Bryant Bulletin
Weekly Campus Updates for Parents & Guardians
September 23, 2020
A Message from Dr. Rhodes
Finally, I want to acknowledge the amount of stress that our families and teachers are under at this time. We need everyone to kindly work together in order to make this "new type of schooling" work for all. As a member of the National Association for Elementary School Principals, I receive special "Reports to Parents." I found this edition very relevant as it discusses Managing Virtual Learning Stress for students. To read this report, click here.
KVA Second Grading Period Opt-In and Opt-Out- NOW OPEN through October 2nd!!
If your child is in KVA and you want your child to move to Face-to-Face on campus, or if your child is on campus and you want to move him/her to KVA for the 2nd Nine Weeks, it is now time to opt-in/out. PLEASE NOTE- if your child's learning platform is not changing at all, you do nothing. :-) You are good to continue as is. Remember, all opt-in/out changes are in effect at the beginning of the second nine week grading period (10/19). You may access the Opt In/Out form by clicking here. You can also find it on our homepage. When viewing the first slide in the slide viewer, click on the linked slide.
If you are opting-in or out of Face-to-Face or KVA, please make the best decision for your child. We will be unable to make any changes after 10/2/20. The next Opt In/Out period will be in December for the 3rd Nine Weeks beginning in January. Again, we will be unable to make any changes from October 2nd - December 18th.
We appreciate your support, as we have worked extremely hard to schedule and balance in-person and virtual learning classes for the first grading period. Once we have full details from the opt in/out period for the second nine weeks, we will provide more details as to how classrooms in each grade level will shift, if at all.
Meet Our Staff- Mrs. Samantha Webb, Kindergarten Teacher
From Our Counselor, Mrs. Flores
Bryant Community & Student Kindness Challenge
**Write 10 positive notes and post them around your house.**
Legacy Parent Academy (LPA) kicks off this evening, Wednesday, September 23, 2020 with “Warning Signs & Symptoms of Suicide” from 6:00-7:00pm. A link to join the Zoom webinar is available through the LPA page: http://www.katyisd.org/parents/Pages/Legacy-Parent-Academy.aspx. All LPA sessions for the 2020-2021 school year will be via Zoom webinar. Please check the link for all dates, times, and topics.
General Campus Information and Reminders
Changes of Transportation
Reminder- Changes of Transportation must be either sent in with your student on the day of the change by filling and printing out this form, emailing bryantelementary@katyisd.org from a registered email on your student’s account, or by coming up to the vestibule of the school with your valid ID to verify guardianship before 2pm. If emailing, please be sure to include student’s name, grade, teacher, change of dismissal (include bus #, address, and stop location if changing to bus), and the date(s) of the change. NOTE- emails sent to teachers for Changes of Transportation are not accepted. Please use the email address above.
Procedures when Checking Students In or Out During the School Day
Need HAC??
MyOn Reading
Students can access MyOn using their Katy Cloud Login information. Renaissance MyOn Readers is a student-centered, personalized literacy environment that gives students access to more than 6,000 enhanced digital books. Titles are dynamically matched to individual student’s interests, grade and Lexile reading level. MyOn fosters student engagement and achievement. MyOn is a great resource for students to use to complete 20 minutes of daily reading outside of school. When a child logs in for the first time, the child will be prompted to complete a reading interest inventory and a quick reading assessment. This helps the system to match your child to texts that match their interests and reading level. Stay tuned for Campus MyOn Challenges that will be coming soon! Happy Reading!
Upcoming Events
9/25- Teacher Professional Learning Day, no school for students
10/1- District Family Night
10/2- Custodian Appreciation Day
10/6- Campus Advisory Team (CAT) Meeting, 4pm via Zoom
10/7- PurposeFull People, Wear Green for Cooperation
10/12- Columbus Day, Student/Staff Holiday
10/21- 1st Nine Weeks Grades posted in Home Access Center (HAC)
From the District
Duke TIP Program (4th-5th Grades)
Katy ISD Family Support
The Katy ISD Family Support Center is offering parent trainings via Zoom on various topics that are relevant for our time. Please click here for topics, dates, and times. These will be offered via Zoom and space is limited.
Katy ISD COVID-19 Dashboard
The Katy ISD webpage now contains a dashboard which provides daily updates on the number of overall self-reported COVID-19 positive cases throughout the district, and by campus. The Dashboard can be viewed at any time by visiting the Katy ISD website homepage and clicking on the COVID-19 Case Dashboard icon or by clicking below.
Instructional Materials Selection
Prekindergarten (English)
Prekindergarten (Spanish)
AP US History Anatomy & Physiology
College Prep Math
Computer Science Courses
El distrito escolar independiente de Katy busca a padres voluntarios para formar parte del comité que seleccionará nuevos materiales de instrucción para los cursos enumerados a continuación e implementados durante el año escolar 2021-2022. Si desea dar su opinión sobre los materiales seleccionados, complete el formulario de interés en https://tinyurl.com/SPPROC2021. Tenga en cuenta que no todos los voluntarios pueden ser seleccionados para formar parte de un comité. Todos los materiales revisados se imprimirán en inglés con la excepción de los materiales de prekínder en español. El último día para enviar su respuesta es el 25 de septiembre.
Prekínder (inglés)
Prekínder (español)
Anatomía y fisiología
Matemáticas de preparación universitaria
Historia AP de EE. UU.
Cursos de informática
Katy Virtual Academy (KVA)
District VKA Newsletter
News From the Bryant PTA
Exciting News!!
Calling all 5th Grade Bengals!
Parents- Get YOUR Photos in the Yearbook!!
Don't miss out on an opportunity for your student to be in the yearbook!! We want to see what your kids are doing!! Share your pictures with us. Click here for more information!!
Check out Wednesday folders and PTA Social Media for different picture challenges this year!! This year we need all the parent and Bryant Staff help we can get to make our yearbook successful!!
Visit Us Online
Click here for PTA Facebook.
Click here to follow PTA on Twitter.
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Important Reminders From Previous Bulletins
A Parent's Guide to Navigating the KVA Classroom
While the KVA experience has opened up a whole new world for parents to see the educational world our kids live in, it does come with its challenges as well. What we have to remember is, though we are able to be right beside our child and hear more than we ever have before, this is still your child's educational experience.
A child learns so much more than academics at school. They learn independence, confidence and they begin to develop their thoughts, beliefs and ideas about who they are and who they want to become.
In the end... they grow.
Growth comes when we are faced with challenges we must solve, not by someone providing the solution. Growth comes from running into obstacles so we learn how to avoid them, and make our own path, not by someone removing everything in our way.
It is difficult to watch a child deal with an obstacle or a struggle. However, if we truly want full growth for our kids, we must learn how to navigate this new world where your child would normally be in the driver's seat.
Trust, communication, patience and understanding with one another will help us see it through so your child is the focus and their GROWTH is our goal.
Please see this list (click here) of a few Do's and Don'ts as you work with your child and their teacher through this KVA process.
Katy ISD Kindergarten Gifted and Talented Screening Deadline
Now through October 2nd, parents of kindergarten students in Katy Independent School District who would like their child to be part of the Challenge (Gifted and Talented, GT) program may refer them for screening. This week, kindergarten parents will receive information detailing how to refer a student. Referral information can also be found on the Katy ISD GT and Advanced Academics website and is due on October 2, 2020.
“The State of Texas defines a gifted and talented student as a child or youth who performs or shows the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience or environment,” said Katy ISD Director of Gifted, Talented and Advanced Academic Studies Joan Otten. “The Katy ISD Kindergarten Program emphasizes the development of critical and creative thinking skills,” added Otten.
Kindergarten services will begin by March 1, 2021 and will include students attending a Challenge classroom for 60 minutes a week. Students identified in kindergarten move into the elementary pullout program in first grade. Parents with questions can contact our Counselor or our campus Challenge teacher.
Parents of students who are referred and screened will receive placement notification during the last week of February 2021. Kindergarten GT Parent Information presentation will be available on our website by September 29, 2020.
Can My Child Go to School?
Front Vestibule Drop Boxes
Required Daily Self-Screening of Student
For the health and safety of all students and staff – parents are required to assist their children with a daily self screening for COVID-19 symptoms and fever before arriving to school, or boarding school transportation.
Per TEA “In evaluating whether an individual has symptoms consistent with COVID-19, consider the following questions: Have they recently begun experiencing any of the following in a way that is not normal for them?"
Feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit
Loss of taste or smell
Cough
Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
Headache
Chills
Sore throat
Shaking
Exaggerated shivering
Significant muscle pain or ache
Diarrhea
COVID-19 Self-Reporting App, Notifications & Information
The District has a COVID-19 Reporting System in place to allow staff, students, and parents to self-report if they have received a COVID-19 positive test result. The self-reporting system enables the District’s Emergency Management team to conduct contact tracing, as well as call and notify individuals in Katy ISD buildings who may have been directly exposed to the infected person. A general email notification is also sent to campus staff and families whenever the district is informed of a potential “indirect” COVID-19 exposure in their building. Receipt of the general notification alone indicates that the recipient was not in close contact to the COVID-19 positive case reported for their building. If there is direct exposure due to improper use of PPE, individual families will be contacted.
Students and staff may report positive COVID-19 results using the COVID-19 Self Reporting app on MyKaty Cloud.