The Texan Star October 9th

Prairie Trail Elementary School Newsletter

2023-2024 Texan Star Newsletter Links

Message from the Principal's Desk

Good afternoon Prairie Trail families,

I hope everyone is enjoyed their three-day weekend. Great way to celebrate the end of the first 9-weeks. Be on the lookout for report cards at the end of this week, Friday, October 13th. That will officially wrap-up this 9-weeks.

Teachers are reaching out to set up parent/teacher conferences. Please be sure to check your email to find a time to meet. Your child's education is a partnership between you and your child's teacher. This is an important piece of that partnership.

In other news, Lewisville ISD will have 7 propositions on the November 7 ballot for voters to consider. If all 7 propositions are approved, the tax rate will decrease by 10.6 cents providing over $1,000 savings to the average homeowner in LISD. Proposition A will provide $37.5 million dollars to sustain competitive pay for staff and maintain our student instructional and program opportunities. Propositions B-G are bond projects providing funds to conduct maintenance and repairs on campuses, upgrade safety and security, provide technology and address athletic and fine arts projects.

Early Voting begins Oct 23. You can visit LISDBOND.com to learn about the bond, find the dates of information sessions the district has planned, and where you can vote. Please educate yourself about what is on the ballot and make a plan to vote.

That's it for this week's from the principal's desk.

Have a great week,

Wendi Vaughn

Principal

PTA MEMBERSHIP Update

Together, we crushed the challenge, surpassing Timber Creek's 84% with an incredible 105%. Your unparalleled support and enthusiasm helped us raise over $5400 for the Prairie Trail PTA, ensuring more wonderful opportunities for our students and staff.

And that's not all! We not only met but exceeded our goal of "one voice for every child," reaching a remarkable 749 PTA members. This means that every single student at Prairie Trail now has a PTA member advocating for them.

Besides Timber Creek's principal rocking our school spirit wear and our school scoring a pajama day, we believe that EVERY child deserves a special reward for surpassing our goal by more than 100 memberships. That's why we treated ALL students and staff to extra recess and popsicles on Thursday as a well-deserved celebration!

Although everyone is a winner, we want to give a big high-five to the top classes of the grade challenge. They’ll each enjoy a donut party this week or next and a gift card for their teacher to spend on the classroom.

WAY TO GO PRAIRIE TRAIL! THANK YOU!

CFA Spirit Day, Tuesday, October 10th

CFA Spirit Day all day, Tuesday, October 10th.

Use Code: PTElem (code is case sensitive)

LISD DRESSED TO LEARN COAT DRIVE

Winter is coming and LISD students will need coats!

Thank you to everyone who has already sent in jackets and coats. We will be sending the items collected at the end of the day tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 10th.

Dressed to Learn is working with LISD Counseling to make sure they have coats for students who need them. Their goal is to deliver the coats in late-October and they need your help!

• Donate a gently used or new coat — they need boys and girls sizes 4/5-6/7-8/9-10/11 and men's & women's sizes S-M-L-XL. Coats should have a hood, a warm liner and be waterproof or water resistant.

• Don’t have any coats on hand? No problem! You can also donate via Square so that Dress to Learn can purchase a coat to keep a student toasty warm this winter: https://checkout.square.site/buy/BRAGAFFQTRPK4SD3Q5PDEPTI

• PLEASE DROP OFF IN THE BOXES IN THE FRONT LOBBY BY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10TH & we will get them over to LISD Dressed to Learn. :)

Together we can make sure every child in LISD stays warm this Winter!

Sign-up for Sign Language Club

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Hi Prairie Trail Families!

If you have a child that is interested in joining Sign Language Club, please register them on the Google Form.

We will have three age groups this year:

Kinder/1st group
2nd/3rd group
4th/5th group

The Google Form will close after the first 20 participants sign up or Friday, October 13.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Lyndse Ellis at ellisl@lisd.net.

Thank you!

Lyndse Ellis

$1 CRAZY ACCESSORY (SOCKS, HATS, GLASSES) DAY - OCTOBER 13TH

Bring a dollar to your teacher and wear your craziest socks, hat or sunglasses to school for the day. All proceeds support the 5th grade end of year field trip.

ANNUAL TRUNK OR TREAT EVENT

One of our FAVORITE family events is coming and it’s completely FREE!!! We’re hosting our annual Trunk or Treat event on Thursday, October 26th from 6pm - 7:30pm and we can’t WAIT to see you there! We’ll have candy and treats at every trunk, sno-cones, contests for the best trunks, and more! Come dressed in your favorite costume & bring the whole family!

Trunk or Treat takes a village to be a success, and you can help! We need TRUNKS, and of course, we need CANDY! :)

Sign up HERE to host a trunk and enter the best trunk competition.

PTA Corner

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PTA 5th Grade Program and Meeting

OCTOBER TEACHER LUNCHEON - OCTOBER 17TH

Hey Prairie Trail Texans! Can you feel the chill of autumn in the air? Well...maybe not quite yet, it is Texas after all. But it's FALL Y'ALL and our PTA is treating our teachers to a well-deserved BBQ luncheon and pie bar!

The PTA will be serving BBQ & a pie bar for dessert on Tuesday, October 17th, and we need your help to make it a success. We'll provide the main course, but we are asking for donations for pie, drinks & snacks. Click here for a list of needed items & help us treat our teachers to a Prairie Trail Texan Fall Celebration. Items can be dropped off in the front office between Wednesday, 10/11 & Friday, 10/13. If you prefer Amazon shopping, browse the items marked “Teacher Lounge Restock” on our list HERE and select “Prairie Trail Elementary” for shipping.

FEED THE MONSTER! CANDY DONATIONS NEEDED!

The CANDY MONSTER is hanging out just inside the front doors waiting for your CANDY DONATIONS! Send in a bag (or more!) of candy or fun non-candy items and help us feed this hungry beast!

Want to donate non-candy & nut-free items so we can make Trunk or Treat a FUN & SAFE event for all of our friends? You can send items directly to Prairie Trail through by browsing the items marked “Trunk-orTreat” on our Amazon list here!

FOURTH GRADE GIVES BACK

Fourth Grade! This is your time to shine! Each month we’re asking one or two grades to be good citizens and give back to the Prairie Trail community. For the month of October, we’re asking 4th grade to help.

What can you do? There are 3 different ways you can help your Prairie Trail community this month:

1) Snack Drive: October 2nd-6th. Help us restock the snack pantry by bringing in snacks like individually wrapped bags of pretzels, goldfish, applesauce pouches, nutrigrain bars, nut-free granola bars or raisins/craisins. You can also shop directly from the snack wishlist at https://tinyurl.com/snack4th and select “Prairie Trail Elementary” to have it shipped directly

2) LISD Coat Drive: Help us make sure every child in LISD has a coat to wear this Winter. Bring a new or gently used coat to school to donate to the LISD PTA Dressed to Learn Coat Drive & drop it off in the bins in the front lobby by Tuesday, October 10th.

3) Chick Fil’A Spirit Night (Tuesday, October 10th): Head on over to Chick Fil’A and join the whole school for a delicious breakfast, lunch or dinner (or all 3 meals?) benefiting everyone at Prairie Trail.

WATCH D.O.G.S.

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Dad, Papá, Baba, Grandpa, Uncle, Papaw, Father, Abuelo, Daddy…whatever name the special kiddo in your life may call you, Prairie Trail NEEDS YOU!!!

Did you miss the kickoff event? No worries! You can still be a part of the Watch D.O.G.S.

How do you get started?

Make sure you have an updated Background Check Volunteer / Home
Background Checks have to be done every year.
Read through the slide deck from last night's event: Linked HERE!
Don't forget the Safety and Security slides: Linked HERE!
Optional - Order a shirt https://shop.dadsofgreatstudents.com/shop-all/

***Need more info? Please email Matthew Kulik watchdogs@prairietrailpta.org or Amber Bearden, VP of Volunteers volunteers@prairietrailpta.org.

VOLUNTEERS

✋🙋🏽‍♀️🙋‍♀️HELP WANTED🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏾‍♂️✋: We have two volunteer opportunities for the months of September & October and we would LOVE to see your smiling faces! Click the links below to learn more and sign up to volunteer. We can’t wait to see you! :)

📚📚October LIBRARY HELPERS📚📚

🔖🔖October COPY ROOM HELPERS🔖🔖

🐶 WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) Fall 2023 🐾

🚙🎃Sign up to host a TRUNK for Trunk or Treat HERE👻🚗

GLOW Party! PTA Reflections Program

NATIONAL PTA REFLECTIONS PROGRAM: INSPIRING CREATIVITY

PTA Reflections has been a staple arts program in many schools for 50 years. Through the efforts of Local PTAs, millions of students have found a creative outlet in the areas of dance, choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts.

This year’s theme is “I AM HOPEFUL BECAUSE…”

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

- Click HERE to view a short video & more information about the program.

- Encourage your child to express their creativity by creating an original work of art related to the theme in any of the 6 categories.

- Submit your child’s art HERE by Monday, October 16 (artwork can also be emailed to artsineducation@prairietrailpta.org or turned in to their teacher along with the completed form)

PRIZES! RECOGNITION!

- Top class from each grade with the most participation wins a GLOW PARTY!!!.

- Advancing students and top classes recognized at daily announcements/assemblies.

- Showcase of entries in the library display case and on social media.

For ALL the latest info & more upcoming events, hop on over to our PTA WEBSITE at www.prairietrailpta.org. 🌐👀

Follow us on FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM for daily updates, fun content, photos & more!

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Common Sense Media Tip

Need a trusted review of a book, movie, tv show, game, or app your child is interested in getting? Check out the Common Sense Media Website for up to date information. "Review what your kids are into before they get into it! Trusted ratings created with families in mind."

For more information visit: commonsensemedia.org

Recognize Someone

Recognize Someone submissions are open again! Would you like to recognize a staff member at Prairie Trail or LISD, click here to type a quick note. It will be printed on a nice post card and delivered to that staff member. It is free for you, but worth so much!! :)

https://www.lisd.net/recognize