Tiger Talk
01/05/21
News from Nurse Hensel
To help ensure that our Tiger families stay safe, please report via this form if your Tiger had a positive COVID 19 test result during the holiday. Also, please read the Daily Symptom Screening information that I provided below.
Please, keep your Tiger home even if only one symptom is present. We are one team, one family. Let's work together to keep our family healthy.
Happy New Year! And, as always, please feel free to contact me any time you have questions or concerns.
January's Buzz from Beninga
Our Board of Trustees are pictured above. Top row, left to right: Guy Clayton, Jessica Putonti, and Bob Dorsett. Second row, left to right: John Aoueille, Kim Flasch, William Beard, and Lauren White.
Also in January.....Happy New Year!
We're so excited to have our Tigers returning to their studies on Wednesday, January 6.
We hope you have had a happy, healthy, and restful break. In the event that your Tiger(s) had a positive COVID 19 test result during our break, please report it to me via this form. Reporting this information to us is helpful, even over the holiday, especially for our on-campus learners. Please rest assured that your privacy is and will be respected.
With best wishes for a happy New Year,
Melanie
Melanie Beninga provides info, photos, and updates via Twitter, too. If not already following Melanie Beninga in Twitter, you can follow her @principalwch and @mbeninga.
Revised LTISD 2020-2021 Calendar!
Changes were made to our instructional calendar. As a result, our winter break is changed to December 18 through January 5. This means that Tigers return to learning a day later at the end of their winter break. Instead of returning on Tuesday, January 5, as originally planned, students return to school on Wednesday, January 6. Also, January 18 and 19 are student holidays.
Later, on Friday, March 5, there is no school for students, and Friday, March 12, will be an early release day. School will be dismissed at 12:05 pm on March 12.
Want to be involved? Be a homeroom parent!
Some of our classrooms do not have a homeroom parent to help organize class events. If you'd like to be more involved in your Tigers' class activities, check in with your Tigers' teachers to see if they are still looking for a homeroom parent. Thanks!
Staff Shout Outs
WCH Families,
In the last few weeks, families submitted shout outs to our staff. Your words of appreciation were priceless and brought big smiles and tears of joy. Thank you, and please continue to submit your shout outs!
If you would like to send a shout out to a WCHE staff member or teacher, I will gladly pass it along. It can be anonymous or signed. Thank you for lifting up our hardworking teachers and faculty. We love what we do and appreciate your partnership.
Thanks for taking a minute to say thanks!
Melanie
Wall of Fame for Shoe Tying
Our Wall of Fame for Shoe Tying is dedicated to Kinder, 1st, 2nd, and/or 3rd Grade Tigers who have just learned to tie their shoes AND for Kinder, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade Tigers who know how to tie their shoes and have not already been honored on our Wall of Fame for Shoe Tying in prior years.
The honor is extended to in-person learners and remote learners. Contact our PE coaches if you have questions or need a paper or electronic shoe sent to your Tiger(s.)
In-Person Learner Replacement Transportation and ID Badges
- $3 - Transportation ID scan badge
- $5 - Retractable transportation badge reel
- $2 - Transportation lanyard and plastic sleeve
- $1 - Campus student ID badge, holder, and lanyard.
Our WCHE Receptionist, Mrs. Michelle Harper, will be happy to assist you in the event replacement badges are needed.
On-line Learning Available ONLY Through Your Child's LTISD Account
To gain entry to student learning, students should use the LTISD LT1 Classlink to enter and access all classroom google links. This ensures secure and safe learning.
If students/parents attempt to access class meetings or documents without using the student's credentials in LT1 (for example, logging in to the browser from a parent's personal or work account instead of the student's LTISD account) access is restricted. To prevent unauthorized people from accessing our classrooms, only appropriate LT1 Classlink logins with the student's credentials can gain access. Access attempts by any other accounts will be denied.
PLEASE be sure to access all google links through our LT1Classlink using the appropriate LTISD student's credentials.
District Assisting With Technology to Support Remote Learning
The Lake Travis Independent School District (LTISD) will lend Chromebooks and WiFi hotspots to students in grades K-12 who have limited or no access to a device at home and who do not already have a device from our initial deployment this past spring. Our district has had a high volume of requests. Thank you for your patience.
Families who meet the above criteria may request a Chromebook and/or WiFi hotspot through the Skyward "Technology Device Request" form by linking to Skyward through a browser. Link to Skyward here. Please complete 1 request form per student. When the LTISD has the student's Chromebook and/or hotspot ready for pick up, they will notify you.
Also, there is a known issue affecting the login credentials of some of our families with district-issued Chromebooks, and we have developed a solution to help you establish credentials for login. If you are unable to log in, please follow the steps outlined here, and if you need additional assistance, please feel free to contact us. We appreciate your patience.
Our Neighborhood Bookmobile is Back!
The Lake Travis Community Library Bookmobile comes to our neighborhood amenity center for contactless reserve pick up service, take and make crafts, and free Wi-Fi.
Our favorite Bookmobile will be a the West Cypress Hills neighborhood pool on alternating Thursdays from 3 to 4 pm.
Visit the Lake Travis Community Library website for more information.
Changing Instructional Status
A change from in-person learning to remote learning can be made at any time. To request this change, complete the LTISD Instructional Change Form. The completed form should be forwarded to our Registrar, Becky Wright.
A change from remote learning to in-person learning can also be requested on the LTISD Instructional Change Form. The completed form should be forwarded to our Registrar, Becky Wright no later than 2 weeks prior to the start of the next grading period, as shown below:
- Form Due Date was 12/4/20 for the grading period beginning 1/6/21
- Form Due Date is 2/26/21 for the grading period beginning 3/22/21.
LTISD Chromebooks to Remain Checked Out to Students While on Campus
Students who checked out a District-issued Chromebook for remote learning at home and will be returning to in-person learning on campus should retain the device and bring it to school for use in the classroom as needed, much like an assigned textbook.
Chromebooks will remain checked out to the student until a date to be later determined or at the end of the 2020–2021 school year, whichever comes first.
Meals for Remote Learners
Students in remote learning at home may purchase a meal for pickup from our school cafeteria. Learn more here.
Please note, menu options may be limited. If a parent or child in remote learning at home wishes to pick up a meal at school, accommodations must be made via email directly with the café manager, Mrs. Corinne Stewart, before 10:00 a.m. daily. All meals for remote learners must be picked up at the school’s front office during the regular meal schedule.
Yes, Students Withdrawn from LTISD May Re-enroll Later for In-Person Learning
Students can be re-enrolled for in-person learning after having been withdrawn as students of the LTISD. The re-enrollment process is the same as the enrollment process for any new LTISD student. The re-enrolled student will, initially, be scheduled for in-person learning at the school building.
Once the re-enrolled student is attending school in person, remote learning, if desired, may be selected when the district next extends an invitation to select a preferred learning option.
Counselor's Corner
Our campus Second Step topic for the weeks before our break was about empathy:
We all want to have friends here at school. But people can have similar or different feelings about the same situation. For example, I might feel scared to climb up high, and my friend might feel excited. Learning to respect other people’s feelings can help us make and keep friends! This week, notice other people’s feelings and whether they’re the same or different from yours.
In December, we practiced emotion regulation! All students were guided in coping skills that are helpful to manage strong feelings, and our bulletin board in our main hallway has been updated (see photo above) to remind Tigers of ways to "keep cool." Younger tigers will practice breathing and mindfulness skills, and older tigers will explore the brain as it relates to our thoughts and feelings (we are talking about you, amygdala!). I look forward to working with and having great conversations with all of our students in the new year.
January 25 through January 29 is our first Respect for All Week. During the last school year, Governor Abbott signed SB1828 for public schools across Texas to annually observe Holocaust Remembrance Week. The bill is meant to help students learn about the past to prevent future genocide and to combat discrimination, bullying, and harassment. The idea of these lessons is to "never forget."
During our Respect for All Week, our Tigers will learn about our differences and diversity. We will have age-appropriate activities for students to complete. Our Tigers bring to our school community the richness of cultural diversity as well as independent diversity in terms of perspective, interests, learning styles, and talents. Our goal is to guide our Tigers in celebrating their differences, and we will always strive to actively promote a community that advocates for and supports our students.
We are very excited to celebrate WCHE diversity throughout our school. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. We are one team, one family.
We're looking forward to seeing our Tigers Wednesday, January 6, at 7:40 am!
Upcoming Events
01/01 - 01/31/21....School Board Recognition Month
01/06/21................Tigers Return to Learning 7:40 am. Welcome Back!
01/06/21................In-person Learning Begins for the Grading Period That Begins January 6
01/08 - 01/18/21....Registration for Spring Enrichment Opens @ 10 am January 8.
01/18 - 01/19/21....Student Holidays - No School!
01/25 - 01/29/21....Respect for All Week -- Holocaust Remembrance Week
02/01 - 02/28/21....Black History Month
02/01 - 02/05/21....National School Counselors' Week
02/10/21................Classroom Valentine Party Day -- View Party Schedule
02/11 - 02/15/21....Student Holidays - No School for Tigers!
02/22 - 02/26/21....Texas Public Schools Week
02/26/21................Instructional Status Change Form Due - Grading Period March 22 +
03/01 - 03/31/21....Music in our Schools Month
03/01 - 03/05/21....National School Breakfast Week
03/05/21................Student Holiday - No School for Tigers!
03/12/21................Student Early Release at 12:05 pm!
03/15 - 03/19/21....Spring Break
03/22/21................In-person Learning Begins for the Grading Period That Begins March 22
More Information about WCH
West Cypress Hills Elementary
Email: wchprincipal@ltisdschools.org
Website: https://www.ltisdschools.org/WCHE
Location: 6112 Cypress Ranch Boulevard, Travis County, TX, United States
Phone: 512-533-7500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ltisdschools
Twitter: @principalwch