Principal's Newsletter
Spicewood Elementary
January 24, 2025
Hello Spicewood Families,
I hope everyone was able to stay warm this week. Even though we did not get too much snow or ice, it was definitely cold! Just a reminder to please make sure coats, hats, jackets, gloves, etc are labeled with your child's name. If we can find a name on something in the lost and found, we can typically get it back to its owner. 😊
Next week there is no school for students on Wednesday January 29th. Our staff will be participating in professional development.
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Melanie Solis
Principal
Spicewood Elementary
Upcoming Important Dates
Jan. 29th- Student Holiday/Staff Development
Feb. 11th- Spring Photos (Individual and Class)
Feb. 4th-13th Apex Fundraiser
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
Science Fair Wrap-Up
Congratulations and Thank You!
Thank you to Madison Lucas and our wonderful PTA parent volunteers for organizing and putting together this event for Spicewood. This event would not have been as successful without their willingness and dedication to promoting the Science Fair at Spicewood.
Good Luck to all of our students who are advancing to the Regional Science Fair in February!
Information About Middle of the Year Assessments
This week we launched our middle of the year assessment process. This means that we are collecting reading/writing and math data from every student at Spicewood. We then meet in grade level groups to reflect on the data and make instructional decisions to ensure that every student grows. Here is more information regarding the different types of assessments we use to gather data.
Kindergarten/1st/2nd Grade
Tool: mClass/Amplify Reading:
- Recognizing letter sounds
- Blending sounds into words
- Breaking words into sounds
- Understanding sound patterns and rhymes
- Manipulating sounds within words
- Recognizing sight words
- Applying spelling rules
Tool: Aimsweb Math
- Math fluency (quick and accurate solving of problems)
- Number sense and basic math operations
- Problem-solving abilities
- Growth over time
- Mastery of specific skills
- Performance relative to benchmarks
- Risk of falling behind in math
3rd/4th/5th Grade
Tool: iReady
Reading skills assessed include:
- Phonological awareness (sound recognition)
- Phonics and word recognition (letter-sound relationships and decoding)
- Vocabulary (understanding and using words)
- Comprehension (literal and inferential understanding)
- Fluency (reading smoothly and accurately)
- Understanding both literary and informational texts
- Analyzing and evaluating texts
Math skills assessed include:
- Number and Operations: Counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, place value, and fractions.
- Algebraic Thinking: Understanding patterns, relationships, variables, and basic equations.
- Measurement and Data: Using measurement units, analyzing data, and interpreting graphs.
- Geometry: Identifying shapes, understanding symmetry, transformations, and spatial reasoning.
- Decimals and Fractions: Working with fractions and decimals, including operations and comparisons.
- Ratios and Proportions: Understanding and solving ratio and proportion problems.
- Patterns and Algebraic Expressions: Recognizing patterns and simplifying algebraic expressions.
We will share a report with parents when the data is finalized. We use this data to look at individual student progress, as well as campus areas of needs and strengths.
Nurse's Note
Students should not attend school in the following circumstances:
A sick child who is unable to participate at school in a meaningful way should be kept home to rest and recover until symptoms resolve. Keeping a sick child home also protects other children, school staff, and visiting community members from contracting an illness that can be spread from person to person. Please be aware of the following guidelines for school attendance
- Fever: A child must remain home with fever equal to or > 100.0° F and may only return to school after they have been fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine such as Tylenol or Motrin.
- Diarrhea: A child with diarrheal illness must stay home until they are diarrhea-free without the use of diarrheal-suppressing medication for 24 hour.
A healthy school community requires parents and schools to partner with each other. To prevent/minimize local outbreaks of contagious disease, parents must keep children who have an illness that can be spread from person to person at home, and Round Rock ISD nurses will exclude students with symptoms of a communicable illness from school attendance.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Nurse Sam at samnoun_kim@roundrockisd.org
Art Department: Materials Needed
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
Libraries of Love
Coming Soon...
Spicewood Gym Refresh!
Next month we will begin fundraising efforts to help update/refresh our gym and sports court. We celebrated 50 years this school year and it is time to bring our gym into the decade with us. We will be sharing more information soon as to what exactly the funds will be used for but the main focus is to update our gym and sports court to enhance our spaces for ALL students!
STEAM Day 2025!
March 14th, 2025
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.
Crossing Guard Needed
Spicewood 2024-2025 Yearbook
Westwood Soccer - Ball Kids Needed
PTA Corner
Panther Patrol
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