Riojas Elementary School
March 22, 2020
School Rules: Be Safe. Be Responsible. Be Respectful.
Special Edition - RES News Today
From the Principal
RES Families,
As I write this my family and I are driving back from our Spring Break trip to Colorado. We were certainly able to make lemonade from lemons after seeing the posts that all the ski resorts in the state were closing just as we crossed the state line into Colorado. We went dog sledding and snowmobiling after a fresh snow fall of more than 2 feet! I was able to participate in a video conference with our area superintendent, as well. I am confident that our wonderful district is planning and working hard to make the most out of the school closing situation, too.
As I’m sure you know, in a response to the COVID-19 virus, the district is closed through April 3rd and all activities are canceled through that time. We are also canceling any events within one week of the reopening of school, so that is through April 10th, as of now.
There have been several video conference meetings that took place with district level leaders and there will be more happening this week, specifically with the curriculum department. We will be making the plans to provide learning support for our students and delivering that information to you as soon as possible. I have been in contact with our staff at RES and am planning our own conference calls and virtual meetings. Without a doubt, we are here to continue supporting our students and families. At the same time, I am also creating a “home school” schedule with my own children. I know many of you are doing the same, trying to juggle a strange new work from home/home school/parenting/entertainment/what's next lifestyle! In the sections below, I will include some things to keep in mind and some ideas to get you going this week. First, make sure your kids are reading and practicing math. Then a little real world learning like cooking and household chores/projects can be good for everyone! Above all, enjoy this gift of family time and know that we are all stronger than we realize. I look forward to hearing your stories of how you spend your time. I hope you will share them with me and our RES community by using the link below to RES Community Stories.
I will include some information below about the 7 Habits of Happy Kids. This is a student version of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey. These days at home can be a great opportunity for some real life lessons. I know when my own kids start arguing I can remind them to come up with a “Win-Win” and it will help maintain my sanity for just a bit longer. Teaching them “First Things First” can really help support a schedule you have created for this stay at home time. The Leader in Me schools has created a website with tons of great options. I hope you will try the book or the online resources over the next few weeks.
Staff will be coming to pick up necessary items and do some prep work at school. We will be following strict CDC guidelines and documenting with a visitor log for federal and state purposes. You may see us in the neighborhood, but at no time will RES families be allowed to enter facilities.
We have many email addresses and families that are on this email list, however, if you hear that someone is not receiving my emails or district emails, please send their email address and name to me at Christi.Siegel@pfisd.net. Spread the word by forwarding: the more informed we are, the better.
STAAR tests are canceled. That may be a relief and a disappointment all in the same breath. Our staff and students have been working hard all year to be prepared to show our strengths on that end of year assessment. Now we will be supporting the continued learning for our students in a very different way. Please continue to communicate with us so we can meet you and your family’s needs.
www.pfisd.net/coronavirus will be the best place to check updates on PfISD decisions, and an FAQ page is in the works.
Please stay safe and healthy. Take care of each other, follow the CDC guidelines and wash your hands!
I have used the phrase, “I hope to see you at school sometime soon.” for many years. It is actually a borrowed phrase from someone I admire greatly, Rev. Bobbi Kaye Jones. It was always meant to show that we are a welcoming community of learners. However, I have never meant it more.
I hope to see you at school sometime soon,
Christi
Scroll to the bottom of this message for CANCELED events.
RES Community Stories and Ideas
One of the critical factors to ensuring the success of our students and families at this time will be continuing our sense of family and community. In an effort to share our stories and our fun, or even our frustrations, I have created a google form. Please submit your stories of how you are spending your time, your funny anecdotes of things like “You’ll never believe what my kids said!” or “You’ll never believe what I learned when I was home schooling my child!” and any other great ideas you have. You can ask that your story be anonymous or include your family’s name, but I will put them together to include in my newsletters over the next few weeks.
7 Habits of Happy Kids
https://www.leaderinme.org/family-resources/
The link below is to the amazon page with ordering information for the kid friendly book 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey. I'm sure you can purchase this book from many other vendors as well.
Copy of Dr. Killian's Email from 3/21/2020
Dear PfISD Parents and Guardians,
Our PfISD administrative staff has been working throughout Spring Break, receiving information from state and local officials and making plans for all of our new normal for the upcoming weeks. As many of you have heard, Governor Abbott has closed all schools through April 3. This also includes all district and campus events. The District will await guidance from the Governor and other state officials to determine when we will reopen.
In the meantime, staff has been working to determine what instructional support will be offered and how it will be delivered to students at home. This is uncharted territory for our District and others around the state, and unfortunately, there is not a one size fits all, as all communities are different. We are working on multiple options in order to reach all students, regardless of their access to technology. However, we are also working on plans to provide technology and potentially internet access to students on a limited basis. As soon as plans are finalized, we will share that information and instructions with our families. We hope to roll out our new instructional model to our teachers by the middle of next week. Our teachers will then touch base with their students or parents, depending on the age of students, and will share how they will be providing instruction and sending assignments.
Please remember, this is as new an experience for our teachers and staff as it is for you and your students. Things may not work perfectly at the beginning, and many of our teachers are also home with their children who will need to do school work and are all sharing the same technology device. This situation is stressful for everyone, and it is not the intention to give families work that simulates an entire school day. Our goal is to provide enough instruction that our students can maintain their academic progress. All we can ask from our parents is to be calm, give grace to your teachers and students as we work through this process and remember that the first priority is to keep everyone safe and healthy.
With regards to safety and health and in an effort to assist our parents, all campus nurses will be at their campuses on Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.to allow for a curbside medication pick up. A parent or guardian must pick up the medication and sign for it. We will only be offering curbside pickup in order to practice social distancing. Please be patient as all medications are locked up in the office, and each student’s medication must be retrieved individually from the office by the nurse.
As we shared on Thursday, PfISD has also implemented a plan to distribute lunches to all children starting Monday, March 23 at ten campus locations across the District. Grab-and-go meals will be available for curbside pickup from 8-9 a.m. for breakfast and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for lunch at the following locations: Pflugerville High School, Dessau Middle School, Kelly Lane Middle School, Park Crest Middle School, Westview Middle School, Copperfield Elementary, Northwest Elementary, Pflugerville Elementary, Wieland Elementary, and Windermere Elementary.
This program serves students 18 and younger regardless of Pflugerville ISD residency or enrollment. Families can pick up meals curbside in the carpool lanes at the campuses listed below. Students must be present in order to receive meals. Parents may pick up breakfast and lunch at the same time. For those who do not drive and need to walk to pick up the meal, you will be allowed to walk and pick them up to go. Access to enter the buildings will not be available.
There are still many questions, and unfortunately, not as many answers at this time. Please know that we are actively working to address all challenges, and as soon as we have definitive answers, we will share them with you. In the meantime, we have created an FAQ document where we have answered some questions with the information we have at this time: http://www.pfisd.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=7669.
We will try to go on as normally as we can. There will be work. There will be instruction. Again, it may be messy at first. Maybe for a while. Just remember to give grace and time and know that only by pulling together will we make this as smooth and seamless for our students.
Enjoy your weekend, take care of each other, and wash your hands!
In the best interest of children,
Douglas Killian, Ph.D.
Reflex Math Practice at Home
At Riojas, students use a variety of tools and resources to practice and retain their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. When students are fluent in their facts, they are able to gain confidence in their problem-solving abilities and free up mental resources needed for learning.
Here are a few ways you can help at home:
- Games – Games provide real, relevant, connected, and fun ways to use math facts repeatedly
- War: This game is played with a deck of cards (minus the face cards). Each person turns one card over, and the first person to announce the sum takes both cards.
- Go Fish with Facts: Instead of looking for the same number as in the original “Go Fish” card game, players try to pair cards with equal sums.
- Domino Top It: Have players place dominoes face-down between them. Each player turns over a domino and calls out the sum of the dots on the two halves.
- Traditional/Triangle (Fact Family) Flash Card
- Students 1st - 5th Grades can log on to http://reflexmath.com using their teacher provided login and password.
ABC Mouse
View the attached PDF file for more information.
Boosterthon Support for RES
Hey Riojas Team!
I hope that you are doing well and spending some quality time with your family. Please stay safe and healthy!
After schools started closing around the nation, we decided to open up our Character Video Library to all of our partners. You may have gotten an email about that on Friday from our founder and CEO, Chris Carneal. If you didn’t get the email or haven’t been able to register yet, here is the information:
- www.BoosterthonCharacter.com Click on Register. (Access Code: home)
- There’s no cost to register
- 75 + streaming videos with character topics and fitness exercises (PBIS, SEL, STEAM, etc.)
We hope this resource serves not only as a helpful diversion while the kids are home, but also as an opportunity for families to engage in character-building conversations while also staying active at home. Please feel free to share this resource with your school community, family, and friends!
Stay healthy and safe!
Walker Burns
Program Director
(817) 269-9042
ChooseBooster.com
Support Your Child's Social and Emotional Awareness
FaceTime with Friends
The Mindful Jar
This activity can teach children how strong emotions can take hold, and how to find peace when these strong emotions feel overwhelming.
- First, get a clear jar (like a Mason jar) and fill it almost all the way with water. Next, add a big spoonful of glitter glue or glue and dry glitter to the jar. Put the lid back on the jar and shake it to make the glitter swirl.
- Finally, use the following script or take inspiration from it to form your own mini-lesson.
“Imagine that the glitter is like your thoughts when you’re stressed, mad or upset. See how they whirl around and make it really hard to see clearly? That’s why it’s so easy to make silly decisions when you’re upset – because you’re not thinking clearly. Don’t worry this is normal and it happens in all of us (yep, grownups too)."
[Now put the jar down in front of them.]
"Now watch what happens when you’re still for a couple of moments. Keep watching. See how the glitter starts to settle and the water clears? Your mind works the same way. When you’re calm for a little while, your thoughts start to settle and you start to see things much clearer. Deep breaths during this calming process can help us settle when we feel a lot of emotions.”
This exercise not only helps children learn about how their emotions can cloud their thoughts, but it also facilitates the practice of mindfulness while focusing on the swirling glitter in the jar.
Try having the kids focus on one emotion at a time, such as anger, and discuss how the shaken verse settling glitter is like that emotion.
RES CANCELED Events
Mar 23 - Kinder Field Trip
Mar 26 - Parent Night with Patterson
Mar 27 - Kinder Rodeo
Mar 30 - RES Peace Path
Apr 1 - Mystery Reader Day
Apr 2 - Dual Language Spanish Immersion Incoming Kinder Parent Meeting
Apr 3 - Nine Weeks Awards Assemblies
Apr 7 & 8 - STAAR Testing Grades 4 and 5
Riojas Elementary School
Sign up for our emails!
Email: christi.siegel@pfisd.net
Website: http://www.pfisd.net/riojases
Location: 3400 Crispin Hall Lane, Pflugerville, TX, United States
Phone: 512.594.4100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Riojas-Elementary-School-903788353020395/