Renner Middle School eNews

If your family relies on the free and reduced meal program and you have not already applied for those benefits for this school year, please do so now by visiting https://www.pisd.edu/Page/3840.

All PISD students are currently receiving free breakfast and lunch due to a waiver from the USDA. This waiver will be in place until December 31, 2020, or until funds run out.

Please be sure to complete the application process if you depend on free or reduced meals for your child(ren) so that the support is in place when free meals for all come to an end.

Completed and submitted applications can take up to 10 school days to process, so please fill out the application now in order to avoid any gaps in services.

Thank you so much!

Hi Mustang Parents,

As we approach the end of this nine weeks, you may be interested in changing your child’s learning environment for the second nine weeks. This option will be available September 28th - October 2nd in Parent Portal.

In order to make changes, please see the information & instructions here (videos in English & Spanish linked in document): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_W5vfr8rKOi_d1BiVyA9Z6nxA3VEmiunNfcTlIuN9ME/edit?usp=sharing

Please note:

• Every parent should log into Parent Portal to confirm that their child’s learning environment is currently listed correctly.

• Action is required ONLY if you want to change your child’s learning environment for the 2nd 9 Weeks.

• Changes will be in effect beginning October 13th and will last through the rest of the semester (December 18, 2020).

• Some staff may need to shift to align with new learning environment choices. Therefore, even students who do not change learning environments could experience a change to their teacher(s), course availability, or class schedule as teachers are assigned based on the numbers of students and course requests in each environment. Every effort will be made to minimize teacher changes for those who did not make a learning environment change; however, we cannot guarantee that in every case.

• We will be on a very tight timeline as we rework the master schedule and student schedules; schedule changes will be final, and we will not be able to discuss changes in advance of learning environment selection or prior to re-releasing schedules online (date TBD).

If you have any questions, please contact your child’s grade level counselor.

6th Grade: Brad Allcorn (brad.allcorn@pisd.edu)

7th Grade: Lori Groves (lori.groves@pisd.edu)

8th Grade: Kelly Newman (kelly.newman@pisd.edu)

Thank you to our students, parents, and staff members for making our picture days go smoothly!

Within 2-3 weeks, proofs of your child's picture will be available online. You can access the proofs by scanning the QR code on the slip of paper your child may have brought home after their photo was taken. If that slip of paper did not make it into your hands, there is another way to view the proofs.

Please go to shop.legacystudios.com and the scroll to the bottom of the page to request your child's code. (Photo category will be "Underclass")

Since my 17 year old didn't bring home her slip of paper after Senior pictures, I completed this process and received my code within 2 days. The email went to my clutter folder, so you may need to go searching for it.

On Monday, September 21, we started the first of three MAP tests. Both F2F and @Home students participate in these tests during their regularly scheduled classes for each specific testing area. It is imperative that students put forth their best effort on the MAP test. Students will begin the Math MAP assessment on Monday.

This upcoming week, all students will join their ELA class at the normal class time for teachers to take attendance and to receive instructions before starting their test.

MAP Testing Windows:

Math - September 21 - 23

Reading - September 28 - 30

Science - October 5 - 7

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Parents-

Please read the following information carefully if you or your student(s) plan to attend athletic events. Remember that rides home for student spectators should be arranged in advance and should be timely in their arrival to pick up students when the game is over.

Tickets

• Tickets will be sold on a week-by-week basis
• Ticket sales will open up to the General Public on Monday at 8:00am for all games occurring for the current week
• Tickets are required for school-age children kindergarten through 12th grade
• Ticket prices: Adult-$4, Student $2
• A maximum of 2 tickets can be purchased per transaction
• All ticket sales will be online

○ No cash transactions will be available

○ If available, tickets can be purchased on a mobile device by using the QR code at the gate

• You will purchase your tickets on the home team event site
• There will be no passes accepted at the gate

Tickets can be purchased at https://www.pisd.edu/Page/23044

Spectators

• All spectators must wear a face covering in order to enter.
• All spectators must complete the COVID-10 self-screening

• The PISD bag policy will be in place.

• Spectators will be expected to maintain social distancing between other groups or individuals.
  
• Congregating in the concourse area or walkways will not be allowed.
• At the conclusion of the B-Team game, spectators and participants will be asked to exit out of the designated doors. The A-Team spectators will then be released to enter the gym.
  

Items to Bring Daily:

• MASK
• Backpack
• Class schedule
• Chromebook
• Chromebook charger
• Earbuds/headphones that can connect to Chromebook (if student has them)
• Cell Phone (if student has one - QR codes will be utilized throughout the building for contact free passes, creating lunch seating charts, etc.)
• Refillable water bottle labeled with student name (water fountains unavailable for students without a water bottle)

Documents to Keep Handy:

• Learning Schedule for September 14 and beyond (bell schedule will remain the same): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nWiOF9QHUD_K0fMwG-kEDQLyvyGpsjQlkwWDV-caqWg/edit?usp=sharing
• For the Bell Schedule that corresponds with the learning schedule periods, please click here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n8XrfDc1O5GzZYFsvRu8yaZbYVa7kUy1Z21rVeqv1sk/edit?usp=sharing

Due to a waiver issued from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), all Plano ISD students (whether enrolled in face-to-face instruction or School@Home) will receive free breakfast and lunch meals through December 31, 2020, or while USDA funds last.

Weekly meal bundles for PISD School@Home learners may be picked up each Tuesday from 9:30 am to 10:30 am or 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm at Clark HS, Shepton HS or Williams HS. Bundles consist of 5 breakfasts and 5 lunches. Anyone picking up meals for students without the student present, must bring appropriate documentation in the form of a school issued ID, report card, parent portal attendance summary form, or birth certificate. More info: https://www.pisd.edu/grabandgo

Debido a una exención emitida por el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA), todos los alumnos del distrito escolar de Plano (ya sea que estén inscritos en instrucción presencial o en School@Home) recibirán desayuno y almuerzo gratuitos hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2020, o mientras duren los fondos del USDA.

Los paquetes de comida semanal para los estudiantes de PISD School@Home pueden ser recogidos cada martes de 9:30-10:30 AM o de 4:45-6 PM en Clark HS, Shepton HS o Williams HS. Los paquetes, consisten de 5 desayunos y 5 almuerzos. Cualquier persona que recoja las comidas para los estudiantes sin que el estudiante esté presente, debe traer la documentación apropiada en forma de una identificación emitida por la escuela, tarjeta de informe, formulario de resumen de asistencia del portal de padres, o certificado de nacimiento. Más información: https://www.pisd.edu/grabandgo

Whether it is an asynchronous or synchronous day of learning, attendance is taken every day for every class. In an effort to help make attendance taking more efficient for both students and teachers, ALL Renner MS teachers will utilize a Google Attendance Form that students must submit daily for every class during synchronous or asynchronous learning. This will be the primary way for teachers to monitor attendance. Additionally, your student needs to login every day through WebDesk to access their google classrooms and complete daily assignments so that engagement may be tracked should there be any inconsistencies. Students must log out of their WebDesk at the end of each day to record their engagement online.

As a reminder, your student’s teacher has full control over his or her attendance. If for some reason your student did not attend class (during synchronous learning) or login (during asynchronous learning), he or she has until 11:59 pm of that same school day to login, complete, and submit work to the teacher. The next day, that absence will be reconciled by the teacher as they check work submitted. As such, you may receive an automated phone call in the evening communicating an absence for that day. These calls are a reminder that the student still has a chance to login and reconcile the absence through completion of the Google Attendance Form and work submission. We encourage you to allow teachers the subsequent day following an absence to reconcile it before contacting them regarding attendance errors.

Parents and students will receive absence notifications via School Messenger after 6:00 p.m. each day and will be reminded of the opportunity to resolve that day’s absence if the student engages in learning before 11:59 p.m. of the same day via Plano ISD WebDesk. (Notifications may be controlled by parents via Parent Portal.)

Any absences recorded but resolved by the student before 11:59 p.m. on the same day will be reconciled based on login records of the Plano ISD WebDesk. Reconciliation will not appear right away and could take a couple of days to become visible to parents.

Webdesk link can be found here.

Please login to the Parent Portal (https://parentviewer.pisd.edu/Login.aspx) to review and update emergency contacts. This is vital (this year more than ever before) as it will be important to be able to contact parents in a timely manner in the event of an emergency. Thank you for your cooperation with this matter.

Every secondary student now has a student email through the district. This is how students should communicate with their teachers and other school officials. Please make sure that you check your email regularly. To gain access to this email, follow these steps on this site.

https://www.pisd.edu/studentemail

If your family is experiencing difficulty with home internet access, please contact our Campus Technology Assistant, Jonathan Loveday, at jonathan.loveday@pisd.edu.

Parents!

Are you looking for a way to be involved at your child’s school? Is your child currently enrolled in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the district? If you answered yes to both questions, we would love for you to volunteer to be a part of the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC) as a parent representative. It is not a huge commitment on time. We generally have one meeting a month which occurs during the school day. If you are interested and want to learn more please contact Karen Bradshaw (ESL Dept Chair) at karen.bradshaw@pisd.edu or 469-752-5894. We would love to have you as part of the team.

Plano ISD is excited to announce our new online payment system! In an effort to reduce time, money and paper waste, and during this time of remote instruction, parents of returning students can pay their children’s school and lunch fees through a secure online website that is accessed through the following website:

https://www.studentquickpay.com/PISD

If you are a parent who has multiple children at multiple schools, they will all appear together under your online payment parent account. With a few simple clicks, parents can view assessed fees, see any outstanding balances and pay for all of their children in a single transaction. Payments can be made by Visa, Visa Debit, MasterCard, MasterCard Debit, American Express, Discover and ACH Electronic Check. Please note that there is a small convenience charge for using this system, put in place to offset some of the costs of offering this service. For general information about fees, please contact your child’s school.

As a Plano ISD parent, you have the option to pay a number of mandatory and elective school fees online, as well as make payments to student lunch accounts. Our new online payment system is an easy and secure way to pay school fees from the comfort of your home or office.

The Plano ISD online payment system allows you to pay for:

· Fare busing

· Athletic fees

· Activity fees

· Course fees

· Yearbook

· Extracurricular fees

· Field trip fees

You can use the Plano ISD online payment system to:

· Add money to lunch accounts

· Pay selected school fees

· Make fee payments for all students in your family at one time

· View your payment history

· View all your upcoming fee payments in one place

· Print payment receipts

· Print tax receipts

· Print student account statements

Advantages to using the Plano ISD online payment system:

· Accepts credit cards and e-checks

· Provides a convenient and secure transaction

· Available 24 hours a day

· Convenience of paying multiple fees in one place

· Accessible from anywhere there is an Internet connection

· Saves school office staff the time of manually keying payments into accounting and student fee information systems

· Streamlines fee management and collection processes for parents and the district

· Provides better fee reporting at the school and district level

How do I create an online payment account?

· Please visit this link for step-by-step instructions.

¡El Distrito escolar (ISD) de Plano anuncia con emoción nuestro nuevo sistema de pagos en línea! Con el afán de reducir el tiempo, dinero y uso de papel, y durante esta época de clases a distancia, los padres de alumnos existentes pueden pagar los gastos escolares y de almuerzo de sus alumnos a través de un sitio web seguro al que se puede acceder con el siguiente enlace:

https://www.studentquickpay.com/PISD

Si usted es un padre que tiene múltiples alumnos en múltiples escuelas, todos los alumnos aparecerán juntos en su cuenta de padre para pagos en línea. Con unos cuántos clics, los padres pueden ver los gastos cobrados y cualquier saldo pendiente, y con una sola transacción pagar los gastos de todos sus alumnos. Los pagos se pueden hacer por tarjeta Visa, Visa de débito, MasterCard, MasterCard de débito, American Express, Discover y por Cheque Electrónico ACH. Deben saber que hay un pequeño recargo por usar este sistema, establecido para compensar un poco del costo de ofrecer este servicio. Para información general sobre los pagos comuníquese con la escuela de su alumno.

Como padre de un alumno del ISD de Plano, usted tiene la opción de pagar en línea varios gastos escolares obligatorios y optativos, así como hacer abonos a las cuentas de almuerzo de sus alumnos. Nuestro nuevo sistema de pagos en línea ofrece una forma fácil y segura para pagar los gastos escolares desde el confort de su hogar u oficina.

El sistema de pagos en línea del ISD de Plano le permite pagar:

· Servicio de autobús pagado (fare busing)

· Cuotas deportivas

· Cuotas de actividades

· Pagos por cursos

· Anuario

· Cuotas de actividades extracurriculares

· Pagos de excursiones escolares

Puede usar el sistema de pagos en línea del ISD de Plano para:

· Agregar dinero a las cuentas de almuerzo

· Pagar ciertos gastos escolares

· Pagar los gastos de todos los alumnos en su familia de una sola vez

· Ver su historial de pagos

· Ver en un solo lugar todos los gastos por pagar próximos

· Imprimir comprobantes de pago

· Imprimir comprobantes para los impuestos

· Imprimir los estados de las cuentas estudiantiles

Ventajas de usar el sistema de pagos en línea del IDS de Plano:

· Acepta tarjetas de crédito y cheques electrónicos

· Permite una transacción conveniente y segura

· Disponible las 24 horas al día

· Conveniencia de pagar múltiples gastos en un solo lugar

· Accesible desde cualquier lugar donde haya una conexión a Internet

· Para el personal de las oficinas escolares, les ahorra el tiempo de registrar los pagos manualmente en el sistema contable y el sistema de información sobre gastos estudiantiles.

· Agiliza los procesos de gestión y cobro de gastos, tanto para los padres como para el distrito

· Ofrece mejores informes sobre gastos, tanto para las escuelas como para el distrito

¿Cómo creo una cuenta de pagos en línea?

· Le invitamos leer las instrucciones paso por paso en el siguiente enlace.

The SMU Center for Family Counseling at Plano ISD is now offering telehealth counseling services provided free of charge. Services are provided by SMU Counseling Program students during their Practicum and Internship experiences and will be supervised by SMU full-time and adjunct faculty. Services are for adults, children (play therapy), adolescents (activity therapy), couples, and families for a variety of presenting concerns including anxiety, depression, behavior difficulties (e.g., opposition, defiance, aggression), grief and loss, peer relationships, stress, trauma, career transition, and parenting.

Additionally, clients are being accepted for five new support groups: Adult Mindfulness Group, LGBTQ+ Parenting/Caregiver Support Group, Adolescent Support Group, LGBTQ+ Adolescent Support Group, and LGBTQ+ Adult Support Group.

Service hours and contact information is as follows:

Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday 3:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Appointments are available - please call to schedule (469) 752-3098.

A FAQ for Telehealth Counseling services may be found HERE.

Check out the Renner PTA website for important information about our school! From this website, you can purchase your membership, check out school supplies, and buy spirit wear. It's also a great place to find out about upcoming PTA opportunities to help out Renner Middle School.

Renner PTA Website: https://rennerpta.membershiptoolkit.com/

Masks are required to be worn at all times in the facility except when participating in certain activities where 6 ft social distance can be safely maintained.

Activities or spaces NOT available currently.

1. Lobby furniture has been removed. No waiting or congregating in the lobby is allowed.

2. No Game room activities are available.

3. No basketball court activities, or access to the basketball court is available.

4. No Leisure swimming is available.

5. No day passes are available to enter the facility, only members may gain entry. Memberships are available.

Activities that ARE available to youth members.

1. Lap Swimming. 1 person per lane, continuously moving. Masks must be worn to and from the pool.

2. Walking/Running track. Children under 11 must be supervised by an adult. Mask Required at all times.

3. Open play table tennis or badminton. If they bring their own equipment, and obey all open play rules. Open play schedule here: https://www.plano.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16510/Weekly-Recreational-Activities

Additional details about our status and changes can be found here: https://www.plano.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/14

Plano Public Library has many virtual programs going on throughout the fall for students and their families. We are offering curbside hold pick-ups, virtual STEAM workshops, access to FREE online tutoring and much more.

Virtual Events & Activities:

• Teen Technology Kits to learn more about coding and robotics (catalog here)
• STAAR testing and PSAT resources through Learning Express
• Homework review and help with Tutor.com
• Take a virtual field trip around the world with one of our librarians to see Machu Picchu, Grand Canyon, Van Gogh Museum and more
• Learn Adobe Creative Cloud apps with step by step videos

Things to do from home:

• Place a hold for an age appropriate STEAM Kit or Book Bundle
• Check out a database to help with virtual schooling: Tutor.com; Learning Express or Pronunciator
• Sign up to receive Check It Out, our eNewsletter
• Contact the library via phone or email to get connected with more information and resources

Library cards are free for Plano residents and residents of the following reciprocal cities: Allen, Frisco, Garland, McKinney, Richardson, The Colony, and Wylie. Signing up for a library card online is a great step towards lifelong learning at the library. Any students not eligible for a free card may still attend our programs or purchase a $50 annual non-resident card.

Jill Engelking, Principal

Website: www.pisd.edu/renner
Location: 5701 W Parker Rd, Plano, TX 75093
Phone: 469-752-5800