Principal's Newsletter

Hello Spicewood Families,

I hope everyone had a great week! It feels like we have not had a "normal" week in awhile but maybe that is normal for this time of year in elementary schools. 🙂 We have more busy weeks ahead at Spicewood with our big APEX fundraiser kickoff and our IB evaluation! Please read through the newsletter for more information.

We do need your help with preparing for our STEAM day on March 14th. If you have not witnessed a STEAM day at Spicewood then you are in for a treat! It is a great day of exposing all of our students to many hands on activities and lessons with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. This year we are using the A in STEAM for our Art in the Classroom. We are planning these two wonderful events to occur on the same day! This day would not be a success without our community of volunteers so please, request the day off of work and come share in the fun and learning! Please visit the website with more information further down in the newsletter.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Melanie Solis

Principal

Spicewood Elementary

Upcoming Important Dates

Feb. 4th-13th Apex Fundraiser

Feb. 11th- Spring Photos (Individual and Class)

Feb. 14th- Valentine's Parties

Feb. 17th- No School Students/Staff

March 7th- Spirit Night at Playland Skate Center (more info to come)

March 12th- PTA General Mtg. 6:30pm In-Person

March 14th- STEAM Day

March 17-21- Spring Break- No School

March 29th- Spicewood Auction & Gala

Next Monday and Tuesday, IB evaluators will be visiting our campus to assess Spicewood’s implementation of the IB program. They’ll be meeting with students, staff, parents, and members of the RRISD governing body. We’re excited to welcome them into our school and classrooms to highlight the incredible work our teachers do to make learning authentic, relevant, and meaningful, as well as the thoughtful, inquisitive, and caring ways our students engage with the program.

Our vision as an IB school is to cultivate a caring community that makes a meaningful impact locally and globally. Thank you for being a part of this vision!

🔖 Spicewood's IB Webpage

Spicewood Families, the Art Department is currently collecting clean plastic bottle caps and buttons for an upcoming art project. A drop off box will be located near the front office and these items can be placed in the container at any point in time. Please be sure to clean your plastic bottle caps before donating them. We thank you so much for your help in this effort!

Mrs. Castelain and Mrs. Jones

We have a group of Spicewood students who recently participated in the First Lego League competition. Our club, featuring all Spicewood 5th-grade girls, just earned several awards.

Motivate, 2nd Place in Robotics, and 3rd Place in the Champions Award—qualifying them for regionals. the team introduced a folding solar panel concept for Argo floats that garnered enthusiastic feedback, and they are now collaborating with Sea-Bird Scientific on a life-size prototype.

We are so proud of their hard work and dedication to learning new things and exploring their passion for STEM!

Next week kicks off one of our newest FUNdraising events, APEX! In addition to learning about building character and leadership skills, our students will be fundraising to fresh the school's 50 year old gym.

Our gym and multi-sport court are essential spaces that all our students use daily—for PE, recess, and special events. To ensure they remain safe, functional, and inviting, we are launching a fundraiser to invest in much-needed updates and improvements!

Your support will help us refresh these areas, enhancing their usability and appeal for our entire school community. Stay tuned for more details on how you can contribute and make a lasting impact for our students.

Thank you for your continued support!

Watch this short video to learn more about APEX.

In preparation for STEAM Day, our committee has created a website of information and to gather volunteers. It takes help in all different ways to facilitate this fun day of learning for our students. We would love to have your help on this day!

Please click on this link to visit the website for more information.

We need volunteers for our upcoming Panther Patrol volunteer dates. Spend the day at Spicewood! Our school needs your help!

Please visit the link to volunteer for our upcoming dates:

February 5th

March 5th

April 2nd

May 7th