Principal's Rams Gram
September 2022
Dear Pharr Elementary School Community,
As the proud principal at Pharr Elementary School, this is the inaugural Principal’s Rams Gram that will be published once a month starting in September. The purpose of the Gram is to highlight school achievements, activities, and events at Pharr.
I am excited to maintain and build upon a strong vibrant learning community with high academic expectations and a dedication to excellence in education. My vision for Pharr is to create a school that has one door and behind that door is the absolute value of success; successful students and teachers. Everyday it is our goal to ensure that we meet our students where they are academically, socially, and emotionally to help them thrive as they learn, grow, and develop at our school. I am committed to supporting and championing our talented teaching staff to help them experience success each day; because their victory increases our student’s chances of being successful. I will continue my efforts to be visible, approachable, and accessible to our parents and school community to gather your input and suggestions for supporting the whole child at Pharr Elementary.
During GCPS Leadership Develop I meeting for principals, Directors, Executive Directors, Cluster Superintendents, and Senior Cabinet members, I was recognized by Superintendent Dr. Calvin Watts and presented with the inaugural Bridge Builder Empathy to Excellence award. This was totally surprising. As I walked to receive the award, the only thing I could picture was the smiling faces of students and staff for being the reason for me accepting this award. I am indeed fortunate to have the best students and staff to greet and work alongside each day. Our school is the best. I am thankful for the amazing and great things we do collectively to make our school a welcoming and nourishing place to learn, grow, and develop. The learning environment we continue to enhance at Pharr makes work each day a complete joy.
This Gram will highlight the amazing things that happened at Pharr during July, August, and some of September 2022.
First Day at Pharr Summer Learning
Monday, July 13, 2022, was my first day at Pharr Summer Learning. It was a heartfelt moment to welcome our students as they got off the bus. It was a joy to visit classrooms throughout the summer and to be challenged by students to play basketball. A fabulous time for our students and teaching staff.
Summer Learning
We are very proud of our students and teachers for their hard work and dedication to excellence over the summer. Students learned a great deal and teachers had fun supporting their learning. Summer learning was a huge success.
Pharr Admin and PTA Board Collaborative Meeting
This summer was a great opportunity to meet with the amazing PTA staff to continue the partnership to support the learning and activities at Pharr. I am looking forward to continuing my efforts of partnering with our PTA staff, parent volunteers, and our community members.
Title I Onboarding Process
Over the summer, Pharr held several Title I meetings to review Schoolwide Plan Components: 1. Review of School Data/Needs Assessment; 2. Review of Reform Strategies; 3. Review of Evaluation of the schoolwide Plan; 4. Every Student Succeed Act Requirements The Plan/The Promise; 5 Schoolwide Plan Development including the Budget. Each meeting provided staff and parents the opportunity to provide input and feedback. The Schoolwide Plan was submitted to the State and approved in August 2022 for Pharr to officially become a Title I school. The Annual Title I Parent meeting was held September 1, 2022.
🍎Preplanning Week
Morning Messages
As a part of building a sense of community, I write a daily message to the staff that shares information about what is happening at the school and a message for them to respond. See some sample messages.
Open House✏️
Grayson High Football Team Welcome Students at Open House
Superintendent Dr. Calvin Watts
12Stone Church
Provided our staff with Chick-fil-A
Welcomed our students back!
Thank you
🍦Inaugural Ice Cream Social
PTA Skate Night at Sparkles
Curriculum Night
Book Vending Machine📚
Unloading
Students getting a book from the Book Vending machine for demonstrating outstanding Ram character.
👨🏫Teaching and Learning👩🏫
Pharr is Fun!😄
Thank you to our wonderful student leaders for supporting our Recycling program at Pharr Elementary.
1:1 Chromebook Initiative💻
Our technology team did an amazing job planning, organizing and making sure every child received a laptop at Pharr. Click here for -->1:1 Parent Support
2022 Pharr Elementary Teacher of the Year💐
Let's Celebrate!
Congratulations to our amazing cafeteria staff. They received 100% on their Health Inspection.
Thank you to our fabulous custodial staff for keeping the building clean and spotless each day for our students and staff.
Early Learning!🪀
There's Still Time to Fill Out Your Free and Reduced Price Meal Application
Wednesday, Sept. 14 is the deadline to submit your Free and Reduced Price Meal Application. As we move into SY23, students will now pay for meals based on their individual student eligibility. Therefore, we strongly encourage parents to complete the Free and Reduced-price Meal Application. Confirmed eligibility establishes a number of benefits for individual students, such as free or discounted college-admissions tests, AP exams, and college applications; scholarship opportunities; and no- and low-cost access to technology and internet plans. In addition, the percentages of qualifying students at a school are used to secure additional federal funding (Title I) to support students and their education, promote family engagement, and provide additional technology and internet access. Title I funds pay for additional teachers, Parent Centers, additional learning opportunities for students, extra resources, added technology, and more.
Meals are available on Friday, September 16, our first Digital Learning Day
Friday, September 16, is a scheduled Digital Learning Day (DLD) for all students. On scheduled DLDs, students access lessons in eCLASS but do not have virtual class time with their teachers.
To ensure that students have a nutritious breakfast and lunch to fuel their learning, our bus drivers will be on the road and at every bus stop to deliver meals prepared by School Nutrition Program staff. Families should expect buses to run their routes from approximately 10:45 a.m. to noon, beginning at the first stops on the route. These delivered meals are provided at no cost to families, and are provided to anyone 18 years old and under
Rams Cafe Opens Soon!
- Parents may eat with students on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
- All visitors must show ID and Sign-in before going to the lunchroom.
- Visitors (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) must be listed under emergency contact in order to eat with their child.
- Visitors should sit at the designated table. Students may not bring additional friends to join them to eat.
- We encourage families to eat meals provided by our cafeteria staff, rather than bringing in outside food.
- Once your students lunch time is over, visitors should sign-out in the front lobby,
Behind the Scenes 🎥
Share your Ram-Tastic Stories!🎉
Pharr Administrators love to hear about the great teaching and learning our staff is providing. Feel free to share the wonderful things happening in your child's classroom.
Dr. Shamarlas Allens, Principal
- Multi-tiered system of supports, Early Intervention Program, Gifted, 504 Coordinator
Ms. Uma Gangwal, Assistant Principal
- Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, Play2Learn, Title 1
Ms. Charlotte Taylor-Martin, Assistant Principal
- 3rd, 4th, 5th, and Special Education
- charlotte.taylor.martin@gcpsk12.org