Dear Parents and Guardians,

It's almost time for summer break! As we race towards the finish line with just 4 days left, let's make sure these last few days are positive and productive for all students.

Here's a quick rundown of some reminders to ensure a smooth ending:

Dress Code:

• Monday: Regular Uniform Day (uniform pants, collared shirt, gym shoes)
• Tuesday: Dress to Impress Day! (For Career Day) - District dress code is okay if students don't have "dress to impress" attire.
• Wednesday: Free Dress Day (no Crocs - please wear appropriate shoes)
• Thursday: Jeans & Spirit Shirt Day

Food & Drinks:

Just a friendly reminder that outside food and drinks are not allowed on campus, including last day celebrations. Please avoid sending any snacks or treats with your child on these days.

Following District Policies:

Let's all work together to ensure a safe and enjoyable ending for everyone. Please remember to follow all district policies, which will help us have a fantastic close to a wonderful school year!

We appreciate your continued support and partnership. Have a fantastic summer!

Sincerely,

Mr. Perry

1. Upcoming events and dates with details, separated by month

• May 21st: Counselors Career Day
• May 22nd: 8th Grade Crossover

Here is what you can expect from our weekly newsletter, and in the specified order:

• General reminders, information, and a list of upcoming events and dates
• Upcoming events and dates with details, separated by month
• PTSA/All Pro Dads Info
• Administration Updates
• Counselors Corner
• Longhorn Nation (ongoing updates)
• Any Policy/Procedure Updates
• Celebrations and Shout Outs (by grade level and or department)
• Athletics
• Fine Arts

Counselor Madrea Bell

8th Grade A-L;6th Grade

madrea.bell@chisd.net

Counselor Chimere Mitchell

8th Grade M-Z;7th Grade

chimere.mitchell@chisd.net

STAAR Information for all parents.

Need to know your scholar's STAAR Scores? Use the following steps to see them.

• Sign into Skyward

• View to banner on the left side of the screen

• Click on Portfolio

• Click on the TSDS ID link

• 10 digit code will be provided

• Go to Texas Assessment.gov

• https://www.texasassessment.gov

• Scroll down to Information and Support

• Click on “How do I look up my access code”?

• Type in the 10-digit TSDS ID number as well as the other required information about the scholar and push search

• An access code will be generated, click log in

• Type in the required information and proceed with reviewing your scholar’s scores

There are a few administrative changes as well as announcements for this school year. We will do our best to streamline all communication but we do ask that you review all items carefully and please reach out with any questions you may have.

Arrival

Start and end times: The building will open up at 8:15 am.

Please review the LINK for detailed directions for our scholars regarding morning expectations.

Dismissal

Dismissal is one of our measures of success this school year. Please review the videos at the bottom of this section for clarification on dismissal procedures. This year, we will run a staggard dismissal. This means that we are expecting a timely and safe exit from the campus.

At 4:11, we will dismiss our bus riders. The busses will clear the campus by 4:12 pm. Our goal is to dismiss at 4:12 pm. We don't want to cut into the instructional time but we will work our way toward full efficiency. At 4:13 pm, we will dismiss our walkers. It is our expectation that all walkers exit the campus prior to the dismissal bell through door 14 ONLY. No other door will be accessible to our walkers or car riders. Scholars not in compliance can and will face disciplinary consequences according to the student code of conduct.

At 4:15 pm, the dismissal bell will ring and we will then begin our dismissal procedure for car riders. The video will reinforce this but we will have a 20-second timer to load all cars in the car riding zone. Once the whistle blows, you must drive forward. If you did not get a chance to pick your scholar up, we will ask that you drive back around for a second pass.

WE will have a safe and secure environment for dismissal and we thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Dress Code

Please review our dress code for middle school scholars. We should have black, red, and or white tops, Khaki or black bottoms, and closed-toe shoes. No sandals or crocks are allowed during the instructional day.

If a scholar is not in the dress code, we will reach out to request a change of clothes for the scholar. We will implement a systematic way of tracking noncompliance. We will over-communicate with you regarding expectations.

For scholars who are repeat offenders, we will hold them in ISS until we get that change of clothes. We thank you for your patience and cooperation in being compliant with the student dress code. For more information regarding dress code and other scholar information, please visit www.chisd.net And click on the tab that's labeled student. Please review the district's dress code policy. LINK If you have any questions, please reach out.

We are also very aware that our transition back to a structured environment is going to be a process. We will fully implement all disciplinary consequences for non-compliance on September 5th.

IDs

Please be reminded that it is the district's expectation to have all scholars wearing their IDs around their necks and visible at all times. We are close to fully handing out all IDs to the campus. We will begin strictly enforcing this expectation starting September 5th. Please have conversations with your child about the importance of being able to be identified in a school setting. We need to ensure that all scholars are in full compliance.

Tardies:

We will start implementing our tardy policy the week of September 4th. Let's make a point to please get to every class on time.

Early Pick up Cut of time

Our campus times for scholar early pick-up are 3:45 p.m. All scholars will need to be picked up prior to 3:45 p.m. for early dismissal. If you arrive at the school for early dismissal after 3:45 p.m., we will ask that you wait until dismissal to pick up your scholar. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Parent Visitation During school operating hours

One of our campus goals is to simply increase parental involvement. This includes athletic events, fine art performances, and specially, instructional nights. However, our daily operations will be opening back up to parents during the instructional day. Please give us until the end of MP 1 to solidify all of our internal operational procedures and practices throughout the school day and we will begin doing culture walks with parents, classroom visits, and lunchroom visits during the day.

We ask that you start the process now by registering in our VOLY system. Please make a note that we must district guidelines for visitors. District guidelines LINK. Campus guidelines LINK

Parties wishing to contact an administrator regarding a specific teacher or student are encouraged to resolve the matter by following the steps below:

Step One: Contact the teacher and have a meeting/phone conference

Step Two: Contact the appropriate administrator:

8th Grade: Dr. Mendoza for discipline concerns

7th Grade: Ms. Tuck for discipline concerns

6th Grade: Dr. Mendoza for last name Alpha A - L for discipline concerns

Ms. Tuck for last name Alpha M - Z for discipline concerns

Grade Level Counselor (schedule/grades/mental health/academic advisement)

Website: www.chisd.net/bessiecoleman
Location: 1208 East Pleasant Run Road, Cedar Hill, TX, USA
Phone: 9722934505
Twitter: @bessiecolemanMS

What plans do we have for improving academic scores?

The plan is fluid and ongoing but here are a few highlights.

• Intervention for all. We have been tasked with adding an intervention period during the day for all scholars. This period has been called Longhorn Time. It is designed to meet the individual needs of our scholars specifically in the area of ELAR and Math.
• We have designed our master schedule to fit the needs of our campus. and have worked to intentionally place scholars in the classes they've selected for electives.
• We have several checkpoints built into our yearly calendar called DCCA (District Created Common Assessments). These assessments are designed to track our TEKS over time and allow us to do our best job to predict where our campus will score based on the STAAR blueprint.
• The PLC process is one that is designed to support our teachers in their core subjects. With a collaborative mindset, we are creating an environment to meet the individual needs of our teachers as well.
• We will offer tutoring and Saturday school for select scholars. Those dates have been secured and placed on our internal calendar. Once you come back into the building, you will have access to view that calendar as well.

Will there be any extracurricular activities available for the 6th Grade Scholars?

We are limited with the extracurricular sports for our scholars but we do have clubs that our children can participate in. Theater, band, choir, orchestra, and other clubs are open to our 6th graders. However, they cannot compete in any UIL competitions.

Will Bessie Coleman have an opportunity for community outreach, from parents and their respective skill sets, to bring into the school?

This is a wonderful question. It's hard to say at the moment, HOWEVER, getting involved in PTSA will enable parents to get a better grasp of the school's needs from an internal perspective. We have a lot going on and there may be a need that a parent can fill. PTSA members will have a quicker way to access those external resources and leverage them accordingly. The bureaucracy is much more efficient when it's handled through our PTSA.