NOVEMBER 17, 2024

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Hello, Dolphin Families!

Thanksgiving Break begins at the end of this week, but we have lots of fun and learning to participate in before heading home for a week off from school! All LISD buildings will be closed for Thanksgiving Break November 25 through November 29.

The PTA will be hosting our Fall Book Fair in the Donald Library Monday morning through Friday morning! Parents are welcome to shop the Fair with their student during their scheduled class time or during the "Open Shopping with Parent" times listed on the schedule below. Please remember any visitors must present a valid ID in order to enter the building!

Whether you’re able to shop with your student during Book Fair or not, we strongly encourage all families to create an eWallet for their student to use when shopping! This online account works like a debit card, and it eliminates the potential for students to lose their money before or after shopping. Any unused funds on the account will automatically roll over to the next Scholastic Book Fair. CLICK HERE to set up an eWallet for your student to use during the upcoming Fair and make their shopping trip a breeze!

As a reminder, this is the last week to support Flower Mound Police Department's Santa Cops initiative! FMPD will be accepting donated Target or Visa Gift Cards through November 22 to support Santa Cops this year. Gift cards can be delivered to the Donald Office, and we will provide them to our SRO, Officer Ivory, to add to the count for Team FMHS. It's a MOUND SHOWDOWN like no other!

Please be sure to check the weather before school each day as we are expecting a wide range of temperatures this week. As long as we are not experiencing rain or dangerous weather, students will participate in outdoor recess. Be sure coat and jackets are labeled with their first and last name so they don't become lost in the Lost and Found!

Heather Shorter

Principal
STEM Academy @ Donald Elementary

18 - 21 FALL BOOK FAIR

25 INTERSKATE FUNDRAISER 6PM - 8PM

25 - 29 NO SCHOOL

2 - 6 ELF ALLEY

3 DNO @ TEXAS ROADHOUSE

12 CHOIR AND DRUMMING CONCERT @ 6:30PM

19 HOLIDAY PARTIES

20 DISTINGUISHED DOLPHIN AWARDS @ 8:00AM

20 EARLY RELEASE @ 11:45AM

23 WINTER BREAK BEGINS SCHOOL RESUMES JANUARY 7

This past Monday, the Donald staff and students hosted a celebration to honor the United States Veterans in our community. We were excited to celebrate over 40 Veterans who participated! Our guests enjoyed breakfast with the Donald students who invited them to attend, listened to a performance by the Donald Choir, and walked the halls to the thankful cheers of our Dolphins.

Shortly after the celebration, students and staff lined Forest Vista Drive to cheer on the runners passing Donald in a leg of the Flower Mound Veteran's Day Relay. This year, both the person handing off the flag and one of the people accepting the flag are Donald parents! Outside out school, Army Veteran Matthew Boettcher passed the flag to Lisa Grams & Ashlee Kratohvil.

Matthew Boettcher chose to run in honor of Trey Boettcher, who is currently serving in the Army, and in memory of his father and Air Force veteran, Charles Boettcher. Lisa Grams, ran in honor of her father and Army veteran, Michael Kupka, and Ashlee Kratohvil ran in honor of her husband and Marine Corps veteran, PJ Kratohvil.

The PTA is looking for additional Elves to support Elf Alley the week of December 2 - 6!

CLICK HERE to sign up for a time to support our students as they participate in this fun annual activity!

Monday, Nov 25th is our Donald Skate Night at Interskate! This year the roller rink is requiring a paper waiver signed before entry. Mrs. Rosier will have copies at the door, or you can pre-print and sign the waiver linked on the event flyer. You can find more information by viewing the Facebook Event HERE. Hope to see you there!

Just a reminder that registration is open for the Reindeer Run 5K! We have two more run clubs (11/21 and 12/5) left before the Reindeer Run 5K on Saturday December 7th! This is not a required event in any way, just fun. The FlowerMound Rotary has generously offered us a $5 discount. Enter DONALD at checkout and your total should adjust. Go HERE to register today! Bring the whole family!

I get asked often if you should register your student for the 1 mile or 5K. Yes, 5K! Your kid can do it! That’s what we have been training for! Run Club has been training weekly and the just finished the Dolphin Dash too. This is a fun way for them to celebrate their progress during the season. I’ve done a lot of runs and this one is a great one. The route is great- some nice trails and not a lot of street running. Your registration includes a dryfit tshirt, medal, chip time and pancakes, cookies and coco at the finish line with Santa and the Grinch! (see precious pic on the registration website of two of our very own Dolphins running with Santa)

I am not responsible for your children at the event, so please plan to have transportation and a meeting spot before and after the run. I plan to run myself and have my own family there too.

Happy Running!

Mrs. Rosier

As we navigate the busy days of elementary school life, it's important to take a moment to reflect on the power of gratitude. Teaching our children to recognize and express thankfulness can foster a positive mindset and enhance their emotional well-being. Gratitude helps children appreciate the small joys in their lives, encourages kindness, and builds resilience in the face of challenges.

Here is some important advice about gratitude to watch with your family!

Throughout the month of November, the guidance lessons that your child has been participating in were centered around career awareness. These lessons provided age-appropriate discussions that allowed students to explore their interests, talents, and aspirations for the future. Our goal is to help them envision a variety of career possibilities for their future!

LISD is hosting a district-wide Angel Tree once again this year, and there are many Angels needing a generous family to adopt them!

CLICK HERE to see the instructions for selecting an Angel from the LISD Angel Tree. Gifts labeled with the Angel Tree code can be dropped off in the Donald Office or they can be delivered to the LISD Next Steps center at 1303 S State Hwy 121 Suite 100, Lewisville, Texas 75067 by Friday, December 6. Donald, and the entire LISD community, thank you for any support you may be able to provide to our angels this year!

The Donald Student Council is partnering with Flower Mound High School students in the Future Medical Leaders Club to collect new, unopened toys to donate to the Children’s Health Medical Center in Dallas. These toys will be used by the staff and volunteers at Children’s to brighten the spirits of children who are spending all or part of the holiday season in the hospital. Toys must be new and unopened for health reasons, but they do not need to be over-the-top! Some small treats that would brighten the day of a child might be Play-Doh, Fidget Toys, marker or crayons, coloring books, keychains, stuffed animals, or other things. We appreciate any contribution you are able to make to help this group support local kids!

LEGO is kicking off 2024 The Build to Give campaign! This year, LEGO challenges people to build hearts using LEGO bricks and then share a picture of their creation in a social media post with the hashtag #buildtogive. For every picture posted with the hashtag, the LEGO Group will donate one LEGO® set to charity! For more information, visit https://www.lego.com/en-us/build-to-give. We encourage all our Donald families to use their creative building skills to join this mission throughout the months of November and December!

Join the FMHS Drill Team as they present their first ever Christmas Show Thursday, November 21 and Friday, November 22! Shows begin at 7PM, and you will want to PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS ONLINE to make sure you get a space!

We wanted to remind our families that Lewisville ISD requires that a parent or guardian be present at the bus stop in order for Kindergarten and 1st grade students to be released from the bus. If a parent is not present, the bus must complete the route and then return the bus back to the school at the end of the route, thereby causing delays. Our buses run on a tiered system, meaning that bus routes for elementary, middle and high school are staggered. When an elementary bus is late due to a parent/ guardian not being at the stop, it causes the subsequent middle school and high school routes to be late, as well. Any students who do not have a parent/ guardian at the bus stop will receive a formal warning letter and if it occurs again, may lose bus privileges for the remainder of the year. If your Kinder or 1st grade student (s) ride the bus, thank you for ensuring a parent/ guardian is present at the bus stop each afternoon.

House Bill 1225 provides a new optional process for school districts to provide a paper administration of a STAAR assessment to any student whose parent, guardian, or teacher requests a paper version. A request for a paper administration of spring STAAR High School EOCs and spring STAAR grades 3-8 must be submitted by 4 PM on December 1st and will be considered on a first come, first serve basis. The number of students who are provided a Paper by Request administration of STAAR may not exceed 3% of the number of eligible students testing. Applicants will be notified of status by 4 PM on December 13, 2024.

If a student receives Special Education or 504 services and is requesting a paper test, please contact the appropriate campus ARD or 504 committee. There is a different process and form for those requests.

If you have any questions, please contact the LISD Assessment department at (972)350-0960.

We would love to have you volunteer in our classrooms and at extracurricular events! To get started, JOIN the Donald PTA, and then complete your yearly VOLY Background Check. All volunteers must have a current VOLY Background Check, so if it has been a while since you completed this process, check in with the Donald Office Staff to see if you're approved!

Lewisville ISD's volunteer site, VOLY, is up and ready for the new school year. If you plan to volunteer on campus, act as a field trip chaperone, or support our campus at any point in the 24-25 school year, please either create a VOLY account or renew your account from last year. LISD's VOLY site is Lewisvilleisd.voly.org. There is also a VOLY app that can be found in the app store on your phone.

Remember that our VOLY site allows for the site to be translated to your family's home language. Look for the language drop down button at the top of the page.

Questions? Reach out to Partnerships@Lisd.net and they will be happy to assist you!

This year, the Donald Student Council is selling Thankful Grams! For only $1, this is a great opportunity for you and your student to send a note of gratitude to someone on campus that has supported them throughout the year. You're welcome to send one to your own student to tell them just how thankful you are to them for being themself! Funds raised by sales will be used to support upcoming student incentives and activities hosted by StuCo during the month of December.

StuCo students will be passing out all Thankful Grams prior to thanksgiving break, but orders are only open until Thursday, November 21, so be sure to CLICK HERE and place your order today!

The Woot Woot Wagon is going around again in late November to bring treats to the Donald Staff right before Thanksgiving break! If you would like to sign-up to donate something, please click on the link here. Items can be dropped off in the Donald Office on or before 9AM Friday, November 22! If you have any questions, please reach out to Erryn Harvey at harveye@lisd.net. Thank you so much for your support!

The LISD Recognize SomeONE program gives our staff and community members the opportunity to highlight the exceptional work the do. If a Donald staff member has made an impact on your student or family this week, please take a moment to Recognize SomeONE and let them know how much they mean! Teachers will receive a printed copy of your message from LISD Communications to display outside their classroom door.

Celebrate your favorite Dolphin's birthday, accomplishment, or special occasion with a personalized donation to the Donald Library! Parents, family, and community members can now donate a book from our wish list, or you can choose to donate a book of your choice. When you select a book to donate, you will also be able to personalize a permanent book plate inside the front cover of the book with a custom message for your honoree. All books will be shipped to our school, processed, and ready to be added the shelves directly from the vendor. To make sure the person you are celebrating sees your gift, the honoree will get to be the first person to check the book out! We will announce all books donated, and occasions celebrated, each month on our announcements, too. Visit https://www.btsb.com/sosl/donaldsesstemacademy/ to celebrate someone!

1. Go to https://studio.balfour.com/imageshare/ to visit the Donald Yearbook upload website

2. Enter project number #508585

3. Leave the upload code blank

4. Agree to the Terms & Conditions and start uploading!

*The system only lets you upload 10 photos at a time!

If you download the Balfour Image Share app, it saves your name and email each time so you don’t have to reenter that information!