Pfluger Falcons

Email: danielle.sandoval@hayscisd.net
Website: https://www.hayscisd.net/pes
Location: 4951 Marsh Lane, Buda, TX, USA
Phone: (512) 268-8510
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pfluger-Elementary-101960635458718/
Twitter: @pflugerfalcons

Pfluger falcons mission is to nurture a love for learning for our students through a community that strives to SOAR.

Pfluger falcons S.O.A.R. with Respect, Responsibility, and Safety.

• S - Self-Control

• O - Optimism

• A - Acceptance

• R - Resiliency

We have a lot of important information to share with you this week, and we truly appreciate you taking the time to read through our newsletter.

No School Monday, September 23rd

Picture Day: Individual picture day is this week! PK-2nd grades take their pictures on September 25th. 3rd-5th grades take their pictures on September 26th. You can pre-order photos using the link in the picture day graphic below. ***Important*** We ask that you refrain from visiting your student during lunch time on September 25th and 26th because pictures will be taken on our stage in the cafeteria. There will be more movement than usual on those two days as classes will be coming and going from the cafeteria during the lunch periods.

Counselor's Connection: Check out some awesome strategies compliments of our counselor, Ms. Criner.

PTA: Our fabulous PTA treated our staff to an amazing taco bar dinner the night of Open House. We truly appreciate everyone who donated and helped make that a success! Our teachers felt the love! Make sure to check out our PTA section for more detailed information about upcoming events.

Lunch Visitor Expectations: When visiting your student for lunch, please remember that you are not allowed to walk students back to their classroom. Students need to leave the cafeteria with their teachers at the end of each lunch. If you are checking your student out for the day after lunch, you must report to the front office to complete the check out process. The office will call your student's classroom for them to be checked out. No school aged visitors are allowed on campus during the school day.

Have a great weekend!

-Danielle

A new school year brings with it new experiences, joy, and opportunities to grow and expand. When we teach children how to set and achieve goals we help build their confidence, independence, and develop essential life skills

Dr. Michele Borba, an educational psychologist and recipient of the National Educator Award, offers strategies to help children learn goal-setting and achieve success. She outlines seven key steps:

1. Define What a Goal Is: Introduce the concept of a goal by relating it to something your child is passionate about. For example, explain that a football player aims for a touchdown—this is their goal. Clarify that setting a goal involves planning and working toward something specific.
2. Share Your Own Goals: Show your children that you have your own dreams and aspirations. Explain that even adults need to work on certain things to achieve their goals, making it a relatable process.
3. Create a “Dream List” Together: Help your child compile a list of goals that are within their reach. Discuss these dreams together and consider the skills needed to achieve them. Ask if they might need support to succeed.
4. Customize Goals for Your Child: Start with simple, achievable goals for first-time goal-setters. For example, setting a goal to make their bed daily, read a book, brush their teeth without reminders can be great starting points.
5. Guide Your Child in Planning Steps to Success: Encourage your child to think about and outline the steps needed to achieve their goal. Writing down these steps can increase their chances of success, as it helps them focus on what needs to be done.
6. Track Progress Together: Use a visible spot, like the refrigerator, to track progress with stickers or stars when your child completes steps toward their goal.
7. Celebrate Achievements: When your child reaches their goal, celebrate together as a family to reinforce your child’s accomplishment.

Please take a moment and join Ms. Wong's class as they share their beautiful breathwork.

Visit PflugerPTA.org to Join Today!

What an exciting time to be a Falcon! We have several updates to share that we are thrilled about. First, we want to express our sincere gratitude to our PES community for joining us this month for our first school dance of the year and for showing support to our teachers on Open House Night! We were delighted to see so many familiar and new faces at both of these events. It's incredible to see how much our community has grown!

Website Updates

Our team has been working behind the scenes to roll out important updates to our website and member platform. This week, we upgraded certain functions on our web pages to make our site more accessible across multiple platforms and languages. We also added a new ‘Falcon News’ tab to our home menu. This new page will allow you to view the latest newsletters from our school and PTA without digging for that one missed email from the week before. We have even more updates coming soon to make PflugerPTA.org your go-to place for information and support to help you and your Falcons have a successful school year!

Upcoming Events

Take a look at all the fun events we have coming up! To view all our upcoming events and/or sign up for automatic calendar updates, please check out our PTA calendar!

We will be hosting our next Spirit Night on Wednesday, October 2nd from 5pm - 8pm at Chick-Fil-A (new location on Kohlers Crossing). We invite everyone to bring the family and show your school spirit!

We would also like you to save the date and RSVP to our upcoming Family Movie Night on Thursday, October 10th! This will be the perfect way to kick off a 4-day weekend for our students. Not to mention it’s FREE!

And, finally, here is the full list of all our upcoming PTA meetings for the rest of the school year. Please save these dates to your calendar so you can attend and join the conversations about how we can work together to support your student and our school.

Did you know the PES PTA is a volunteer-based, parent-run, non-profit organization? Our programs’ success depends entirely on the volunteer support of our families. Regardless of the time you have to give, we have an opportunity just right for you!

Message from our Pixie Dust Committee

We would like to extend a special thank you to our PES community and the local business Pit'tato Tex Mex BBQ for joining forces to help us organize a fantastic taco bar for our teachers and staff on Open House Night. We have a few upcoming appreciation events scheduled for the next month, so keep an eye out for sign-up opportunities and communication regarding how you can contribute!

We Need Your Help!

We have several events needing additional volunteer support, including upcoming Fall Picture Days and the Fall Book Fair! To learn more about how you can get involved and/or be notified about available volunteer opportunities, visit our dedicated volunteer page, create an account on our NEW membership toolkit platform, and/or follow us on Facebook!

As always, thank you so much for your continued support!

Schoology is an education platform used in Hays CISD that allows teachers to post materials, activities, assignments and resources for their classes. Not all teachers utilize Schoology. Please communicate with your student's teacher for more information about Schoology usage in their classroom.

Getting Logged In for the First Time to Schoology

• Navigate to hayscisd.schoology.com and select “Forgot your password”

• Enter the email associated with your student on the Parent Portal and click “Send My Login Info”

• You will receive an email immediately entitled “How to Change Your Schoology Password”

• Click on the link in the email within 10 minutes to set your new password.

Cómo iniciar sesión por primera vez en Schoology

• Vaya a hayscisd.schoology.com y seleccione “Olvidó su contraseña”

• Ingrese el correo electrónico asociado con su estudiante en el Portal de Autoservicio para padres de familia y haga clic en “Enviar mi información de inicio de sesión”.

• Recibirá un correo electrónico inmediatamente titulado “Cómo cambiar su contraseña de Schoology”

• Tiene 10 minutos para hacer clic en el enlace del correo electrónico para configurar su nueva contraseña.

Parents and others are welcome to visit district schools. For the safety of those within the school and to avoid disruption of instructional time, all visitors must first report to the main office and comply with all applicable district policies and procedures. All visitors should be prepared to show official state identification. (state issued ID card or state issued driver’s license card). The campus will deny visitation due to lack of acceptable identification for the required criminal background screening.

If you are joining your student for lunch, please make sure you bring official state identification (state issued ID card or state issued driver's license card).

School bell rings at 7:30 AM (tardy bell), and the school day ends at 3:00 PM. In the event you need to make a temporary transportation change, please contact the front office (512) 268-8510 before 1:30 PM.

Early check out for doctor appointments or personal matters cut off time must be done before 2:00 PM per district policy, official state identification is required for student safety.

Please take some time to review the Pfluger Elementary Parent Handbook:

If you haven’t already done so, you can apply for free/reduced meals for your student; we ask ALL families to complete the application. National School Lunch Program Application: https://www.hayscisd.net/Page/311

We encourage every student to get insurance. Accidents happen and this is the best way to protect your device. The cost depends on your Free and Reduced Status from filling out the application above.

Cost

$10: Free

$20: Reduced

$40: Regular

Remember, the plan goes with the student not the device. If your student is involved with an incident involving another student's device, you will be responsible to pay for it. The Protection Plan will cover those costs.

Here is the RevTrak link to sign up for the Protection Plan

Need to put money in your child’s meal account you can visit: Online Payment for Meals: https://www.hayscisd.net/Page/311 . You can also send cash or check with your student to be placed directly into their account without the additional convenience fee.

Keep up with your students’ grades and assignments on our Parent Self-Serve Portal (2nd thru 12th grades): https://www.hayscisd.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=439

If you are ever in need of finding more information about what is taking place at PES, please visit our school website at the following link https://www.hayscisd.net/pes. Our website contains great information such as a staff directory, our student handbook, links to the newsletters, an entire Parent Zone, and more.

For other ways to stay connected, visit our PES Facebook Page and Join our Ralph Pfluger Elementary Class Dojo using this link.

Email address to keep handy:

Principal: Danielle.Sandoval@hayscisd.net

Assistant Principal: Michael.Snead@hayscisd.net

Counselor: Charlene.Criner@hayscisd.net

Nurse: Kelly.Mcnamee@hayscisd.net

Phone numbers to keep handy:

Transportation – (512) 268-8479

Child Nutrition – (512) 268-1336

Special Education Office – (512) 268-8250

District Main Office – (512) 268-2141

The attached PDF is information of what Title I means, Campus Goals, Benefits, and more. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Our Teachers and Staff are AMAZING at PES. Do you want a way to show your child's Teachers how much you appreciate them? You can do it through Hays High Five. It is a link to fill out and whatever you put on the High Five goes to the district and then it is sent to the teacher. Most teachers that receive them will hang them up in their room for encouragement and the district will send a small gift. It only takes a few minutes to do and it will make a Teacher or Staff Member's Day! (Click on the Hays High Five Logo to get the Link)

Friendly reminder that the tardy bell rings at 7:30am. Students should be in their desks and ready to start the day at this time. Doors open at 7:05 am.

We understand that the arrival process may be causing delays; however, we have plenty of vehicles and walkers arriving to campus after 7:30am. Please make every effort to have your child arrive to school in time to be in their classroom and ready to learn by 7:30am.

If you are in need of changing the way your child goes home, please call our front office at 512 268-8510 prior to 1:30pm to make those changes. Do not contact teachers for transportation changes as they are working with our students throughout the day and may not see your message.

If your child is absent, please send a note via email to PES.Attendance@Hayscisd.net or have your child bring in their excuse note to the front office.

Excuse notes must be presented no later than 3 days from the absence in order to be considered for an excused absence coding.