Hello Dickinson Families!

Happy February! This month is filled with exciting learning opportunities, celebrations, and moments to connect as a school community. From Black History Month to Valentine's Day and engaging classroom activities, our students continue to grow and thrive. As we move through the second half of the school year, we appreciate your partnership in supporting their success. Be sure to check out important dates and updates in this month’s newsletter.

A heartfelt thank you to our incredible parent volunteers for making Innovative Day a success! Your time, creativity, and dedication helped bring hands-on learning experiences to life for our students. Your support makes a lasting impact, and we are so grateful to have such an engaged and supportive community. The students shared with me that the laser lightshow was their favorite. I hope they told you all about it.

Teachers will be sending home MAPS Growth reports in the next couple of weeks for grades 2nd-5th. Our goal is for every student to have grown from Fall to Winter administration. If you have questions about the report, please follow up with your child's teacher. We will continue to have benchmark testing this week. As a friendly reminder our campus is closed to lunch visitors on those days due to schedule changes.

Thank you for your continued support!

Warm Regards,

Channon Almendarez

#dolphinproud

Thank you to our Dickinson PTO members and their team for decorating the front entrance for Black History Month. I saw some dolphins assisting as well. I know our students will enjoy learning about these famous African American inventors as they walk by everyday. Our vision is always to celebrate the diversity on our campus.

Our 3rd-5th grade Dolphins enjoyed their author visit with Nell Cross Beckerman last week! Students learned about Nell’s process to write her book, Caves, and learned that she revised her book 25 times before it was published! At the end of the visit, students had the opportunity to touch a lava rock. If you ordered an autographed book for your Dolphin, books will be sent home on Monday, February 3rd.

As part of our ongoing efforts to assess and enhance our school environments, we are gearing up to launch our annual Campus Climate Survey, scheduled to run from February 3 to February 28, 2025. This survey is an essential tool for gathering valuable feedback from our parents/guardians, staff, and students in grades 5-12. We encourage our Lamar CISD community to participate by completing the survey sent in an email by K12 Insight to all district parents/guardians and staff. Families with students in more than one school may submit a response for another student after the first survey response is completed. Please note that your feedback is confidential, and reports will not identify individuals. The survey will be available from February 3 until February 28. After the survey closes, the report will be posted on the Lamar CISD website. It is also located on the bottom on the Dickinson webpage. If you have any questions, please send an email to Info@LCISD.org.

A homework pass will be sent home for parents to fill out once the survey is completed. Each house will also receive a point for returning the form as well. Your feedback is helpful with making campus decisions moving forward.

Due to the recent winter weather, LCISD has updated the 100th day of school to be celebrated on Monday, February 3rd. Below is what students can wear on this day by grade level.

Kinder - Dress as a 100 year old person or wear a 100th day shirt
1st Grade - Dress as a 101 Dalmation or wear a 100th day shirt
2nd - 5th Grade - Wear a 100th day shirt if you have one (not a dress up day for these grade levels)

Please contact your child's teacher if you have questions.

The fifth grade students will be going to Texas A & M on February 21st. Any parent is allowed to go and meet your child there. You must get a raptor badge for the trip. We will send them home prior to the field trip day.

Students will be riding on a charter bus to and from Texas A & M. We do not allow technology on the buses during the trip. Students will have the opportunity to watch the video that will be played, talk to their friends, or sleep. Thank you for your support! Please contact your child's fifth grade teacher if you have any questions.

Dickinson Elementary is sharing the below information about the district and your child’s campus with you as part of its obligations under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA).

Federal Report Cards for the state, the district, and each of the district’s campuses are now available on the district’s website at this link: https://www.lcisd.org/departments/academics/raa/performance-reports-and-legal-postings.

Information is also available on the Texas Education Agency’s website at: https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/accountability/academic-accountability/performance-reporting/federal-report-card. A detailed description of these reports is available on this page.

If you have difficulty accessing the information from the website, hard copies of the reports can be requested from the district or campus office. If you have questions about the information, please contact Dickinson Elementary at 832-223-1400 or the Lamar CISD Research, Assessment, & Accountability Office at 832-223-0136.

Our Site Based Management Team voted and decided to make a slight change to the Dickinson dress code. Students may wear a collared (polo style, no logo) solid color navy blue, light blue, red, or white tops. A Dickinson spirit shirt may be worn any day of the week. Bottoms, including leggings may be in solid color khaki, navy blue or black pants, capris, shorts, skirts, skorts, or jumpers. If leggings or tights are worn, they must be under shorts, skirts, or jumpers. Blue denim jeans permitted on Fridays.

This year to ensure your child's safety all change of transportation notes must be sent to the front office or you can call by 2:00 to make a change. Teachers need to focus on instruction during the day so please do not send them any emails for a change. Please call the front office at 832-223-1400. There is a form below you can print and have for your file in case you want to send in a note. A handwritten note will be accepted as well. Thank you for your understanding!

Annual Volunteer Background Checks Via Raptor

Want to volunteer? Plan to attend field trips? Assist with Holiday Parties?

Dickinson Elementary has an amazing reputation for partnering with our parents and community to serve our students in a multitude of ways. It's important to review and update the volunteer application regularly to ensure it meets current safety standards and legal requirements. This process helps to create a safe and supportive environment for both volunteers and the children they interact with.

If you completed this task last year, you received a message via e-mail like this sample:

Hello,

Your ability to volunteer at Lamar Consolidated ISD will end on 6/30/2024. If you plan to volunteer after that date, please take this time to complete a volunteer application by selecting this link https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/NTk1OmVuLVVT.

Thank you,

District Volunteer Coordinator

For our new volunteers, please follow these steps to become a volunteer at Dickinson:

1.) Apply to volunteer by completing the volunteer application found https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/NTk1OmVuLVVT

2.) After you receive your volunteer clearance email, contact the campus or department you wish to support as a volunteer to receive information on next steps.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the district’s various volunteer opportunities, please contact:

Asia S. Duhon (Partners in Education Coordinator) at mailto:Asia.Duhon@LCISD.org OR 832-223-0383.

Technology Devices

Personal Technology Lamar CISD believes that appropriate use of students’ technology devices enhances our students’ education. This includes but is not limited to: cell phones, smart phones, iPods, iPads, electronic tablets, and laptop computers. At Dickinson Elementary: All electronic devices stated above, including Smart Watches, must remain in the student's backpack turned off during the instructional day. Please review the code of conduct below regarding cell phone(electronic devices) policy. We have technology available for students to use while on campus. Thank you for reviewing this information with your child before school starts. We want to ensure that students are engaged in their learning and want to help minimize distractions.

This is a video that all of the students and staff were required to watch as part of our safety protocol. LCISD is committed to keeping all of our students and staff safe. If you ever have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Our fence is completed. I am currently working with maintenance and operations to get some signage with hours and expectations during non-school hours.

Get your Dolphin reading and logging their reading minutes with our Beanstack Reading Challenges! The Library sponsors monthly challenges where students read and then log their reading minutes through ClassLink and the Beanstack app. Students who complete challenges within the challenge dates will earn a Brag Tag to celebrate their reading achievement.

Safety is our top priority! In Lamar CISD, we follow the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to prepare and respond to crisis situations should there ever be a need. It is important to be prepared for a quick response to keep our staff and students safe. When we practice drills, parents will receive an e-mail that we practiced a drill. Below is information about the SRP so that you can keep informed about the protocols we have in place. We need your support for when you visit the campus by wearing your visitor badge on the left or right side of your chest / torso in visible view for our staff members to see at a quick glance. The sticker badge should not be worn on the pants, arm, purse or other areas besides the upper chest area. Thank you for your help keeping our dolphins and staff safe!

The culture of Dickinson Elementary includes a partnership with our community. Last year, our parents volunteered hundreds of hours to support our students and staff. We value our partnership as together we educate our dolphins. This year all volunteers are required to register as a volunteer. This includes PTO Board Members, work room volunteers, Watch Dog Dad volunteers, room parents, field day volunteers, library volunteers, and the list continues! Please visit this website to begin the process:

https://www.lcisd.org/community/volunteers

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the front office at 832-223-1400.

Thank you for giving the gift of time for the success of our campus! What you value, you give your time to! - Channon Almendarez

• February 11th: Kindergarten Innovative Day, Science Olympiad Practice
• February 12th: 1st Grade Innovative Day
• February 13th: 2nd Grade Innovative Day, STEAM Night 5:30-7:00
• February 14th: Valentine's Day: Students may wear a Valentine's shirt.
• February 15th: Men Who Cook Fundraiser for LEAF
• February 17th: Student Holiday/Staff Data Day
• February 18th: Science Olympiad Practice
• February 21st: 5th Grade Field Trip to TAMU
• February 22nd: Science Olympiad @ Foster High School
• February 28th: Early Dismissal: Innovative School Day for all Students
• March 1st: LCISD Job Fair @ Foster High School from 9am-1pm

Email: channon.almendarez@lcisd.org
Website: https://www.lcisd.org/campuses/dickinson/home
Location: 7110 Greatwood Pkwy, Sugar Land, TX 77479, USA
Phone: 832-223-1400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dickinsondolphins