Hello, Dove families!

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday and break with your family! It did my heart good to spend an extended amount of time with my family. We made memories and cherished the time together. Having a high school senior has truly made me savor every moment I can before she goes off to college!

Speaking of college, did you know that Dove Elementary has THREE Wildly Important Goals this year? WIG 3 focuses on preparing students for post-high school education and careers, and believe it or not, that starts in elementary school! This spring we will begin communicating to 5th grade families about course selection and electives for middle school next year. Also this spring, we continue our work on WIG 1 and WIG 2, our literacy and math goals. Your partnership and continued support at home will help ensure your child's success in all three of these goals!

Proud to be your principal,

Heather Landrum

Links to grade-level newsletters can also be found here:

PreK

Kindergarten

1st grade

2nd grade

3rd grade

4th grade

5th grade

Total Enrollment: 452

Total tardies goal: 0

Tardies this week: 94!!! Parents, we had 94 tardies in THREE DAYS!! This new year, let's all make the resolution to get up 10 minutes earlier and arrive at school ON TIME!!

***Take a look at the graphic below to see the impact on learning time when a student is even 5 minutes late to school.

Total Attendance Goal: 96.5%

Total Attendance Rate: 89.3%

PK: 88.9%

Kinder: 86.9%

1st: 91.9%

2nd: 92.3%

3rd: 82.7%

4th: 89.7%

5th: 90.2%

Attendance Matters! Thank you for having your child at school on time every day!

• School starts at 7:40am. Learning starts at 7:40am. Please help your child by having them to school on time!
• PRO TIP: Doors open at 7:20am! We have a rush of cars out front right at 7:20, but there are not many cars coming through the line 7:25-7:35! If you typically get to school at 7:35, and the line is bottle-necked waiting to drop-off, I highly encourage you to leave 3-4 minutes earlier! It will make all the difference!
• As a reminder, when you arrive after 7:40am, parents, you must park and walk your child in to the front office to sign them in. Do not send your student in by themselves. Thank you.

Set morning routines that allow your student to arrive at time on school. We asked several students who are always on time to school what they do to help make sure they are ready to leave on time. They said...

"I put everything in my backpack the night before and leave my backpack by the door."

"My mommy makes my lunch at night and puts it in the fridge."

"I wake up early so I have time to get dressed and ready for school."

"I pick out my clothes before I go to bed so I know what I'm wearing."

Parents, what can you do to help make sure your child is at school on time each day? Could you snooze one less time? Could you set your alarm for 10 minutes sooner? Could you implement some of the suggestions above to help the morning run smooth and quick?

YES! We welcome families to come eat lunch with their child!!

Due to limited visitor seating, we ask that families use the sign up below to ensure they have a space to sit when they come to lunch! Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. We ask that you only choose one slot per week to allow for other families to also enjoy lunch with their students.

You are welcome to share this sign up with a family member that may not have received the newsletter.

Don't forget your ID when signing in to visit during lunch!

Please call the front office if you have any questions! Thank you!

We are so excited to partner with our PTA and the community to present the Dove Dolphin 1,500 Minute Reading Challenge to our students! We'll be sending the challenge worksheet home this week! Students should have their parents initial in a box for every 20 minutes that they read or are read to at home.

DID YOU KNOW?: It would take 75 days of reading 20 minutes per day to conquer reading 1,500 minutes, and there are 99 weekdays left of the school year!?

As students earn prizes on the worksheet, they should present their worksheet that's been initialed by their parents to their homeroom teacher in order to collect their prizes. We are so excited to do this as a school and can't wait to see our students reach those prize milestones!!!

GCISD offers the "Play It Safe" program for all students in grades PK-5.

The GCISD School Health Advisory Council (SHAC is a volunteer council comprised of parents and community members that reflect the values of the district and community) has previewed and recommended these programs for all GCISD elementary schools. The curriculum and presentations are aligned with district philosophy. This program is a personal safety program and does not address human sexuality. Play It Safe is a child abuse prevention and awareness program that incorporates individual grade level, age-appropriate scripts and movies to teach children how to reduce the risk of sexual and physical abuse, and sexual assault. It teaches them to recognize potentially abusive behavior, provides the tools to respond to threatening situations, and encourages them to report abuse to a trusted adult.

• The Women's Center of Tarrant County, Inc., uses trained employees to present a fact-based personal safety program for students. The presentations are classroom-based so that children are in a familiar environment, and feel comfortable to interact with the trainer. A video is shown, followed by a question and answer time.

We must have your permission in order for your child to participate in this program.

• Please indicate OPT IN if you would like your child to participate. We need parents to provide an OPT IN or OPT OUT for their child.
• To fill out the form please log into your Family Access and find the Online Form 22-23 Play it Safe Opt In/Out. Here is a link to an instruction guide.
• Your child's school will be showing Play It Safe to students on: February 3, 2023

GCISD is hosting a parent preview on January 17 at 10:00 AM via Zoom. This presentation will be recorded and posted on the GCISD website for parents to watch at their convenience.

Videos and scripts will be available for parents to preview from 1/10/2023 to 1/31/2023. https://vimeo.com/showcase/7889498 Password: GC23

If you are unable to view the videos or the parent preview, but wish to view the material, please contact The Women's Center of Tarrant County, Inc. at 817-927-4040 and ask for the Play It Safe department.

For questions, please contact Jennifer Hill, Dove counselor at jennifer.hil@gcisd.net

The CHHS Diversity Advisory Committee is hosting a donation drive and is collecting donation items for district students and families in need. Dove families are asked to bring in jars of strawberry jelly the week of Monday, January 9 - Friday, January 13. There will be a box in the front foyer for you to place your donation!

If you've been looking for a way to more easily stay on top of all of the events, activities, and deadlines for school, these calendars should really help you!

Pre-K: https://bit.ly/dove-prek
Kindergarten: https://bit.ly/dovekinder
1st Grade: https://bit.ly/dove1st
2nd Grade: https://bit.ly/dove2nd
3rd Grade: https://bit.ly/dove3rdgrade
4th Grade: https://bit.ly/dove4th
5th Grade: https://bit.ly/dove5th

If you have any questions or issues with the calendars or integration, feel free to reach out to communications@dovepta.org for more assistance.

Families,

Please see attached flyer for information about a new Parent Engagement opportunity that starts next semester.

• Please RSVP HERE if you plan to attend /Por favor confirme su asistencia AQUÍ si planea asistir.

• Sign Up to volunteer HERE / Inscríbete como voluntario AQUÍ

3rd-5th grade families, take a look at this!!

The State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) has undergone a redesign starting with the 2022 - 2023 school year. Students will experience new item response types, as well as, additional opportunities for free response and writing.

Families and students can preview and practice with the new item types by visiting the Texas Education Agency (TEA) resource at this link.

You do not need a login or password to access the site. Leave both options set to Guest and click the green login button at the bottom of the page. After selecting a STAAR-tested grade level, you will have a variety of options including information about the new item types and practice tests.

3rd-5th grade students will take Interim Assessments (STAAR Benchmark Assessments) on December 14 and 15!! Please make sure you log in at home and talk with your student about these new question types!

Celebrate your Dolphin’s birthday in a BIG way by having their name and birthday flash on our marquee (Pro Tip- this is a great photo opp)!! Fill out the form below and drop your money by the front office!

Happy Birthday to all our Dolphins!

ALL visitors must present a photo ID upon entering Dove EACH TIME THEY VISIT. Any visitor without a photo ID will not be allowed to sign in to our school. Thank you for understanding and for keeping the safety of our students and staff a priority!

Please click HERE to view the 22-23 GCISD Instructional Calendar. This is a helpful resource to consult when planning family vacations and trips! Thank you for planning trips and vacations around the Instructional Calendar to ensure your student is in attendance every day that we have school!

Of course, we know that there will be a day when your child has a fever or is vomiting. We ask that in these cases, you keep them home and email or call the school to let us know.

Thank you for making sure your student is at school learning every day!!

The Dove Apple Tree has been updated! We invite you to take a look at the list to see what items teachers are needing! This list will continue to be updated, so check back to see what needs we can fill for our amazing teachers! Email appletree@dovepta.org with any questions!

At Dove, we believe in the partnership between the classroom teacher, student, and parents, and we want you to be a part of our Dove community! Volunteers are needed for a variety of reasons throughout the year. Whether you will be working with a small group of students, reshelving books in the library, helping at Field Day, or chaperoning a field trip, all volunteers must view the GCISD Volunteer handbook and complete a background check every year. More information can be found on the Volunteer page on the GCISD Website. We look forward to seeing you around Dove soon!

The community may access an overview to curriculum for core courses at the following website: https://sites.google.com/gcisd.net/gcisd-curriculum/home. The site may also be accessed from GCISD.net under the Parent pull-down menu.

GCISD will begin charging for meals this year. To see if your child qualifies for Free or Reduced Meal Pricing, please click HERE and complete the form.

To add money to your child's meal account, please send a check to school with them or drop it by the front office. **Pro Tip** Download the My School Bucks App from your App Store. You can add money directly to your child's meal account, track their spending, and receive notifications when their meal account runs low!

January 9: Students return

January 12: CEC Meeting 3:30-4:45 in Dove Learning Commons

January 13: Doors with Dads!

January 16: No School (MLK Holiday)

January 17: Phase 1 Tutorials for 3rd-5th grade begin (Monday-Wednesday 3:15-4:15)

January 25: Oncor Presentations in the gym (during specials)

January 27: All School Assembly

February 3: Play it Safe (during Specials)

February 14: Valentines' Day!! Grade level parties in the gym during Specials

The mission of Dove Elementary:

In a partnership with parents, students, teachers, and community, Dove Elementary provides a safe and supportive environment in which students develop an understanding and respect for self and others. We cultivate learning through encouragement of inquiry and empower students to make a difference in our ever-changing world.

Follow our story on Twitter at #DESisBEST

Email: heather.landrum@gcisd.net
Website: des.gcisd.net
Location: 1932 Dove Road, Grapevine, TX, United States
Phone: 817.251.5700
Twitter: @DESisBEST