Bear Bulletin

At our school, we’re committed to ensuring every student has the best chance to succeed, and regular attendance plays a crucial role in that success. Our attendance goal for this year is to achieve an average daily attendance (ADA) rate of 95%. Last year, we reached an ADA of 94.6%, marking a small but positive increase from the previous year.

To put this in perspective, while 94.6% of students in attendance each day may seem like a small percentage of absent students, it translates into 4,566 absences over the 10 months of the school year. This is equivalent to having 26 fewer students enrolled for the year, or roughly one full classroom of students! I know we can do better this year.

As we enter September—School Attendance Awareness Month—we want to highlight the significant impact of every day your child is present. Each absence not only affects individual learning but also influences our entire school community.

Let’s work together to make this year our best yet in terms of attendance. Your support in ensuring your child attends school regularly helps us create a stronger, more vibrant learning environment for everyone.

Thank you for your continued commitment to your child’s education!

Did you know that at Lincoln Elementary, we found ways to cut our general budget by over $11,000 for the current school year? We are constantly seeking to be good stewards of the funds we are allocated. You may have noticed that we did not send out the traditional scratch-off postcards to notify students who their teacher was. Instead, we found a way to make the notifications digitally at no cost other than the time spent creating them. In doing this, we saved postage and copy costs. Additionally, we found donors and volunteers to spruce up our front flower beds instead of spending school funds on a cosmetic, but needed, upgrade. Throughout the school year, you may notice other ways we trimmed our budget. However, we were very intentional in focusing on cuts that would not have a negative impact on our students' instruction or learning.

School funding is a complex topic that has many facets. Our MISD Board of Trustees has called for Proposition A, also known as a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) for Nov. 5, 2024. State law requires that school districts seek voter approval to raise their tax rate above a prescribed amount. Proposition A will allow MISD voters to approve or disapprove the tax rate adopted by the Board of Trustees.

I highly encourage you to learn more about this proposition and how it could impact our district, our staff, and our students. MISD has included information about Prop A on the district website.

To register to vote or to find out your registration status, call the Montgomery County Elections Department at 936-539-7843, or visit their website at https://elections.mctx.org/BBM.asp. The last day to register to vote in the November election is Monday, October 7.

Early voting begins Oct. 21 and ends Nov. 1, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Each week, we want to provide you with an overview of our Lincoln statistics and where we are as a campus. We will share information about enrollment, student behaviors, and attendance. Additionally, as we have celebrations to share regarding our students' academic successes, we'll list them here too.

Enrollment

Current enrollment: 475

Attendance

Our goal is to have 95% or better attendance each day. Good school attendance is a key indicator of future school success. See below for our weekly average daily attendance, as well as our classes who met our campus goal this week:

Week of 8/19: 96.9%

Week of 8/26: 95.7%

Classroom Attendance Recognitions:

PERFECT ATTENDANCE: Torman!

White - 99.0%

Springer - 99.0%

Herzog - 99.0%

Treharne - 98.9%

Robison - 98.9%

Moore - 98.9%

Knee - 98.9%

Gerbrecht - 97.4%

Shaver - 97.0%

Jorgensen - 97.0%

McClain - 96.7%

Christian - 96.7%

Meadors - 96.5%

Thorp - 95.6%

Schaper - 95.5%

Brown - 95.2%

Perry - 95.0%

A special shout out to Pre-K, 1st, 2nd for having all classes meet our campus goal!

We invite each student to bring up to two adults to our annual Grandparents' Day celebration. Students with last names A-M will attend 7:15-7:45 on Friday. Students with last names N-Z will attend at the same time on the following Monday.

❗A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: ⭐Grandparents are encouraged to park on the SOUTH side of the building in the parking lot by the cafeteria. They will enter the building through the cafeteria doors.⭐ If the lot is full, then we would ask for the guests to park on the west side of the building close to our outdoor learning center. The event ends very close to the arrival time for our students, and we need to make sure the car rider line is clear and that buses can safely arrive and depart in a timely manner.

🍂🎉 Save the Date! 🎉🍂

Lincoln Elementary's Fall Festival is just around the corner, sponsored by our amazing PTO! Join us on October 3rd from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. for a fun-filled evening with games, food, and community spirit.

Stay tuned for more details coming soon—we can't wait to celebrate with you! 🍁🎃

Just as our students work hard, so do our staff members. If you have a staff member who has gone above and beyond for your or your child, let us know about it! We love sharing your celebrations with our teachers, paraprofessionals, auxiliary and support staff. Your words mean more than you know for our staff. You can always email your feedback to kerri.ashlock@misd.org or complete this form.

You can also submit names straight to the district. Visit our school webpage and click on the Quick Tip tab. Select "Lincoln Elementary" from the drop-down menu. Then select "Share a Positive Story/Teacher Shout Out" in the next drop-down. Finally, enter information about how the staff member made a difference for you or your child. There's even a place to include a picture if you have one. The information has the option to be entered anonymously if you like.

Monday, 9/2

• No School (Labor Day)

Tuesday, 9/3

• Students Return
• Lunch Visitors Allowed

Friday, 9/6

• Grandparents Day Breakfast (Last Names A-M) 7:15 a.m.-7:45 a.m.
• Hat Day (Students may wear a hat for $1 donation to activity fund.)

*Dates Subject to Change

SEPTEMBER - Attendance Awareness Month

• Monday, 9/9 - Grandparents Day Breakfast (Last Names N-Z) 7:15-7:45 a.m.
  
• Tuesday, 9/10 - Title I Parent Night & PTO Meeting 5:00-7:00
• 5:00-5:30 - Title I Information
• 5:30-6:30 PTO Meeting w/ Guest Speaker Dr. Ruffin
• 6:30-7:00 - Classroom Information with Teachers
• Wednesday, 9/11 - Patriot Day (Wear Red, White, & Blue)
• Thursday, 9/12 - PTO Spirit Night at Chiller Bees
• Saturday, 9/14 - Mrs. Dillon's Birthday
• Week of 9/16 - Celebrate Freedom Week
• Wednesday, 9/18 - Principal-Parent Safety Meeting 10:00 a.m.
• Friday, 9/20 - Mrs. Knee's Birthday
• Tuesday, 9/24 - Campus Advisory Committee at 4:15 pm
• Friday, 9/27 - Rock Your School Day - Wear your rock 'n roll gear and be ready for some high-engagement learning activities!

The Wave Club is tailored for 5th-grade students at Lincoln Elementary School, serving as a sponsored service organization. Meetings for the LES Wave Club will be held on specified Friday mornings in Mrs. Lynch's classroom. Students aspiring to make a positive impact on our school and the Montgomery community are welcomed to join this club focused on service.

Motto:

• Developing leaders at Lincoln, who set an example for others.

Vision:

• To develop leadership potential
• To develop a strong moral character and to pay it forward.

Mission:

• The Wave is a club sponsored by Mrs. Lynch that offers members chances to engage in school and community service, enhance leadership skills, and cultivate a strong moral character.

Core Values:

• Character Building – the ability to do the right thing, even when it might be the unpopular choice.
• Leadership – the ability to listen, communicate, serve, and guide others around them.
• Caring – the act of being concerned about or interested in another situation or person.

Scheduled Meeting Dates:

• Meetings are scheduled for Fridays at 7:20 am.
• Students are to be dropped off at the front car rider line between 7:15 - 7:20 a.m.
• Students should exit their vehicles upon spotting Mrs. Lynch.
• Please wait until you see her before getting out. Thank you!
• Dates for meetings: October 4, November 1, December 6, January 10, February 7, March 7, April 4, and May 2.
• Any additional Friday meetings will be communicated to you via Dojo.

Parents and students need to complete and return the form below to school no later by Friday, September 13. Give completed form to Mrs. Lynch.

Lunch visitors who are on a child's emergency contact list are welcome to eat with that child at one of our 3 reserved lunch visitor tables during the student's lunch period starting on September 3. Visitors will need to check in at the front office with their ID and get a visitor badge. Please do not invite other students to join you or provide food or snacks for other students. When lunch is over, all students will line up with their class. Visitors will return to the front office to turn in their visitor badge. Students should not bring other students with them to join their guests for lunch. Food should not be provided to other students than the child the guests are visiting.

Lunch Times:

ECSE 3s: 11:40-12:10

Pre-K & ECSE 4s: 10:55-11:25

Kindergarten: 11:10-11:40

1st Grade: 11:25-11:55

2nd Grade: 11:45-12:15

3rd Grade: 12:00-12:30

4th Grade: 12:20-12:50

5th Grade: 12:35-1:05

A friendly reminder, we do not have an open lunch policy so please do not order food for your child from outside vendors to be delivered to the school during the school day (i.e. Uber Eats, Grub Hub, Door Dash, or any kind of delivery service). This becomes a safety concern when staff need to leave the front office to deliver food to students or take their focus off of families who have business in the office. Food deliveries also increase the number of unfamiliar people entering the building. Additionally, our lunch times are very tight and do not allow for late deliveries. We cannot allow for learning to be disrupted by early or late food deliveries. Thank you for understanding our focus on safety and uninterrupted instructional time.

Celebrate your child’s birthday and raise money for our LES activity fund. These funds are used to pay for field trips and special activities for our students and staff.

You can have your child’s first name and initial of last name (i.e. Kerri A.) displayed on our marquee and/or our internal hallway monitors for the week of his/her birthday for a small donation to our activity fund. If you choose to have their birthday recognition on the hallway monitors, you have the option to include a picture of your child for an additional $5 donation. If you child has a summer birthday, we can recognize their half-birthday.

Cash donations only, please. Use the form attached below to place your order. Forms will also be available in Tuesday folders.

School Hours:

• Doors open at 7:50
• Tardy bell rings, and class begins at 8:15. (This is the time students are expected to be in their seats in the classroom.)
• School day ends at 3:40

We are working hard to maximize each and every minute our students are here. Students who arrive after 8:15 are considered tardy and will need to be walked into the front door of the building and signed in by a parent or guardian. If your child needs to leave early, they may be checked out through the front office by a parent or guardian no later than 3:15 pm.

Attendance is of critical importance to your child's academic success. Parents should enter the absence information through Family Access in Skyward within 48 hours of the absence.

Changes in transportation need to be made prior to 2:00 in order to allow time for the messages to be communicated with the appropriate staff member. To request a change of transportation, either

1. Send a note with your child,
2. Email LincolnElementaryTransit@misd.org with the note and a copy of your driver's license, or
3. Come to the school with a copy of your driver's license.

Lincoln Elementary is a Pre-K through 5th grade campus in Montgomery ISD that opened in the fall of 2018. We are dedicated to collaboration that focuses on ensuring high levels of learning for every student, every day, in a safe and supportive environment.

Email: kerri.ashlock@misd.org
Website: https://lincolnes.misd.org/
Location: 700 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Montgomery, TX, USA
Phone: (936) 276-4700
Facebook: facebook.com/MISDLincoln
Twitter: @lincoln_MISD