The Titan Times: Week 20

Titan Families,

We have a lot of events planned this month. We recognize that the month of December boasts holidays of various traditions all over the world. We are grateful for the rich diversity of our students and staff and encourage everyone to learn something new about a holiday tradition different from their own. Today was our campus wide performance in third grade that supports our efforts. Third grade did a phenomenal job, and special thanks to Ms. Simpson, our PAC teacher, for another fantastic job leading that effort! Third grade families, you all also did a great job preparing your Titan(s) for it! Other campus wide events are detailed below to support our winter vibe on campus. Please be sure to plan to join by volunteering and/or contributing in some of the upcoming fun detailed in our newsletter.

This Friday, we are encouraging students to wear workout clothing as we "move it" toward the last week of school before the holiday break. To support our Vandegrift High School (VHS) football team making it to 6A Division 2 semi-state playoffs (the final four!), we are aiming to wear black to support their "blackout" vibe in our Viper Community. So, if you have any VHS gear and black in your Titan(s) wardrobe, please join us in dressing out in support of our Vipers!

That's it for now! We continue to 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

• 10th: 3rd Grade Performance at 10:45 AM for families and 2 PM for students
• 11th: Math Interim for Grades 3; 4; and 5
• 12th: 1st Grade Field Trip and Campus Spelling Bee for Grades 3-5
• 13th: Wear Viper spirit gear or black and work out clothes as we "Move" toward the holiday season, support our Vipers, and listen to our Viper Choir carol through our hallways!
• 16th-20th: Be sure to look at our dress up days listed below and here for the week!

• 16th: FPMS Winter Tour at 1:30 PM assembly

• 17th and 19th: "Glo Daze" in Specials!
• Students will participate in "Glo Daze" on Tuesday and Thursday the week before Winter Break. All students will have the opportunity to visit each specials teacher through a rotation to play glow in the dark games and activities and make glowing arts and crafts. If they want to join in the fun even more, they can wear glow-friendly clothing on these days. It's a perfect ending to the fall semester!
• 18th: Winter Parties during specials- Volunteering opportunities info sent via teacher emails and 5th grade Biome Showcase from 9-10 AM. Check out your teacher's email.
• 20th: Early Release at 11: 30 AM and End of 2nd Nine Weeks Grading Period
• 23rd- January 6th: Winter Break for Students (Staff return on January 6, 2025)

January: Board Appreciation Month

• 6th: Staff Returns to Campus
• 7th: Students Return to Campus
• 9th: Elementary Night CRMS vs. FPMS Basketball Game at 5:30 PM (see flyer below)

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

Ms. Zoë Ashton from Four Points Middle School's Falcon Theatre department is looking to get more involvement from our feeder pattern's elementary schools with our middle school theatre program! To do so, she's reaching out to get some elementary students casted in the Four Points spring musical: Shrek JR! Auditions will be at the end of January and performances will be April 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Check out the links below:

Here is a video with more information.

Here is some information about auditions!

Here is the audition form for elementary students and their parents/guardians!

Our winners will have the opportunity to compete in our campus wide Spelling Bee on Thursday, December 12th. Please join us in celebrating these fantastic spellers and wishing them well!

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!

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