Kirk Elementary
Tiger Tales
School Information
Email: Kirk@cfisd.net
Website: https://www.cfisd.net/Kirk
Location: 12421 Tanner Road, Houston, TX, USA
Phone: 713-849-8250
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KirkElementary/
Twitter: @KirkElementary
Administrative Team
Top row: Holly Casey, Counselor; Carrie Higgins, Instructional Specialist; Amanda Flores, Instructional Specialist; Cindy Campbell, Counselor
Middle row: Kristy Strong, Instructional Specialist; Christina Sanchez, Behavioral Interventionist
Bottom row: Susan Blowey, Assistant Principal; Katie Ford, Principal; Debbie Parker, Assistant Principal
CFISD NAMES NEW PRINCIPAL FOR KIRK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
March 8, 2022—Katie Ford, assistant principal at Farney Elementary School, was named the new principal at Kirk Elementary School on March 8. Ford replaces Dr. Jennifer Bell, who resigned in February to move with her family to Canada.
Ford has 14 years of experience in education, all coming in CFISD. Her career began as a teacher at Horne and Francone elementary schools. She served in the classroom for eight years before moving into administration when she was named a behavior interventionist and primary instructional coach at Tipps Elementary School in 2015.
She accepted her current assistant principal position at Farney Elementary School in 2016.
During her tenure as an assistant principal, Ford served as a mentor for three new assistant principals and served on the Teacher Incentive Allotment committee. She also earned a Certificate in School Management and Leadership, a joint program from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Business School.
Ford earned her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Abilene Christian University and Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Stephen F. Austin State University.
“I am honored to serve as the principal at Kirk Elementary,” Ford said. “I am eager to form relationships with the students, staff and community in order to continue the tradition of innovation and excellence.”
Principal's Corner
I am honored to be selected as the new principal at Kirk Elementary. This past week has been wonderful and everyone has been very welcoming. I can tell that the Kirk community takes great pride in the work that happens here each day. I am eager to begin forming relationships with all of you in order to continue the traditions of excellence here at Kirk. I look forward to meeting you all soon at Tiger Palooza on April 23rd.
Mrs. Ford
Share your Feedback to Help Us Improve
April Calendar
Student of the Month for the Character Trait of Cooperation
Prekinder
Kinder
1st Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
FEBRUARY CHARACTER TRAIT - COoperation
Leader in Me
We have started teaching students the 7 habits. There are 5 core paradigms that drive our decisions, behaviors, and results as we shift our culture to align with being a Leader in Me school. A paradigm is simply the way we “see” things. These 5 core paradigms include:
Everyone can be a leader.
Everyone has genius.
Change starts with me.
Empower students to lead their own learning.
Educators and families partner to develop the whole person.
These paradigms or “the way we see things” at our school will drive our everyday interaction with not only your Tiger, but ourselves too. A partnership with families supports our ability for students to lead their own educational journey - empowering them to be responsible, reflective, and active in their learning experiences.
The great news about paradigms is that they are also powerful at home! When you operate through these five paradigms in your own life, you are communicating your own value as well as encouraging greatness in your Tiger.
Here are a few ways to engage your family in these paradigms:
PBIS
Key Notices
This year we have gone digital with our title 1 meeting. To learn more about Title 1 at Kirk Elementary, please watch this short video. Turn on closed captioning for Spanish.
If you would like to give feedback on the parent involvement policy or the home-school agreement for Kirk, please view the documents listed here and send in any suggested revisions to Dr. Bell.
Notice to Parents
As a parent of a student at a campus receiving Title I funds, federal law allows you to ask for information about the certification, college major, and advanced degrees of your child’s teacher(s). You also have the right to request information about the qualifications of a teacher aide or paraprofessional providing direct services to your child. If you would like to receive this information, you may contact the Cypress-Fairbanks I.S.D. Human Resources Department at 281-897-4099.
School Messenger: Text Message Sign Up
The directions for adding text messages to your School Messenger account are in the link below. All parents need to update their School Messenger Information:
Family & Community Engagement
Moms & Dads and Everyone who’s volunteered at Kirk this school year. If you’ve registered to be a volunteer on the CFISD Volunteer site, take a moment to ensure the hours you’ve volunteered have been logged. You can do it easily on the CFISD Volunteer site.
CFISD Volunteer: https://www.cfisd.net/domain/2617
To log your hours or check if your time has been logged, scroll down to Item 3. Raptor Volunteer Portal on the same site where you registered. All volunteers who have recorded at least one hour in the current school year will receive an invitation to the annual VIPS Appreciation Luncheon scheduled for April 27 at the Berry Center.
We appreciate the time our Moms are giving to our Kirk Tigers. Parent engagement in their children’s education is a key component of their success later in life. Moms, you are making a positive impact, not only with your own children, but in all the children you interact with when you participate as a Kirk M.O.M.S. (Moms of Magnificent Students).
You too can participate as a Kirk M.O.M.S. Click here bit.ly/RegisterKirkMOMS
If you have already signed up to be a Kirk M.O.M.S. click on the link to review your date. You will get a call a week before your date to go over what you will be doing on your day. https://bit.ly/KirkMOMS
It is that time of year!
The Book Fair will be at the Kirk Library
on April 19th-April 22
Mobile Library
March 26
April 30
Please come and enjoy reading great books by visiting the CFISD Mobile Library
from 12:30-2:30.
Chimney Hill Community Center
13720 Smokey Trail
Primary Practices
It’s hard to believe we are in the 4th nine weeks! It’s amazing to see the growth in each child! Please continue to read with your child for 20 minutes each night. They can read to you, you can read to them, or take turns reading each page. At the end of your reading, ask some comprehension questions.
- Retell the story in your own words.
- Who is the main character? What is their problem or what do they want?
- How was their problem solved? How did they get what they wanted?
- How was the character feeling at the beginning of the story? How did they feel at the end of the story?
- What is the setting in the story? Was there more than one setting?
Math Resources
- ST Math located in my.cfisd.net
- Education Galaxy located in my.cfisd.net
- Here are addition and subtraction flashcards to practice fact fluency
Adventures in Mathematics
In the last nine weeks, students will be learning their last units and starting to review. Here are topics covered in grades 2-5 at varying levels:
Place Value
Addition and Subtraction
Money
Measurement
Telling time
Fractions
Geometry
Multiplication and Division (3-5)
Graphing
Data Analysis
Financial Literacy
Math Suggestions:
ST Math
Education Galaxy
Addition and Subtraction Practice
Multiplication and Division Fact Fluency
Science Scholars
The final unit in the school year is Life Science. Students will be learning about different environments, basic needs of survival and structures and functions of plants and animals.
Science Suggestions:
Education Galaxy
Student Science Study Guide
Loving Literacy
It’s hard to believe we are in the 4th nine weeks! It’s amazing to see their growth! Please continue to read with your child for 20 minutes each night. They can read to you, you can read to them, or take turns reading each page. Students in grades 3 - 5 will be reviewing multiple genres learned so far this year as they continue to prepare for STAAR. Students in grade 2 will be reading fiction series as well as poetry and persuasive texts.
Tiger Technobytes
Chromebook Reminders
All students are assigned a chromebook for school use. Guardians must sign for all devices in Schoolcash.
Students will be responsible for taking the device to home/school daily.
It is recommended the device be charged at home nightly and that the charger remains at home.
Please do not put stickers on the device.
The CFISD stickers (barcode and student information) should remain on the device. If the stickers are damaged please report it in HappyFox to be able to receive a new one.
Please keep food and drink away from the device.
To receive support for a device (lost, non-working, damaged devices) please report it in HappyFox. Your student will need to log in with their CFISD email address and password.
Here’s how to change a Student Network Password.
If you move to another school district, please return the device/charger back to the school. If you move to another school within CFISD, take the device and charger with you to the new school.
CFISD LTE 1:1 Website has more information.
Contact michelle.glynn@cfisd.net if you have any questions about devices at Kirk.
Nurse’s Corner
Spring is here which means lots of time outdoors! Our students are enjoying the warm weather at recess, but they are forgetting to drink water throughout the day. Please encourage and remind your student to bring a bottle of water to school every day. My Clinic Assistant and I see kids who have headaches, sore throats, and stomach aches, and we noticed that most of these students forgot to bring water to school. It is easy to get dehydrated now that the weather is warming up. Thank you for helping your student stay hydrated and healthy.
Counselor Corner
Monthly Character Trait: Hope means believing that something good can come out of something bad.
It may seem like there is never enough time to get everything done.
Consider using the rhythm of your daily life to shape the values in your home – take advantage of the time you already have:
Morning Time: Be a coach. Help them find purpose by starting the day with encouraging words.
Drive Time: Be a friend. Talk about life during informal conversations as you travel.
Meal Time: Be a teacher. Have conversation while you eat together.
Bed Time: Be a counselor. Strengthen your relationship at the end of every day with heartfelt conversations about feelings.
So don’t miss it. Use the time you have (without technology or distrac- tions) to deepen relationships and encourage values in your home.
What’s happening in Large Group?
Musical Magic
Hello Kirk Mighty Tigers! All students in music are focusing on the treble clef lines and spaces. All students will compose and play games associated with the lines and spaces. Of course there’s always lots of fun during music.
Ms. Craig
PE
We had an amazing March and were able to finish all of our fitnessgram testing. Had a great time at the color blast for the KHC wrap-up and played a lot of fun games. This month we will try to learn/develop/master some new and old skills during our basketball, soccer and parachute units, by working individually or as a team. Let’s keep having fun and stay safe, healthy and strong !
Coach Mati
Art
Hello Mighty Tigers!
This has been an amazing month creating art. During April we will continue to create art for our Cyfair ISD spring art show using oil pastels, chalk pastels and crayons! I can't wait to see what you all create!
Ms. Pacheco
PTO
Come enjoy our event "Tiger Palooza" on Saturday, April 23rd from 1:00pm to 4:00pm here at Kirk Elementary. We are going to have a minimum charge for the games and food. There will be a silent auction, dunk booth, dj, photo booth, rock climbing, train rides, and glow dance party.
5th Grade Parents: Please send baby photos of your 5th grader for our yearbook by April 10th.
On May 6th, we are going to have our Bingo Night from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Doors will open at 5:45 p.m.
May 20th will be our 5th grade Party and we need volunteers. If you can be a volunteer, please contact Cemone Robinson at 832-457-5184.