Powell Elementary Handbook
2021-2022
Straight to the Source: Contact Information
Principal: Erin Mathe- 936-709-1707 emathe@conroeisd.net
Secretary to the Principal :Lupita Cartaya- 936-709-1707 gcartaya@conroeisd.net
Assistant Principal: Lora Sims- 936-709-1706 lsims@conroeisd.net
Counselor: Shawn Nixon- 936-709-1708 snixon@conroeisd.net
Campus Instructional Coach: Michelle Spitler- 936-709-1700 mspitler@conroeisd.net
Campus Student Support Coach: Arnold Collins- 936-7091700 arncollins@conroeisd.net
Nurse: Melissa Wiles- 936-709-1710 mawiles@conroeisd.net
Registrar/Attendance: Michelle Lutes- 936-709-1711 mlutes@conroeisd.net
Speech Pathologist: Kristen Muehr - 936-709-1786 kmuehr@conroeisd.net
Diagnostician: Meghan Schuetz - 936-709-1726 mschuetz@conroeisd.net
Librarian: Elizabeth Collins - 936-709-1716 ekcollins@conroeisd.net
Transportation: 832-592-8800
Powell Cafe: 936-709-1773
Websites
Powell Website: http://powell.conroeisd.net/
Transportation Website: http://www.conroeisd.net/department/transportation/
Child Nutrition Website: http://www.conroeisd.net/department/child-nutrition/
Parent Access Center: http://www.conroeisd.net/parents/
CISD Calendar: https://www.conroeisd.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2020-2021-Calendar.pdf
School Supply Lists: https://www.smore.com/13rc8
Volunteer in CISD: http://www.conroeisd.net/parents/get-involved/
Join the PTO: http://powellpto.com/index.html
Welcome to Powell Elementary!
Something that has not changed is that at General Colin L. Powell Elementary, we believe that, in collaboration with parents and community members, Powell Elementary will provide a safe, caring, and positive learning environment that celebrates diversity and instills a desire for learning while meeting the individual needs of all students. Our goal is to build relationships that empower students, and develop responsible, patriotic citizens, and confident leaders.
The 2021-2022 Conroe Independent School District Student/Parent Handbook is available to you online here. The purpose of this handbook addendum is to inform you of important information regarding day to day life at Powell; however, at times it may be necessary to make a few changes during the school year. In this event, the addendum will be updated, as well as you will be notified via letter, email, or website. I want to encourage you to visit our school website at http://powell.conroeisd.net as important information and events will be posted there frequently. In fact, you may want to bookmark this address for easy access.
Please be sure to give us every available phone number and contact we might need in case of an emergency. If your phone number changes throughout the year, please update our records by sending in a note with your child. I am looking forward to working together with you, and I feel certain that you will enjoy being a part of the Powell Panther family! If we haven't had the opportunity to meet in person yet, please come by and introduce yourself. I look forward to working alongside all of you this year!
Erin Mathe
Principal
Communication
The Powell staff is committed to keeping our students and parents informed. Follow us on Facebook for reminders and updates. Every other Friday we send, via email, an overview of the next week’s events. We also encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Powell Website. Powell’s website provides up-to-date school information. Various items can be viewed and printed including our calendar of school events and daily lunch menu. Our website also provides links to all teacher email accounts. Powell Website
Communication is vital to our student’s success. Your child’s teacher will further explain their methods of communication at Parent Information Night.
Building Visitors/ Security
All parents, visitors, and volunteers must:
- Enter through the front/main entrance only, all other exterior doors will remain locked.
- Anyone permitted to visit the campus will sign in & out at the front office.
- Present a valid, state issued ID to be scanned into the Raptor System.
- Adhere to school dismissal procedures.
- Pick up students who need to leave early before 2:30pm.
*When possible, parent/teacher conferences, ARDS, 504 meetings etc. will be held virtually or by telephone. Adjustments will be made throughout the year based on COVID mitigation strategies
Other Safety Guidelines
- We regularly conduct campus safety drills and will be teaching your child procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. These drill include a monthly fire drill, shelter in place, lock out, lock down and a medical response drill.
- All classroom volunteers must complete the CISD Volunteer Application
School Hours
School begins promptly at 8:00 am and dismisses at 3:10 pm. Plan to arrive at school between 7:30 am and 8:00 am. Supervision is not available before 7:30 am.
- 7:30 am- Students are welcomed into the building and go directly to their homeroom.
- 8:00 am- Students are tardy if they are not in the school doors. Front office staff will scan students ID tags as they arrive after 8:00 am and will be counted tardy.
- 8:05 am- Students arriving to school after 8:05 am must be signed in by an adult at the front desk.
Attendance
If your child will not be at school for any reason, please notify our school registrar, Michelle Lutes, at mlutes@conroeisd.net. Upon returning from an absence, always send a note explaining the reason for the absence. Notifications may be sent via email. Please try to schedule routine medical appointments outside of school hours. Likewise, please schedule vacations during school holidays/long weekends. It is extremely important to maximize our instruction time.
- Tardies -Students must be in the school doors by 8:00 am. If late, they will be scanned in by a Powell staff member. After 8:05 am, an adult must accompany the child to the front office to sign in tardy. Please make arrangements so that your child arrives on time. Each time your child is tardy, you will receive notification via email. After the 6th tardy each grading period and EACH tardy thereafter, a discipline referral will be generated. We will begin recording tardies on Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
- N.E.A.T.(Never, Ever, Absent or Tardy)-Due to the current health situation we are facing, all N.E.A.T. incentives for perfect attendance have been suspended.
- If your child tests positive for COVID, please report this to our school nurse. Students and staff that are positive for COVID will be required to isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms or until 24 hours fever free if symptoms last longer than 10 days.
Student ID
You can find the Student ID on their previous report card from CISD or on your child's transportation tag located on their backpack.
If you are a new student to Powell or have any questions, please contact the front office at 936-709-1700.
Transportation
Your mode of transportation should be chosen based on the ability to arrive on time, consistency, and convenience. If you choose to physically bring your child to school, please say your "good-byes" at the end of the sidewalk. This reinforces independence for our students and it helps promote quiet and orderly hallways. Staff will be on duty daily to help assist unsure students to their classrooms.
Thank you for sharing our concern about safety and for helping us follow procedures allowing all children to arrive home safely. All students will receive a bar code tag that will be scanned before leaving the building. Please be sure this tag remains on your child’s backpack all year.
Choose dismissal transportation from the following:
- Bus
- Daycare
- YMCA
- Car rider
- Cochran’s Crossing walker/biker/blader (or any other non-motorized rolling device)
- Capstone walker/biker/blader (or any other non-motorized rolling device)
Bus Riders-
** COVID Policies
- Prior to allowing children to board a bus, parents/guardians should screen their children to make sure the student does not show any symptoms of illness.
- Students who are ill should be kept home.
Buses in CISD are available to every student living more than one mile from school. Bus service must be requested through the CISD transportation department yearly. The Transportation Department website contains bus arrival and departure times and valuable safety information which will help you teach your children about bus safety. Please note that bus route adjustments may be made during the first few weeks of class due to changes in student and neighborhood populations. Kindergarten students will not be dropped off at a stop unless a parent is present. http://www.conroeisd.net/department/transportation/
After 4:00pm, any concerns regarding bus transportation should be directed to The Woodlands Transportation Center at 832.592.8800.
Daycare Pickup- If your child typically attends daycare and will be absent for any reason, please notify the daycare.
YMCA- Students are dismissed to the gym and remain in the care of YMCA employees until they are picked up by parents.
Car Riders – We ask that parents do not park or leave their car. For safety reasons, we do not allow parents on the front porch at dismissal. Signs will be issued to put in car windshields; this will help speed up the car rider line and identify adults/guardians that are eligible to pick up a student at the end of a school day. If you have multiple children, please display all names and grade levels on your car rider signs. Each sign will also contain a barcode for each student. Your sign will be scanned every afternoon to indicate to teachers and students that their ride has arrived. If you have lost your sign, you will be asked show your ID to verify you are permitted to pick up a student OR you may display your child's student ID barcode from Parent Access Center (PAC). Please view the following video for instructions on how to locate this barcode. https://youtu.be/bhg0b4JoiEw
Capstone and Cochran’s Crossing Bikers/Walkers/Bladers - Please do not come on campus during dismissal time if meeting your child to walk them home. A teacher will walk students across the street. Kindergarten students must be met by an adult or accompanied by an older sibling. These procedures are put in place to ensure the safety of our students. DO NOT park in the Capstone or Cochran’s Green subdivisions at dismissal. Only students who walk to their homes should be walkers.
Extreme Weather Dismissal- This only affects WALKERS/BIKERS.
This alert will be sent if we are experiencing sideways rain, thunder/lightening or tornado warnings. Extreme weather dismissal notifications will be sent via School Messenger at 2:50 pm. (Please opt-in for text message alerts!) If your child walks to Cochran’s Green, you may still pick up your child at the front of the school at the far-right doors. If your child walks to Capstone, you may still pick up your child at the outside doors by the structured play area, across from the art room.
We ask when the weather is this extreme that you come through the car line to pick up your child. Walker/Biker students who are not picked up will be placed in the car rider line.
Please note that our weather changes drastically in a matter of minutes. Principals use their judgment in favor of student safety...be patient when the weather changes.
Transportation Changes
Bus riders: Only under extreme last minute emergencies can we approve a change of transportation to another bus route. It is impossible to efficiently utilize our buses when taking into account each and every child’s outside school activity needs. Transportation is a privilege provided for each child from home to school and school to home or daycare. If you will be out of town and know in advance or if your child needs to go to another child’s home after school for any reason, parents should work out transportation issues together ahead of time. A parent will be required to pick up these students. If permission is granted for your child to ride another bus and all of the students assigned to that bus ride and there is no room left for extra passengers, only those students assigned to that bus will be given transportation service. Even with permission for your child to ride another bus, you still may receive a call from the school requesting a parent to come and pick up a child due to the lack of seat availability. Permission will be granted only to the parent requesting a change in their child’s transportation service. We cannot grant permission to the receiving parent for a change in another child’s transportation service. Students must have a signed Transportation Emergency Request form signed by a campus administrator before the child will be allowed to ride the alternate bus to another student’s home. Please contact the school to request this approval.
Above all, if you have a problem and need our help, please call us. The safety of our students is our top priority!
Early Release Dismissal
All students will be fed lunch on our early release days; however, lunch will be at a different scheduled time. Students will eat lunch in their classrooms on early release days.
Checking in and Out
- Parents must come into the front office to check students in and out. A valid, state issued identification must be presented and you must be listed on the child’s emergency form.
- Parents are not permitted to walk directly to the classroom to pick up a student. To maximize instructional time and to minimize interruptions, teachers will be notified and students will proceed to the office.
- For safety reasons, we do not allow students to be checked out after 2:30 pm.
Report Cards and Grades
For students in grades 1-4 to be promoted from one grade level to the next, the students must attain an overall average of 70% for all subject areas and a grade of 70 or above in three of the following areas: Language Arts, Mathematics, and either Science or Social Studies. Students must be in attendance 90% of the total instructional days enrolled per year. Grading Guidelines will be provided by each teacher at Parent Information Night.
Powell teachers will have systems in place to help students remember to turn in completed work. If a student has not turned in an assignment by the due date, the teacher will indicate this with a Z in the grade book. A Z is averaged as a score of a zero. Students will be able to turn in the work late without penalty. If a student consistently turns in late work, it may be noted under conduct.
Students who score below a 70 on a graded assignment will have an opportunity to redo that assignment. After the second attempt, a 70 will be the highest score recorded in the gradebook for those assignments. If your child scored a 30 the first time they completed an assignment, then was retaught and reassessed, and scored an 80, the gradebook will show a 70.30 as their grade. This will be an indicator to you as a parent that your child failed the assignment their first attempt with a 30, had an opportunity to redo their work, then passed the assignment, so a 70 is recorded in the gradebook.
STAAR Dates
- 3rd and 4th Grade Math: May 10th
- 3rd and 4th Grade Reading: May 11th
TELPAS Assessment
Lunch and Recess
For the safety of our students, only Powell staff and students will be allowed on the playground. Also, pictures may not be taken on the playground due to confidentiality.
For the 21-22 school year, all students that wish to eat school lunches will be provided their 1st serving of breakfast and lunch. The following prices are for 2nd meals.
Breakfast
- $2.60 non-student/2nd student breakfast
Lunch
- $3.85 non-student/2nd student lunch
Lunch visitors will be permitted beginning Tuesday, September 7, 2021. This will allow our staff and students to learn our lunch processes and procedures.
- We ask that you limit the number of lunch visitors to no more than 2 visitors.
- While visiting your child at lunch, you will be asked to sit at a separate table from other students with only your child.
- Taking pictures of or engaging with other students is not appropriate.
- Deliveries to students including lunches will be limited and on an emergency basis only. Students forgetting lunches will be allowed to charge a meal in the cafeteria.
Specials
- P.E.- Brent Kirbo and Pam Owens
- Music- Ashley Yarbrough
- Art- Tim Garcia
- Library- Elizabeth Collins
- Technology- Grace Rubitschun
Excused from P.E.
Conferences with Teachers
** Due to current guidelines in place, teachers may utilize virtual meeting options**
Conference Times
Kindergarten - 1:30-2:15
1st Grade- 2:15-3:00
2nd Grade- 9:50-10:35
3rd Grade- 9:05-9:50
4th Grade- 8:20-9:05
School Clinic
If your child gets sick at school, he/she will be sent to the school clinic. Parents will be contacted if necessary. If we are unable to reach you, emergency contacts will be called. Please visit with our school nurse if your child has any health concerns.
Illness/Absence
- If your child is running a fever over 100 degrees, they will not be permitted to attend school until fever free for 24 hours.
- It's recommended that children should remain at home until fever/vomiting has ceased for at least 24 hours
- If your child will be absent due to illness, email the school registrar, Michelle Lutes, at mlutes@conroeisd.net
Medications
- Students are never allowed to bring or transport medication to school...do not send it with your child in the backpack
- Adults must bring any medications to the school clinic and give specific information before medication can be dispensed at school
For students who will have allergy or asthma medications at school, please obtain an allergy and asthma action plan from your child's doctor prior to dropping off the medication.
Dress Code
- All hair color should be a natural hair color or color that does not cause a distraction for other students in the classroom
- Shorts should be mid-thigh or longer
- No tank tops/spaghetti straps
- No cosmetics
- No flip flops (students may wear sandals with a back strap)
- Shorts should be worn under dresses/skirts
- We encourage students to wear tennis shoes/closed toed shoes on days they will be attending P.E.
- Students should make sure their shirts are not offensive or violent
Students who violate dress code will be sent to the clinic to call home for a change of clothes.
Powell Spirit
Fridays are “Spirit Day”. Teachers and students are encouraged to wear a Powell Panther shirt or school colors (purple and white).
Powell spirit wear will be sold prior to the year starting and will be delivered a few week into school. Powell will not have extra shirts on hand to sell throughout the year.
Celebrations
We ask that parents refrain from bringing other items such as balloons, flowers, and candles. We will be unable to deliver any of these items to your child.
Students often request to pass out birthday invitations in their classrooms. Invitations may be passed out only if the entire class is invited or if all the girls or all the boys in the class are invited. Passing out invitations to the entire grade level is not permitted. Please contact your child’s teacher if your child plans to pass out birthday invitations at school.
Field Trips
Notice to Parents with Court Orders Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship
Personal Items
Please write your child’s name on all sweaters, coats, backpacks, water bottles, and lunch kits. All students are encouraged to bring refillable water bottles to school. Water bottles need to have a sport top to prevent spills. Only water is allowed.
iPods, electronic games, laser lights, toy guns, electronic devices, fidget spinners, and other toys should not be brought on the school campus unless they are used as part of a classroom project, or requested by the teacher. Students may bring cell phones to school, but they must be turned off and in their backpacks during school hours. Knives or other dangerous objects are never allowed.
Possession and Use of Electronic Devices
The District permits students to possess telecommunications devices including cell phones. Generally, these devices must remain turned off during the instructional day, including during all testing. The use of any device that has the capability to take pictures or audio or video record is prohibited in restroom areas. These items are also prohibited if used to cheat, audio/video record, or photograph another student or staff member without that person’s permission, or when the use creates a disruption.
A student who uses any item, electronic or otherwise contrary to campus or District rules, may have the device confiscated. Confiscated devices that are not retrieved by the student or student’s parent will be disposed of after the notice required by law. Any disciplinary action will be in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct. If a student does have an electronic device, it should be put away in a secured locker or backpack and turned off during the school day. Permission to use the device at school should come from the principal or classroom teacher. Without such permission, teachers will collect the items and turn them in to the principal’s office. The principal will determine whether to return items to students at the end of the day or to contact parents to pick up the items. The District is not responsible for any damaged, lost, or stolen electronic devices.
Students are prohibited from sending or posting electronic messages that are abusive, obscene, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, damaging to another’s reputation, or illegal. This prohibition applies to conduct off school property if it results in a substantial disruption to the educational environment. In limited circumstances and in accordance with law, a student’s personal electronic device may be searched by authorized personnel. Any person taking, disseminating, transferring, or sharing obscene, sexually oriented, lewd, or otherwise illegal images or other content will be disciplined according to the Student Code of Conduct and may, in certain circumstances, be reported to law enforcement. If a device is believed to contain illegal contraband, the device will be turned over to law enforcement as required by state law. The device will not be returned to the student or his parent until the illegal contraband is removed from the device. This could take a substantial amount of time, particularly if the device is considered evidence of a crime.