GALATAS GAZETTE

Denae Wilker, Principal

Candace Mathis, Assistant Principal

Lyndsey Christopher, Counselor

Through the collaborative efforts of all who pass through our door, we provide a safe learning community that develops lifelong learners and responsible citizens.

Website: http://galatas.conroeisd.net/
Location: 9001 Cochrans Crossing Drive, The Woodlands, TX, USA
Phone: 936-709-5000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GalatasCISD/
Twitter: @GalatasCISD

Message from Dr. Null

Dear Greyhound Families,

The excitement is growing as we count down the days to the first day of school. It will be an amazing 2021-2022 school year!

Student safety will remain our top priority. We have many procedures in place to help keep our students healthy and safe, but we will also need our community's help. As I shared in our previous newsletter, it will be a collaborative effort and the responsibility of every individual to protect our students, staff, and in-person learning. Please do not send students to school when they are sick, and follow the protocols for a safe return to campus. While masks and face coverings are not required, the District does encourage all staff, students, and visitors to wear a mask or face covering to reduce the possible transmission of COVID-19. Please review the Roadmap for Remaining Open, which is included in this newsletter. I recommend that you revisit the Roadmap frequently for any updates in procedures and protocols.

At this time, we are not having visitors at lunch, so that our students have an opportunity to learn our lunch procedures. We will notify our Galatas community when we are ready for guests to join us.

We look forward to seeing our Galatas families for Teddy Bear Tea and Meet & Greet on Monday, August 9.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kindest regards,

Denae Wilker

Please click below for quick links or to download a printable back to school checklist.

Back to School Checklist

Teddy Bear Tea is our kindergarten version of Meet & Greet and New Student Orientation. While students are engaged in fun activities, parents will meet with our administrative team and learn more about the operations of our school. We ask that you please attend during the time slot that matches the first letter of your child's last name. This will help us minimize crowds and provide a smaller setting for your child to visit with their teacher.

Monday, August 9

1:00 - 1:45 PM (Kindergarten Students Last Name A-M)

2:00 - 2:45 PM (Kindergarten Students Last Name N-Z)

Students are invited to bring their favorite teddy bear or stuffed animal.

This event is for parents and students new to Galatas Elementary in grades 1-4 only. You will learn about the operations of our school, available clubs, and fun activities offered throughout the school year. Representatives from our amazing PTO will also participate in the presentation.

Monday, August 9 (Grades 1-4 only)

4:00 - 4:45 PM

Our faculty and staff always look forward to this fun "come and go" event for students in Grades 1-4. It is a time for students to meet their teacher prior to the first day of school and drop off school supplies. If you pre-purchased supplies from our PTO, they will have already been delivered to your child's classroom.

Monday, August 9

4:40 - 5:10 PM (Last Name A-G)

5:20 - 5:50 PM (Last Name H-P)

6:00 - 6:30 PM (Last Name Q-Z)

The first day of classes for the 2021-2022 school year will be Wednesday, August 11. School hours are from 8:00 a.m. – 3:10 p.m. Students should not arrive prior to 7:30 a.m.

In an effort to minimize the crowds in our school during this exciting time, we ask that if you plan to walk your child to class on the first day, that you take pictures outside of the school and then escort your child to class. We will also have staff members available to assist students to their classrooms if you wish to say your goodbyes outside.

We have designated entrances for our walkers and bikers by grade level. Third and fourth grade students will enter through the doors at the end of their hallways (north side). Second grade students will enter through the special service hallway doors located on the north side of our school. Kindergarten and first grade walkers and bikers will enter at the front of the school through the primary hallway front doors. Signs will be posted to help families find these locations.

August 17 - Grades K, 1, and 2

August 24 - Grades 3, 4, and Self Contained Special Education Classes

This event is designed for parents. Additional information and times will be included in future editions of the Gazette.

Hello Galatas Greyhound families! My name is Lyndsey Christopher and I am the new School Counselor here at Galatas Elementary. I am so honored and excited to be joining this amazing Greyhound family, and I cannot wait to meet you and your sweet children.

I was formerly a teacher at Mitchell Intermediate, and I know this is truly an incredible community. I have a heart for working with young children and am a mom to three little ones myself (ages 7, 5, & 2). As the School Counselor at Galatas, I will provide multiple services, including whole class, small group, and individual counseling for students throughout the year. My primary goal is to help ALL students succeed here at Galatas and beyond by providing a comprehensive counseling program that supports their academic and social/emotional needs.

If you need to speak with me, please do not hesitate to send me an email at lynchristopher@conroeisd.net or call me at 936-709-5008. I am looking forward to an incredible year!

Dismissal will begin at 3:00 PM, August 11-20, to allow time for connecting students with parents and buses to load. If you are meeting your child as a biker or walker, please be at the top of the hill by 3:00 p.m. for the first two weeks.

Your child’s teacher will send out a link for you to indicate your child’s primary mode of transportation. Parents may select from four modes of transportation for their child:

1. Bus rider (eligible if home is 1 mile or further from school) Bus routes are posted online on the Conroe I.S.D. website (Click on Parents/Students>Transportation>Find Bus Route). Please check the website to find your child’s bus number, pick-up/drop-off locations and times. Students must be eligible and registered to ride the bus, and may only ride the bus they are registered to ride. You can register your students at the website here. Kindergarten students will not be dropped off without an adult present at the bus stop to meet them. Parents should bring the kindergarten yellow bus sign with them to help the driver identify the guardian. The buses may run late the first couple weeks as the drivers get to know the students and their stops.

2. Car rider. The car rider line will be at the rear of the school and the bus line will be at the front of the school. Parents of car riders will receive a car rider sign (hot pink) at Meet & Greet and Teddy Bear Tea.

3. Day Care. Day care vehicles drop off and pick up students in the back of the school with the car rider line. If your child will not be riding the day car bus due to an early pick-up or transportation change, please notify the day care so they know your child will not be riding that day.

4. Biker/Walker. Kindergarten students must have a parent/guardian/designated adult present at the top of the hill (near the Galatas sign) at dismissal in order to walk or bike home.

On severe weather dismissal days, students will not walk or bike ride home. If you select biker/walker as your primary mode, then you will also be asked to select a second choice for severe weather dismissals (bus if eligible or car rider).

Buses will load and unload at the front of the school. Cars may not enter the front loop from 7:25-8:05 a.m. and 2:45-3:30 p.m.

Student drop-off and pick-up car lines will be at the back of the school. Students may be dropped off between 7:30-8:00 a.m. The back driveway will be closed to cars from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. The back driveway will be open to cars to form a pick-up line beginning at 3:00 p.m. Dismissal will begin at 3:10 p.m. Cars must enter the driveway from the north (right turns only).

Car Rider Line Procedures

• The car line will be a one-way entrance: please enter the line from the north side of Cochran’s Crossing.
• Please ensure your child’s name is visible and easy to read. Include the first name, last initial, and section number for each child on the Car Rider form.
• Look and listen to the line caller to direct you to the number your child will be assigned.
• Pull up to the pole of the assigned number so your child can enter your car safely.
• Pulling your car all of the way up to the numbered pole will allow all cars to fit safely in the car rider line.
• Trained Safety Patrol students, or staff members, will assist your child into your vehicle.
• Please wait for the line to move forward once your child has been loaded into your vehicle. For everyone’s safety, do not pull around other cars.
• Remain in your vehicle while in the car rider line.
• In order to keep the car line moving, please take the time to teach your child to unbuckle and buckle their own seat belt/safety belt. Please do not stop the line or exit your vehicle.

Cars will be permitted to make left or right turns out of the school driveway during dismissal. We ask that you use your turn signal to indicate which direction you are turning, so that our CISD Police Officer can assist with keeping our line moving quickly.

Pink car rider signs will be distributed at Teddy Bear Tea and Meet & Greet, as well as on the first day of school. Please follow the directions listed on the front and back of the card. Display the car rider sign in your front passenger window so that our staff can read your card as you pull through the line.

Transportation change notepads will be sent home with each student on the first day of school. Please use these forms any time a student needs to go home in a different way from the permanent designated mode of transportation.

All transportation changes must be received in writing by 2:00 p.m. We are unable to accept a phone call. You may send a written note to your child’s teacher (place it in your student's PAWS folder), or fill out a form in the front office. Please include the date, your child’s full name, section number, bus number (if applicable), and your signature. If an emergency arises, you may send an email to galatastransportation@conroeisd.net . The e-mail must include all of the above information, including a parent signature, and must be received before 2:00 p.m.

Please send a new note for each day the change occurs; we cannot accept notes for multiple days or with multiple changes. District policy states that a student may only ride the bus they are registered to ride; students may not have a transportation change to ride a different bus.

• Parents should not park on the shoulder of Cochran’s Crossing and/or allow students to enter or exit the vehicle from the road.
• U-turns are not allowed on Cochran’s Crossing.
• Please do not drop off students in either of the church parking lots. We also ask that cars not drive through the Good Shepherd Church parking lot.
• Please do not drop your student off in the staff parking lot. All walking and biking students will need to enter school grounds from the top of the hill, near the Galatas sign.
• All crosswalks must remain unblocked at all times to ensure pedestrian safety.
• Please use designated crosswalks to cross the street and the driveway. Please do not cross between cars.
• Cell phone use is prohibited in all school zones.
• Please be kind and courteous to our neighbors by not parking in or blocking the entrances to their subdivisions.
• Please do not bring your pets onto school property. We have students who are highly allergic to, and frightened of, animals.
• If a student is arriving to, or dismissing from, school as a walker or biker, parents are asked to refrain from entering the bicycle rack or porch areas of the school. Parents should wait at the top of the hill, near the Galatas sign.

Please help your student be fully prepared for their day by ensuring that they have all needed materials (backpack, lunch, water bottle, etc...) as they arrive at school.

Water bottles and lunches may be placed on the Drop-off table before 10:00 a.m. at the front office. All deliveries need to be labeled with your child’s name and section number to ensure proper delivery. Deliveries are made daily at 10:00 a.m. to a drop-off table at the end of each hallway.

If you need eye glasses delivered to your child, please do not put them on the drop-off table. Bring them to the office staff for immediate delivery to your child.

Any class work, binders or homework that is dropped off will be placed in the teacher’s mailbox to be picked up during the day.

Delivery of flowers, balloons, etc. to students at school are not permitted.

Please download and print the Parent Information Sheet for your quick reference.

Please support our school by joining our amazing PTO. The link below will take you to the Galatas PTO website. It is a great way to get connected with our Galatas community and other parents.

Breakfast and lunch will be free for all students for the 2021-2022 school year. Families are still encouraged to complete the free and reduced lunch application as the number of families who qualify for the program impacts other funding for the District. Please click on the button below to complete the application.

Breakfast

Meal Includes Entree, Fruit, and 1% or Skim Milk Daily

Lunch

Meal Includes Entree, Vegetable, Fruit and 1% or Skim Milk Daily

Non-Student/2nd Meal breakfast price: $2.60

Non-Student2nd Meal lunch price: $3.85

Entree A la Carte: $2.25
Fruit/Vegetable/Juice/Bread A la Carte: $1.10
Milk A la Carte: $.90

If your child will be purchasing a second meal or extra items, you may prepay by using My School Bucks. You will find a link to this service, lunch menus, and other helpful information by clicking on the child nutrition resource button below.

The content on the Roadmap to Remaining Open webpages is designed to provide information relevant for the 2021-2022 school year. The details on this page are subject to change as we receive guidance from the Texas Education Agency, Governor’s Office, and State and local officials. Please check back often for the most up-to-date information.

A Student Health Information Form should be completed online at the beginning of each school year. This form will give you an opportunity to list any medical conditions, allergies, medications, and concerns you may have regarding your child's health. It also includes emergency information for the clinic staff.

Should you need to drop off medication for your child, you may schedule an appointment by utilizing the sign-up link that will be emailed next week.

The Department of State Health Services (DSHS) will require all immunizations to be up to date, current, or a current conscientious objection on file prior to August 11, 2021, for the 2021-2022 school year. If you have any questions, please contact your campus school nurse at kriggs@conroeisd.net.

Take care,

Katy Riggs, RN

The Clinic is in need of new underwear (boys/girls, all sizes) and socks, as well as boys and girls shorts/pants of all sizes. Thank you!

Children are encouraged to bring water bottles each day. Please clearly write your child's name on the bottle with permanent marker.

August

9 Teddy Bear Tea (Kinder Students); Last name A-M 1-1:45 and Last name N-Z 2-2:45,

9 New Student Orientation (Grades 1-4); 4:-4:45

9 Meet & Greet (Grades 1-4)

4:40 - 5:10 PM (Last Name A-G)

5:20 - 5:50 PM (Last Name H-P)

6:00 - 6:30 PM (Last Name Q-Z)

11 First Day of School

17 Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Orientation

24 3rd, 4th, and Special Education Orientation

September

6 No School: Labor Day Holiday

14 PTO Meeting – 10:00 a.m.

16 Individual Pictures

23 New Comer Coffee- 9:00 AM

October

5 Walk to School Day

8 No School: Student Holiday

11 No School: Holiday

12 PTO Meeting-10:00 a.m.

15 Kinder and 4th Grade Group Pictures 8:15 AM

18-22 Book Fair

19 Bedtime Story Night-6:00 and 7:00 p.m.

22 Storybook Parade-8:30 a.m.

25-29 Red Ribbon Week

28 3rd Grade Program 6:30 PM

29 Science Day

November

9 PTO Meeting- 10:00 AM

11 Individual Picture Retakes

12 Movie Night 6:30 PM

15-19 Generation Texas Week

18 Thanksgiving Festivities, Kinder and 1st Grade

19 Galatas Fun Run

22-26 No School: Thanksgiving Break

December

6-10 Hour of Code

10 4th Grade Choir Program 8:30 AM

13 Holiday Party: Kinder (1:30 PM)

14 PTO Board Meeting-9:00 a.m.

14 Holiday Parties- 2nd (10:30 a.m.) & 1st (2:00 p.m.)

15 Holiday Round Robin–3rd (10:00 a.m.)

15 Holiday Party/Service Project- 4th (8:15 a.m.) & Special Programs (1:45 p.m.)

17 Polar Express Day (Students wear p.j.’s)

17 Early Release Day, End of Nine Weeks– 12:10 p.m.

December 220-January 4 Winter Break

January

5 Classes Resume

During the recent legislative session, Senate Bill 1697 established new Texas Education Code (TEC), section code 28.02124, Parental Option for Student Retention, which allows parents or guardians to opt to have their child:

• repeat prekindergarten;
• enroll in prekindergarten if the child was eligible to enroll in prekindergarten in the previous school year, under TEC, section code 29.153(b), and has not yet enrolled in kindergarten;
• repeat kindergarten;
• enroll in kindergarten if the child would have enrolled in kindergarten in the previous school year and has not yet enrolled in first grade;
• for grades one through three, repeat the grade the student was enrolled in the previous school year;
• for grades four through eight, repeat the grade the student was enrolled in during the 2020-2021 school year; and
• for courses taken for high school credit, repeat any course in which the student was enrolled during the 2020-2021 school year.

To learn more, please visit TEA’s Restart Kindergarten or Repeat a Grade or Course webpages. Please note: UIL eligibility may be impacted by repeating a course or grade. Check UIL’s website regularly for updates.