Cougar Communicator

• SEPT. 26 Community Input Meeting
• SEPT. 27 Frisco ISD Marching Band Showcase
• SEPT. 28 Let's Talk About It Parent Event
• SEPT. 30 - LTHS Homecoming Tailgate Dinner
• OCT. 1 & 2 Together Reading Eating and Talking (TREaT)

• OCT. 5 - Aim for Success Parent Meeting 6th Grade via Zoom

• OCT. 6 - Clark Football and Volleyball Pep Rally

• OCT. 7 No School Staff Development Day
• OCT. 7 Lil Blazer Spirit Clinic
• OCT. 10 - No School
• OCT. 13 - CTE Open House
• OCT. 14 - Aim for Success through PE (6th Graders)
• OCT. 14 - End of Reporting Period

District Takes All Threats Seriously

Recently, there have been threats made to campuses by students via social media. Every threat is taken seriously and Frisco ISD is thankful for its strong partnership with area police departments and emergency services. Watch Frisco Police discuss why words matter.

Please remind your children that while they may be “joking” about having a weapon or

threatening harm to a school campus, the punishment by law is at minimum a Class-A

misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $4,000 and up to a year in jail. The punishment can

be as severe as a third-degree felony, punishable by up to $10,000 and two to 10 years in

prison. Frisco ISD supports the Frisco Police Department's full prosecution of any individual that

threatens harm to our students, staff and campuses.

• [TX Penal Code 22.07 Terroristic Threat]

• [TX Education Code 37.125 Exhibition, use, or threat of exhibition or use of firearms]

Notably, families have the means to report concerns anonymously to the campus 24 hours a

day. Frisco ISD uses the STOPit for students, parents and the community to report any

concerns anonymously via web-based reporting or through the app. Please take a moment to

learn about the STOPit resource.

The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees invites your feedback regarding any topic related to Frisco ISD business or operations. The first Community Input Meeting will be held Monday, September 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Admin Building. Find future dates and learn more.

LTHS Homecoming Tailgate Dinner

Starting next Friday, order from Papa John's using your school's code to send 15% of your total to the school's PTA and 5% to Frisco Threads Student Clothes Closet! The fundraiser runs a full week, so enjoy pizza anytime in the week to support FISD PTAs!

You’re invited to TREaT (Together Reading Eating and Talking) a district-wide event that aims to promote literacy while supporting local eateries and coffee shops on Oct. 1st & 2nd. Frisco ISD students, families, and employees are invited to eat at participating businesses while reading and talking about the material. Go to any of the participating businesses and use #treatfisd to receive a discount/deal. Learn more.

Support the Clark Cougar Band by purchasing a beautiful poinsettia from the Band Boosters! Only $13! Order now and pick-up in December. This year, you can also DONATE a poinsettia to a local non-profit. All the details can be found at: clarkband.org/poinsettia-order-form Thank you for your support!

CTE Open House Flyer

Order Your Clark Middle School Yearbook Today!

The community folder area of the District website is full of advertisements and links to information about goods and services that may be of interest to the FISD community. You can find everything from discounts on kids’ camps to volunteer opportunities. The folder does not represent the viewpoint of the District and is not an endorsement of the advertiser, products, or services listed.

An additional resource is available to assist Frisco ISD students and families in need. School support specialists provide personalized, hands-on support in securing assistance from community organizations or government agencies. The specialists help ensure students’ basic needs are met, allowing them to focus on learning in the classroom. Contact your campus counselor to initiate the process if you’d like help addressing needs related to mental health, food insecurity, medical and legal services and much more.

Flyer Link English

Flyer Link Espanol

We are so excited for all of our students to have the opportunity to support their friends and classmates at games and events this year! As games start to ramp up, the Clark staff would like to communicate student behavior expectations with all parents and students.

These expectations are:

1. Students must be in dress code at all games.
2. Students should remain in the bleachers to watch the games and limit their trips for concessions to half time.
3. All cheering should be positive and supportive. Negative comments about players, coaches, or officials will not be tolerated and will result in being sent home.
4. Students should not have the following items or similar items with them: football, soccer ball, tennis ball, skateboard, scooter, etc. Please leave these items at home.
5. Students are not allowed to loiter/hang out around the concession and restroom area at any time.
6. Once students leave the game, they are not allowed to return.
7. Students must be picked up no later than 15 minutes after the conclusion of the game. Students who are picked up later than 15 minutes after a game has ended will not be allowed to attend future games. Students will be given a reminder to call their parents at the beginning of the 4th quarter or within the last 10 points of a volleyball game.
8. Students not meeting these expectations may be asked to sit with their parents (if parents are present), or to call their parents to pick them up.
9. Food and/or drinks are not allowed in the gym.

Dear Clark Parents/Guardians,

Clark Middle School would like to provide the district information about the social emotional lessons (SEL) your student will be covering through their Cougar Den this year, and let you know how to preview the district's SEL lessons through The Gateway Guardian Portal.

The district's website provides an overview of what social emotional learning is, and how our counseling department curriculum writers have created lessons that align with Texas SEL requirements. You may read more about this process at the link below:

https://www.friscoisd.org/departments/guidance-and-counseling/social-emotional-learning/overview

This page also includes instructions on using The Gateway Guardian Portal to locate the SEL tile where you may review the lessons for each month. Finally, if you scroll down to the bottom of this webpage, you will find a list of the character traits we will be focusing on each month. You may click on the month/trait to find a flyer that provides some insight and ideas to allow you to “partner” with Clark by engaging your student in conversations about what they are learning.

We hope you will take time to look over this page as it provides a great deal of insight and information. You can also find a link on our Clark Counselors' Page (link to page) with links to the SEL lessons on the Clark Website. We look forward to a great year with all of our Cougars.

Thank you for partnering with us,

Clark Counselors

Erin Wilson 6th Grade & 7th Grade A-M

DD Alford 7th Grade N-Z & 8th Grade

We are making some exciting changes to how we are doing our advisory period (also known as Cougar Den). We will be using a program called Enriching Students to provide more options for students during Cougar Den. Students who have completed their assignments and are passing all their classes will be able to self-schedule into different sessions. Students who have missing assignments or are struggling with content will be scheduled into sessions by teachers. Students may only schedule themselves in sessions for their current grade level.

Cougar Den will follow this schedule:

• Monday: Academic Planning and SEL Lesson
• Tuesday - Friday: Students will either self schedule or be assigned to different types of CD sessions based on Academic Planning

Cougar Den Session Types:

• Intervention - Teacher assigned session for students who are struggling on content, may be used as a reteach for material, this will be targeted instruction based on student needs and data driven.
• AI - Accelerated Instruction - Teacher assigned, HB 4545 requirement for students who failed STAAR, 30 tutorial hour requirement from the state.
• Content Support - May be student scheduled or teacher assigned. This is a time to work on current topics, reteach, or ask general questions about what students are learning in class. This session is more of a tutorial format.
• Enrichment/Clubs - Student scheduled, student lead (clubs), enrichment may be academic or nonacademic in nature, band, electives, orchestra, choir, UIL teams, etc. will fall under this category most of the time.
• Gym - Student scheduled, may not be missing any work or failing any classes to schedule gym time. Coaches will run and supervise games during this session.
• Silent Study Hall - Student scheduled, for independent work only, may not be missing any work or failing any classes to schedule study hall.

Students will be learning about Cougar Den and the Enriching Students software this week. The first week of scheduled sessions will be 9/6 - 9/9.

Students will be scheduling themselves into sessions during advisory using Enriching Students. There are several session types students can self schedule:

• Content Support (help for any subject: core content or elective)
• Enrichment
• Clubs
• Study Hall
• Gym

Teachers will also be scheduling students based on student need for intervention and extra help. This will be based on grades and assignment quality and completion. These courses are:

• Intervention
• Content Support
• AI (HB 4545) STAAR Support

Visit www.schoolcafe.com/FriscoISD or download the app to:

• Create a café account

• View menus

• Make payments

• Apply for free & reduced meals

• Set purchase restrictions

You can support the Frisco Education Foundation by shopping on smile.amazon.com. Choose the Frisco Education Foundation as the recipient and .5% of the purchase price will go straight to the FEF.

The Frisco Education Foundation is the 501(c)3 not-for-profit that exists solely to benefit the students and staff of Frisco ISD. Click here to learn more about the FEF.

Clark Teachers will be recognizing students who exemplify our core values each six weeks. Clark Core Values are shown in the picture. Students who are chosen for this award will have their picture taken, receive a pass to eat lunch in the courtyard with a friend or get in the lunch line first, and get a goody bag of their choice! We are excited to recognize our students who are doing an outstanding job at school!!

Parents, we would love your help in recognizing our amazing staff! If you have a positive experience or interaction with a Clark staff member, we would love to know. Please complete this Google Form to send a positive note to our staff!

Parents, mark your calendars! If your child plans to try out for cheerleader for the 2023-24 school year, please be advised that cheerleading tryouts for Frisco ISD Middle School Cheerleaders will be held on Saturday, April 1, 2023. Specific times and tryout locations for each campus will be shared at a later time, but we wanted to provide parents with tryout dates so you and your family can plan accordingly.

Our wonderful and generous PTA gifted our students with 2 microwaves this week! If you are wondering how PTA serves our students, this is a prime example. Please take a moment to join the Clark PTA if you haven't. PTA helps support our students through donations, volunteerism, and many other ways. Click HERE to join!

We are off to a wonderful start to the 2022-23 school year. We want to thank all stakeholders (parents, staff, community members, and students) for making it a very smooth and enjoyable start. With that, we are going to make a few changes to our drop-off and pick-up procedures.

Please see the following notes for clarification:

Car Riders in the Front of Clark:

• The LEFT hand lane is for through traffic only. Students should not be dropped off or picked up from this lane.
• Students should be entering and exiting cars from the RIGHT lane.

Bus Riders and Car Riders on East Side of Clark:

• All students will STILL be released out of the closest exit to their 8th period class. If a student has to get to parent pickup, bus pickup, athletics, the band hall, etc., we ask that they walk around on sidewalks.
• Please make sure your students are aware of their home address, their bus number, and have memorized an emergency contact in the event that they miss their bus. Buses roll out at 3:55 daily so it is up to your student to make sure they are at the bus pickup location on time.
• Beginning next week, the bus pickup side will have cones labeled with the bus numbers on them. We will ask that all students line up behind the cone specific to their bus number. We will then escort students to their correct bus. This will enhance the safety of the students walking to the buses and prevent students from getting on the wrong bus number. We will go over these procedures with students so that they are well aware of what is expected.
• Parents that pick-up students on the same side of the building as the buses will also have a cone where their students will dock. We will cross students to waiting cars to ensure they are safe.
  

These specific procedures are important to keep all of our students and staff safe during drop-off and pickup times. Before and after school gets hectic, but we need to remember that even though schedules and appointments are important, they shouldn't trump the safety of our kids. As the school year gets further along, these procedures will become second nature. Thank you all for being a part of the Clark family and working with our staff on these procedures.

1. Please remind your students that school issued Chromebook are meant to be used for school purposes only. Their school Chromebooks are monitored using a program called Classroom Relay even when they are at home. It's always a good time to have a family conversation about digital citizenship and acceptable use of technology. We appreciate your support with this!
2. Chromebooks should be charged at home overnight to ensure they are ready for use at school.
3. Chromebooks should be updated weekly so they operate properly.

Frisco ISD teachers offer weekly online tutorials in the evenings, saving parents time and money that might otherwise be spent on outside tutors. The tutorials are facilitated by District teachers who have worked with the Teaching and Learning Department to ensure alignment between what happens in the classroom and what is covered in online tutorials.

Find the full list of subjects and tutorial dates/times here.

Please take a moment to complete the survey to let us know how you prefer to receive school information.

Click HERE to complete the survey. We appreciate your input!

Frisco ISD is the largest school district in North Texas to receive an ‘A’ accountability rating from TEA and our campus received an ‘A/B’ rating after examining our campus STAAR/EOC results from this past school year. They looked at student achievement, school progress and how we are closing achievement gaps among various student groups.

The District recognizes that the success of our schools isn’t tied to this rating and is instead measured by our ability to grow strong future-ready learners.

Access our Future-Ready Profile page on our school website for a more holistic view of our campus. If you want to learn more about the rating and to find resources to dig deeper on the topic, click here.

Frisco ISD parents have access to the curriculum outline and pacing guides used Districtwide for each core course. The curriculum outlines are created and revised each year by District educators and are rooted in the statewide curriculum standards provided by the Texas Education Agency, called the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS.) Access the curriculum and pacing page.

View August 2022 Cafe Menu HERE.

All absences, both excused and unexcused, count toward the state’s compulsory attendance law. When a student's attendance drops below 90 percent but remains at least at 75 percent of the days the class is offered, the student may earn credit for the class or a final grade by completing a plan approved by the principal. All absences can easily be submitted in the form at the top of our campus website. Learn more about the attendance policy.

For the 2022-23 school year, students with a positive COVID test will receive up to five excused absences per occurrence. Parents must submit a picture or copy of a positive COVID test and students quarantined without a positive COVID test may be excused with a parent note for each day absent. These parent notes will count toward the eight parent notes allowed by Frisco ISD. All absences will be considered when working through 90% attendance for credit and should be submitted in the form at the top of our campus website.

Frisco ISD utilizes the School Messenger text messaging service on a limited basis to communicate timely information such as school closures/delays or campus emergencies. Not sure if you are signed up? Opt in by texting “Y” or “Yes” to 67587. This system is maintained separately from Remind, which many teachers and coaches use to text message students and parents.

All tickets to athletic events hosted at FISD venues (including Ford Center and Toyota Stadium) must be purchased online. No tickets are available at the front entrances, but tickets can be purchased up through game time using the ticketing website. Visit tickets.friscoisd.org to purchase season passes and individual tickets.

The Gold Card allows those who are age 60 and older and live within the FISD enrollment boundaries to get free admission to most District athletic and fine arts events. The 2021-22 Gold Card is now available and can be picked up on weekdays at the FISD Administration Building (5515 Ohio Drive) or the FISD Athletic Office (6950 Stadium Lane). A picture ID with a home address must be shown in order to receive a Gold Card. More information is available here.

Follow us on social media to see all the great things happening at Clark MS! Following us will also give you information that is needed throughout the school year!

Facebook: @ClarkMSFISD

Twitter: @ClarkMSCougars

Clark Website: https://schools.friscoisd.org/campus/middle-school/clark/home

FISD Board Policy requires that each volunteer, chaperone, and/or mentor undergo a background check before working with students. Frisco ISD uses VOLY, a volunteer management system, to complete background checks and to post volunteer opportunities. To work with students on campus, you will need to create a VOLY account by visiting https://friscoisd.voly.org.

You will be prompted to complete the background check during your VOLY account creation process. Keep an eye on your inbox for your background check approval (the process can take up to 3-5 business days). VOLY will send you customized e-mails with opportunities that may interest you for volunteering.

Family and community members must complete a background check once every year starting in July.

If you need help, email volunteer@friscoisd.org, call 469-633-6860 or complete a ticket through the VOLY support system.

If you are looking for Clark Middle School spirit wear, you have a lot of options!

Click HERE to shop!