Caraway Principal's Newsletter
January 23, 2017
Safety First
Children are the least predictable pedestrians and the most difficult to see. Please help us keep our students safe by following this established set of safety guidelines for parents and visitors to our school.
- Our school opens at 7:15 a.m. Please do not drop students off prior to that time because they will not have adult supervision.
- When using the carpool line, please note that the exit is a right-turn only during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. The speed limit is 20 MPH.
- Please refrain from parking on Carlwood Drive. This poses a safety hazard for our students. Bike-riders are often difficult to see. We don’t want to see them hurt by open car doors.
- Drivers should not block the crosswalks when stopped. This includes stopping with a portion of your vehicle on the crosswalk.
- Please yield the right-of way to pedestrians.
- Please be mindful when driving through the residential neighborhood. Kids do live here!
Attachments: (P.E. Newsletter, 3 Things to Know in RRISD, District Truancy Policy, Caraway Traffic Safety)
Warm Regards,
Katrina Bailey, Principal
Upcoming Events
- February 8: Skate Night @ Playland 5:30 p.m.
- February 11: District UIL Finals
- February 14: Valentine's Day Parties
- February 17: Jump Rope for Heart (during P.E.)
- February 20: No School/President's Day
- February 21-24: Hour of Code Week
- February 24: Engineering Day (volunteer here)
Student Attendance
Truancy Notices (RRISD Truancy Policy)
During the 2015-2016 school year parents starting receiving truancy notifications once a student received three unexcused absences. We are required to send these notices home even if you have communicated with us ahead of time. The following are considered unexcused absences.Illness with NO NOTE returned within 48 hour*
Failure to attend school
Whereabout of student unknown to staff and parents
Vacations / Trips
For chronic absences parents will be contacted by a school administrator.
Tardies
In our school, instructional time is viewed as a precious resource. Consequently, we view chronic tardiness as a serious problem. Thank you for your support in ensuring students make maximum use of class time and learns to be punctual. School begins at 7:40 a.m. Beginning the day promptly is important and demonstrates commitment to success. Please help your child get to school on time.
5th Grade Parent Notice
February 13, 6 pm - Canyon Vista Cafeteria
Canyon Vista Middle School invites the parents of 5th grade students to a parent meeting to discuss the 6th grade course selection sheet, and all the options available to 6th grade students entering middle school. Specifically, we will be discussing the option of taking a language (Spanish, French, German, Chinese) course or Mustang Discovery (rotation of Study Skills, Technology, and Leadership). We will provide a description of each course, and answer questions. We encourage all 5th grade parents to attend this meeting, as this will be an important decision to make regarding the option of taking a high school level course during the transition year to middle school, and determining if this is the right decision for your child. We will also be available to discuss the PE credit option of taking Wellness Education or Dance. In addition, we can answer any questions regarding the Fine Arts (Art, Band, Choir, Orchestra, and Theater Arts) options, as well.
District UIL Competition
3 Things to Know in Round Rock ISD
- The 2017-2018 academic calendar for Round Rock ISD was published for community input on January 20. The Board of Trustees will review feedback and could approve the calendar at their February 16 meeting. The draft features a slightly longer school day, with the school year ending before Memorial Day 2018.
- Enrollment growth is expected to explode in the Herrington Elementary School attendance zone, and Round Rock High School could reach enrollment of nearly 4,000 students in five years, according to a quarterly demographer’s report for Round Rock ISD.
- The Round Rock City Council honored the District’s Supporting, Teaching and Reaching Students (STARS) Mentorship Program in recognition of National Mentor Month. The STARS mentor program will be hosting a Coffee for Conversation event to share more information on mentoring on Jan. 25 at Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex, with a goal to increase the number of participating mentors to 450 this year to serve more students Districtwide.
Archaeology Academy
Karaoke Academy
Card Making
Animal Kingdom
Volleyball Academy
Creative Coders!
Engineering Day, February 24th
On Friday, February 24th Caraway will hold it’s 2nd annual Engineering Day! We are inviting all interested parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings and friends to participate.
We want to give the students a broad a view of engineering possibilities, so we want to host engineers from many different disciplines. Please consider coming into school to share your love for engineering, how you’re creating solutions to everyday problems, how you’re merging art and technology to create wonderful new things or how you’re working with teams to change the landscape of our world!
Engineering Day will run for the first half of the day February 24th and be organized into three 45-minute rotations. We’d love to have you participate for as many rotations as you are able. You can indicate your availability when you sign-up. (Please note, you’ll need to arrive at school at least 15 minutes before your scheduled rotation begins.)
Rotation 1: 8:15am-9:00am
Rotation 2: 9:00am-9:45am
Rotation 3: 9:45am-10:30am
You can sign-up to help in three different capacities this year:
(1) You can give a presentation to a classroom or combination of classes demonstrating something from your real-world engineering experience that will be interesting and engaging for the students. (see Volunteer Signup link below)
(2) For those with coding experience, you can assist in our laptop rooms to help kids run Hour of Code apps to build upon their coding experience. (see Volunteer Signup link below)
(3) You can help your child’s homeroom teacher if extra help is needed to run hands-on activities in the classroom. (Look for communication from your child’s teacher for help in the classroom.)
We want this to be an inspiring day for the students, so presentations need to be age-appropriate. Every presentation needs to have something that is “hands-on.” Demonstrations and interactive presentations are encouraged. Be creative, and have fun! The DiscoverE.org website has great, quick online training we encourage everyone to view to prepare for presenting to grade-level audiences. “Effectively Talking to Kids about Engineering” and “Leading Kids Through a Successful Engineering Experience” are both great.
To assist in scheduling and best align presentations with grade-level groups, we’re requiring volunteers sign-up by January 30th. Please complete the Google Form in the link below to let us know how you want to help and give us more information about your presentation for the students.
Caraway Elementary 2017 Engineering Day Volunteer Signup Link
The committee will provide feedback on submitted presentations if needed to adjust for engagement and age-level appropriateness. While we want to match you with your kids, please be aware that the schedule may not allow you to present in all classrooms of all your children.
Thank you in advance for volunteering to participate. Your involvement will be a tremendous blessing! We look forward to making this a stimulating day for all our students that will hopefully ignite a passion in some to go further into the problem-solving discipline of engineering.
Erica Gant
Volunteer Coordinator, Engineering Day
PTA News
Daily School Schedule
7:35 a.m. First Morning Bell
7:40 a.m. Tardy Bell/All Doors Lock/Start of School Day
2:50 p.m. End of the School Day
Caraway Office Staff
Melanie Solis, Assistant Principal
Marjan Amiri, Counselor
Judy Gullen, Nurse
Pam Bauerkemper, Administrative Assistant
Nancy Richards, Registrar
Cheryl Borden, Office Specialist