Andrews Elementary

What an exciting week we've had celebrating College and Career opportunities! Our students had a blast with all the themed dress-up days, and today's guest speakers provided the perfect finishing touch. We know our Eagles have bright futures ahead, and we are proud to play a role in helping them achieve their dreams. A huge thank you to Ms. Garcia for her outstanding efforts in planning such a meaningful week for our students!

Next week, we celebrate National School Counselor Week! If you see Ms. Garcia during morning or afternoon duty, please take a moment to thank her for the incredible work she does for our school community. We are so grateful to have her!

We also have a special milestone coming up—our 100th Day of School on Tuesday, February 4th! Throughout the week, students have been searching for 100 hidden coins around the building, and they’re close to finding them all! If all the coins are discovered by the end of the day on Tuesday, we’ll celebrate with a special dress-up day on Friday, February 7th. Stay tuned for details if we reach our goal! Additionally, on the 100th day, students are encouraged to dress up as their future 100-year-old selves or wear something featuring 100 items. We can't wait to see the creativity!

Thank you for your continued cooperation with our morning arrival procedures. We appreciate everyone following the reminders shared in recent newsletters and ask that you continue driving slowly through the carpool lane.

One important update for our East Carpool drop-off:
Students arriving after the tardy bell rings must be brought to the front entrance and checked in by a parent at the front office. For safety reasons, students should not be dropped off once staff has closed the door. Next week, a staff member will remain outside after the bell to direct late-arriving cars to the front office. However, starting February 7th, staff will no longer be outside after the bell. Parents arriving late will need to drive their children to the front office for check-in.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We are grateful for our amazing Andrews community!

- Ms. Daly and Ms. Dias

• 100 Days of School Dress Up Day
• Birthday Board
• Donuts with Dear Ones - RSVP by 12/12
• 21-Day Snack Challenge
• Federal Report Cards
• Special Education HERO Expo
• January Counselor's Corner
• SKI Plano 2025
• PTA Communications Chair Interest
• PTA Spirit Wear Survey
• PTA Membership
• PTA After School Programs Fall Semester 24-25
• 2024-2025 Volunteer Application - VOLY
• Spring Semester Lunch Visitors
  
• Spring Semester Musical Mornings
• Stay Connected

Please read the included letter below from Nurse Sherbert as we are in the middle of Flu and Cold Season.

Beginning THIS SEMESTER, parents can celebrate their child's birthday via our Birthday Board located in the school's main hallway. If you choose to celebrate your child this way, you will complete the form below. The form will also be included in each Andrews Family Newsletter this semester if you choose to complete it at a later date. In addition to the completed form, your payment of $10 will need to be made via Rycor prior to your child's celebration day.

If your child had a birthday during the first semester, has a summer birthday, or their birthday is on the weekend, you can still celebrate the second semester by completing a form and selecting the date of your choice. Additional questions? Please reach out to Leigh Anne Hickman at leigh.hickman@pisd.edu.

We are excited to invite our students' Dear Ones to enjoy donuts and coffee the morning of Valentine's Day! The event will be held in the library from 6:45 - 7:20 am (last entry into the event will be at 7:15 am). Students are welcome to bring a max of two guests per student. To help us plan for the event, you need to complete the RSVP linked below to help us plan for those attending. We look forward to seeing many of you at Donuts with Dear Ones on Friday, February 14!

This year Andrews is encouraging students to participate in the 21-Day Snack Challenge sponsored by Medical City Healthcare. Students will participate in learning during PE about healthy snack choices. If you would like to sign you child up to participate, please see the flyer below.

The 2023-2024 Federal Report Card for Andrews Elementary has now been released, and posted to the Andrews Elementary website https://www.pisd.edu/andrews_ar. The report provides information concerning student performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), as well as information on student enrollment, class size averages, and financial expenditures. The information contained in the School Report Card is described in the “School Report Card Definitions.” The Federal Report Card is also available at https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/accountability/academic-accountability/performance-reporting/federal-report-cards. If you have any questions concerning the School Report Cards, please let us know. Thank you for your continued support of Andrews Elementary.

The PTA is looking to fill the Communications Chair for the remainder of the semester. If you enjoy it then you could also be considered for the role in the next school year. If you would like more information, reach out to either our interim President (president@andreswspta.org) or VP of Volunteers (volunteers@andrewspta.org).

We're once again partnering with TreeRing for this year's Yearbook!

When you create your free accounts to purchase a yearbook, you can also add photos to designated folders (i.e. First Day of School, Party at the Park, etc) so our yearbook staff may consider them for placement.

Don't think you see enough of your student in the Yearbook? No problem! Every student gets two free, uniquely printed pages, so you can fill your yearbook with personal memories. TreeRing's software has powerful automated tools and template-based, drag-and-drop pages to help build and design your custom pages.

Parents purchase a copy of their yearbook directly from TreeRing. TreeRing only prints what’s ordered, which means there won’t be any wasted books or cost to our school. (What's more, TreeRing plants a tree for every yearbook purchased, and all books are printed on recycled paper!)

There will be no left-over copies, so order your copy now at https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1015995828243345

If the PTA reopens the sale, would you be interested in ordering a “We Are Eagles” spirit wear shirt?

We are gauging community interest to see if we can meet the minimum order requirement. This is a great opportunity for families who joined Andrews after the fall sale, missed placing an order, or may have misplaced, damaged, or outgrown their current Spirit Wear shirt. It’s also perfect for anyone who would like to have this design in a new size for future use.

Please let us know if you’re interested before we officially retire this year’s Spirit Wear design! Click on the link below to submit your response. Thank you, all!

We are excited to announce that our PTA was awarded the Golden Apple Award this year for 100% staff membership. For those of you new to Andrews, or if you have been here awhile but not joined the PTA, we would love to have you become a member this month! Visit the Andrews PTA Website to get information and complete the membership form and payment. We know that it is in partnership with the PTA that we can help Andrews have a successful year!

The PTA is excited to offer after school program options for the Spring 24-25 school year. Please remember that attendance for these programs is first come, first served and limited to active PTA families. If you are not a PTA member, and would like to participate in the After School Programs, get your membership now so that you will be ready when registration for Spring programs opens.

Important information regarding After School Programs (ASP)

• Registration is open for all programs! See flyer for ways to register your student in these enriching programs!
• Students are expected to follow the same code of conduct during ASPs as they do during the regular school day.
• If a student is absent, or sent home sick, then they will not be able to come up to school to participate in the ASP later that day.
• Pick up policy: After the third late pick-up a student will not be able to participate in ASPs the remainder of the semester.
• All ASPs require a parent volunteer (registered w/ VOLY) on site. Please consider signing up or being a back-up, as programs will be cancelled if a parent volunteer is not available.

Links to each flyer are included below providing additional information on each program.

If you would like to volunteer during the 2024-2025 school year, an application must be completed through Plano ISD's volunteer system, VOLY. Applications must be completed each school year for you to be eligible to volunteer.

Returning volunteers can access the application for this year with their same username and password from before to complete this year's application, orientation and background check.

New and Returning Volunteer Applications -

When you are done the following will be GREEN:

Volunteer Type - Plano ISD Volunteer Application - Orientation

When you are done the following will be YELLOW:

Background Check Form

There will be a PURPLE box stating "PENDING" for Plano Background Check Application.

Families who would like to eat lunch with their child will be able to do so utilizing the designated guest tables in the cafeteria. Space will be limited so we ask that families who wish to participate sign up in advance. As a courtesy to others, we ask that families only register for ONE SLOT PER STUDENT during this semester.

Additional information can be found on the Andrews Lunch Visitors - Spring 2025 Sign-Up.

**Please note that if you sign up please only take one slot. You are welcome to bring two guests but if you select two people are coming then both slots will fill and no additional guests will be able to come.**

This year, Ms. Riordan will once again host Musical Mornings for students on selected days. If your child would like to participate this semester, please choose a day using the sign-up linked below.

Did you know that Plano ISD has an app for smartphones?

On the app you can:

• View student grades and attendance
  
• Access school and staff info
  
• View news stories
  
• Receive important alerts
  
• View calendar info
  
• Access PISD's tipline

More information can be found at: https://www.pisd.edu/mobileapp

Visit the Google Play or Apple App Store to download it today!

Plano ISD is implementing a text messaging option to provide our community with more ways to receive school and district information. Opt in today by texting “Y” to 67587.

If you don’t opt in manually, and the district has a cell phone number for you, you will receive a text message from Plano ISD in the coming days inviting you to opt in. The message will read:

“Plano Independent School District messages. Reply Y to confirm, HELP 4 info. Msg&data rates may apply. Msg freq varies. schoolmessenger.com/tm”

You must reply to this text message with “Y” to opt in to continue receiving text messages from the district. For more information, please visit the Text Opt in webpage.