The Titan Times: Week 18

Titan Families,

Our big week is here! We have an exciting week planned leading into Thanksgiving Break. This week, we host the Scholastic Book Fair as well as our Thanksgiving Luncheon. Please be sure your child has an eWallet. If you prefer to go the cash route for payment at the book fair, please note that we will NOT accept any bills larger than a $20 bill.

Wednesday night, we have our late book fair night from 3:30- 6:00 PM. Following that from 6:00- 7:00 PM is our PTA general meeting. The general meeting will have opportunities for you to connect with other family members in our community and hear from a speaker from the Austin Police Department. They plan to share information about cyber security and cyberbullying. We hope to see you there!

Thursday is our Thanksgiving Luncheon. If you plan to attend, we ask that you pack your patience for the lovely event ahead. Aim to be here early to find a parking spot and check-in with the front office. Please note that if you did not RSVP, you will need to check-in at the reception desk with your identification card to get a visitor's badge. This is a state and district mandated process that we adhere to for the safety and well-being of our Titan Community and to abide by state and district policy. If you plan to purchase a lunch, please add those funds to your child's account or be prepared to pay cash. If you are planning on taking your Titan(s) home after you have Thanksgiving lunch with them, please update their SDM to "Leaving Early, Not Coming Back" by Thursday morning. Again, please plan accordingly to ensure you and your Titan(s) have a wonderful experience.

Please read the information below and mark your calendars. When we return from break, we will be in the month of December! Therefore, 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.

Lastly, we hope everyone has a blessed time with family and friends over our Thanksgiving Break from November 25th- 29th. We will miss seeing our Titan(s) on a daily basis and wish each of you the very best as you make cherished memories together. We hope to see you on campus before break, yet if we don't, we look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday, December 2nd!

Take care and lead well,

Dr. Amy Sharp

Proud RPE Principal

• 18th- 22nd:
• American Education Week Celebrating Principals, Asst. Principals, & Instructional Coaches
• Book Fair Week
• 20th
• 2nd 9 weeks progress reports will be sent home in Wednesday folders this week. Please remove the report and return the signed envelope to your child's teacher. Thank you!
• 5th grade scoliosis screenings during PE for girls (see teacher email for dress instructions)
• Late Night for Book Fair is From 3:30- 6 PM in the library
• PTA General Meeting at 6 PM in the cafeteria
• 21st:
• 5th grade scoliosis screenings during PE for girls (see teacher email for dress instructions)
• Thanksgiving Luncheon- RSVP is closed.
• 25th- 29th: Thanksgiving Break: No School for Staff and Students

December:

• 5th & 6th: Winter Wreath Making in the RPE Garden. Volunteer signup coming soon.
• 10th: 3rd Grade Performance at 10:45 AM for families and 2 PM for students
• 12th: 1st Grade Field Trip and Campus Spelling Bee for Grades 3-5
• 18th: Winter Parties (Info coming)
• 20th: Early Release and End of 2nd Nine Weeks Grading Period
• 23rd- January 6th: Winter Break for Students (Staff return on January 6, 2025)

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

It’s that time of year when the district reviews the current academic calendar and finalizes the academic calendar for the following year. Input from the #1LISD community is crucial to ensure that we develop the 2025–2026 school year calendar to best meet the needs of everyone in the district. Our goal is to collect as much feedback as possible. Complete the Academic Calendar Survey. The survey will close Dec. 3, 2024. We look forward to hearing from you and working together to shape our academic calendar.

River Place Elementary will be hosting its Thanksgiving Lunch for students and their families on November 21, 2024. The kitchen crew needs your help to make this possible!

We are looking for volunteers to help with decor before the event: covering and decorating tables in the cafeteria and MPR. Decorations will be provided

We are also needing volunteers to help serve behind the lunch lines and to clean tables during and after each lunch shift.

**All volunteers must wear closed toe, non-skid shoes and hair needs to be pulled back.

**MUST be an approved LISD volunteer to sign up**

Sign up to be a LISD volunteer HERE

Already a volunteer? Click here to sign up to volunteer.

With the news of Ms. Eubanks and her family relocating at Winter Break, we are actively hiring a librarian to start in the spring semester. Info here: https://bit.ly/3W7c71S

In the meantime, we are enjoying every day we have with Ms. Eubanks to end 2024. If we do not have a suitable replacement, we will work with district offices to secure a sub and continue our systems in the library. If you have any questions, please reach out to Dr. Amy Sharp at amy.sharp@leanderisd.org Thank you!

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.

The Giving Train is a program that helps spread holiday cheer to kids in need within River Place Elementary. To take part in this year's Giving Train efforts please follow these simple steps:

1. Sign up below on the spreadsheet link if you would like to be assigned to fulfill a child’s wishes.

2. In an effort to ensure children receive equal gifts, please fulfill 3 key items (1. coat or sweater 2. toys 3. pair of shoes).

All gifts are due by December 10th.

Thank you for your interest in brightening the holidays for members of our RPE family!

If you have any questions feel free to contact Joy Rasul christinejoy.rasul@gmail.com or 832-370-9393.

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!

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 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