CE eNews
March 23, 2023
Dear Cheetah Families,
Did your child share their learning from Construction Day with you? We had such a wonderful day and we saw so many smiles from our students. We also want to say a big thank you to Ida Franklin with Venus Construction for bringing her team to CE and sharing a tool demonstration with our 1st - 5th grade students!
We have our third nine weeks House Rally next Friday, March 31st! We want to invite our families to join in by decorating your vehicles or bringing signs to walker/bike rider arrival and dismissal. Every decorated vehicle or sign will earn one point for your child's house, so go big! If you are a House Divided, decorate for both and each house will earn a point!
We have a wonderful staff at Cimarron Elementary - I would really appreciate if you could click the "Celebrate a Cheetah Staff Member" button below and share why your child's teacher or another staff member is fantastic! I know what a smile it would bring to their faces!
Your partner in education,
Lindsey Chase
Principal
Week at a Glance
Monday, March 27
- Have a marvelous Monday!
Tuesday, March 28
- Art Club after school
Wednesday, March 29
- Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Thursday, March 30
- Read, Deed, Run after school
- Spring Choir Concert at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, March 31
- Choir Practice before school
- Third Nine Weeks House Rally (closed event)
- Wear House Colors!
Saturday, April 1
- PTA Spring Carnival (11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.) (See flyer below)
Upcoming Events
April 3: National Assistant Principal's Day
April 4: School Librarian Appreciation Day
April 5: Paraprofessional's Day
April 7 & 10: No School (Student and Staff Holiday)
April 7-10: No Homework Weekend
April 11: PTA General Meeting at 5:30 p.m.
April 11: Fourth Grade Musical at 6:00 p.m.
April 18-20: STAAR Testing & Closed Campus (No visitors)
April 18: Kindergarten Roundup for 2023-2024 Kindergarteners (5:30 p.m.) (See flyer below)
4th and 5th Grade Health TEKS
In accordance with Texas Education Code 28.004 and Senate Bill 9, 4th and/or 5th grade students will receive instruction on the required health TEKS specific to human growth and development, abuse prevention, and violence prevention.
Under Texas Statute, parents must choose to “opt-in” for their 4th/5th student to participate in lessons that address the topics of human growth and development, abuse prevention, and violence prevention.
On Monday, March 27, 2023, parents/guardians will receive information via email on how to view the associated lessons and record their decision for student “opt-in” of these lessons.
Below are the windows for both the parent opt-in and when lessons will be taught:
Parent Opt-In Window: Monday, March 27, 2023 – Thursday, April 6, 2023
Instruction Window: Monday, May 1, 2023 – Friday, May 19, 2023
3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade STAAR Practice Information
We have great news and can't wait to tell you! You may have seen the following information provided in the KISD Weekly Digest, but we wanted to make sure you know how MUCH this will benefit your child!!! Parents of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students, please click on the attachment below to learn more!
Pre-Registration and Registration for 2023-2024 School Year
Online Testing and Paper-Based Testing Requests
Thank you for partnering with us in your child's education. Through feedback and collaboration with stakeholders and staff, parents may now request a paper assessment in reading, science and/or math for campus-based assessments (CBA's) in grades 3-5. These requests may be directed to your child's classroom teacher. Classroom teachers will work with the Instructional Coach and campus administration to ensure a paper assessment is provided. This is a new process, so we appreciate your patience as Cimarron Elementary begins the implementation process.
We would like to remind our parents that district level and state (STAAR) assessments are ineligible for the paper request option. Parents are encouraged to review the attached presentation with additional information.
PTA News
PTA Executive Board
Are you interested in serving on the PTA Executive Board for 2023-2024? The CE PTA supports our Cimarron students and staff, but it cannot do it without its volunteers and board members. The following link provides a detailed description of each position. If you are interested, please complete the form by March 29th. https://forms.gle/eMLr68fPyirfZQoQ9
PTA Spring Carnival
Our Spring carnival is almost here! Join us at Camp Cimarron on April 1st. Take advantage of our presale that ends March 28th and order your wristbands now. We will have games, bounce houses, vendors, food, silent auction, and more.
Handmade Crafter Vendors/Businesses Wanted
Cimarron Elementary Annual Spring Carnival and Craft Show
Saturday April 1, 2023 11:00am-2:00pm
1100 S. Peek Rd. Katy, Texas 77450.
We are looking for all homemade crafts, candles, jewelry, etc.
This space may also be used to promote your business by providing samples, flyers or other promotional items. Space is limited, first come first serve.
If you are interested in being a vendor, please email Marie Valverde at marievalverde@katyisd.org to receive a copy of the vendor registration form.
News from the Big Cat Pipeline
Volunteer Information
We Love our Volunteers!
Katy ISD is excited to announce the implementation of the District’s Raptor Volunteer Initiative for the upcoming school year. Beginning October 1, the district will require all volunteers serving on campus during the instructional day to register with the district through its Raptor security system.
Raptor ensures quick and easy volunteer registration allowing individual volunteers to create and manage a personal volunteer profile. In addition, the Raptor Volunteer Initiative will:
- Provide an additional layer of protection for Katy ISD students, staff, volunteers, and campus visitors
- Unite all district volunteers into one Katy ISD volunteer community
- Measure and communicate the positive impact of Katy ISD volunteer organizations
Get more information here:
Useful Campus Links
Yearbook Pictures Needed
It is truly Our Time to Shine at Cimarron Elementary, and we are so excited to celebrate our students as they are shining throughout the school year! Please help us by submitting your student’s First Day of School pictures to be included in the 2022-23 Cimarron Yearbook. Pictures will be included according to the following criteria:
- Students must be dressed in accordance with the district dress code guidelines
- Students must have a “yes” privacy code
- Pictures must only include the student(s) for which the parent/guardian is submitting (please do not submit pictures of students other than your own)
To make your submission, complete the following steps:
- Click on the link: https://studio.balfour.com/imageshare/
- Type the Project Code: 323729 (leave the upload code blank)
- Complete the required information
- Upload your picture(s) 😊
Pictures from our House Rally Spirit Days are also welcomed, along with other pictures that you capture throughout this school year. Thanks in advance for helping to make this yearbook the best one yet!
Cimarron Lunch Visitors
CE is pleased to welcome parents to enjoy lunch with your child. All lunch visitors must check in at the front office and receive a visitor pass to wear while on campus. Please be sure that you have a valid government-issued photo ID in order to visit. Due to space and safety concerns, lunch visitors are limited to parents/step-parents/guardians, non-school-aged siblings and grandparents (accompanied by a parent or with written permission from a parent), or campus mentors. You may note your written permission for a grandparent to visit unaccompanied by filling out the Parent Permission for Elementary Lunch Visitors Form and turning it in to the CE Front Office.
Visits are limited to the 30-minute lunch period. Due to space limitations at the elementary level, no exceptions to the list of approved visitors can be made. Lunch visitors do not include aunts, uncles, friends or neighbors. In addition, lunch visitors are limited to two (2) guests per student per day, including younger siblings. Unusual circumstances may be approved in advance by the principal or assistant principal.
In order to get you checked in as quickly as possible, we ask that you let us know you plan to visit for lunch by completing the CE Lunch Visitor Pre-Raptor Form by 2 pm the day before you plan to visit. Completion of this form is not required, however it will allow you to get checked in at the office and off to visit your student's lunch more quickly.
All lunch visitors are asked to follow our lunch visitor expectations:
- Lunch visits are limited to the 30-minute lunch period.
- Please proceed directly to the cafeteria after you have checked in. Your child will greet you at the visitor table.
- Lunch visitors should stay at the visitor table. Please do not walk around the lunch room.
- Other students are not permitted to join your family at the visitor table.
- If you plan to bring in lunch for your child, please know that you are not permitted to bring lunch for other students.
- Photos should be taken of your child only. Please do not take photos of other students.
- Please say goodbye to your child at the cafeteria door and return to the front office to exit the campus at the end of the 30-minute lunch period.
- You can return to the cafeteria through the front office after checking in if you are visiting your other child at a different lunch time.
Friendly Reminders for Car Rider Arrival and Dismissal
- Please do not drop your student off at school in the morning prior to 7:30 am. Our doors open at 7:30 am, and there is no supervision provided prior to that time frame.
- Remember that our school is a school zone. Please do not use your cell phone for any reason.
- Please do not exit your vehicle for any reason. We will load/unload your student into your vehicle, but we will not unbuckle or buckle their seatbelt. If your child needs assistance in buckling after they have been loaded, please pull forward into a parking space in order to assist your child.
- Your child should enter and exit the vehicle from the passenger side only. We do not allow students to exit or enter the vehicle from the driver side.
- Please follow the directions given to you from CE employees. We are here to help and we want to load and unload your student in the safest and quickest manner possible. Thank you for your patience and kindness with our amazing Cimarron staff!
- Please enter the car rider dismissal line by driving down Peek, turning onto Katy Passage Road, then following through the neighborhood by turning right onto Legend Spring then another right onto Cascade Creek. Please do not try to go down Cascade Creek and make a u-turn into the line in an open spot.
- Occasionally some of our parents find a gap in the line next to them while navigating the car rider line and decide to line jump in an effort to get ahead. We want to take the time to explain this does the exact opposite for you AND for all the parents who happen to be around you when you make the jump.
- One of our staff members walks the line and writes down all numbers. Then, all kids are assigned a specific set and number to stand on.
- Line jumpers think they are getting ahead but your number hasn't been written down, and your child will not be brought to you in a timely manner like the vehicles around you.
- This results in you having to pull up past spot #1 to wait for us to get your child to you. Skipping the line and jumping in sets you and everyone else back.
- Please do not block driveways in the neighborhood while waiting in the car rider line. Everyone is doing a great job of this and being respectful to our neighbors. We appreciate it!
- Please do not pull around other vehicles in the line unless specifically directed to do so by a CE staff member.
Cimarron Elementary
Website: www.katyisd.org/campus/ce
Location: 1100 South Peek Road, Katy, TX, USA
Phone: 281.237.6900
Facebook: facebook.com/cimarroncheetahs
Instagram: http://instagram.com/cimarronelem
Twitter: @CimarronElem