week- See daily themes below!
• 29th: 5th grade performance for families at 7:45 AM and for students at 2 PM- See Teacher Newsletter for Info
  
• 31st: 4th Grade Field Trip- See Teacher Newsletter for Info

November: Lung Cancer Awareness Month & Native American Heritage

• 4th and 5th:
• No School for Students/ District Staff Development Day
• It's Election Day on November 5th ,and River Place ES is a voting location.
• 4th- 8th:
• Maintenance Appreciation Week
• National School Psychology Week
  
• 11th: Veterans Day Program for Families 9:30- 10 AM for Students 2:00- 2:30 PM
• 13th: Fall Picture Retakes and Vision and Hearing Screening with Nurse
• 18th- 22nd:
• American Education Week Celebrating Principals, Asst. Principals, & Instructional Coaches
• Book Fair Week
• 20th
• Late Night for Book Fair is From 3:30- 6 PM in the library
• PTA General Meeting at 6 PM in the cafeteria
• 21st: Thanksgiving Luncheon- RSVP here respond by Friday, November 15th at 3:00 P.M.
• 25th- 29th: Thanksgiving Break: No School for Staff and Students

Greetings Parents,

Annual Vision and Hearing Screenings mandated by the Texas Department of Health

will begin now and through November 13 th when we hold the mass screening on

campus at River Place Elementary. Children in 1 st ,3 rd and 5 th grades will be screened.

Also any children new to the district and in any specialty classes will be tested. Please

have your child bring their glasses and hearing devices on this day. Testing will be done

with corrective devices on your child. Should your student encounter any issues when

screening there will be a rescreening done and a referral sent home after that is

performed by trained staff members.

Thank you,

Nurse Rushing

Jason is partnering with EF Tours, the largest educational tour company out there. Please register for our info session to be considered for our upcoming travel opportunity. In our session, we'll cover everything from how this opportunity will benefit your child, what's included in the experience, how we'll keep the trip safe and affordable, and much more. Plus, if we haven't met yet, it's a good chance to learn more about me as both an educator and a Group Leader. Registration for this session is mandatory to help organize our meeting, and a parent or guardian must attend. Can't make it? Choose "No, but send info" so you don't miss out.

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.

Pedernales Electric Cooperative invests in an array of educational programs to help brighten classrooms and communities across the Texas Hill Country. For a second school year, PEC will host a Teacher Spotlight Award to recognize the incredible work teachers do in their classrooms and communities. PEC is accepting nominations for the Teacher Spotlight Award through October 25, so please consider filling out the form online.

From the nominations received, PEC will select teachers from across the co-op’s service territory to receive awards. This round’s winners will be announced in November and PEC will visit the teachers at their schools to present them with a thank-you basket of resources and materials to support classroom learning.

Members can learn more details and nominate a teacher by visiting pec.coop/youth-programs.

What SDM is:

School Dismissal Manager (SDM) is the system that is used to notify teachers which dismissal line they will put their students in at the end of every school day. Teachers are sent their SDM report around 1:40 pm, which is why the cutoff time to change your student's dismissal is 1:30. This gives teachers enough time to review it, notify their students of any changes they may not be aware of and prepare for dismissal. The office team and Teachers rely on this report to know where to send each child at the end of the day which is why it is important you update it when making any changes to how your student will be going home. If you are picking up your student early, it is important that you change it to "Leaving Early" so the dismissal team is not looking for your child at the end of the day. Early check-out ends at 2:15, because at that time, teachers are already preparing for dismissal and it can be difficult to notify a teacher, locate the student and get them down to the office during this very busy time of day. If your student is being picked up by someone other than an authorized person at the end of the school day, SDM is the place to note that.

What SDM is not:

SDM is not the place to submit your absent note. Even though you have the ability to change your student's dismissal to Absent you still must submit a note to the teacher or rplattendance@leanderisd.org. It is not the place to request your student ride the bus home with another student. You are able to note that, but you still need to submit a request for a bus pass by emailing Dr. Sharp and Melynda the receptionist. This is a policy set by LISD's Transportation Department. SDM is not how we know to call your student down early for an appointment. We cannot call a student to the office until an authorized person with an ID is here to pick them up and sign them out. SDM is often not reviewed until the end of the day before it is time to send the reports to Teachers, so the office staff may be unaware they are leaving early.

Families,

Vandegrift High School is hosting a Trunk or Treat on Wednesday, October 30th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Join us for an evening of music, popcorn, games, and plenty of trunks filled with treats for the kids to safely enjoy. There will also be food trucks available. We hope to see you there for some fun at VHS!

The Family and Community Services students will be coming to each elementary school Friday with two posters and flyers for the students to be sent home in their Wednesday/Friday folders. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know.

Thank you for your continued support!

November 5th, 2024 from 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM at Vandegrift High School 9500 McNeil Dr, Building 2

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION NOW OPEN UNTIL October 22!

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