The RHE Rattler
Sunday, September 26th
A Note from Mrs. Frankhouser
Do you know the CORE PARADIGMS of Leader in Me? I know you've heard about the Habits, but what are the fundamental guiding principles for practicing these habits?
Everyone has genius. (Everyone has a gift.)
Everyone can be a leader. (This isn't reserved for a few.)
Change starts with me. (We have the power to make it happen.)
We teach students to lead their own learning. (We foster independence.)
We develop the whole person. (We work on more than academic achievement.)
We keep these paradigms at the core of our lesson planning, event planning, and habits of being at RHE. You can focus on this at home as well! See below for our family BINGO challenge that you can use to reinforce the Core Paradigms and Habits at home.
Leader in Me Family BINGO
7 Habits resource guide. (Here's a reminder about what each habit means.)
Practice the 7 Habits as a family! Families that complete a 5 in a row BINGO will have their family pictures proudly displayed on the 7 Habits Family Hall of Fame Board at school. Students whose families complete a BLACKOUT will be celebrated and recognized with a certificate and recognition with Mrs. Frankhouser in the cafeteria at lunch!
Completed BINGO cards can be brought to your teacher OR the front office.
Let's SYNERGIZE!
School Board Calls Tax Rate Election for November
The Lake Travis ISD Board of Trustees has called a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election, or VATRE, set for November 2.
The purpose of a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election is to ask the community to consider approving a tax rate to maximize funding. If passed, the proposal would allow Lake Travis ISD to keep an estimated $3 million locally without increasing the total tax rate.
The Lake Travis school district is funded primarily through local taxes and state funds. Local taxes are collected and go into two different funds: Maintenance and Operations, or M&O, and Interest and Sinking, or I&S. The M&O side pays for everyday district operations including salaries, books and building maintenance, while the I&S side is similar to a mortgage and can only be used to pay the debt on voter-approved school bonds. Bonds pay for new school construction and other capital improvements.
The board has set the total tax rate at $1.2301, $0.8826 for M&O and $0.3475 for I&S. If voters approve the $1.2301 total tax rate, our board—by resolution—has already approved reducing the I&S tax rate by two cents, from $0.3475 to $0.3275, and increasing our M&O tax rate by two cents, from $0.8826 to $0.9026. The result of this exchange will generate an estimated $3 million annually for Lake Travis ISD, and doing so will not affect our total tax rate. The revenue is not subject to the recapture system of school funding, commonly known as “Robin Hood.” Funds will be used to sustain additional instructional support positions for students and staff and tutorial services for accelerated learning once federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds are depleted.
If the VATRE does not pass, Lake Travis ISD will not be able to retain $3 million locally. Instead, those funds will be sent to the state under Robin Hood. Whether the tax rate election passes or fails, there will be no increase to our district’s total tax rate.
It is important to note there is a difference between the tax rate and a homeowner’s overall tax bill. Although the school district’s tax rate will not change as a result of the election, an increase in property value will inevitably result in an increase in a homeowner’s tax bill.
The LTISD board of trustees has called for the Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election, however, the voters are the ones who decide the outcome of the election. All eligible, registered voters are encouraged to become informed and exercise their right to vote in this election. Early voting begins Monday, October 18 and continues through Friday, October 29. Election day is Tuesday, November 2. Voting locations and additional information can be found on the District’s website at www.ltisdschools.org/vatre.
A note from our librarian, Mrs. McMillin
Dear Parents,
Our library reading program this year is formatted as a choice board. The purpose of the program is to encourage reading and to have students set personal reading goals. Each board provides reading suggestions but students are also able to customize their reading preferences on the back side of the board.
Each student will receive one board, and your child will brought it home in his her folder this past week. You can also access the choice board through the school library website or by clicking the links below. Teacher or parent signatures are required so please work with your child to set realistic, attainable, and challenging goals as appropriate for your child.
Our program will run from Monday, September 20th through Friday, December 10th.
Students who achieve their reading goal will be recognized on a library bulletin board and will be encouraged to set a new goal.
Thank you for supporting your child’s reading this year!
Movie Night Community Event October 7th
Gifted and Talented Nominations
The yearly nomination window to have your child tested for the LTISD Discovery (Gifted & Talented) Program is currently open. The deadline for nominations is October 15, 2021. You can find the nomination form here or on the district GT website. The form is accessible in both English and Spanish. Information on the LTISD Gifted & Talented Program can be found in the attached slideshows (English and Spanish). Please review the slideshow if you are interested in having your child evaluated for the program. We will hold question and answer sessions with parents/guardians at the following times:
Elementary GT Question and Answer Meeting
October 1, 2021 11:30 - 12:00
Elementary GT Information Meeting Link for October 1 at 11:30
Questions about Covid
There have been updates to the Covid policy. We now require quarantining for students that have household close contacts. This means if a member of a household is Covid positive, student members of the household are required to quarantine.
RHE PTO
The class with the most parent participation will have a GLOW PARTY at school! Help your child's class meet that goal! Thank you for partnering with us!
Coming Up
Sept 29....RHE PTO Spirit Night at Hat Creek 5-9pm
Oct 1.....Gifted and Talented Parent information meeting 11:30 (Link above)
Oct 7....End of First Grading Period
Oct 8...Student Holiday / Parent / Teacher Conferences (offered virtually)
Oct 11...Student & Staff Holiday
Oct 11 - Oct 22....APEX Fundraiser
Oct 12 - 15 .....LT Homecoming Week Dress up Days - Go CAVS
Oct 27....Fall Photo Day
Oct 29....Students and Staff can wear Halloween costumes to school (No gore or scary costumes please.) School-wide Halloween Parade
Nov 1....Student Holiday / Staff PD Day
Nov 22 - Nov 26....Thanksgiving Holiday