YES Back-To-School BULLetin

Dear Youngblood Families,

Welcome back to another exciting school year at Youngblood Elementary(YES)! As we embark on our second year, we are filled with anticipation and enthusiasm to continue building on the strong foundation we established together last year.

Your unwavering support and partnership played a crucial role in our success, and we are deeply grateful. This year, we are committed to further enhancing the educational experience for your children with innovative teaching methods and a nurturing environment that fosters growth and curiosity.

We are eager to welcome our returning families and extend a warm greeting to those joining us for the first time. Together, we will create a vibrant and inclusive community where every student can thrive.

Thank you for entrusting us with your child's education. We look forward to another remarkable year of learning, growth, and shared achievements.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Gilder, Principal

Youngblood is a Tier A start time which means our instructional school day is 7:50 am-3:00 pm. Students will be allowed to enter the building at 7:25 am each morning.

On the 1st day of school, parents are allowed to walk their students to class. Walking students to class will ONLY happen on the 1st day of school which is Wednesday, August 14th.

This electronic, online process is required yearly for all current Katy ISD students. This process will allow parents and guardians the opportunity to electronically review, update, and sign all documentation for their child in one spot. All parents are required to update their student’s information before the start of each school year.

Click the link to learn how to complete your update: https://www.katyisd.org/Page/9582

We are thrilled that we have so many excited families. We understand there is curiosity about all things Youngblood. As we are all waiting to meet each other, I want to share our campus procedures with you. This will allow our families to be familiar with things beforehand. The YES 2024-2025 Campus Procedures can be reviewed in the document below.

The CLASS 1:1 Student to Device initiative is all about connected and accessible learning, grounded in classroom instruction that is enhanced through technology-integrated learner experiences. The passage of the 2023 Bond has made it possible to provide every Katy ISD 3rd through 12th grade student a Chromebook for both classroom and home use beginning Fall 2024 (2024 - 2025 school year). This webpage provides important information about the CLASS 1:1 initiative. Click the link for more details and training videos: https://www.katyisd.org/domain/6152

At YES, all 3rd-5th graders will be trained by our campus Classroom Technology Designer (CTD) during the school day. Upon the completion of the student training, students will be delivered their devices to bring home on the following dates:

• Wednesday, August 21st-3rd graders
• Thursday, August 22nd-4th graders
• Friday, August 23rd-5th graders

As parents, you may want to consider a backpack with a place for a laptop for your student. Of course, it is not mandatory, but would be a proactive way to ensure the Chromebook has a designated spot in the backpack for carrying back and forth from home to school.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) school nutrition program known as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) enables all students at CEP eligible campuses to receive FREE breakfast and lunch meals throughout the school year. For the 2024-25 school year, YES has been designated a CEP campus.

All students attending will receive a FREE breakfast and lunch during the 2024-2025 instructional year. Students attending a CEP eligible school do not have to pay a fee or submit a Meals Benefits/Free and Reduced Meals application in order to receive free meals. However, a la carte options available through Katy ISD campus cafeterias are not eligible for the program and still require purchase through a Cafeteria Payments Pay N’ Go account.

Katy ISD will continue with the bus rider tracking system, SMART tag on all of our buses. Parents will be able to monitor their child's ridership and bus route through the SMART Tag Parent Web Portal. The system will enable parents, bus drivers, and school administrators, to review in real-time when and where a student is picked up or dropped off by a school bus. Student identification (ID) cards for eligible riders will include the SMART Tag ID information. Buses will be equipped with a tablet that will read each student’s ID every time they enter and exit their bus.

If your student is a bus rider, look for the white route number on the side of the bus when tracking their bus this school year! And make sure to download the Smart tag™ app from your mobile Google Play Store or Apple App Store! The Smart Tag app allows parents to set their preferred notifications, including when their child’s bus is expected to arrive. You can also see when and where your student boards and exits the bus.

Meet the Teacher is an exciting event for our community. Students are always eager to meet their teachers. We have two sessions for our primary grade levels and two sessions for 2nd-5th grades (refer to the flyer below).

It is a time for students to walk to their classrooms, meet the teacher, drop off school supplies and complete any necessary paperwork for the teacher. If you bought school supplies from our PTA they will be waiting in the classroom for the student.

Families will be give car rider tags at this event. If there are multiple students in a family, the car rider tag will go to the youngest sibling.

We can't wait to meet all our students and their families!

Many times parents are working beyond the end of the school day. At YES we are fortunate to have the YMCA located in our cafeteria before and after school each day. This has proven to be convenient childcare for our families who need to get to work before the start of our campus hours and aren't back home until after our school hours. Please see the flyer below and reach out to the YMCA for registration information. They will be on campus during Meet the Teacher sessions.

We have already heard from several of our families regarding plans to relocate to different cities, different areas of Katy ISD, and even out of the country. If you know your student will not be attending Youngblood Elementary for the 2024-25 school year, please take a few minutes to complete the attached form. We want to support you with the move and ensure that we work together to get everything you need completed.

Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebsJ1XDfcaxeTyw07AzNMIgjxAWhnEkgVBr-fNpqsAs9SwvQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Our PTA is always looking for parents to support our children and staff. Support could be from near or far. Please consider supporting our campus by becoming a member of our PTA.

There will be several opportunities this year to get involved. The PTA welcomed the YES staff back to school by sponsoring breakfast on their first day. It was amazing!

Memberships are so vital for helping the PTA work in partnership with the school to make great things happen for our learning community.

Our PTA has been busy working to get SPIRIT wear ready for purchase. Please take a few minutes to shop for your YES gear by using the link. YOUNGBLOOD BULLS 2024

We are thankful that our PTA sold pre-packaged school supplies for the 2024-25 school year. If you purchased supplies from the PTA, they will be in the classroom when you arrive at your Meet the Teacher session.

At this time, the opportunity to purchase pre-packaged supplies from our PTA has expired. However, the school supply list is below.

Monday, August 12th

• District will release teacher names in Home Access Center (HAC) at 8:00 am
• Meet the Teacher (see flyer below for times)

Wednesday, August 14th

• 1st Day of School
• Parents are able to walk students to class
• Tear & Cheers in the library for parents after dropping off students (see flyer)

Wednesday, August 28th

• Calling ALL DADS and father figures--WATCH DOG KICK-OFF at 8:30am in YES Cafeteria

Monday, September 2nd

• School Holiday--no school

Monday, September 9th

• Lunch visitors starts- Sign up is on Sign Up Genius

Tuesday, September 10th

• Curriculum Night--PreK, Kinder, & 1st grades
• choose 1 session--5:00 pm-5:45 OR 6:00 pm-6:45 pm

Tuesday, September 17th

• Curriculum Night--2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th grades
• choose 1 session--5:00pm- 5:45 pm or 6:00 pm-6:45 pm

Friday, September 20th

• No school for students-Campus Professional Development Day

Tuesday, September 24th

• PTA General Meeting @ 4:00 pm @ YES

Website: https://www.katyisd.org/YES
Location: 25600 Longenbaugh Road, Katy, TX, USA
Phone: (281)234-6200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094119368508