Dear Coyote Families,

Happy New Year! We hope your winter break was filled with joy, relaxation, and special moments with your loved ones. As we welcome 2025, we are excited to continue working together to create a positive and engaging learning environment for your children.

The new year brings fresh opportunities for growth, learning, and connection. Our dedicated teachers and staff are eager to dive into the upcoming lessons, activities, and events designed to support your child's academic and personal development.

As we embark on this next chapter, we encourage you to stay involved in our school community. Whether through parent-teacher communication, attending school events, or volunteering, your support makes a tremendous difference in the success of our students.

Thank you for entrusting us with your child’s education. Together, we’ll make 2025 a year of learning, laughter, and achievement!

We would like to send out some testing updates that pertain to our spring benchmark test. This spring benchmark test will follow a schedule that is very close to the end of year STAAR test so our Coyotes will know what to expect on test day. Please see our flyer below for your student's Benchmark days and helpful student tips.

Carter will be a closed campus on Benchmark days--no visitors on campus, including lunch visitors.

As LCISD continues their efforts to engage our community in shaping the future of our district, we are gearing up for a series of important Town Hall meetings next week. These sessions are vital as they offer our families, staff, and community members a platform to voice their opinions and provide feedback that will influence the strategic planning of LCISD for the next five years. See below for the Maroon/Silver Town Hall Meeting.

• Jan. 16 Strategic Planning Town Hall Meeting (Maroon/Silver) | GRHS | 6:30 PM

Big news! Don Carter Elementary is ranked #4! Huge thanks to our amazing students, dedicated staff, and supportive community. Let’s keep reaching new heights together! #DonCarterElementary #Top4 #ProudMoment https://usnews.com/education/k12/elementary-schools/texas/lamar-cisd-109150

Stay Warm While Staying in Dress Code!

As the weather gets colder, we want to remind everyone to continue following the approved uniform dress code at Carter Elementary.

Approved Tops

• Solid-color, collared (polo-style) shirts in red, white, navy blue, black, or hunter green (no logos).
• Carter spirit shirts are also allowed.

Approved Bottoms

• Solid-color navy blue, black, khaki, or denim options, including:
• Capris
• Pants
• Shorts, skirts, skorts, and jumpers (must be no shorter than mid-thigh for all grades)

Additional guidelines:

• Jeans must be solid and free of rips, tears, distressing, or embellishments.
• Leggings worn as pants must be paired with a shirt, dress, skirt, or shorts that reaches at least mid-thigh.

A Quick Reminder

We understand that everyone is doing their best to follow the dress code. If a student comes to school out of dress code:

• PreK–2nd Grade: The student will visit the nurse to borrow a change of clothes and get back to learning comfortably.
• 3rd–5th Grade: The student will receive a "not following directions" mark in their conduct folder as a gentle reminder.

Thank you for helping us maintain a neat, comfortable, and unified school appearance—we appreciate your support!

We are excited to share our upcoming spirit week with Marco's Pizza January 20-25! All Carter students have decorated their own large pizza box in art class the last few weeks. When you order during spirit week, you will get your pizza delivered or carried out in your student’s decorated box.

For details about how to order, delivery, and more, please go here >>

Save the date for Family BINGO Night and Silent Auction on Friday, February 21. We will have a DJ, BINGO, prizes, raffles, pizza, snacks, and more fun for the whole family! Tickets to this event sell quickly and are limited so be sure to keep an eye out later this month for flyers and emails announcing the tickets.

This event also includes our annual silent auction, filled with amazing things to bid on. If you have anything you'd like to contribute to our silent auction, please email pto@doncarterpto.com.

To celebrate our new students joining their houses, new House Shirts designs have just been added to the Carter Spiritwear Store! House shirts are an approved dress code shirt and can be worn any day of the week.

Link to Spirit Store. https://stores.sugarlandink.com/carter_elementary_school/shop/products/all?page=1

If you would like your child to be screened for possible GT services and information about an upcoming meeting (November 7) regarding the GT program, please see the following flyer from Mrs. Matthys, our GT Facilitator.

Please direct any questions about 6th grade selection to Mrs. Yockey or Mrs. Winn at PRMS.

Thank you!

If you need information on free and/or reduced-cost meals, please click the link below to view the application and sign up. Students will be charged for all meals unless you apply and qualify for free and reduced-cost meals.

https://www.lcisd.org/departments/support-services/food-service

Below, please find the uniform colors and uniform clothing items that can be worn for the 2023-2024 school year:

Bottoms: Solid color navy blue, black, khaki or blue denim pants, capris, shorts, skirts, skorts or jumpers. Leggings/tights worn alone as well as embellished and distressed jeans with rips and tears are not allowed.

Tops: Solid color, collared (polo style, no logo) shirts in red, white, navy blue (dark blue,) black or hunter green (dark green.)

Maroon, gray, olive, kelly green, royal blue and light blue are not Carter approved uniform shirt colors.

School and PTO approved Carter ES spirit shirts are allowed daily, such as the once a year Carter themed shirt.

Leggings/tights worn alone as well as embellished and distressed jeans with rips and tears are not allowed. Additionally, basketball shorts, roller shoes, shoes that light up and backpacks on wheels are not allowed.

If a student is not wearing the proper uniform, they will be sent to the Nurse to either call home or receive a change of clothes, as our inventory allows.

• AM Car line--ARRIVE as Early as 6:45: There is absolutely NO pedestrian drop-off traffic crossing our busy car line in the morning. This is for the safety of everyone.

• ⛔After 7:15 AM, your student is considered tardy. If you pull into the car line at 7:10 or later, you WILL most likely be tardy. After 7:15, parents must park and bring their child(ren) into the office to check-in and receive a tardy slip. ⛔
• PM Car line: PM car line is becoming very efficient. If you come to pick up your child in Car line after 3:00 PM, you may have to park and come in to the office to check out your child.
• AM and PM Car line: Refrain from using your cell phone on school property. Per elementary handbook, cell phone use in the car line is prohibited.
• Crosswalk: Please DO NOT park on Glass Peak Drive OR along Stonecreek Estates Drive on either side of the bridge and walk your student to the crosswalk--this road is not a parking lot. Lately an over congestion of cars parking near the intersections is causing an obstruction of a clear view for our walkers, bikers and crossing guard, particularly on the other side of the bridge where there is no longer staff assisting students and no crossing guard. Additionally, cars trying to come in and out of the neighborhood at Glass Peak Drive are blocked by cars parked to pick up or deliver walker students. The crosswalk is for students who are in the walk zone to Carter and do not have bus service due to their close proximity to the school.
• Pre-K and Kinder students: Students in this age category must have someone waiting to pick them up at the bus stop or cross walk otherwise they will be returned to school, causing inconveniences for you and your child.

If you still have not registered for bus service and need to. Please CLICK HERE to access the LCISD transportation webpage. There are 3 big blue buttons on the bottom of the page. You will click on the first button for instructions on how to register through your student's Skyward Family Access account. Once registered, click on the last blue bottom on the website above (or follow the instructions below) for instructions on how to download the My Stop App where you can see your child's bus route info, real-time student bus travel, and any messages about your bus.

Among some of the most important changes are:

1. Being in possession of a Vape or E-cigarrette will result in automatic removal from the home campus to the Alternative Learning Center for a period of time TBD.

2. Being in possession of a Knife of any length will result in automatic removal from the home campus to the Alternative Learning Center for a period of time TBD.

3. Cellphones: Cellphones and personal electronic devices including smartwatches, must be turned off and stored in backpacks unless given specific permission given by a teacher to use for an instructional purpose. The district has outline specific, required consequence for violation of personal technology policy: See page 100 in elementary student handbook.

Link to Elementary Handbook and Student Code of Conduct: HERE

• 1/16 - Maroon Town Hall Meeting at GRHS @ 6:30 pm

• 1/20 - MLK Holiday for students and staff

• 1/23 - STREAM Curriculum Night, 4:30-6:00 PM

• 1/31 - Early Release @ 11:15 & 100th Day of school

• 2/5 - College Day!

• 2/7 - Wear fave team jersey in celebration of Superbowl

• 2/13 - Progress Report 3 distributed through Family Access

• 2/14 - Valentine Exchange. Wear a Valentine or red/pink shirt

• 2/17 - Student Holiday. No school for students

• 2/21 - Family Bingo Night

• 2/25 - Spring Picture Day

• 2/28 - Early Release @ 11:15

Leann Imrie, Principal

Aerika Dial, Assistant Principal

Website: www.lcisd.org
Location: 8500 A Meyers Road, Richmond, TX, USA
Phone: (832)223-5500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DonCarterES/
Twitter: @cartercoyotes