JWL's Tiger Tid-Bits
January | February 2019
Winter time . . . well, a Texas version anyway.
The spring semester brings about a quicker pace in curriculum, classwork, and in overall life. I know that if your students are not already involved in sports and extracurricular activities more sports and after school activities will be starting as the weather begins to warm.
Our focus is to grow your student academically. Your child is to read every night. Yes, every night. Just 20 minutes of daily reading makes a big difference in progress! for students in 3-5 grades, students need to be fluent in their multiplication facts. Flashcards are available at the dollar store if you need a resource to help practice.
If you are looking for supports to use at home to help your student, we have several programs that are available online. For reading, we use Lexia. For math, we use Dreambox. Students use these programs at least 3 of the 5 days of school, so they are familiar with how to log in to both.
As teachers seek to make contact with you, know they are reaching out to partner with your for your child's greatest success.
I'm looking forward to seeing our students meet and exceed their goals this year! Thanks for your continued support.
Remember, at J.W. Long each student excels in every subject every day by displaying Tiger PRIDE!
Respect for others
Integrity
Determination &
Enthusiasm!
Box Tops
By being able to raise funds is important for our campus so that we are able to purchase special items for students. This includes goal rewards for grade levels and campus celebrations in general.
HOW BOX TOPS WORKS:
BUY: Find Box Tops on hundreds of products >
CLIP: Clip Box Tops from each package.
SEND: Send the Box Tops to school in a baggie or on a collection sheet >
EARN: Box Tops are each worth 10¢ for your school.
Breakfast in the Classroom
It’s a fact: eating breakfast at school helps children learn. Studies show that children who eat breakfast at the start of their school day have higher math and reading scores. They have sharper memory and show faster speed on cognitive tests. They have broader vocabularies. They do better on standardized tests. They focus better and behave better.
Eating breakfast at school has health benefits too. Children are less likely to be absent. They’re less likely to see the school nurse and less likely to be overweight. They eat more fruit, drink more milk and consume a wider variety of foods.
Many school districts participate in the federally funded School Breakfast Program, but its performance in eliminating hunger has fallen short of its potential. Although we offer free breakfast to all students, not all are eating it.
The result: hungry kids, and lost federal funding at the schools that need it most.
(Info above taken from this website.)
So, we'll be trying a new approaching in a couple of weeks. We will be serving breakfast in the classrooms. Breakfast items will be delivered to each classroom door every morning; students will eat before the lesson starts. It is important that students are on time to school as breakfast, as it does now, will end at 8:10am. Class begins promptly at 8:15am. (Remember, front doors open at 7:30am; students will report to their classroom hallway. Students will have DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) from 7:30am - 7:45am; breakfast will be served and eaten from 7:45am -8:10am.
Your access to seeing "live" student information.
Your Parent Portal account will allow you access to your student's grades and attendance to check on their progress between progress reports and report cards.
Goals & Focus
Growth Mindset
The way parents talk about ability and learning can have powerful effects on their kids’ beliefs. Below are three ways parents can instill a growth mindset. And remember, developing a growth mindset in yourself and in your kids is a process that takes time. Have a growth mindset about developing a growth mindset!
- Recognize your own mindset: Be mindful of your own thinking and of the messages you send with your words and actions.
- Praise the process: Praising kids for being smart suggests that innate talent is the reason for success, while focusing on the process helps them see how their effort leads to success.
- Model learning from failure: When parents talk positively about making mistakes, kids start to think of mistakes as a natural part of the learning process.
This month let's really look at three ways parents can instill a growth mindset. Here is a website for parents (English & Spanish) that helps explain and provide research behind how a growth mindset helps students excel academically.
Literacy at Home
This information was taken from this article.
7 tips on how to raise a reader of any age:
1. Lead by example. Be a reader and read around your kids all the time. Show your kids that you are interested and enjoy reading and this will help spark their curiosity.
2. Read with your kids. Read with your kids early, often, and lovingly, to help them establish a positive, comforting, and exciting relationship with reading from the very start.
3. Talk literature. Talk about favorite books, authors, stories, and genres with your kids and with others. Show your kids that you are interested in books and excited about their interest in books. Talking about literature will help create a rich literary culture within the family.
4. Keep books everywhere. Keep books in the car, in every room of the house, in beach bags, and more. If your kid gets bored and plops down next to a pile of books, then chances are they will pick one up and start reading it.
5. Take regular outings to the library. Outings are always fun, and the library is a great place where kids can explore new books and feel empowered by choosing and checking out their own books.
6. Make reading and writing a part of everyday activities. There are opportunities to read and talk about reading everywhere. Read pamphlets in waiting rooms or, for the younger kids, read street signs while out and about. This is yet another chance to talk about reading.
7. Stay with it! Start these habits when your kids are young and never stop. Who knows, maybe you’ll start to love these habits.
Attendance
How parents can help . . .
Help your child get into the habit and learn the value of regular routines.
Teach your child that attending school is nonnegotiable unless they are truly sick.
Build relationships with other families and discuss how you can help each other out (e.g., drop off or pick up children, babysit, translation assistance) in times of need or emergencies.
Identify non-academic activities (drama, art, music, etc.) that can help motivate your child’s interest in school and learning and seek out schools that can offer those experiences.
Dress Code
Students are to wear collared, single color shirts with black, navy, or khaki pants, shorts (if weather appropriate), or skirts.
For cooler days or classrooms, hoodies or sweaters are allowed that are also solid or single colored, Terrell Tiger spirit wear, or military.
For cold weather, outer wear can be any style, but it cannot be worn in the building. Students may wear it until arrive in the classroom where they will be asked to put it in their lockers or on the backs of their chairs.
For more information regarding the dress code please refer to the Student Code of Conduct and Handbook link located here on our TISD website.
Volunteering
Our campus is open to our families; we invite you to come and join us for various events and celebrations throughout the year. We have many opportunities for our families to get involved at our campus. Volunteer opportunities include, but are not limited to: reading and working with students, supporting the office by completing tasks such as making copies and laminating class projects, and monitoring and participating in school events including, but not limited to lunch/recess, field trips, and PTO. Visit www.terrellisd.org/volunteer to learn more about becoming a volunteer. You may also find our campus calendar by visiting http://www.terrellisd.org/calendar-long.
**Parents, I want to clarify, to apply for a volunteer badge it does NOT cost for the initial background check. I understand there is a fee amount listed on the background check; however, that is not for the initial check.
Stay connected with Remind
In efforts to keep you well informed, I invite you to join our communication outlets. You can text the code @jwlongelem to the number 81010 to subscribe to our campus Remind thread. This is how I as the principal communicate directly with parents to give updates, reminders, and special notices. (These messages can be translated to your language of choice through the Remind app. Click here to access the app.) Speaking of sharing, if you like to tweet on Twitter, follow us look for our tag #TigerPride to see the amazing things happening across Terrell ISD.
PTO Membership & Support
Our meetings are held the second Thursday of each month at 6pm.
PTO Meeting
Thursday, Feb 14, 2019, 06:00 PM
300 Creekside Drive, Terrell, TX, USA
Transportation
Bus: GoldStar Transit
If you need to address bus transportation changes, please contact the campus at 972-563-1448; we will contact Gold Star with the given changes.
Car Pick Up
Please refer to the map posted below regarding which lane to drop off & pick up your students.
Walkers, Bikers, & Day Care
No parents are to walk up to the doors of the building. Walkers will be escorted to their respective areas by staff members. Students may only be walkers if they live in the adjacent neighborhoods (Creekside Estates or Town North), and we have a written note from parent giving permission for student to walk to specific address (their home) in these neighborhoods.
Day Care
If your student rides a day care van, please write a note to your student's teacher with the full name of the day care facility.
Transportation Changes
Also know that all names of people you grant permission to pick up your child(ren) from school need to be listed in our student database. Please be sure you've updated this information to expedite the pick up process in the office.
Thanks!
Child Nutrition
- Student meal accounts: Parents will need their student's ID number to set up their Lunch Money Now account. Please call the Terrell ISD School Nutrition Department at 972-563-7504 for help with this process. To access menus or complete a meal application, please go to http://www.terrellisd.org/school-nutrition.
Lunch Visits
- We encourage parents and guardians to join their student for lunch from time to time. Due to limited space and for the safety of our students, parents/guardians are to eat with ONLY their child at the reserved visitor tables on the stage. Thank you for your support and understanding.
- Also note that occasional lunch drop offs are understood as students may forget their lunch from time to time. If dropping off a lunch for your student please do so before their scheduled lunch time. If your child does not have a lunch at their scheduled lunch time, we will have them get a lunch through the cafeteria line. Lunch time is an extremely busy time in the front office; when lunches are dropped off, a contact is made to the teacher's classroom. The teacher is to have the student retrieve his/her lunch on the way to the cafeteria. You may also contact your child's teacher via Remind message to confirm the child has received their lunch.
School Uniforms
- Any solid color polo or button-down collared shirt are allowed. Large logos are not permitted.
- Bottoms must be khaki, navy, or black. Bottoms include pants, skorts, capris, knee length skirts or shorts are allowed. Jogger style, skinny fit, and cargo style pants/shorts are not allowed.
- On PE days, students need to wear closed toed shoes, preferably tennis shoes.
Spirit Wear on Fridays
Contact Us
Email: melissa.nichols@terrellisd.org
Website: http://www.terrellisd.org/jwlelementaryschool
Location: 300 Creekside Drive, Terrell, TX, United States
Phone: 972-563-1448
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrellisd/
Twitter: @TerrellISD