Hello Dickinson Families!

Happy Celebrate Freedom Week! Students have the opportunity to dress up everyday. Please see the descriptions below.

This week we have a Dickinson PTO Spirit Night at Flying Cow on September 19th! We hope you can make it!

Please be on the lookout for the Dickinson Elementary school themed shirt. They will be sent home in your child's backpack. If you do not receive your shirt by Thursday, September 19th please contact the front office.

Looking forward to a fabulous week! :)

Warm Regards,

Channon Almendarez

#dolphinproud

As a dolphin staff family we have decided to revise the way we are doing Innovative school day. We will be rotating grade levels every other week. Kinder, first, and second went last week. Third, fourth, and fifth grade levels will go this week. Our volunteers needed will shift based on grade level needs. For right now, we will need parent volunteers for kinder and first grades only as we finish out the first nine weeks. Please click on the link below if you are willing to support the science and computer labs for kinder and first grade levels. If you signed up on a previous sign-up, this is the new form. I apologize for any inconvenience. You must have completed a background check prior to volunteering. Thank you in advance for your support!

Dolphins who complete the challenge will earn a brag tag from the library and their name will be added to the Beanstack wall of honor! Happy Reading!

George Ranch Junior FFA membership is now open! Junior FFA is a great way to meet new friends from all over the Maroon track, participate in fun activities, engage with our community through service projects and learn about animals and agriculture! Click the link to join: https://forms.office.com/r/3wbrcZbAvq

Starting the 2024-2025 school year, Lamar CISD is moving from Smart Tag to Versatrans My Stop. You can access your student’s bus route through the MyStop e-link to view:

- Route number

- Bus stops

- Estimated arrival/drop-off times

Click here to login: https://mystop.lcisd.org/elinkrp/Login.aspx

All you need is your student(s) ID number and date of birth to login. To view instructions on accessing the e-link: https://youtu.be/nmd_284gp9U.

You can also download the Versatrans My Stop App to view your student(s) active bus route’s arrival time to the designated bus stop. Guardians can register one student. If they have more students within the district, they will be added to the same account. To login, you need your student(s) ID number and date of birth.

For more information, please visit https://www.lcisd.org/transportation.

This year to ensure your child's safety all change of transportation notes must be sent to the front office or you can call by 2:00 to make a change. Teachers need to focus on instruction during the day so please do not send them any emails for a change. Please call the front office at 832-223-1400. There is a form below you can print and have for your file in case you want to send in a note. A handwritten note will be accepted as well. Thank you for your understanding!

There is a likely chance that we will have a rainy day dismissal during the first week of school. In order to manage rainy day dismissal well, please read the following procedures and please bring your patience.

• Rainy day dismissal will be called no later than 2:45 and a Skylert message will be sent.
• For safety measures, no student will be allowed to walk or ride their bike home.
• Every walker or bike rider should have an alternate way of getting home on rainy dismissal days.
• Walk in pick-ups during dismissal of walkers and bikers will not be processed in the front office until the car rider line is completed. The process will start around 3:20.This will allow the staff to focus on getting the traffic moved smoothly and quickly.
• Recommendation is to have your child be a car rider and get in line no later than 2:55.
• Having students ride the bus is always a great way to alleviate stress during rainy days as well.

As a campus, we will monitor these procedures and notify you should a change happen with this process. Our top priority, is to get every child home safely. Thank you for your understanding!

Bus Riders!

Parents please follow the steps to sign up for the My Stop App.

Kinder parents must have a blue card to receive students from the bus. If you do not have your card, students will be brought back to Dickinson.

The parent portal will allow you to see when your child gets on and off the bus too!

Please register right away!

Any kindergarten or first grade parent of walkers will be required to bring this card at walker dismissal to ensure that every child is matched to the appropriate guardian. Our top priority is making sure our students get home safely. If you have an older sibling who will be walking the younger sibling home, please fill out the form below and the front office will keep it on file. Your child's teacher will have them available as well.

Parents are not allowed to park along the playground curb and be a walker. If you want to park you must pass the entire playground. Please look for signs.

Skyward has a software package called Skylert to where the campus and district can send out communications via e-mail and text messages. Parents will automatically receive e-mails but must choose to receive text messages. Occasionally, the campus will send out text messages about important calendar events, but more importantly when we conduct Safety Drills. The district sends out important information about bus delays, school closures or delays. I strongly encourage all of our parents to sign up for text messages in Skyward! Below is a pdf with the directions as to how to activate the text message feature. This is a quick task to take care of when you are completing all of the Skyward Beginning of the Year Forms.

Annual Volunteer Background Checks Via Raptor

Want to volunteer? Plan to attend field trips? Assist with Holiday Parties?

Dickinson Elementary has an amazing reputation for partnering with our parents and community to serve our students in a multitude of ways. It's important to review and update the volunteer application regularly to ensure it meets current safety standards and legal requirements. This process helps to create a safe and supportive environment for both volunteers and the children they interact with.

If you completed this task last year, you received a message via e-mail like this sample:

Hello,

Your ability to volunteer at Lamar Consolidated ISD will end on 6/30/2024. If you plan to volunteer after that date, please take this time to complete a volunteer application by selecting this link https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/NTk1OmVuLVVT.

Thank you,

District Volunteer Coordinator

For our new volunteers, please follow these steps to become a volunteer at Dickinson:

1.) Apply to volunteer by completing the volunteer application found https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/NTk1OmVuLVVT

2.) After you receive your volunteer clearance email, contact the campus or department you wish to support as a volunteer to receive information on next steps.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the district’s various volunteer opportunities, please contact:

Asia S. Duhon (Partners in Education Coordinator) at mailto:Asia.Duhon@LCISD.org OR 832-223-0383.

Technology Devices

Personal Technology Lamar CISD believes that appropriate use of students’ technology devices enhances our students’ education. This includes but is not limited to: cell phones, smart phones, iPods, iPads, electronic tablets, and laptop computers. At Dickinson Elementary: All electronic devices stated above, including Smart Watches, must remain in the student's backpack turned off during the instructional day. Please review the code of conduct below regarding cell phone(electronic devices) policy. We have technology available for students to use while on campus. Thank you for reviewing this information with your child before school starts. We want to ensure that students are engaged in their learning and want to help minimize distractions.

CriticalInformationasLamarCISDMovesfromSmartTagtoMyStopin2024-2025

MUST DO ~ URGENT!

Lamar CISD families,

Lamar CISD has been named the first hypergrowth District in Texas, which requires significant planning to ensure our schools remain a great place to learn and our students get the best education available.

To enhance the services provided by our Transportation Department, we are asking all parents and guardians to complete a Transportation Form for each student, regardless of their mode of transportation to school. This includes bus riders, car riders, bike riders, and walkers. The form is available in Skyward and must be filled out for both current and new students.

It’s especially important for bus riders to fill out the Transportation Form to ensure they have access to bus services at the beginning of the school year. To plan accordingly for your student, please review a list of important dates below:

• August 4: Deadline to submit the form for students who want to receive bus transportation on the first day of school (Monday, August 12).
• August 5 - 21: During this time, if families fill out the Transportation Form requesting bus transportation for a student, then the student will start receiving bus transportation on Monday, August 26.
• August 22 or after: During this time, if families fill out the Transportation Form requesting bus transportation for a student, then the student will start receiving bus transportation after five school days.

Important Student Transportation Information for

2024-2025 School Year

Lamar CISD was recently named a hypergrowth district, which requires significant planning to ensure our schools remain a great place to learn, and our students get the best education available. For the 2024-2025 school year, and in alignment with our mission to remain a destination District, Lamar CISD is moving from Smart Tag to Tyler Technologies Versatrans My Stop ™ (My Stop).

This change will require all parents/guardians to complete a Transportation Form. We are requesting this form to be filled out for all current and new students including bus riders, car riders, bike riders, and/or walkers.

It’s especially important that students who ride the bus complete this Transportation Form so they can receive bus services at the start of the school year.

The new transportation software will provide a smoother experience for our drivers, which increases the safety of our students. Additionally, My Stop will provide a parent portal, student rider onboarding, and student rider location.

To plan accordingly for your student, please review a list of important dates below:

· Sunday, August 4: Deadline to submit Transportation Form for students who want to receive bus transportation on the first day of school (Monday, August 12).

· Monday, August 5 – Wednesday, August 21: During this time, if families fill out the Transportation Form requesting bus transportation for a student, the student will start receiving bus transportation on Monday, August 26.

· Thursday, August 22 and beyond: During this time, if families fill out the Transportation Form requesting bus transportation for a student, the student will start receiving bus transportation five school days after the form is submitted.

DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS TO ACCESS TRANSPORTATION FORM

VISIT TRANSPORTATION WEBSITE

Our Site Based Management Team voted and decided to make a slight change to the Dickinson dress code. Students may wear a collared (polo style, no logo) solid color navy blue, light blue, red, or white tops. A Dickinson spirit shirt may be worn any day of the week. Bottoms, including leggings may be in solid color khaki, navy blue or black pants, capris, shorts, skirts, skorts, or jumpers. If leggings or tights are worn, they must be under shorts, skirts, or jumpers. Blue denim jeans permitted on Fridays.

This is a video that all of the students and staff were required to watch as part of our safety protocol. LCISD is committed to keeping all of our students and staff safe. If you ever have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Our fence is completed. I am currently working with maintenance and operations to get some signage with hours and expectations during non-school hours.

Get your Dolphin reading and logging their reading minutes with our Beanstack Reading Challenges! The Library sponsors monthly challenges where students read and then log their reading minutes through ClassLink and the Beanstack app. Students who complete challenges within the challenge dates will earn a Brag Tag to celebrate their reading achievement.

Safety is our top priority! In Lamar CISD, we follow the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to prepare and respond to crisis situations should there ever be a need. It is important to be prepared for a quick response to keep our staff and students safe. When we practice drills, parents will receive an e-mail that we practiced a drill. Below is information about the SRP so that you can keep informed about the protocols we have in place. We need your support for when you visit the campus by wearing your visitor badge on the left or right side of your chest / torso in visible view for our staff members to see at a quick glance. The sticker badge should not be worn on the pants, arm, purse or other areas besides the upper chest area. Thank you for your help keeping our dolphins and staff safe!

The culture of Dickinson Elementary includes a partnership with our community. Last year, our parents volunteered hundreds of hours to support our students and staff. We value our partnership as together we educate our dolphins. This year all volunteers are required to register as a volunteer. This includes PTO Board Members, work room volunteers, Watch Dog Dad volunteers, room parents, field day volunteers, library volunteers, and the list continues! Please visit this website to begin the process:

https://www.lcisd.org/community/volunteers

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the front office at 832-223-1400.

Thank you for giving the gift of time for the success of our campus! What you value, you give your time to! - Channon Almendarez

• September 26th: Early Release Day @ 11:45
• September 27th: Fort Bend County Fair Day (Student Holiday)
• October 4th: Ron Clark Color Out Day (Dress in your house colors.)
• October 10th: Field Day
• October 11th-October 14th: Fall Break
• October 15th: Fall Picture Day (Free Dress)
• October 18th: Trunk or Treat 5:30-7:30 PTO Fundraiser at Dickinson
• October 25th: Early Dismissal @ 11:45, Ron Clark Pep Rally (Wear your house colors.)
• October 28th- Nov. 1st: Red Ribbon Week

Email: channon.almendarez@lcisd.org
Website: https://www.lcisd.org/campuses/dickinson/home
Location: 7110 Greatwood Pkwy, Sugar Land, TX 77479, USA
Phone: 832-223-1400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dickinsondolphins